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Of or pertaining to the Roman patres (fathers) or senators, or patricians.

The rank or character of patricians.

The nobles or chief persons in a state; a privileged class or patrician order; (in a popular use) those who are regarded as superior to the rest of the community, as in rank, fortune, or intellect.

The state of being of high rank or noble birth; patrician dignity; antiquity of family; distinction by rank, station, or title, whether inherited or conferred. I fell on the same argument of preferring virtue to nobility of blood and titles, in the story of Sigismunda. Dryden.

The patrician class; the aristocracy; also, the office of patriarch. Milman.

One of the plebs, or common people of ancient Rome, in distinction from patrician.

ere citizens without the usual political rights; the plebeians; -- distinguished from the patricians.

An officer or magistrate chosen by the people, to protect them from the oppression of the patricians, or nobles, and to defend their liberties against any attempts that might be made upon them by the senate and consuls.