ronin

ronin noun: a masterless samurai (who often becomes a mercenary to make ends meet).

Noun

ronin (plural ronins or ronin)

A masterless samurai (who often becomes a mercenary to make ends meet).
- Back at Asano’s home in Ako, his chancellor, Oishi (Tatsuo Ichikawa), rallies the samurai, now known as ronin because they are without a master, in a campaign to avenge Asano and restore his clan’s honor.2022 October 24, Elisabeth Vincentelli, “‘Chushingura — 47 Ronin’ Review: A Sprawling Tale of Loyalty”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 27 Oct 2022
(colloquial) A student who has failed the entrance examination for the high school or university of their choice: if the student does not wish to take the exam the following year or is unable to, the student becomes a ronin, assuming full responsibility for their own training and survival.

Ronin

A male given name originating as a coinage.
- He shook Chaz's hand. “Please call me Ronin.” Ronin. The sexy, mysterious name fit him perfectly.2014, Lorelei James, Bound: The Mastered Series, Penguin, →ISBN

From Japanese 浪人 (rōnin), in turn from Middle Chinese 浪人 (MC langH nyin, “dissolute, wasteful, unrestrained + person”).

From modern films and comics, perhaps literally "a ronin". Compare also Ronan.

What does ronin mean?: Ronin means a masterless samurai (who often becomes a mercenary to make ends meet).
What is ronin in Marathi?: Ronin in Marathi is रोनिन (ronin). See Ronin meaning in Marathi.
What part of speech is ronin?: Ronin can be a noun or a proper noun.
What is the plural of ronin?: The plural of ronin is ronins.

Adapted from Wiktionary: ronin (page history and authors); Ronin (page history and authors). 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

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