ronin
Americannoun
noun
-
a lordless samurai, esp one whose feudal lord had been deprived of his territory
-
such samurai collectively
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ronin
From the Japanese word rōnin literally, “wave man” (understood as “a man tossed around like a wave”)
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.
See Examples For:
He is also readying for his transfer to Japan by training intensively with a ronin, or masterless samurai, named Tetsuo.
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
Thomas created the series while living and working in Japan, an experience that one guesses informs the way Nick Jones Jr. writes this ronin and certainly permeates Stanfield's portrayal.
From Salon ● Apr. 30, 2021
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
There, I fancy, religious "ronins" are common enough.
From God and Mr. Wells A Critical Examination of 'God the Invisible King' by Archer, William
The daimyō was looked upon as the patriotic leader of the country, and ronins from all parts hastened to enroll themselves under his banner.
From Japan by Murray, David
The attacking party consisted of fourteen ronins belonging to the Mito clan, who had banded themselves together to take vengeance on the “accursed foreigners.”
From Japan by Murray, David
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)
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)
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.
