||Sa"mu*rai` (?), n. pl. & sing. [Jap.]
In the former feudal system of Japan, the class or a member of
the class, of military retainers of the daimios, constituting the
gentry or lesser nobility. They possessed power of life and death over
the commoners, and wore two swords as their distinguishing mark. Their
special rights and privileges were abolished with the fall of
feudalism in 1871.
||Sa"mu*rai` (?), n. pl. & sing. [Jap.]
In the former feudal system of Japan, the class or a member of
the class, of military retainers of the daimios, constituting the
gentry or lesser nobility. They possessed power of life and death over
the commoners, and wore two swords as their distinguishing mark. Their
special rights and privileges were abolished with the fall of
feudalism in 1871.
