Etymologically
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patrician

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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
  • 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