A member of the old Russian aristocracy or nobility, especially during the medieval and early modern periods.
From Russian boyarin, derived from Old Slavic 'bol' meaning 'great' or 'large.' The term evolved to describe the highest-ranking feudal lords in Kievan Rus and Muscovite Russia who served as advisors and military commanders to princes and tsars.
Boyards were so powerful that Ivan the Terrible literally eliminated them through terror campaigns because they threatened his absolute rule—the word itself became synonymous with the old aristocratic power that tsars feared most.
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