By the end of the 12th century, samurai became almost entirely synonymous with <answer>bushi</answer>, and the word was closely associated with the middle and upper echelons of the warrior class. The samurai were usually associated with a clan and their lord, were trained as officers in military tactics and grand strategy, and they followed a set of rules that later came to be known as the <answer>bushi</answer>dō. While the samurai numbered less than 10% of then Japan's population, their teachings can still be found today in both everyday life and in modern Japanese martial arts.
What did samurai mean nearly the same thing as?
bushi