ronin

American  

[roh-nin] / ˈroʊ nɪn /

Or rōnin

noun

Japanese History.

ronin, plural ronins plural

1. a samurai who no longer serves a daimyo, or feudal lord.

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ronin British  

/ ˈrəʊnɪn /

noun

1. a lordless samurai, esp one whose feudal lord had been deprived of his territory

2. such samurai collectively

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ronin
  plural
• ronins
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ronin

From the Japanese word rōnin literally, “wave man” (understood as “a man tossed around like a wave”)

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ronin ronins

The biographical details may come from the author’s grandfather, but the character seems decidedly larger-than-life, a cross between Bruce Wayne, a Japanese ronin and an archetypal wandering Jew.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

They’re really postmodern samurai films, with Wick as a lone ronin facing an endless oncoming army, a notion that pulls so many facets of this unique star into one concentrated, irresistible figure.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 24, 2023

An armored ronin was standing up, at hip level, through the sentry hole in the top of the cabin, watching her through goggles, likely assessing whether she was a threat to their cargo.

From Slate ● May 29, 2021

It seems unlikely that Christie will be content to continue wandering the earth like a masterless samurai, a ronin.

From New York Times ● Jan. 28, 2019

On reaching the capital, the ronin changed his name from Shume to Tokubei, and, giving up his position as a samurai, turned merchant, and traded with the dead man's money.

From Stories by English Authors: The Orient (Selected by Scribners) by Roberts, Morley

It was during this period that the British minister, visiting Kioto, a concession jealously resisted by conservative Japanese spirit, was set upon by some ronins while on his way to pay an official call.

From From Sail to Steam, Recollections of Naval Life by Mahan, A. T. (Alfred Thayer)

The affair of the forty-seven ronins helped to bring into eminence the name of Yamaga Soko, a firm believer in Confucianism and an ardent follower of military science.

From A History of the Japanese People From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era by Brinkley, F. (Frank)

Letters shall be despatched forthwith to the effect that 'twas a false alarm, bred of mischief and malice,--that the ronins may be disbanded, the men returned to their homes.

From The Curse of Koshiu A Chronicle of Old Japan by Wingfield, Lewis

It was an old feudal custom, whenever the retainers of a daimyō wished to avenge any act without committing their lord, they withdrew from his service and became ronins.

From Japan by Murray, David

They had been attacked, they swore, by a band of at least fifty ronins.

From The Curse of Koshiu A Chronicle of Old Japan by Wingfield, Lewis