• (n.) The patrician class; the aristocracy; also, the office of patriarch.
(from the article `Low Countries, history of`) ...during the reign of two countesses from 1205 to 1278 because of the increasing pressure of the kingdom and the growing power of the cities. The ... A town`s population usually had a distinct social structure. The merchants, the oldest and leading group, soon emerged as a separate class (...
Pa·tri'ci·ate noun The patrician class; the aristocracy; also, the office of patriarch. Milman. 
patriciate 1. The rank or position of a patrician. 2. The patrician class; aristocracy.