Baron
1 Americannoun
noun
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a member of the lowest grade of nobility.
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(in Britain)
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a feudal vassal holding his lands under a direct grant from the king.
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a direct descendant of such a vassal or his equal in the nobility.
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a member of the House of Lords.
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an important financier or industrialist, especially one with great power in a particular area.
an oil baron.
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a cut of mutton or lamb comprising the two loins, or saddle, and the hind legs.
noun
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a member of a specific rank of nobility, esp the lowest rank in the British Isles
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(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
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a powerful businessman or financier
a press baron
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English law (formerly) the title held by judges of the Court of Exchequer
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short for baron of beef
Etymology
Origin of baron
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”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Government and private money are flowing in quantities that would make a Gilded Age robber baron blush.
From MarketWatch
Mr McCann told the Today programme: "It's quite obvious that press barons can meet the prime minister, but the people who have suffered at the hands of them can't."
From BBC
"Most farmers are not wealthy land barons; they live hand to mouth on tiny and sometimes non-existent profit margins."
From BBC
“Ease” survived, but Abbe soon sold the work to railroad baron Collis Potter Huntington to help relieve his financial difficulties.
There was nothing particularly likable about the baron, but she found him far preferable to his wife.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
