bachelor

See also: Bachelor

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbæt͡ʃ.ə.lə(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbæt͡ʃ.ə.lɚ/, /ˈbæt͡ʃ.lɚ/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ba‧che‧lor

Noun

bachelor (plural bachelors)

1. A person, especially a man, who is socially regarded as able to marry, but has not yet.
   • 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:

     As merry and mellow an old bachelor as ever followed a hound.

   • 1933, S. N. Behrman, Queen Christina:

     I shall die a bachelor.

   • 1982, Roy Wilkins, Tom Mathews, Standing Fast: The Autobiography of Roy Wilkins - Volume 10, page 79:

     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.

2. The first or lowest academical degree conferred by universities and colleges; a bachelor's degree.
3. Someone who has achieved a bachelor's degree.
4. (Canada) A bachelor apartment.
5. (obsolete) An unmarried woman.
   • 1632 (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:

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

6. (obsolete) A knight who had no standard of his own, but fought under the standard of another in the field.
7. (obsolete) Among London tradesmen, a junior member not yet admitted to wear the livery.
8. A kind of bass, an edible freshwater fish (Pomoxis annularis) of the southern United States.

Alternative forms

• bachelour (obsolete)
• batcheler
• batchelor

Synonyms

• (academic degree): baccalaureate

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “unmarried person”): wedder, bachelorette

Derived terms

• bachelor dinner
• bachelordom
• bacheloress
• bachelorette (North America)
• bachelorhood
• bachelorism
• bachelorize
• bachelorlike
• bachelorly
• Bachelor of Arts
• Bachelor of Science
• bachelor pad
• bachelor party
• bachelor's button
• bachelor's button
• bachelor's degree
• bachelor's dinner
• bachelor's fare
• bachelor's fare
• bachelor's hall
• bachelor's handbag
• bachelorship
• bachelor's thesis
• bachelorwise
• bachelorx
• batchy
• budge bachelor
• confirmed bachelor
• nonbachelor
• prebachelor
• son of a bachelor

 

Translations

unmarried man

• Afrikaans: jonkman, vrygesel, jonggesel, oujongkêrel, jongkêrel
• Albanian: beqar (sq) m
• Arabic: أَعْزَب m (ʔaʕzab), عَازِب m (ʕāzib)
• Azerbaijani: subay (az)
• Bashkir: буйҙаҡ (buyźaq)
• Belarusian: халасця́к (xalascják)
• Bulgarian: ерген (bg) m (ergen)
• Burmese: လူပျို (my) (lu-pyui)
• Catalan: solter (ca) m, fadrí (ca) m, fadrinot m (Valencia)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 單身漢 / 单身汉 (zh) (dānshēnhàn)

• Czech: starý mládenec m
• Danish: ungkarl (da) c
• Dutch: vrijgezel (nl) m
• Esperanto: fraŭlo (eo)
• Finnish: poikamies (fi), vanhapoika (fi)
• French: célibataire (fr) m
• Galician: mozo solteiro m, solteiro (gl) m
• German: Junggeselle (de) m
• Greek: εργένης (el) m (ergénis)

  Ancient: ἠΐθεος m (ēḯtheos)

• Hebrew: רווק / רַוָּק (he) m (ravák)
• Hungarian: agglegény (hu)
• Icelandic: piparsveinn m, einhleyplingur m, ókvæntur maður m
• Ido: celibulo (io)
• Indonesian: selibat (id)
• Ingrian: vanhapoika
• Irish: baitsiléir m
• Italian: scapolo (it) m, celibe (it) m, zito m, zitello m
• Japanese: 独身者 (ja) (どくしんしゃ, dokushinsha)
• Karakalpak: boydaq
• Khmer: កំលោះ (km) (kɑmlɑh)
• Korean: 독신자(獨身者) (ko) (doksinja), 총각(總角) (ko) (chonggak)
• Ladin: vedl mut
• Ladino: bekar, bekyar, mansevu (Monastir)
• Latin: baccalaureus
• Luxembourgish: Jonggesell m
• Macedonian: ерген m (ergen), беќар m (beḱar)
• Maori: takakau, tāne takakau
• Navajo: beʼesdzą́ą́ ádinii
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ungkar (no) m

  Nynorsk: ungkar m

• Old English: hagosteald m
• Oromo: qeerroo
• Ottoman Turkish: بكار (bekâr)
• Plautdietsch: Betschla m
• Polish: kawaler (pl) m
• Portuguese: solteirão m, solteiro (pt) m
• Romanian: flăcău (ro) m
• Russian: холостя́к (ru) m (xolostják)
• Scottish Gaelic: fleasgach m, seana-ghille m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: нежења m, бећар m

  Roman: neženja (sh) m, bećar m

• Slovak: starý mládenec m
• Sotho: lesoha
• Southern Altai: бойдоҥ (boydoŋ)
• Spanish: solterón (es) m
• Swahili: kapera (sw), mseja (sw)
• Swedish: ungkarl (sv) c
• Tagalog: baguntao
• Tarifit: aniybu m
• Tibetan: ཕོ་ཧྲང (pho hrang)
• Turkish: bekâr (tr) m
• Ukrainian: холостя́к m (xolostják), па́рубок (uk) m (párubok)
• Welsh: dyn sengl m
• Woiwurrung: yan'yean
• Yiddish: בחור m (bokher)

bachelor's degree

• Afrikaans: baccalaureusgraad, baccalaureaat
• Belarusian: бакала́ўр m (bakaláŭr)
• Bulgarian: бакала́вър m (bakalávǎr)
• Danish: bachelor (da) c, bachelorgrad c
• Esperanto: bakalaŭreco
• Finnish: kandidaatin tutkinto
• French: licence (fr), bachelor (fr)
• Galician: grao (gl) m, diplomatura f
• German: Bachelor (de) m
• Greek: πτυχίο λυτείας n (ptychío lyteías), πτυχίο (el) n (ptychío)
• Indonesian: kesarjanaan (id)
• Italian: baccelliere (it), laurea (it) f
• Khmer: បរិញ្ញា (paʼrɨññaa)
• Latvian: bakalaurs m
• Lithuanian: bakalauras m
• Polish: bakalaureat (pl) m
• Portuguese: bacharelado (pt) m
• Russian: бакала́вр (ru) m (bakalávr)
• Slovak: bakalárstvo, bakalaureát
• Spanish: bachiller (es) m, título de grado, licenciatura (es) f
• Swedish: kandidat (sv) c
• Tagalog: batsilyer, dalubhasa
• Ukrainian: бакала́вр (uk) m (bakalávr)
• Welsh: gradd baglor m

person who has achieved bachelor's degree

• Belarusian: бакала́ўр (bakaláŭr)
• Bulgarian: бакала́вър m (bakalávǎr)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 學士 / 学士 (zh) (xuéshì)

• Czech: bakalář (cs) m, bakalářka (cs) f
• Danish: bachelor (da) c
• Esperanto: bakalaŭro
• Finnish: kandidaatti (fi)
• Galician: diplomado, graduado
• German: Bachelor (de) m
• Greek: πτυχιούχος (el) m or f (ptychioúchos)
• Hebrew: בּוֹגֵר (he) m (bogér)
• Ido: bachelero (io)
• Indonesian: sarjana (id)
• Japanese: 学士 (ja) (がくし, gakushi)
• Khmer: បរិញ្ញា (paʼrɨññaa)
• Korean: 학사(學士) (ko) (haksa)
• Latvian: bakalaurs m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bachelor m

  Nynorsk: bachelor m

• Polish: licencjat (pl) m, bakałarz (pl) m
• Portuguese: bacharel (pt) c
• Russian: бакала́вр (ru) m (bakalávr)
• Slovak: bakalár (sk) m, bakalárka f
• Spanish: bachiller (es) m, licenciado (es) m
• Swedish: kandidat (sv) c
• Thai: บัณฑิต (th) (ban-dìt)
• Ukrainian: бакала́вр (uk) m (bakalávr)
• Welsh: baglor m

(Canada) single room apartment

• Dutch: studio (nl) m
• Finnish: yksiö (fi)
• Polish: kawalerka (pl) f
• Swedish: etta (sv) c

See also

• spinster
• divorcé
• widower

Further reading

• bachelor on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Bachelor in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• crabhole

Danish

Etymology

From English bachelor.

Noun

bachelor c (singular definite bacheloren, plural indefinite bachelorer or bachelors)

1. bachelor's degree

   Hun har en bachelor i mikrobiologi.

   She has a bachelor's degree in microbiology.

Declension

Declension of bachelor

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	bachelor	bacheloren	bachelorer	bachelorerne
genitive	bachelors	bachelorens	bachelorers	bachelorernes

Synonyms

• bachelorgrad

References

• “bachelor” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English bachelor. Doublet of bachelier.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baʃ.lɔʁ/

Noun

bachelor m (plural bachelors)

1. bachelor's degree

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From English bachelor, from Old French bacheler.

Noun

bachelor m (definite singular bacheloren, indefinite plural bachelorer, definite plural bachelorene)

1. a bachelor (person holding a bachelor's degree)
2. a bachelor's degree (bachelorgrad)

Derived terms

• bachelorgrad

References

• “bachelor” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “bachelor” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From English bachelor, from Old French bacheler.

Noun

bachelor m (definite singular bacheloren, indefinite plural bachelorar, definite plural bachelorane)

1. a bachelor (person holding a bachelor's degree)
2. a bachelor's degree (bachelorgrad)

Derived terms

• bachelorgrad

References

• “bachelor” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.