bach|e|lor

bach|e|lor «BACH uh luhr, BACH luhr», noun.

1. a man who has not married; unmarried man: »

The young bachelor will soon be taking a wife.

SYNONYM(S): celibate.

2. Also, Bachelor. a) a person who has what is usually the first of the degrees granted by a college or university, especially Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science. Students who complete the undergraduate course of four years in the United States and Canada and three years in England are given the degree of bachelor. b) the degree itself.

3. a) = knight bachelor. (Cf. ↑knight bachelor) b) (originally) a young knight who served under the banner of another because he was not old enough, or had too few vassals, to display his own banner; bachelor-at-arms.

4. the male of any animal unmated during breeding season, especially one of the young male fur seals which are kept away from the breeding grounds by the older males.

5. U.S. Dialect. = crappie. (Cf. ↑crappie)

╂[earlier bachelor a young knight < Old French < unrecorded Medieval Latin baccalaris, variant of baccalarius helper or tenant on a baccalaria section of land]