Patrician Meaning
/pəˈtɹɪʃən/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA 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.
nounA person of high birth; a nobleman.
Sentence Examples
The patrician family owned vast lands.
He was a patrician with refined tastes.
He belonged to an old and wealthy patrician family.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ owned large estates and had great wealth, unlike the poor farmers.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ families of ancient Rome held most of the political power and land in the early republic.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Middle French patricien, from Latin patricius, derived from patrēs cōnscrīptī (“Roman senators”). May also have been derived from Latin patricius + -ian
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Noble Patricians, Patrons of my right, / Defend the iuſtice of my Cauſe with Armes."
— c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 31, column 1:
"[…] 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."
— 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, pages 1-2:
"The cognomen was first used in patrician families, who were distinguished from the plebeians by their three names."
— 1945, E[lizabeth] G[idley] Withycombe, “Introduction”, in The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page xiv:
"born in the patrician file of society"
— 1829 May 2, [Walter Scott], Anne of Geierstein; or, The Maiden of the Mist. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Company] for Cadell and Co., […]; London: Simpkin and Marshall, […], →OCLC:
"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"
— 2021 February 9, Christina Newland, “Is Tom Hanks part of a dying breed of genuine movie stars?”, in BBC:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ owned large estates and had great wealth, unlike the poor farmers.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ families of ancient Rome held most of the political power and land in the early republic.