patrician

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pəˈtɹɪʃən/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English patricion,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Middle French patricien,^[2][3][4][6] from Latin patricius (“of the rank of the senators; noble”),^[2][3][4][7] from patrēs (“senators, fathers”), plural of pater (“father”) (see father),^[2][3][4][7] and the suffix -an.^[3][8] Latin patrēs was short for patrēs cōnscrīptī (“enrolled fathers”), the usual title of the Roman senate.^[2][3][4][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A member of the ancient Roman noble order, or in the later Roman Empire a member of a noble order created by the emperor (probably before 1425 in Barnhart; 1432–50 in the OED; early 15th century in Etymonline).^[3][10][4]

Semantic evolution

In ancient Rome the patricians were reputed descendants of the original citizen families,^[4][10] contrasted with the plebeians,^[4][9][11] and until about 350 BC they alone could hold offices such as senator and consul.^[6][2] Constantine and his successors at Byzantium conferred the title as a dignity.^[10][11][6] From 1611 it was applied to the hereditary noble citizens of medieval Italian republics such as Venice and Genoa, and of German free cities,^[10][4][11] and since 1631 to any person of noble birth or rank.^[10][3] The adjective, “noble, aristocratic”, dates from 1615,^[3] and today the word also describes a person of refined upbringing and taste.^[2][7][8]

Timeline

• c. 1425 – a Roman noble.^[3][10]
• 1533 – a member of the original Roman citizen families.^[10]
• 1611 – a noble of a medieval Italian republic.^[10]
• 1615 – adjective, noble, aristocratic.^[3]
• 1631 – any person of noble rank.^[10][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A member of an aristocracy; an aristocrat.
2. A person of refined upbringing, manners and tastes.
3. (history) A member of one of the noble families of the ancient Roman Republic, which at first alone had the right to sit in the senate and hold the magistracies.
4. (history) A title of honorary nobility conferred by the later Roman and Byzantine emperors.
5. (history) A member of the hereditary ruling class in the medieval free cities of Italy and Germany.

Adjective

1. Of noble birth or high social rank; aristocratic.
2. Befitting or characteristic of a person of high birth or refinement.

Word family

• patricianly
• unpatrician

Related words

• father
• patriarch
• Patricia
• patron
• pattern
• paternal
• Patrick
• plebeian

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
9. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins