samurai

5 definitions found

samurai - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Samurai \Sa"mu*rai`\, n. pl. & sing. [Jap.]
     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".
     [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]

  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.
     [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

samurai - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  samurai
      n 1: a Japanese warrior who was a member of the feudal military
           aristocracy
      2: feudal Japanese military aristocracy

samurai - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  samurai
  
     A hacker who hires out for legal cracking jobs, snooping for
     factions in corporate political fights, lawyers pursuing
     privacy-rights and First Amendment cases, and other parties
     with legitimate reasons to need an electronic locksmith.  In
     1991, mainstream media reported the existence of a loose-knit
     culture of samurai that meets electronically on BBS systems,
     mostly bright teenagers with personal micros; they have
     modelled themselves explicitly on the historical samurai of
     Japan and on the "net cowboys" of William Gibson's cyberpunk
     novels.  Those interviewed claim to adhere to a rigid ethic of
     loyalty to their employers and to disdain the vandalism and
     theft practiced by criminal crackers as beneath them and
     contrary to the hacker ethic; some quote Miyamoto Musashi's
     "Book of Five Rings", a classic of historical samurai
     doctrine, in support of these principles.
  
     See also Stupids, social engineering, cracker, hacker ethic
     , and dark-side hacker.
  
     [Jargon File]
  

samurai - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) :

  samurai
   n.
  
     A hacker who hires out for legal cracking jobs, snooping for factions
     in corporate political fights, lawyers pursuing privacy-rights and
     First Amendment cases, and other parties with legitimate reasons to
     need an electronic locksmith. In 1991, mainstream media reported the
     existence of a loose-knit culture of samurai that meets
  electronically
     on BBS systems, mostly bright teenagers with personal micros; they
     have modeled themselves explicitly on the historical samurai of Japan
     and on the "net cowboys" of William Gibson's cyberpunk novels.
  Those
     interviewed claim to adhere to a rigid ethic of loyalty to their
     employers and to disdain the vandalism and theft practiced by
  criminal
     crackers as beneath them and contrary to the hacker ethic; some quote
     Miyamoto Musashi's Book of Five Rings, a classic of historical
  samurai
     doctrine, in support of these principles. See also sneaker,
     Stupids, social engineering, cracker, hacker ethic, and
     dark-side hacker.