one of the military class in Japanese feudalism, originally a military retainer of a daimio, 1727, from Japanese samurai "warrior, knight," variant of saburai, nominal form of sabura(h)u "to be in attendance, to serve."

"masterless man, outcast, outlaw," 1865, from Japanese, ronin "a samurai who has renounced his clan or been dismissed from service and dispossessed for some offense," said to be from ro "wave" + nin "man," on the notion of "floating man."