Bar"on (&?;), n. [OE.
baron, barun, OF.
baron, accus. of
ber, F. baron,
prob. fr. OHG. baro (not found) bearer, akin to E. bear to support; cf. O. Frisian bere, LL.
baro, It. barone, Sp. varon. From the meaning bearer (of burdens) seem to have come
the senses strong man, man (in distinction from woman), which is the
oldest meaning in French, and lastly, nobleman. Cf.
L. baro, simpleton. See Bear to support.]
1. A title or degree of nobility; originally, the possessor of a fief, who had feudal tenants under him; in modern times, in France and Germany, a nobleman next in rank below
a count; in
England, a nobleman of the lowest grade in the
House of Lords, being next below a viscount.
&fist;
"The tenants in chief from the Crown, who held lands of the annual
value of four hundred pounds, were styled Barons; and it is to them, and not
to the members of the lowest grade of the
nobility (to whom the title at the
present time belongs), that reference is made when
we read of the Barons of the early days of England's history. . . . Barons are
addressed as ‘My Lord,' and are
styled ‘Right Honorable.' All their sons and daughters are ‘Honorable.'"
Cussans.
2. (Old Law) A husband; as, baron and feme, husband and wife. [R.] Cowell.
Baron
of beef, two sirloins not cut asunder at the backbone. -- Barons of
the Cinque Ports, formerly members of the House of
Commons, elected by the seven Cinque Ports, two for each port. -- Barons of the exchequer, the judges of the Court of
Exchequer, one of the three
ancient courts of England, now abolished.
Hear it pronounced