praetorian

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Praetorian^¹

noun Praetorians · praetorian · pretorian · Pretorian · prætorian · Prætorian

Ancient Rome, historical A member of a special bodyguard force used by Roman emperors, their symbol being the scorpion.

praetorian^²

/pɹɪˈtɔːɹiən/

Where it comes from

From Middle English pretorian, from Latin praetōriānus.

adjective pretorian · prætorian

Ancient Rome, not comparable Of or pertaining to a praetor.
Ancient Rome, not comparable 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.
Ancient Rome, not comparable Of or pertaining to the special bodyguard force used by Roman emperors. praetorian guard
broadly, not comparable Corruptly mercenary and venal.

noun praetorians · pretorian · prætorian

Ancient Rome A praetor; a person of praetorian rank. I am so rich, I could have given bid for bid with the wealthiest Prætorians at the auction of the Roman empire (which was the world’s); and yet I owe for the flesh in the tongue I brag with.
Ancient Rome Alternative letter-case form of Praetorian (“member of a special bodyguard force used by Roman emperors”). Durry's work is still cited as the definitive study of the praetorians, and in fact most modern scholarship on the praetorians is based on material from his work.
broadly A venal mercenary. The Trump praetorians who initially denied there was any effort to pressure the Ukrainians into action on a Biden probe, possibly including the withholding of congressionally approved military aid, suddenly surfaced a new talking point: “They’re trying to turn what was a Biden scandal into a Trump s

Translations

Every language

noun member of that force

Español	pretoriano
Português	pretoriano
Français	prétorien
Deutsch	Prätorianer
Italiano	pretoriano

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MLA

"praetorian." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/praetorian. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

praetorian. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/praetorian

Chicago

"praetorian." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/praetorian.

BibTeX

@misc{praetorian_2026,
  title = {praetorian},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/praetorian},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}