celibacy
noun/ˈsɛləbəsi/
Etymology From Latin caelibātus (“celibacy, a single life”), from caelebs (“unmarried”). By surface analysis, celib(ate) + -acy.
1
Abstaining from marriage; the state of being unmarried.
- They came to believe that men, who would live a godly life, must view marriage as a sin and choose a life of celibacy.1920, American Lutheran Survey, volumes 13-14, page 16:
- I could document this defense of celibacy. Unmarried women show up very well in all the tests of mental health.1970, The Futurist, page 42:
2
Broadly Abstinence from sexual relations.
- Synonyms
- sexlessness
- Derived terms
- anticelibacy, celibacist, celibacy syndrome, incelibacy
- Related terms
- celibate, abstinence, asexuality, chaste, chastity, purity, bachelordom
- Hypernyms
- chastity