I. pə.ˈtrishən noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English patricion, from Middle French patricien, from Latin patricius (from patres fathers, senators, plural of pater father) + Middle French -en -an — more at father
1. : a member of one of the original citizen families of ancient Rome to whom until about 350 B.C. such offices as those of senator, consul, and pontifex were restricted
2.
a. : a member of a noble class created by Constantine and continued by succeeding emperors at Byzantium
b. : an official originally of this class appointed supreme magistrate of the provinces of Italy and Africa by the Byzantine emperor
c. : a Holy Roman emperor assuming the title of patrician or granted it by the pope
3.
a. : a hereditary noble of a medieval Italian city republic
b. : a member of an order of citizens eligible for the senate or council in the German free cities and towns
4.
a. : a person of high birth : aristocrat , nobleman
b. : a person of breeding and cultivation : gentleman
as cultivated a patrician as ever found himself leading the proletariat to Utopia — E.P.Snow
II. adjective
Etymology: French patricien, from Middle French, from patricien, n.
1. : of or relating to the patricians of ancient Rome
the patrician families had the start in the race. Great names and great possessions came to them by inheritance — J.A.Froude
2. : of or relating to the patricians of the medieval Italian city republics or the German free cities
3. : of, relating to, or characteristic of gentle or noble birth or of breeding and cultivation
in the South, patrician landholders and merchants tried to set up a political monopoly — Allan Nevins & H.S.Commager
• pa·tri·cian·ly adverb