See Also: bachelor(dictionary)
bachelor(dictionary)
bachelor's button(medicine)
bachelor's button(encyclopedia)
bachelor's degree(dictionary)
bachelor flat(dictionary)
bachelor party(dictionary)

bachelor (iou)



bachelor noun. Also batchelor. ME.
[Old French bacheler young man aspiring to knighthood, from Proto-Romance, of uncertain origin: in academic use the medieval Latin form was baccalarius, later altered to -laureus, with ref. to bacca lauri laurel berry.]
Hist. A young knight who followed the banner of another; a novice in arms. ME.
knight bachelor a knight of the lowest order; the full title of a gentleman who has been knighted.
An unmarried man (usu. of marriageable age); occas. (rare before 19) an unmarried woman. ME.
A junior member or 'yeoman' of a trade-guild. obsolete exc. Hist. LME.
A man or woman who has taken a degree below that of Master (usu. a first degree) at a university or other academic institution. LME.
bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, etc. determining bachelor: see DETERMINE 4b.
A male animal, esp. a male fur-seal, which is prevented from breeding by more dominant males in a social group. L19.
An apartment suitable for a bachelor. Chiefly N. Amer. M20.
Comb.: bachelor apartment, bachelor flat: suitable for an unmarried person; bachelor girl a young unmarried woman who lives independently; bachelor party: for men only, esp. to mark the end of a man's bachelorhood; bachelor's button(s) any of various double-flowered forms of plants grown for ornament, esp. a double form of the meadow buttercup, Ranunculus acris, or sneezewort, Achillea ptarmica; bachelor's degree a degree of Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, etc.; bachelor's hall a home presided over by a bachelor (or a man living apart from his wife); bachelor's wife the ideal wife of whom a bachelor theorizes or dreams.
bachelordom noun = bachelorhood L19.
bachelo'rette noun (N. Amer.) (a) = bachelor girl above; (b) an apartment suitable for a bachelor girl: M20.
bachelorhood noun the state or quality of a bachelor E19.
bachelorism noun a habit or peculiarity of a bachelor; the condition or behaviour of a bachelor: E19.
bachelorly adjective like a bachelor L16.
bachelorship noun = bachelorhood L16.