baron

See also: barón, bâron, and Baron

English

Wikipedia ^en

Etymology

From Old French baron, Late Latin baro, barōnem (not to be confused with classical bāro, bārōnem "simpleton"). Used in early Germanic law in the sense of homo, especially "man, servant, follower, warrior" (also as barus). It is presumably of Frankish origin, from a Germanic word meaning "servant; man, warrior", possibly cognate with Old English beorn, perhaps originally *barô (“carrier”). A Celtic origin has also been suggested, due to the occurrence of a Latin barones meaning servos militum as early as the first century (Cornutus, On Persius' Fifth Satire). OED takes this hypothetical Celtic *bar- (“hero”) to be a figment.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbæɹən/
• Rhymes: -æɹən
• Homophone: barren (in some accents)

Noun

baron (plural barons)

1. The male ruler of a barony.
2. A male member of the lowest rank of British nobility.
3. A particular cut of beef, made up of a double sirloin.
   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, chapter 34

     Such portentous appetites had Queequeg and Tashtego, that to fill out the vacancies made by the previous repast, often the pale Dough-Boy was fain to bring on a great baron of salt-junk, seemingly quarried out of the solid ox.

4. A person of great power in society, especially in business and politics.

   A “robber baron” or “robber knight” is an historic term and title of disdain.

   • 2013 August 10, Lexington, “Keeping the mighty honest”, The Economist, volume 408, number 8848: 

     British journalists shun complete respectability, feeling a duty to be ready to savage the mighty, or rummage through their bins. Elsewhere in Europe, government contracts and subsidies ensure that press barons will only defy the mighty so far.

5. (law, obsolete) A husband.

   baron and feme: husband and wife

Derived terms

• baron and femme
• barony
• robber baron

Related terms

• baroness
• baronet
• baronetcy

Translations

male ruler of a barony

• Albanian: baron (sq) m
• Armenian: բարոն (baron)
• Asturian: barón m
• Catalan: baró m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 男爵 (zh) (nánjué)

• Czech: baron (cs) m
• Dutch: baron (nl) m
• Esperanto: barono
• Estonian: parun, vabahärra
• Faroese: barónur m
• Finnish: vapaaherra, paroni (fi)
• French: baron (fr) m
• Galician: barón m
• German: Baron (de) m
• Greek: βαρόνος (el) m (varónos)
• Hawaiian: pālona, barona
• Hungarian: báró (hu)

• Icelandic: barón m
• Ido: barono (io), baronulo (io)
• Italian: barone (it) m
• Japanese: 男爵 (ja) (だんしゃく, danshaku)
• Jèrriais: bâron m
• Khmer: ឃុន (km) (kʰun)
• Latvian: barons
• Lithuanian: baronas (lt) m
• Macedonian: барон m (baron)
• Marathi: बॅरन m (bǎrana)
• Old English: þegn m
• Persian: بارون (fa) (bâron)
• Portuguese: barão (pt) m
• Russian: баро́н (ru) m (barón)
• Slovene: baron m
• Spanish: barón m
• Swedish: baron (sv) c
• Volapük: baonan (vo)

Anagrams

• aborn, NORBA

References

• "baron n.", Oxford English Dictionary, Second edition, 1989; first published in New English Dictionary, 1885.

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Dutch

Etymology

Readjustment from earlier baroen through French influence, from Middle Dutch baroen, from Old French baron, from Frankish *baro.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔn

Noun

baron m (plural baronnen, diminutive baronnetje n, feminine barones)

1. baron

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Esperanto

Noun

baron

1. accusative singular of baro

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French

Etymology

Old French baron

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ba.ʁɔ̃/
• Rhymes: -ɔ̃

Noun

baron m (plural barons)

1. (dated) baron, lord, noble landowner

Anagrams

• borna

External links

• “baron” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Old French

Noun

baron m (oblique plural barons, nominative singular ber, nominative plural baron)

1. lord, baron (title of nobility)
2. (by extension) husband

Synonyms

• (husband): seignor, mari

Descendants

• English: baron
• French: baron (rare)
• Jèrriais: bâron

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Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bǎroːn/
• Hyphenation: ba‧ron

Noun

bàrōn m (Cyrillic spelling ба̀ро̄н)

1. baron (title of nobility)