cavalier

English

Etymology

1589, from Middle French cavalier 'horseman', from Old Italian cavaliere (“mounted soldier, knight”), from Old Provençal cavalier, from Late Latin caballārius (“horseman”), from Latin caballus (“horse”), from Gaulish caballos 'nag', variant of cabillos (compare Welsh ceffyl, Breton kefel, Irish capall), akin to German (Swabish) Kōb 'nag' and Old Church Slavonic kobyla 'mare'.

Previous English forms include cavalero, cavaliero.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌkævəˈlɪər/
• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)

Adjective

cavalier (comparative more cavalier, superlative most cavalier)

1. Not caring enough about something important.

   The very dignified officials were confused by his cavalier manner.

   • 2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, Black Swan, pg.46:

     Far from marking the outer edge of the solar system, as those school-room maps so cavalierly imply, Pluto is barely one-fifty-thousandth of the way.

2. High-spirited.
3. Supercilious; haughty; disdainful; curt; brusque.
4. Of or pertaining to the party of King Charles I.

Translations

not caring enough about something important

• Dutch: afstandelijk (nl),onverschillig (nl)
• French: cavalier (fr) m

high-spirited

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: laatdunkend (nl)

• Russian: резвый (ru) (rézvyj)

supercilious, haughty, disdainful

• Bulgarian: надменен (bg) (nadmenen)
• Dutch: hooghartig, misprijzend (nl)

• French: cavalier (fr) m
• Russian: надменный (ru) (nadménnyj), высокомерный (ru) (vysokomérnyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} открит (bg) (otkrit), ^{(please verify)} честен (bg) (česten)

• Czech: ^{(please verify)} přezíravý

Noun

cavalier (plural cavaliers)

1. A military man serving on horse.
2. A sprightly, military man; hence, a gallant.
3. One of the court party in the time of King Charles I, as contrasted with a Roundhead or an adherent of Parliament.
4. A work of more than ordinary height, rising from the level ground of a bastion, etc., and overlooking surrounding parts.
5. A well mannered man; a gentleman.

Translations

a military man serving on horse

• Bulgarian: кавалерист (kavalerist)
• French: chevalier (fr) m
• Manx: markiagh m

• Russian: кавалерист (ru) m (kavaleríst)
• Scottish Gaelic: marcach m
• Tagalog: kabalyero

a sprightly military man

• Bulgarian: рицар (bg) m (rícar)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 騎士 (zh), 骑士 (zh) (qíshì)

• French: cavalier (fr) m, chevalier (fr) m

• German: Kavalier (de) m
• Japanese: 騎士 (ja) (きし, kishi)
• Russian: рыцарь (ru) m (rýcar'), кавалер (ru) m (kavalér)

a well mannered man; a gentleman

• Bulgarian: кавалер (bg) (kavaler)
• French: cavalier (fr) m
• German: Kavalier (de) m

• Portuguese: cavalheiro (pt) m
• Russian: кавалер (ru) m (kavalér), рыцарь (ru) m (rýcar')

Anagrams

• variceal

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian cavaliere, from Old Provençal cavalier. Compare chevalier.

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ka.val.je/

Noun

cavalier m (plural cavaliers, feminine cavalière)

1. rider, horserider, outrider
2. cavalier
3. (chess) knight (masculine only)
4. staple (masculine only)

Adjective

cavalier m (feminine cavalière, masculine plural cavaliers, feminine plural cavalières)

1. equestrian
2. cavalier (all senses)

Anagrams

• calvaire

External links

• “cavalier” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).