praetorian
/pɹɪˈtɔːɹiən/ adjective, noun
Forms praetorians pretorian prætorian
- adjective (Ancient Rome) Of or pertaining to a praetor.
- adjective (Ancient Rome) Of or pertaining to the pretorium in an ancient Roman camp. “The praetorian gate was directly in front of the general's tent, and nearest to the enemy.”
- adjective (Ancient Rome) Of or pertaining to the special bodyguard force used by Roman emperors. “praetorian guard”
- adjective (by extension) Corruptly mercenary and venal.
- noun (Ancient Rome) A praetor; a person of praetorian rank.
- noun (by extension) A venal mercenary.
- noun (historical, Ancient Rome) A member of a special bodyguard force used by Roman emperors, their symbol being the scorpion.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English pretorian, from Latin praetōriānus.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective See Pretorian.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “praetorian”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details