cicisbeo

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian cicisbeo, of onomatopoeic origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌtʃɪtʃɪzˈbeɪəʊ/
• IPA^(key): /ˌtʃitʃəzˈbeɪoʊ/
• Rhymes: -eɪəʊ

Noun

cicisbeo (plural cicisbeos or cicisbei)

1. (18th century Italy) A knightly servant of a high-born lady.
2. A married woman's lover; a kept man.
   • 1957, Lawrence Durrell, Justine:

     Of course a cicisbeo is a normal enough figure in Alexandrian life, but things are going to become socially very boring for you if you go out with those two so much.

Derived terms

• cicisbeism

Translations

Italian knightly servant of a high-born lady

• Esperanto: cicisbeo
• French: sigisbée (fr) m, cicisbée (fr) m, chevalier servant (fr) m, cavalier servant (fr) m
• German: Cicisbeo m, Hausfreund (de) m
• Ido: cicisbeo (io)
• Italian: cicisbeo (it) m, cavalier servente m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Polish: cicisbeo m
• Russian: чичисбе́й (ru) m (čičisbéj)
• Spanish: chichisbeo m
• Ukrainian: чичисбе́й m (čyčysbéj), чічісбе́й m (čičisbéj)

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Esperanto

Etymology

Borrowed from Polish cicisbeo, ultimately from Italian cicisbeo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [t͡sit͡sisˈbeo]
• Rhymes: -eo
• Hyphenation: ci‧cis‧be‧o

Noun

cicisbeo (accusative singular cicisbeon, plural cicisbeoj, accusative plural cicisbeojn)

1. cicisbeo

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Italian

Etymology

Onomatopoeic of people chatting.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡ʃi.t͡ʃisˈbɛ.o/, [t͡ʃit͡ʃiz̪ˈbɛːo]
• Rhymes: -ɛo
• Hyphenation: ci‧ci‧sbèo

Noun

cicisbeo m (plural cicisbei)

1. (historical, 18th century) cicisbeo (knightly servant of a high-born lady)
   • 1906, Maria Merlato, Mariti e cavalier serventi nelle commedie del Goldoni, page 86.

     Como abbiamo visto, Beatrice ha un cicisbeo.

     As we have seen, Beatrice has a cicisbeo.

   Synonym: cavalier servente

2. (by extension) A dandy, a vain young man who is concerned about his appearance, especially in order to attract women.
   • 2016, Sandra Heath, La lady mascherata, tr. by Fabrizio Pezzoli, Edizioni Mondadori (publ.), →ISBN.

     Subiva spesso le sgradite attentioni di cicisbei di quel tipo, e senza eccezioni li teneva a debita distanza.

     She often drew the unwanted attention of that kind of dandies, and without fail she kept them at a distance.

   Synonyms: bellimbusto, damerino, galletto, vagheggino, zerbinotto

3. (historical, 18th century, figurative) A kind of ribbon.

Derived terms

• cicisbeare
• cicisbeismo

Related terms

• cicisbeatura

References

• cicisbeo in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana