Pronunciation: (pu-trish'un), [key]
1. a person of noble or high rank; aristocrat.
2. a person of very good background, education, and refinement.
3. a member of the original senatorial aristocracy in ancient Rome.
4. (under the later Roman and Byzantine empires) a title or dignity conferred by the emperor.
5. a member of a hereditary ruling class in certain medieval German, Swiss, and Italian free cities.
1. of high social rank or noble family; aristocratic.
2. befitting or characteristic of persons of very good background, education, and refinement: patrician tastes.
3. of or belonging to the patrician families of ancient Rome.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.