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Synonyms

baron

1 American  
[bar-uhn] / ˈbær ən /

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 American  
[ba-rawn] / baˈrɔ̃ /

noun

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

baron British  
/ 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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

Not because Mullin, a wealthy plumbing baron from Oklahoma who’s served in Washington since 2013, has a distinguished legislative record.

From Slate • Mar. 7, 2026

Help came when some of his friends met Hari Khoday, the late liquor baron who was building a temple in Pandavapura.

From BBC • Feb. 6, 2026

Government and private money are flowing in quantities that would make a Gilded Age robber baron blush.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 23, 2025

“Ease” survived, but Abbe soon sold the work to railroad baron Collis Potter Huntington to help relieve his financial difficulties.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025

Napoleon’s surgeon, the baron Dominique Jean Larrey, performed the first operation.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

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.