baron

/ˈbæɹən/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ˈbaɹən/

baron noun: the male ruler of a barony.

Noun

baron (plural barons)

The male ruler of a barony.
A male member of the lowest rank of English nobility (the equivalent rank in Scotland is lord).
(broadly) A person of great power in society, especially in business and politics.
- railroad baron
- tech baron
Synonyms:

magnate, tycoon, big cheese, big enchilada, big gun, big kahuna, big man, big name, big noise, big shot
(UK, slang) A prisoner who gains power and influence by lending or selling goods such as tobacco.
- The first thing a baron does is to accumulate a supply of tobacco. He spends every penny he can earn on laying it in […]1960, Hugh J. Klare, Anatomy of Prison, page 33
- Nevertheless, from my own agonies of the first few months, after which I did not miss smoking at all, I could appreciate the need of others. It was in this atmosphere of craving that the 'barons' thrived. Barons are prisoners who lend tobacco.1961, Peter Baker, Time out of life, page 51
A baron of beef, a cut made up of a double sirloin.
- 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.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 34”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC
Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Euthalia.
(obsolete) A husband.
- baron and femme

Proper noun capitalized: Baron

Baron

A surname from French
A surname from German
A surname from Polish
A surname from Ukrainian

baron meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali

baron in Marathi

male ruler of a barony: बॅरन bĕran

baron in Bengali

ব্যারন, অভিজাত ব্যক্তি, প্রভাবশালী ব্যবসায়ী

More languagesFewer languages

baron in Malayalam: പ്രഭു
baron in Kannada: ಬ್ಯಾರನ್, ಬ್ಯಾರೋನ್
baron in Punjabi: ਬੈਰਨ, ਬਾਰੋਨ
baron in Gujarati: બેરોન, બેરન, બારોન
baron in Nepali: ब्यारन, बारोन, बैरन
baron in Arabic: بارون bārōn
baron in Persian: بارون bâron
baron in Thai: แบรอน, บารอน
baron in Vietnamese: nam tước

Examples of baron in a sentence

There were a few exotics among them — some South American boys, sons of Argentine beef barons, one or two Russians, and even a Siamese prince, or someone who was described as a prince.c. 1948, George Orwell, Such, Such Were the Joys:
Elsewhere in Europe, government contracts and subsidies ensure that press barons will only defy the mighty so far.2013 August 10, Lexington, “Keeping the mighty honest”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:
The official allowance is barely sufficient for individual smoking needs, but tobacco may expensively be borrowed or bought from a baron, possibly through his runner.1980, Leonard Michaels, Christopher Ricks, The State of the Language, page 525:

All 40 example sentences with baron

Synonyms of baron

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of baron

Forms of baron

plural	barons

Plural of baron: barons

Origin of baron

From Middle English baroun, from Old French baron, from Latin barōnem, from Proto-West Germanic *barō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bear”). Cognate with Old High German *baro (“human being, man, freeman”), Old English bora (“a man who bears responsibility, one who is in charge, a ruler”), and perhaps to Old English beorn (“man, warrior”). Used in early Germanic law in the sense of "man, human being". A Celtic origin has also been suggested; see the quote under sense 3 of Latin barō. However, the OED takes the hypothetical Proto-Celtic *bar- (“hero”) to be a figment.

* As a French, English, Jewish, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Czech, German, Spanish (Barón), Romanian, Serbo-Croatian, and Breton surname, all from the noun baron. Compare Barron, Lebaron. * Also as a French surname, from several places in France Le Baron. * As an Italian (Veneto) surname, variant of Barone. * Also as a Czech surname (Baroň), from a pet form of Bartoloměj. * As an Irish surname, Anglicized from Ó Bearáin; see Barnes. * General Slavic surname: Anglicization of Polish Baran (“Aries”), Ukrainian Баран (Baran), etc.

Words formed from baron

Phrases with baron

Words that rhyme with baron

Questions about baron

What does baron mean?: Baron means the male ruler of a barony.
What is baron in Hindi?: Baron in Hindi is बैरन. See Baron meaning in Hindi.
How do you use baron in a sentence?: There were a few exotics among them — some South American boys, sons of Argentine beef barons, one or two Russians, and even a Siamese prince, or someone who was described as a prince.
What part of speech is baron?: Baron can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce baron?: Baron is pronounced /ˈbæɹən/ (UK).
What is the plural of baron?: The plural of baron is barons.

Words near baron in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: baron (page history and authors); Baron (page history and authors); baron (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); baron (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); baron (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); baron (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); baron (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); baron (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); baron (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); baron (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-baron.wav, en-us-barren.ogg.

Cite this entry: “baron.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/baron. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.