samurai

noun, plural sam·u·rai. Japanese History.

1. a member of the hereditary warrior class in feudal Japan.
2. a retainer of a daimyo.

noun plural -rai

1. the Japanese warrior caste that provided the administrative and fighting aristocracy from the 11th to the 19th centuries
2. a member of this aristocracy

n.1727, from Japanese samurai “warrior, knight,” originally the military retainer of the daimio, variant of saburai, nominal form of sabura(h)u “to be in attendance, to serve.”