BARON, a person who holds a barony. The origin and primary import of this term is much contested.
Ménage derives it from the Latin baro, which we find used in the pure age of that language for vir, a flout or valiant man; whence, according to this author, it was, that those placed next the king in battles were called barones, as being the bravest men in the army; and as princes frequently rewarded the bravery and fidelity of those about them with fees, the word came to be used for any noble person who holds a fee immediately of the king. Isidore, and after him Camden, take the word, in its original sense, to signify a mercenary soldier. Mefieurs of the Port Royal derive it from baro, weight or authority. Cicero uses the word baro for a stupid brutal man; and the old Germans make mention of buffetting a baron, i. e. a villain; as the Italians still use the word barone to signify a beggar. M. de Marca derives baron from the German bar, man, or freeman; others derive it from the old Gaulish, Celtic, and Hebrew languages; but the most probable opinion is, that it comes from the Spanish baro, a flout, noble person; whence wives used to call their husbands, and princes their tenants, barons. In the Salic law, as well as the laws of the Lombards, the word baron signifies a man in the general; and the old glossary of Philomenes translates baron by vir, man.