Ronin
From Namespedia - Names Meaning and Origins
Name: Ronin
Gender: Unknown Gender
Location: Asia
Language: Japanese
Thematic: Unknown Thematic
Meaning: According to the Bushido Shoshinshu (the Code of the Samurai), a ronin was supposed to commit oibara seppuku (also "hara kiri" � ritual suicide) upon the loss of his master.[citation needed] One who chose to not honor the code was "on his own" and was meant to suffer great shame. The undesirability of ronin status was mainly a discrimination imposed by other samurai and by the daimyo (the feudal lords).
Rōnin might be hired as yōjimbō (bodyguards or mercenary fighters) by villagers, merchants, or others in need of protection. In this way, many ronin were extended a respect equal to that of master-sponsored samurai by the general population; they were actually preferred by Zen masters, artists, and philosophers over the faceless samurai counterparts, who remained ultimately subservient to their Samauri masters. [citation needed].
Like regular samurai, some ronin still wore their daisho. Bound and dedicated men, most samurai resented the personal freedom that the wandering ronin enjoyed. Ronin were the epitome of self-determination; they were independent men who dictated their own path in life, answering only to themselves and making decisions as they saw fit.
During the Edo period, with the shogunate's rigid class system and laws, the number of ronin greatly increased. Confiscation of fiefs during the rule of the third Tokugawa shogun Iemitsu resulted in an especially large increase of ronin. During previous ages, samurai were easily able to move between masters and even between occupations. They would also marry between classes. However, during the Edo period, samurai were restricted, and were above all forbidden to become employed by another master without their previous master's permission. Also, low-level samurai, often poor and without choice, were forced to quit or escape their master.
Comments: "Meaning" Copied from the Ronin Article @ Wikipedia.
