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ronin

[ roh-nin ]
/ ˈroʊ nɪn /
|

noun, plural ro·nin, ro·nins. Japanese History.

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

Nearby words

  1. rondônia,
  2. rone,
  3. roneo,
  4. rongeur,
  5. ronggeng,
  6. ronion,
  7. ronne ice shelf,
  8. ronnie,
  9. ronquil,
  10. ronsard

Origin of ronin

From the Japanese word rōnin literally, ‘wave man’ (understood as ‘a man tossed around like a wave’)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ronin

  • Thus the forty-seven ronin were pre-eminently "righteous" when they debauched themselves with every swinish vice.

    The Gist of Japan|R. B. Peery

  • And the reason she built the temple was that she might pray for the soul of the ronin whom the sight of her beauty had ruined.

    The Life and Letters of Lafcadio Hearn, Volume 2|Elizabeth Bisland

  • We should have the story of the Forty-seven Ronin, not a Japanese stage version, but a work from the source-material.

    The Art Of The Moving Picture|Vachel Lindsay

  • Born about 1680 he, by birth a Samurai, became a Ronin, and entered the studio of Kiyonobu.

    Chats on Japanese Prints|Arthur Davison Ficke

British Dictionary definitions for ronin

ronin

/ (ˈrəʊnɪn) /

noun Japanese history

a lordless samurai, esp one whose feudal lord had been deprived of his territory
such samurai collectively

Word Origin for ronin

Japanese
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

Word Origin and History for ronin

ronin

n.

"masterless man, outcast, outlaw," 1871, from Japanese, from ro "wave" + nin "man."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper