As time passed, the range of bushi class was expanded and jizamurai (local samurai) with positions lower than samurai were also considered bushi while the term samurai began to indicate upper class bushi.
時代が下って武士階層の裾野が広がり、侍身分より下の地侍なども武士の扱いを受けるようになると、侍は上層の武士を指すようになった。