elite
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or é·lite (ĭ-lēt', ā-lēt') 
n., pl., elite, or e·lites.
n., pl., elite, or e·lites.
- A group or class of persons or a member of such a group or class, enjoying superior intellectual, social, or economic status: "In addition to notions of social equality there was much emphasis on the role of elites and of heroes within them" (Times Literary Supplement).
- The best or most skilled members of a group: the football team's elite.
- A size of type on a typewriter, equal to 12 characters per linear inch.
[French élite, from Old French eslite, from feminine past participle of eslire, to choose, from Latin ēligere. See elect.]
elite e·lite' adj.
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paper and printing Applied to a typewriter of fixed pitch, describes a type size equivalent to 10 point that has 12 characters per inch, and which looks superior to the standard 10 characters per inch of pica (but retains the 12-point height of pica, giving the same 6 lines per inch).
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A typeface that prints 12 cpi.
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Common type size used in typewriters. Elite type measures 12 characters to the linear inch. See also pica.
Roget's Thesaurus:
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elite
noun
- People of the highest social level: aristocracy, blue blood, crème de la crème, flower, gentility, gentry, nobility, patriciate, quality, society, upper class, who's who. Informal upper crust. See over/under.
- The superlative or most preferable part of something: best, choice, cream, crème de la crème, flower, pick, prize1, top. Idioms: cream of the crop, flower of the flock, pick of the bunchcrop. See better/worse.
adjective
- Of high birth or social position: aristocratic, blue-blooded, highborn, highbred, noble, patrician, thoroughbred, upper-class, wellborn. Informal upper-crust. See over/under.
Antonyms by Answers.com:
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elite
adj
Definition: best, first-class
Antonyms: common, low-class, lower, lower-class, ordinary, poor, worst
n
Definition: high class persons
Antonyms: commonality, low-life, lower class, ordinary
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Clueful. Plugged-in. One of the cognoscenti. Also used as a general positive adjective. This term is not actually native hacker slang; it is used primarily by crackers and warez d00dz, for which reason hackers use it only with heavy irony. The term used to refer to the folks allowed in to the “hidden” or “privileged” sections of BBSes in the early 1980s (which, typically, contained pirated software). Frequently, early boards would only let you post, or even see, a certain subset of the sections (or ‘boards’) on a BBS. Those who got to the frequently legendary ‘triple super secret’ boards were elite. Misspellings of this term in warez d00dz style abound; the forms l337 eleet, and 31337 (among others) have been sighted.
A true hacker would be more likely to use ‘wizardly’. Oppose lamer.
Word Tutor:
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elite
IN BRIEF: The part or group having the highest quality, importance or power.
Without an elite in the arts, we have no leaders, which is to say we have no vision, which is to say we have no arts.
— Robert Brustein, U.S. educator, author and critic.
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categories related to 'elite'
- Printing and Typefaces - elite: letter size measuring twelve characters per inch, widely used in typewriters
See crossword solutions for the clue
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This article is about a sociological term. For other uses, see Elite (disambiguation).
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An elite in political and sociological theory, is a small group of people who control a disproportionate amount of wealth or political power.
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Contents
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Identity and social structure
Mills wrote in his 1957 book The Power Elite that the "elite" are "those political, economic, and military circles, which as an intricate set of overlapping small but dominant groups share decisions having at least national consequences. Insofar as national events are decided, the power elite are those who decide them."[1]
According to Mills, the governing elite in the US primarily draws its members from three areas: (i) the highest political leaders (including the president) and a handful of key cabinet members and close advisers; (ii) major corporate owners and directors; and (iii) high ranking military officers.[2] These groups overlap, and elites tend to circulate from one sector to another, consolidating power as they do so.[3]
Unlike the ruling class, a social formation based on heritage and social ties, the power elite is characterized by the organizational structure through which its wealth is acquired. According to Mills, part of the power elite is "the managerial reorganization of the propertied classes into the more or less unified stratum of the corporate rich."[4] Domhoff further clarified the differences in the two terms: "The upper class as a whole does not do the ruling. Instead, class rule is manifested through the activities of a wide variety of organizations and institutions... Leaders within the upper class join with high-level employees in the organizations they control to make up what will be called the power elite."[5]
The Marxist theoretician Nikolai Bukharin anticipated the power elite theory in his 1929 work, Imperialism and World Economy:[6] "present-day state power is nothing but an entrepreneurs' company of tremendous power, headed even by the same persons that occupy the leading positions in the banking and syndicate offices.".[7]
See also
References
Footnotes
- ^ Mills, Charles W. The Power Elite, p 18.
- ^ Powell, Jason L. & Chamberlain, John M. (2007). "Power elite". In Ritzer, George & Ryan, J. Michael. The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology. John Wiley & Sons. p. 466. ISBN 978-1-4051-8353-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=Dz4wU64f_JYC&pg=PA466.
- ^ Powell, Jason L. (2007) "power elite" in George Ritzer (ed.) The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, Blackwell Publishing, 2007, pp. 3602-3603
- ^ Mills, Charles W. The Power Elite, p 147.
- ^ Domhoff, William G, Who Rules America Now? (1997), p. 2.
- ^ Carson.[who?]
- ^ Bukharin, Nikolai. Imperialism and World Economy (1929)
Further reading
- Dogan, Mattei (2003). Elite configurations at the apex of power. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-12808-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=Z6Cu8nvJplMC.
- Domhoff, G. William (1990). The power elite and the state: how policy is made in America. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-0-202-30373-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=A35GpAnLR5EC.
- Hartmann, Michael (2007). The sociology of elites. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-41197-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=A802Pz-IZ7cC.
- Rothkopf, David (2009). Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-374-53161-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=beHXwswSD9AC.
- Scott, John, ed. (1990). The Sociology of Elites: The study of elites. Edward Elgar. ISBN 978-1-85278-390-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=ZoW3AAAAIAAJ.
External links
- Charles Wright Mills on the Power Elite "The Higher Circles"
- G. William Domhoff's online supplement to his book Who Rules America
- Domhoff interview - September 2004, Public Eye.Org - Domhoff on the American Ruling Class as opposed to conspiracy theories.
- NY Books G. William Domhoff: "IS THERE A RULING CLASS?" In response to What Rules America? (May 1, 1975)
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Translations:
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Elite
Dansk (Danish)
n. - elite, typestørrelse
Nederlands (Dutch)
elite, elite-, elitair
Français (French)
n. - élite, (Typ) caractères élite
adj. - d'élite, réservé à l'élite, (Typ) élite
Deutsch (German)
n. - Elite
adj. - Elite-
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - ελίτ, αφρόκρεμα
adj. - εκλεκτός
Italiano (Italian)
élite, il fior fiore, scelto
Português (Portuguese)
n. - elite (f)
Русский (Russian)
элита, верхушка, отборный
Español (Spanish)
n. - elite, lo más selecto, minoría selecta
adj. - de elite, la flor y nata
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - elit
adj. - elit-
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
精华, 中坚分子, 精锐
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 精華, 中堅分子, 精銳
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 精粋, 中枢
adj. - エリートの, えり抜きの
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) نخبه, صفوة (صفه) ممتاز, نخبه
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - עילית, סולתו ושמנו, מובחר, אליטה
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