Concerning aristocracy, nobles, peers and landed gentry, consider these sources:
https://wikidiff.com/aristocracy/gentry
As nouns the difference between gentry and aristocracy is that
gentry is birth; condition; rank by birth while
aristocracy is the
nobility, or the hereditary ruling class.
origin of the word aristocracy at DuckDuckGo
Aristocracy aristokratía, aristos 'excellent', and kratos 'rule') is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning 'rule of the best-born'.
origin of the word landed gentry at DuckDuckGo
Landed gentry or gentry is a largely historical British social class consisting in theory of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. It was distinct from, and socially "below", the
aristocracy or peerage, although in fact some of the
landed gentry were wealthier than some
peers, and many
gentry were related to
peers.
https://www.quora.com/How-did-the-concept-of-nobility-originate
The word
Noble derives from Latin
nobilitas, the abstract noun of the adjective
nobilis ("well-known, famous, notable").
European
nobility has its origins following the breakup of the Roman Empire. The smarter gang leaders/warlords realized that they could keep taking stuff only if the peasants were still alive and able to produce stuff. Gangs started to hold territory and protect it from other gangs.
The leaders and warlords kept this up for enough generations that they came to view it as their right to rule. To keep the peace with neighboring warlords, they recognized their neighbor's right to rule also.
The social meaning of
nobility came from the rules put on the lords by kings and the church. They taught the nobles, and their children, to act in a "noble" manner in business and war with other lords.
The Celts were the people who inhabited the island of Great Britain until the time of the Roman Empire. They spoke an ancient version of the Celtic languages. The Romans invaded England and even built a wall between England which they ruled and Scotland which they didn't. Not much in the way of effect on the language of the people was made by the Ancient Romans. The Angles and Saxons migrated to the island of Great Britain and conquered what is now England. The Welsh and the Scots are primarily descendants of the Celtic tribes.
The language we speak, English, uses the language of the Angles and the Saxons as the base of our English language. Over time,
Anglish became
English. Didn't research why. The Church of England is the mother church of the world wide
Anglican Communion.
I first thought that
aristocracy was a Greek to Latin to French to English term in word history. I thought that
nobles or nobility might be a Latin to French to English term in word history. Googling listed above confirmed both.
Gentry or landed gentry doesn't appear to have a Greek to Latin and or to French term from which it originated from what I googled.
I first thought that
landed gentry was an Anglo-Saxon term. I found out that It is also a Scottish term. I could not find any information on if the term originated in England or Scotland. If it is a Celtic term then it could have originated with any of the Celts that once occupied all of the island of Great Britain before the Ancient Romans invaded the island or been a common term throughout the entire island of Great Britain.
The main difference between the words
aristocracy, nobles and landed gentry that is constant is in the origin of the words. The English language has so many elements of language that came before the modern English of today: Celtic, Greek, Latin, German, and Norman/French. so that many words from several different origins have similar meanings today.
The term
peer almost means the same thing as the other terms,
aristocracy, nobles and landed gentry. The critical difference is that
peer is a term that means the title that a nobleman has been given.
Landed gentry may not be considered as
peers or
peerages because the
landed gentry do not have a title. Even though a
landed gentry may have accumulated more land than some
nobles, he is not considered a
noble because he doesn't have a
peer or title.
Of course local customs can alter the preconceptions of the local populace so that all the above may blend in together for many of the common folk who were workers on the farms and manors in historic England. All that mattered to some is all the upper class people mentioned here were far above them in the social pecking order.
Over time, the term
gentry came to mean any esteemed member of English society that was considered part of the upper class of English.
Gentry did not mean middle class in historic England. The clergy, the military officers, barristers, and judiciary were all considered
gentry due to position they held in 19th century and to a lesser degree in the 20th century.
In the 19th century men of industry began to be also included as being as part of the gentry class if they also had the social skills and education required to be considered in the gentry class.
The
landed gentry began to lose strength and power during the latter part of the 19th and 20th centuries. It appears that the
peerage who inherited the land and title owned enough land that they haven't had the same loss of power and prestige as has the
landed gentry due to the land they own.
The
landed gentry had to pay inheritance taxes on their country homes and farms. I don't know if the
peerages have to pay inheritance taxes since by law they inherit the manor and title. The land doesn't become theirs because of a will. That requires additional googling which I have chosen not to do right now!
In a nut shell:
Peers peerages, aristocrats, nobles are the highest of the upper class of historic England. They inherit their land and their titles.
Landed Gentry are the land owners who own less land than the
peers did in historic England. They do not inherit titles. However, these are averages. There were and perhaps still are
landed gentry who own more land than some
nobles.
Gentry means the same thing as
landed gentry except being a member of this class was due to position in society other than land.
All the above were taught the same social skills and how to be proper ladies and gentlemen of historic England.
The
landed gentry were those who owned land, but usually less land than the
nobles. They also had enough land that the workers had to do most of the work on their farms. One source which I didn't notate listed 500 acres as the minimum to be considered
landed gentry. Over time, that requirement has dropped to 200 acres. Now many of the people considered to be
gentry have a street address or have an apartment in the large country home they still own and have the rest of the house open to the public to generate income.
A lot of the differences between the terms can be attributed to the time in which the term was used and from the word history of the terms that was used. Add to that, some people over time have used a term to mean something that isn't in the standardized definition of the term. Over time means on the average four generations per 100 years. That would indicate almost 40 generations since 1066!
That is a lot of time for word usage and meanings to evolve in standardized usage, meaning considered used correctly. Add all the times the discussed terms have been used to mean something other than the standardized usage and meanings, it is a wonder we can understand how words are used and what their standardized meanings were, are, or will be in the future!
In this research I ran across some interesting information. Some of it I already knew. Some of it was new material, I think. Maybe it was material that I missed on that test in Western Civilization at university and isn't suppose to be for me new material.
Some of this information is included in a separate post to this same thread.
Note: Freddie did not make a 100 on any test in Western Civilization course taken at university at age 20. Imagine that! I barely made an A and was very thankful for that! I only made an A because the professor curved the grades! History is my favorite and best subject. I had a mate who failed the class. He was on university academic scholarship. Was is the key word!