bachelor

English

Alternative forms

• bachelour (obsolete)

Etymology

Middle English bacheler, from Anglo-Norman bacheler (modern French bachelier), from Medieval Latin baccalāris (compare Tuscan bacalaro ‘squire’), of unknown origin.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• (US) IPA: /ˈbætʃ.ə.lɚ/
• (UK) IPA: /ˈbætʃ.ə.lə(ɹ)/

Noun

bachelor (plural bachelors)

1. A man who is socially regarded as able to marry, but has not yet.
   • Washington Irving

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

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) An apartment consisting mainly of one large room which is the living, dining, and bedroom combined. A bachelor apartment.
5. (obsolete) An unmarried woman.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Ben Jonson to this entry?)

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 (Pomoxys annularis) of the southern United States.

Synonyms

• (academic degree): baccalaureate

Derived terms

• confirmed bachelor
• bachelordom
• bachelorette (North America)
• bachelorhood
• Bachelor of Arts
• Bachelor of Science
• bachelor pad
• bachelor party
• bachelorship
• bachelor's button
• bachelor's degree

Translations

unmarried man

• Afrikaans: oujongkerel (af)
• Albanian: beqar (sq) m
• Arabic: أعزب (ar) ('a3zab) m, عازِب (ar) (3aazib) m
• Catalan: solter (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 單身漢 (cmn), 单身汉 (cmn) (dānshēnhàn)

• Czech: starý mládenec (cs) m, bakalář (cs) m
• Danish: ungkarl (da) c
• Dutch: vrijgezel (nl) m
• Esperanto: fraŭlo (eo)
• Finnish: poikamies (fi), vanhapoika (fi)
• French: célibataire (fr) m
• German: Junggeselle (de) m
• Greek: εργένης (el) (ergénis) m
• Hebrew: רווק (he) (ravaq) m
• Icelandic: piparsveinn (is) m, einhleyplingur (is) m, ókvæntur maður (is) m
• Ido: celibulo (io)

• Italian: scapolo (it) m, celibe (it) m
• Japanese: 独身者 (ja) (どくしんしゃ, dokushinsha)
• Khmer: កំលោះ (km) (kom los)
• Luxembourgish: Jonggesell (lb) m
• Macedonian: ерген (mk) (érgen) m, беќар (mk) (béḱar) m
• Polish: kawaler (pl) m
• Portuguese: solteirão (pt) m
• Russian: холостяк (ru) (xolostják) m
• Scottish Gaelic: fleasgach (gd) m, seana-ghille (gd) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: нежења (sh) m, бећар (sh) m

  Roman: neženja (sh) m, bećar (sh) m

• Sotho: lesoha (st)
• Spanish: soltero (es) m
• Swedish: ungkarl (sv) c
• Turkish: bekâr (tr) m
• Ukrainian: холостяк (uk) (xolostják) m, парубок (uk) (parubók) m

bachelor's degree

• Esperanto: bakalaŭro (eo)
• Finnish: kandidaatin (fi) tutkinto (fi)
• French: licence (fr)
• German: Bachelor (de) m
• Greek: πτυχίο λυτείας (el) (ptychío lyteías) n
• Italian: baccelliere (it)

• Khmer: បរិញ្ញា (km) (pak ri nha), បរិញ្ញាត្រី (km) (pak ri nha trey)
• Portuguese: bacharelado (pt) m
• Russian: бакалавр (ru) (bakalávr) m
• Spanish: bachiller (es) m, título de grado (es), licenciatura (es) f
• Swedish: kandidat (sv) c

person who has achieved bachelor's degree

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 學士 (cmn), 学士 (cmn) (xuéshì)

• Czech: bakalář (cs) m, bakalářka (cs) f
• Finnish: kandidaatti (fi)
• German: Bachelor (de) m
• Japanese: 学士 (ja) (がくし, gakushi)

• Khmer: បរិញ្ញា (km) (pak ri nha)
• Portuguese: bacharel (pt) c
• Russian: бакалавр (ru) (bakalávr) m
• Spanish: bachiller (es) m, licenciado (es) m
• Swedish: kandidat (sv) c

(Canada) single room apartment

• Finnish: yksiö (fi)
• Polish: kawalerka (pl) f

• Swedish: etta (sv) c

See also

• spinster
• divorcé
• widower
• Bachelor on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Bachelor in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.