'pro-aristocratic' originates from Modern English by combining the prefix 'pro-' (from Latin 'pro', meaning 'for') with 'aristocratic' (from 'aristocracy').

'aristocracy' ultimately comes from Greek 'aristokratia' (ἀριστοκρατία), where 'aristo-' meant 'best' and 'kratia/kratos' meant 'rule'; the Greek term passed into Latin and later into Middle English and Modern English as 'aristocracy' and the adjective 'aristocratic', which combined with the prefix 'pro-' to form 'pro-aristocratic'.

Initially the roots referred to 'rule of the best' (aristokratia); over time the compound adjective 'pro-aristocratic' came to mean 'in favor of or supportive of the aristocracy' rather than describing the formal system of rule itself.