bachelor

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   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.

2. 2
   noun

   An unmarried woman.

   A bachelor still, by keeping of your portion : And keep you not alone without a husband.

3. 3
   noun

   a man who has never been married

4. 4
   noun

   a knight of the lowest order

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Bachelor was borrowed from French in the early Middle Ages. The French word had several related senses, including “young man,” “unmarried man,” and “young knight or squire serving under another’s banner”; the academic sense “person holding a first degree” appeared in late Middle English.

From Middle English bacheler, from Anglo-Norman and Old French bacheler (modern French bachelier), from Medieval Latin baccalārius, baccalāris (compare Tuscan baccalare (“squire”)).

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary