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

Her last film before her retirement was Hiroshi Inagaki’s “Chushingura,” a retelling of the classic tale of the 47 ronin, a band of 18th-century samurai bent on avenging their slain leader.

From New York Times ● Nov. 27, 2015

On their way to Kyoto they met another ronin, whose real name I have not been able to learn.

From Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan First Series by Lafcadio Hearn

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 F. (Frank) Brinkley

There, I fancy, religious "ronins" are common enough.

From God and Mr. Wells A Critical Examination of 'God the Invisible King' by William Archer

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 David Murray

The Satsuma yashiki, which was occupied by troops of that clan and by ronins favorable to them was surrounded by Tokugawa troops and burnt.

From Japan by David Murray

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 A. T. (Alfred Thayer) Mahan