pretorian

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

pretorian
    adj 1: of or relating to a Roman praetor; "praetorial powers"
           [syn: {praetorian}, {praetorial}, {pretorian},
           {pretorial}]
    2: characteristic of or similar to the corruptible soldiers in
       the Praetorian Guard with respect to corruption or political
       venality; "a large Praetorian bureaucracy filled with
       ambitious...and often sycophantic people makes work and makes
       trouble"- Arthur M.Schlesinger Jr. [syn: {Praetorian},
       {Pretorian}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Pretorian \Pre*to"ri*an\, a. [L. praetorians: cf. F.
   pr['e]torien.]
   Of or pertaining to a pretor or magistrate; judicial;
   exercised by, or belonging to, a pretor; as, pretorian power
   or authority.
   [1913 Webster]

   {Pretorian bands} or {Pretorian guards}, or {Pretorians}
      (Rom. Hist.), the emperor's bodyguards, instituted by the
      Emperor Augustus in nine cohorts of 1,000 men each.

   {Pretorian gate} (Rom. Antiq.), that one of the four gates in
      a camp which lay next the enemy. --Brande & C.
      [1913 Webster]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Pretorian \Pre*to"ri*an\, n.
   A soldier of the pretorian guard.
   [1913 Webster]