Merit is from Latin, and cracy is a Greek suffix, so combining them together is nonsense. Aristo has the advantage of actually being Greek for "the best."
The word meritocracy was actually popularized (1) by British Labour Party politician Michael Young in his 1958 satirical novel "The Rise of the Meritocracy" which was basically the Idiocracy of its day- in the future idiots will reign supreme sort of thing. But the book was definitely meant to mock the entire idea of society that we live in today. Right down to how the society in the book defined "merit" as basically IQ plus how hard you work, it was a dystopia that came true.
1: Apparently someone else actually coined the term two years earlier in a peer reviewed paper, but Young was where it broke through into general use.
> Aristo has the advantage of actually being Greek for "the best."
Well, yes. You're emphasizing the "Greek" aspect, but if you want a word that means "rule by the best", you should probably use a word that means "best". The Latin word is optim(us).
Tele is from Greek and vision is Latin, so while you’re at it…
Automobile, sociology…
That book is pure gold.
Anyone who thinks mixing roots is nonsense must have a hyperventilating grammar nazi fiddling with a monocle in his head. Maybe go out and ride a bicycle? Or watch the television? Or take your automobile out for a spin?
It would be nonsense in Latin or Greek. But we aren't doing that in Latin or Greek, we're doing that in English.