bachelor
Americannoun
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an unmarried man.
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a person who has been awarded a bachelor's degree.
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a fur seal, especially a young male, kept from the breeding grounds by the older males.
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Also called bachelor-at-arms. a young knight who followed the banner of another.
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Also called household knight. a landless knight.
noun
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an unmarried man
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( as modifier )
a bachelor flat
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a person who holds the degree of Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Education, Bachelor of Science, etc
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the degree itself
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Also called: bachelor-at-arms. (in the Middle Ages) a young knight serving a great noble
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a young male seal, esp a fur seal, that has not yet mated
Usage
Gender-neutral form: single person
Other Word Forms
- bachelorhood noun
- bachelorlike adjective
- bachelorly adjective
- nonbachelor noun
- prebachelor adjective
Etymology
Origin of bachelor
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English bacheler “squire, young knight,” from Old French; origin uncertain; probably from assumed Vulgar Latin baccalār(is) “tenant farmer, farm hand”; akin to Late Latin baccalāria “piece of land,” originallly plural of assumed baccalārium “dairy farm,” equivalent to assumed baccālis “pertaining to cows” (from bacca, variant of Latin vacca “cow” + -ālis + -ārium); -al 1, -arium ( def. ) )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
So profound was her interest that she obtained a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and now works at a utility firm in the San Diego area.
From Los Angeles Times
He received his bachelor’s from UC Santa Barbara and his master’s from Harvard.
From Salon
Of course, some baby boomers are significantly better off than their peers; those with bachelor’s degrees were wealthier than those with lower levels of education.
From MarketWatch
Jacob graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a bachelor's degree in journalism, and lives in suburban Chicago.
Andrew, a bachelor after his marriage to Sarah Ferguson ended in 1996, had a reputation for enjoying the company of women and using military helicopters to ferry him to golf events.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
