praetorian
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English pretorian, from Latin praetōriānus.
Pronunciation
Adjective
praetorian (not comparable)
- (Ancient Rome) Of or relating to a praetor.
- (Ancient Rome) Of or relating to the pretorium in an ancient Roman camp.
- The praetorian gate was directly in front of the general's tent, and nearest to the enemy.
- (by extension) Corruptly mercenary and venal.
Derived terms
- praetorian band, praetorian guard: the bodyguard of the emperor in Ancient Rome
Noun
praetorian (plural praetorians)
- (Ancient Rome) A praetor.
- 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 108, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:
- I am so rich, I could have given bid for bid with the wealthiest Prætorians at the auction of the Roman empire (which was the world’s); and yet I owe for the flesh in the tongue I brag with.
- (Ancient Rome) Alternative letter-case form of Praetorian
- 2013, Sandra Bingham, The Praetorian Guard, I.B.Tauris, page 6:
- Durry's work is still cited as the definitive study of the praetorians, and in fact most modern scholarship on the praetorians is based on material from his work.
- 2013, Sandra Bingham, The Praetorian Guard, I.B.Tauris, page 6:
- (by extension) A venal mercenary.
- 2019 September 23, Jonah Goldberg, “Column: The most noxious part of Ukraine-Biden whistleblower affair is Team Trump thinks we’re all idiots”, Los Angeles Times:
- The Trump praetorians who initially denied there was any effort to pressure the Ukrainians into action on a Biden probe, possibly including the withholding of congressionally approved military aid, suddenly surfaced a new talking point: “They’re trying to turn what was a Biden scandal into a Trump scandal.”
- 2019 September 23, Jonah Goldberg, “Column: The most noxious part of Ukraine-Biden whistleblower affair is Team Trump thinks we’re all idiots”, Los Angeles Times:
Further reading
- “praetorian”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- “praetorian”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
Anagrams
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