bachelor
nounUK /ˈbæt͡ʃ.ə.lə(ɹ)/ · CA, US /ˈbæt͡ʃ.ə.lɚ/
Etymology From Middle English bacheler, from Anglo-Norman and Old French bacheler (modern French bachelier), from Medieval Latin baccalārius, baccalāris (compare Tuscan baccalare (“squire”)).
8 senses
- 1A person, especially a man, who is socially regarded as…
- 2The first or lowest academic degree conferred by…
- 3Someone who has achieved a bachelor's degree.
- 4A bachelor apartment.
- 5An unmarried woman.
- 6A knight who had no standard of his own, but fought…
- 7Among London tradesmen, a junior member not yet admitted…
- 8A kind of bass, an edible freshwater fish (Pomoxis…
A person, especially a man, who is socially regarded as able to marry, but has not yet.
- As merry and mellow an old bachelor as ever followed a hound.1824, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], Tales of a Traveller, (please specify |part=1 to 4), Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea, […], →OCLC:
- I shall die a bachelor.1933, S. N. Behrman, Queen Christina
1 more example
- I knew from the beginning that I would have to move fast to keep Minnie to myself. Kansas City was full of rakehell bachelors, all of whom I had to outcourt.1982, Roy Wilkins, Tom Mathews, Standing Fast: The Autobiography of Roy Wilkins - Volume 10, page 79:
The first or lowest academic degree conferred by colleges and universities; a bachelor's degree.
Someone who has achieved a bachelor's degree.
Canada A bachelor apartment.
Obsolete An unmarried woman.
- A bachelor still, by keeping of your portion : And keep you not alone without a husband1632 (first performance), Benjamin Jonson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “The Magnetick Lady: Or, Humors Reconcil’d. A Comedy […]”, in The Workes of Benjamin Jonson. The Second Volume. […] (Second Folio), London: […] Richard Meighen, published 1640, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
Obsolete A knight who had no standard of his own, but fought under the standard of another in the field.
Obsolete Among London tradesmen, a junior member not yet admitted to wear the livery.
A kind of bass, an edible freshwater fish (Pomoxis annularis) of the southern United States.
- Derived terms
34 terms
bachelor dinner, bachelordom, bacheloress, bachelorette, bachelor flat, bachelorhood, bachelorism, bachelorize, bachelorlike, bachelorly, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, bachelor pad, bachelor party, bachelor's button, bachelor's degree, bachelor's dinner, bachelor's fare, bachelor's hall, bachelor's handbag, bachelorship, bachelor's thesis, bachelorwise, bachelorx, batchy, budge bachelor, confirmed bachelor, geo-bachelor, geographic bachelor, nonbachelor, old bachelor, prebachelor, son of a bachelor, wild bachelor's button