baron

¹

[bar-uhn]

noun

1. a member of the lowest grade of nobility.

2. (in Britain)

   1. a feudal vassal holding his lands under a direct grant from the king.

   2. a direct descendant of such a vassal or his equal in the nobility.

   3. a member of the House of Lords.

3. an important financier or industrialist, especially one with great power in a particular area.

   an oil baron.

4. a cut of mutton or lamb comprising the two loins, or saddle, and the hind legs.

Baron

²

[ba-rawn]

noun

1. Michel Michel Boyron, 1653–1729, French actor.

baron

/ ˈbærən /

noun

1. a member of a specific rank of nobility, esp the lowest rank in the British Isles

2. (in Europe from the Middle Ages) originally any tenant-in-chief of a king or other overlord, who held land from his superior by honourable service; a land-holding nobleman

3. a powerful businessman or financier

   a press baron

4. English law (formerly) the title held by judges of the Court of Exchequer

5. short for baron of beef

Word History and Origins

Origin of baron¹

1200–50; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French < Late Latin barōn- (stemof barō ) man < Germanic; sense “cut of beef ” perhaps by analogy with the fanciful analysis of sirloin as “Sir Loin”

Word History and Origins

Origin of baron¹

C12: from Old French, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German baro freeman, Old Norse berjask to fight

Example Sentences

Combine “There Will Be Blood’s” voracious oil baron and “The Master’s” manipulative spiritual guru with this movie’s America-first nativists and you have Anderson’s unholy trinity of characters who have corrupted our founders’ ideals.

From Los Angeles Times

Many of these press barons were no mere “conservatives”; they took a friendly line towards Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

From Salon

As the richest people in the world have gone from being oil barons and communications scions to app makers and data center owners, the trappings of wealth have shifted.

From Salon

Props to the robber barons of yesteryear — at least they had style.

From Salon

The media baron has long relished his proximity to power.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• aristocrat