patrician

A person of refined upbringing, manners, and tastes.

A member of an aristocracy; an aristocrat.

A member of one of the noble families of the ancient Roman Republic, which before the third century BC had exclusive rights to the Senate and the magistracies.

Used as a title for members of a class of honorary nobility appointed by the Byzantine emperors.

A member of the hereditary ruling class in the medieval free cities of Italy and Germany.

Belonging to or composed of the patres or fathers (the title of the senators of ancient Rome); hence, of noble birth; noble; senatorial; not plebeian: as, patrician families; patrician influence.

In ancient Rome, a descendant or reputed descendant of one of the original citizen families; hence, in general, a person of noble birth.

Under the later Roman empire, a title or dignity conferred by the emperor, often upon persons of plebeian blood, or even upon foreigners.

A member of an influential class in certain German and Swiss cities in the middle ages.

One who is familiar with the works of the early fathers of the Christian church.