baron

«baron» in Mova's school dictionary: A nobleman of the lowest rank in Britain and some other… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a baron, barons; baroness for a woman)

meaning for a pupil

1) A nobleman of the lowest rank in Britain and some other countries; in the Middle Ages a lord who held land from the king. tree →

2) A very rich and powerful businessman in one industry: an oil baron, a media baron. tree →

3) A powerful criminal boss: a drug baron. tree →

sense in the lessons

In history lessons barons were powerful lords; in 1215 English barons made King John agree to Magna Carta. In the news the word means a powerful person who controls a big business, sometimes in a bad way. Phrases: «the barons and the king», «drug baron», «press baron».

examples

• The barons forced King John to sign Magna Carta. tree →
• A baron owned the castle and the lands around it. tree →
• He became a baron and sat in the House of Lords. tree →
• The newspaper baron owned ten papers. tree →
• The police caught a drug baron at the port. tree →
• The Red Baron was a famous German pilot in the First World War. tree →
• When you have spent it you must go and take another baron’s castle.’ tree →

note

Woman: baroness. Do not confuse with «barren» (no plants or no fruit) — they sound the same. In the UK a baron is called «Lord Smith», not «Baron Smith», in speech.

In the corpora

• In 1215 English barons forced King John to accept Magna Carta, which said that even the king must obey the law.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «baron» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.