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History vocabulary · Social History

Patrician

Meaning in history, with examples

nounCommon term

In history, patrician means: A member of the hereditary elite order of ancient Rome; also an elite citizen in some later urban societies.

In Turkish: patrisyen

How it is used

For Roman history, distinguish inherited order from wealth alone; later uses need their own context.

Example sentences

  1. The patrician family claimed descent from an old Roman lineage.

    Ancestry supports a claim to membership of the order.

  2. The essay asks whether every wealthy Roman was a patrician.

    Wealth does not by itself establish hereditary status.

Common collocations

  • a patrician family
  • patrician status
  • aristocracyThe highest social class in many societies, made up of noble families who usually held inherited titles, land and political influence.
  • ancientBelonging to the very distant past, especially to the period before the end of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century AD.

More terms: Social History

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