Daimyo vs. Samurai

Daimyonoun

(historical) A lord during the Japanese feudal period.

Samurainoun

In feudal Japan, a soldier who served a daimyo.

Daimyo

Daimyo (大名, daimyō, Japanese pronunciation: [daimʲoː] (listen)) were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shōgun and nominally to the emperor and the kuge.

Samurai

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. They were referred to as "a cross between a knight and a gentleman".

Samurainoun

a Japanese warrior who was a member of the feudal military aristocracy

Samurainoun

feudal Japanese military aristocracy

Samurai

Samurai (侍) were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century to their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the daimyo (the great feudal landholders).