baron

UK: /ˈbærən/ US: /ˈbærən/ ,(bar′ən)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

bar•on /ˈbærən/   n. [countable]

1. World History a member of the lowest grade of nobility.
2. Business a powerful, wealthy person:
   a railroad baron.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

bar•on  (bar′ən), n. 

1. World History a member of the lowest grade of nobility.
2. World History (in Britain)
   • a feudal vassal holding his lands under a direct grant from the king.
   • a direct descendant of such a vassal or his equal in the nobility.
   • a member of the House of Lords.
3. Business an important financier or industrialist, esp. one with great power in a particular area:
   an oil baron.
4. Food a cut of mutton or lamb comprising the two loins, or saddle, and the hind legs. Cf. baron of beef. 

• Gmc; sense "cut of beef '' perh. by analogy with the fanciful analysis of sirloin as "Sir Loin''
• Late Latin barōn- (s.of barō) man
• Anglo-French, Old French
• Middle English 1200–50

Ba•ron  (ba rôn′), n. 

Mi•chel  (mē shel′), (Michel Boyron), 1653–1729, French actor.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

baron / ˈbærən/ noun

1. a member of a specific rank of nobility, esp the lowest rank in the British Isles
2. (in Europe from the Middle Ages) originally any tenant-in-chief of a king or other overlord, who held land from his superior by honourable service; a land-holding nobleman
3. a powerful business owner or financier: a press baron
4. short for baron of beef

Etymology: 12th Century: from Old French, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German baro freeman, Old Norse berjask to fight