'Oligarchy' is Greek for 'rule by the few' — 'oligos' (few) + 'arkhein' (to rule). Power hoarded.
A form of government in which power rests with a small number of people. A state governed by such a group. The members of such a governing group.
From Greek 'oligarkhía' (government by a few, rule of a small group), from 'olígos' (few, little, small) + 'árkhein' (to rule, to be first, to begin), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erḱ- (to hold, contain, guard). The Greek word was coined as a political category by Athenian philosophers to describe constitutions where power was held by a small wealthy elite — as opposed to 'dēmokratía' (rule by the people) or 'monarchía' (rule by one). Plato and Aristotle used it primarily pejoratively, as the corrupt form of 'aristocracy' (rule by the best), just as democracy was for them a degenerate
Aristotle classified oligarchy as the corrupt form of aristocracy. In his system, aristocracy (rule by the best) was the virtuous version of rule by the few — the few governing in the common interest. Oligarchy was its degenerate counterpart: the few governing in their own interest, using wealth rather than virtue as their qualification. The distinction matters: every oligarchy claims