What is "samurai"

Shizoku \Shi*zo"ku\, n. sing. & pl. [Jap. shi-zoku, fr. Chin. ch' (chi) branch, posterity + tsu kindered, class.] The Japanese warrior gentry or middle class, formerly called samurai; also, any member of this class.

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

n. In feudal Japan, a soldier of noble birth who followed the code of bushido and served a daimyo.

1. n. a Japanese warrior who was a member of the feudal military aristocracy

2. feudal Japanese military aristocracy

were the military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan.

In Japanese, they are usually referred to as or . According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning "to wait upon" or "accompany persons" in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau. In both countries the terms were nominalized to mean "those who serve in close attendance to the nobility", the pronunciation in Japanese changing to saburai. According to Wilson, an early reference to the word "samurai" appears in the Kokin Wakashū (905–914), the first imperial anthology of poems, completed in the first part of the 10th century.

By the end of the 12th century, samurai became almost entirely synonymous with bushi, and the word was closely associated with the middle and upper echelons of the warrior class. The samurai were usually associated with a clan and their lord, were trained as officers in military tactics and grand strategy, and they followed a set of rules that later came to be known as the bushidō. While the samurai numbered less than 10% of then Japan's population, their teachings can still be found today in both everyday life and in modern Japanese martial arts.

Samurai is a German-style board game invented by Reiner Knizia, distributed by Hans im Glück in Germany and Fantasy Flight in the United States. It won the Deutscher Spiele Preis 4th place award in 1999. A shareware computer version was published by Klear Games in 2003, and an iOS version was published by Conlan Rios Games in 2010.

Samurai is the second album by Matti Nykänen. It was released in 1993.

Samurai is an Asian superhero in the Super Friends animated television series. His real name is Toshio Eto, and he is of Japanese descent. He was one of the later additions to the team along with other ethnically diverse heroes in an effort for the show to promote cultural diversity. His voice actor is Jack Angel. In addition to being a prominent figure in several other animated shows, Angel also did the voice for The Flash and Hawkman.

Samurai appears in The All-New Super Friends Hour, Challenge of the Super Friends, Super Friends (1980), Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show, and The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians. Besides being inserted to create diversity, Samurai, in a sense, took the place of Red Tornado with whom he shares similar wind-based abilities. After sporadic guest appearances, Samurai grew into a prominent team member in the series' later seasons.

Samurai appeared in the DC Comics Mini Series Super Powers. He also had an action figure in the Super Powers Collection line produced by Kenner. A character resembling Samurai appeared in a double page spread in the Infinite Crisis hard cover trade collection. The actual Samurai made his first appearance in the comics several years later during the Brightest Day event.

Samurai is the 45th official video game for the Philips Videopac. in North America, the same game as released as Dynasty! for the Magnavox Odyssey² console.

The game is identical to the game Reversi. It also contains two player mode, gameplay against the computer, as well as a digital timing handicap which allows newcomers to have a better chance in beating grandmaster players in the game. Similar to other Videopac games, the game did not compare favorably to those for Atari's consoles.

The samurai is a playable character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.

Samurai is a flat ride at Thorpe Park in the United Kingdom. It was originally installed at nearby Chessington World of Adventures. The song played on the ride is "Burly Brawl", from the soundtrack of The Matrix Reloaded.

A samurai is a member of the Japanese warrior caste.

Samurai may also refer to:

• Samurai!, a 1957 book by Martin Caidin, based on the life and career of Saburō Sakai
• Samurai (Super Friends), a superhero on the Superfriends cartoon
• Samurai (board game), a German-style board game
• Samurai (Videopac game), a 1979 videogame for the Magnavox Odyssey
• Samurai (Dungeons & Dragons), a character class in the roleplaying game
• Samurai Champloo, series of manga and anime
• Samurai (Cyberpunk 2020), a fictional band in Cyberpunk 2020
• Samurai (Die Apokalyptischen Reiter album), a heavy metal album released 2004
• Samurai Jack, series americanime
• Samurai (Matti Nykänen album), an album by Matti Nykänen, released 1993
• Samurai Pizza Cats, series of manga and anime
• Samurai (1945 film) starring Paul Fung
• Le Samouraï (The Samurai), a 1967 French film
• The Samurai (TV series), a Japanese TV series of the 1960s
• Samurai Trilogy, a film trilogy starring Toshirō Mifune as Miyamoto Musashi
• Samurai (2002 film), a 2002 Tamil-language film
• Samurai (2010 film), a TV documentary
• The Samurai (film), a 2013 film
• Silver Samurai, character from Marvel Comics
• Suzuki Samurai, a small SUV
• Samurai bond, a Japanese Yen-denominated bond issued by a foreign entity
• The Last Samurai, film released in 2003
• The Samurai (novel), a 1980 novel by Shusaku Endo
• Samurai (ride), a ride at Thorpe Park and Lagoon Amusement Park
• Samurai, an energy drink in the Philippines and Vietnam, see List of Coca-Cola brands
• "Samurai" (song), a 1985 song by Michael Cretu
• Samurai (Dschinghis Khan song)
• Samurai Shodown, name of a fighting game series by SNK Playmore
• Samurai Troopers, series of manga and anime
• Samurai X, series of manga and anime
• Power Rangers Samurai, the 18th series of the Power Rangers trilogy. Adapted from Samurai Sentai Shinkenger

Samurai may also be used for:

• "Samurai Blue", the nickname of the Japan national football team
• Samurai, the nickname of the Japanese national Australian rules football team
• "Samurai", an episode of Power Rangers: SPD
• Samurai, an IRC client by Ninjaforce
• Samurai, a wargame by Avalon Hill

SAMURAI refers to:

• SAMURAI, an EU- Surveillance program (Suspicious and abnormal Behaviour monitoring using a network of cameras and sensor for situation awareness enhancement), similar to INDECT

Samurai is a 2002 Tamil language film directed by Balaji Sakthivel and produced by S. Sriram. The film featured Vikram in the title role, while Anita Hassanandani, Jaya Seal and Nassar played supporting roles. Harris Jayaraj scored the film's music, while Sethu Sriram handled cinematography. Originally launched in 2000, the film went through production delays and was only released in July 2002, when it opened to mixed reviews and an average response at the box office.

Samurai is the fifth studio album by Die Apokalyptischen Reiter. The release had two versions, the international version, and the U.S. version which had the band name changed to " The Apocalyptic Riders" and has a slightly different cover with a different track listing as well. It was also released as a box set, limited to 1000 copies, which contained the CD, a patch, a flag and a DVD with four video clips, band documentary and a hidden track.

Samurai is a 1985 song by Michael Cretu.

Samurai is a TV documentary first aired on the History Channel on March 16, 2010.

The documentary follows Mark Dacascos as he travels throughout Japan, exploring the history or story of the famous Japanese samurai Miyamoto Musashi and trains in the weaponry and wisdom of Japan's great warriors. Set to the action-packed, battle-scarred backdrop of Japan's warrior tradition, this feature-length special takes viewers on an immersive journey through historic Japan in the footsteps of Musashi. As Mark learns about ancient Samurai culture, the action is brought vividly to life in a dynamic and innovative way through cutting-edge animation.