yangban

Y4A1N1G2B3A1N1
UK/ˈjaŋban/

noun

A member of the ruling class of male Confucian intellectuals in Korea at and before the time of the Korean Empire.

OriginKorean 양반(兩班) →
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Meanings

nounyangban (plural yangbans or yangban)

plural yangbans

  1. historicalA member of the ruling class of male Confucian intellectuals in Korea at and before the time of the Korean Empire.

    One yangban, Yi Sŭng-hun, provided a new answer to this crisis of authority: while in Beijing serving as a diplomat, he was baptized a Catholic Christian and went home to propagate his faith.

    2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 900

Origin

  1. Korean양반(兩班)
  2. Korean양반(兩班)
  3. Englishyangban

Borrowed from Korean 양반(兩班) (yangban).

More words from Korean

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

yangban. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yangban

MLA

“yangban.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yangban. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “yangban,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yangban.

Source: yangban on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.