paladin

noun

pal·​a·​din ˈpa-lə-dən 

1

: a trusted military leader (as for a medieval prince)

2

: a leading champion of a cause

Did you know?

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and we know the site where it was founded: Palatine Hill (known as Palatium in Latin), site of the cave where Roman legend tells us Romulus and Remus were abandoned as infants, nursed by a she-wolf, and fed by a woodpecker before being found by a herdsman. In ancient Rome, the emperor’s palace was located on the Palatine Hill; since the site was the seat of imperial power, Latin palatium came to mean “imperial” as well as “palace.” From palatium came Latin palatinus, also meaning “imperial” and later “imperial official.” Different forms of these words passed through Latin, Italian, and French, picking up various meanings along the way, and eventually some of those forms made their way into English, including paladin and palace.

Synonyms

• advocate
• advocator
• apostle
• backer
• booster
• champion
• espouser
• exponent
• expounder
• friend
• gospeler
• gospeller
• herald
• hierophant
• high priest
• promoter
• proponent
• protagonist
• supporter
• true believer
• tub-thumper
• white knight

Examples of paladin in a Sentence

an idealistic paladin seeking better treatment for the homeless

Recent Examples on the Web

Chris Pine's winning take on a bard is the driving force here, but Michelle Rodriguez's barbarian and (an underutilized) Regé-Jean Page's paladin steal plenty of scenes by really hewing true to their characters' alignment chart. —Ars Staff, Ars Technica, 25 Dec. 2023

Trump eventually retaliated, killing Iran’s irreplaceable regional paladin, Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani. —James F. Jeffrey, Foreign Affairs, 15 Jan. 2021

In fascinating detail, Clover tracks the way the jaundiced and largely bogus thinking of these three paladins has filtered into various Russian nationalist groups, Russian institutions (particularly the military), and even Putin’s own thinking. —Charles Clover, Foreign Affairs, 9 Dec. 2016

The problem was audiences who weren’t well-versed in paladins, druids and bards mostly steered clear. —Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 27 June 2023

Word History

Etymology

Middle French, from Italian paladino, from Old French palatin, from Medieval Latin palatinus courtier, from Late Latin, imperial official — more at palatine

First Known Use

1592, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

paladin

noun

pal·​a·​din ˈpal-əd-ən 

: a person who fights for a cause as a knight fought for a king in the Middle Ages