ronin
Americannoun
noun
-
a lordless samurai, esp one whose feudal lord had been deprived of his territory
-
such samurai collectively
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.
After stealing a letter containing secret information early in the game, the player’s ronin, or masterless samurai, must decide which faction most deserves it.
From New York Times • Mar. 29, 2024
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
Here’s the basic synopsis from Netflix: In a war-torn feudal Japan filled with mechs and magic, the greatest ronin never known, Yasuke, struggles to maintain a peaceful existence after a past life of violence.
From The Verge • Apr. 1, 2021
Watching this, I thought of, in feudal Japan, the example of the ronin, the masterless samurai.
From Slate • May 30, 2018
While serving as dancer in the great temple she fell in love with a ronin named Nagoya Sanza—a desperate, handsome vagabond, with no fortune in the world but his sword.
From Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan First Series by Hearn, Lafcadio
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.
