<p><strong>noun</strong></p><ul><li>a person of noble or high rank; aristocrat.</li><li>a person of very good background, education, and refinement.</li><li>a member of the original senatorial aristocracy in ancient Rome.</li><li>(under the later Roman and Byzantine empires) a title or dignity conferred by the emperor.</li><li>a member of a hereditary ruling class in certain medieval German, Swiss, and Italian free cities.</li></ul><p><strong>adjective</strong></p><ul><li>of high social rank or noble family; aristocratic.</li><li>befitting or characteristic of persons of very good background, education, and refinement: patrician tastes.</li><li>Synonyms: stately, genteel, dignified of or belonging to the patrician families of ancient Rome.</li></ul>