ronin

American  

[roh-nin] / ˈroʊ nɪn /

Or rōnin

noun

Japanese History.

plural

ronin, ronins

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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Etymology

Origin of ronin

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

Example Sentences

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

Like Japanese ronin, Howard’s warrior protagonists possess both iron self-control and an innate fatalism.

From Washington Post • Jun. 9, 2021

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

Outside of that domain he could be only a wanderer,—a ronin, or "wave-man," as the masterless samurai was termed.

From Japan: an Attempt at Interpretation by Hearn, Lafcadio