An archaic or obsolete term possibly referring to an aristocrat or person engaged in argument and debate; very rarely used.
Possibly related to aristocrat or to Greek arisitoi (the best), but the exact etymology and original meaning are uncertain, as the word is largely obsolete.
Arist is a linguistic fossil from early Modern English—it hints at a time when people experimented with shortening 'aristocrat' but the full form won out, leaving these failed abbreviations in old texts.
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