cicisbeo
nounUK /ˌtʃɪtʃɪzˈbeɪəʊ/ · US /ˌt͡ʃit͡ʃəzˈbeɪoʊ/
Etymology Borrowed from Italian cicisbeo, of onomatopoeic origin.
1
Historical A man who escorts a married woman to social functions, especially in 18th-century Italy; a married woman's lover.
- My old Cicisbee says it would do: & he is (or was poor fellow!) a famous Scholar.1784 December 7, Hester Thrale Piozzi, Thraliana:
- The office of Cicisbeo is however an intolerably expensive one; especially to our countrymen.1792, Thomas Holcroft, Anna St. Ives, volume II, 19:
2 more examples
- Of course a cicisbeo is a normal enough figure in Alexandrian life, but things are going to become socially very boring for you if you go out with those two so much.1957, Lawrence Durrell, Justine:
- He accuses the women of having cicisbei, the girls of having lovers.1962, WH Auden; Elizabeth Mayer, translating JW Goethe, Italian Journey, Penguin, published 1970, page 452:
- Derived terms
- cicisbeism
- Related terms
- cicisbea