Patrician

/pəˈtɹɪʃən/ · noun

Meaning

(Ancient Rome) A member of any of the families constituting the populus Romanus, or body of Roman citizens, before the development of the plebeian order; later, one who, by right of birth or by special privilege conferred, belonged to the senior class of Romans, who, with certain property, had by right a seat in the Roman Senate..

Definitions by Sense

1. (Ancient Rome) A member of any of the families constituting the populus Romanus, or body of Roman citizens, before the development of the plebeian order; later, one who, by right of birth or by special privilege conferred, belonged to the senior class of Romans, who, with certain property, had by right a seat in the Roman Senate.
2. A person of high birth; a nobleman.
3. One familiar with the works of the Christian Fathers; one versed in patristic lore or life.
4. Of or pertaining to the Roman patres (“fathers”) or senators, or patricians.
5. Of or pertaining to a person of high birth; noble; not plebeian; aristocratic.
6. Characteristic of or appropriate to a person of high birth; classy.
7. Politically active to help people in lower classes, especially in a patronizing or condescending way.

Example Sentences

Noble Patricians, Patrons of my right, / Defend the iuſtice of my Cauſe with Armes.

The emperor elevated several loyal families to the status of patricians.

[…] I ſee Th’ Inſulting Tyrant prancing o’er the Field Strow’d with Rome’s Citizens, and drench’d in Slaughter, His Horſe’s Hoofs wet with Patrician Blood.

The cognomen was first used in patrician families, who were distinguished from the plebeians by their three names.

born in the patrician file of society

Hanks' taste in projects and directors is undoubtedly patrician and with a few exceptions like 1993's Philadelphia, the first mainstream film about the Aids crisis, rarely provocative

It will speed the shrivelling of the patrician “one nation” Tories, who tried to curb the extremes of Thatcherism and ended by providing its veils.

Saint-Simon was certainly a radical, and hostile to inherited privilege, but his bourgeois 'socialism' was of a patrician kind. Science, being a firm and certain kind of knowledge, a 'religion of Newton' or 'cult of Reason' essentially plays the key role in his grand scheme for social engineering.

Synonyms for patrician

Antonyms for patrician

Related Words

Word Forms

• patricians
• patritian
• more patrician
• most patrician

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