Bachelor

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A bachelor is a man who is not and never has been married. [1]

Contents

Etymology

A bachelor is first attested as the 12th-century bacheler: a knight bachelor, a knight too young or poor to gather vassals under his own banner. [2] The Old French bacheler presumably derives from Provençal bacalar and Italian baccalare, [2] but the ultimate source of the word is uncertain. [3] [2] The proposed Medieval Latin *baccalaris ("vassal", "field hand") is only attested late enough that it may have derived from the vernacular languages, [2] rather than from the southern French and northern Spanish Latin [3] baccalaria. [4] Alternatively, it has been derived from Latin baculum ("a stick"), in reference to the wooden sticks used by knights in training. [5] [6]

History

From the 14th century, the term "bachelor" was also used for a junior member of a guild (otherwise known as "yeomen") or university and then for low-level ecclesiastics, as young monks and recently appointed canons. [7] As an inferior grade of scholarship, it came to refer to one holding a "bachelor's degree". This sense of baccalarius or baccalaureus is first attested at the University of Paris in the 13th century in the system of degrees established under the auspices of Pope Gregory IX as applied to scholars still in statu pupillari. There were two classes of baccalarii: the baccalarii cursores, theological candidates passed for admission to the divinity course, and the baccalarii dispositi, who had completed the course and were entitled to proceed to the higher degrees. [8]

In the Victorian era, the term "eligible bachelor" was used in the context of upper class matchmaking, denoting a young man who was not only unmarried and eligible for marriage, but also considered "eligible" in financial and social terms for the prospective bride under discussion. Also in the Victorian era, the term "confirmed bachelor" denoted a man who desired to remain single.

By the later 19th century, the term "bachelor" had acquired the general sense of "unmarried man". The expression bachelor party is recorded 1882. In 1895, a feminine equivalent "bachelor-girl" was coined, replaced in US English by "bachelorette" by the mid-1930s. This terminology is now generally seen as antiquated, and has been largely replaced by the gender-neutral term "single" (first recorded 1964). In England and Wales, the term "bachelor" remained the official term used for the purpose of marriage registration until 2005, when it was abolished in favor of "single." [9]

Bachelors have been subject to penal laws in many countries, most notably in Ancient Sparta and Rome. [3] At Sparta, men unmarried after a certain age were subject to various penalties (Greek : ἀτιμία, atimía): they were forbidden to watch women's gymnastics; during the winter, they were made to march naked through the agora singing a song about their dishonor; [3] and they were not provided with the traditional respect due to the elderly. [10] Some Athenian laws were similar. [11] Over time, some punishments developed into no more than a teasing game. In some parts of Germany, for instance, men who were still unmarried by their 30th birthday were made to sweep the stairs of the town hall until kissed by a "virgin". [12] In a 1912 Pittsburgh Press article, there was a suggestion that local bachelors should wear a special pin that identified them as such, or a black necktie to symbolize that "....they [bachelors] should be in perpetual mourning because they are so foolish as to stay unmarried and deprive themselves of the comforts of a wife and home." [13]

The idea of a tax on bachelors has existed throughout the centuries. Bachelors in Rome fell under the Lex Julia of 18 BC and the Lex Papia Poppaea of AD 9: these lay heavy fines on unmarried or childless people while providing certain privileges to those with several children. [3] In 1695, a law known as the Marriage Duty Act was imposed on single males over 25 years old by the English Crown to help generate income for the Nine Years' War. [14] In Britain, taxes occasionally fell heavier on bachelors than other persons: examples include 6 & 7 Will. III, the 1785 Tax on Servants, and the 1798 Income Tax. [3]

A study that was conducted by professor Charles Waehler at the University of Akron in Ohio on non-married heterosexual males deduced that once non-married men hit middle age, they will be less likely to marry and remain unattached later into their lives. [15] The study concluded that there is only a 1-in-6 chance that men older than 40 will leave the single life, and that after the age 45, the odds fall to 1-in-20. [15]

In certain Gulf Arab countries, "bachelor" can refer to men who are single as well as immigrant men married to a spouse residing in their country of origin (due to the high added cost of sponsoring a spouse onsite). [16]

Bachelorette

The term bachelorette [17] is sometimes used to refer to a woman who has never been married.

The traditional female equivalent to bachelor is spinster, which is considered pejorative and implies unattractiveness (i.e. old maid, cat lady). [17] The term "bachelorette" has been used in its place, particularly in the context of bachelorette parties and reality TV series The Bachelorette. [18]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sparta</span> City-state in ancient Greece

Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon, while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement on the banks of the Eurotas River in the Eurotas valley of Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. Around 650 BC, it rose to become the dominant military land-power in ancient Greece.

<span title="French-language text"><i lang="fr">Droit du seigneur</i></span> Supposed sexual right of medieval lords

Droit du seigneur, also known as jus primae noctis or prima nocta, was a supposed legal right in medieval Europe, allowing feudal lords to have sexual relations with any female subject, particularly on her wedding night.

A chaperone in its original social usage was a person who for propriety's sake accompanied an unmarried girl in public; usually she was an older married woman, and most commonly the girl's own mother.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bachelor party</span> Party held by a man who is about to get married

A bachelor party, also known as a stag weekend, stag do or stag party, or a buck's night, is a party held/arranged by the man who is shortly to enter marriage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Late Latin</span> Written Latin of late antiquity

Late Latin is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the 3rd to the 6th centuries CE, and continuing into the 7th century in the Iberian Peninsula. This somewhat ambiguously defined version of Latin was used between the eras of Classical Latin and Medieval Latin. Scholars do not agree exactly when Classical Latin should end or Medieval Latin should begin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spinster</span> Unmarried woman, often older

Spinster is a term referring to an unmarried woman who is older than what is perceived as the prime age range during which women usually marry. It can also indicate that a woman is considered unlikely to ever marry. The term originally denoted a woman whose occupation was to spin. A synonymous term is old maid. The closest equivalent term for males is "bachelor" or "confirmed bachelor", but this generally does not carry the same connotations in reference to age and perceived desirability in marriage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knight banneret</span> Type/rank of knight

A knight banneret, sometimes known simply as banneret, was a medieval knight who led a company of troops during time of war under his own banner and was eligible to bear supporters in English heraldry. The military rank of a knight banneret was higher than a knight Bachelor, but lower than an earl or duke.

Bachelorette (/ˌbætʃələˈrɛt/) is a term used in American English for a single, unmarried woman. The term is derived from the word bachelor, and is often used by journalists, editors of popular magazines, and some individuals. "Bachelorette" was famously the term used to refer to female contestants on the old The Dating Game TV show and, more recently, The Bachelorette.

In legal definitions for interpersonal status, a single person refers to a individual who is not in committed relationships, or is not part of a civil union. In common usage, the term single is often used to refer to someone who is not involved in either any type of sexual relationship, romantic relationship, including long-term dating, engagement, marriage, or someone who is "single by choice". Single people may participate in dating and other activities to find a short-term partner or spouse.

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A Christogram is a monogram or combination of letters that forms an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ, traditionally used as a religious symbol within the Christian Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bachelorette party</span> Party held for a woman who is about to get married

A bachelorette party or hen night is a party held for a woman who will soon be married. While Beth Montemurro concludes that the bachelorette party is modelled after the centuries-old stag night in the US, which is itself historically a dinner given by the bridegroom to his friends shortly before his wedding, Sheila Young argues that its British counterpart evolved from a number of earlier pre-wedding traditions for women whose origins are obscure but which have been around for at least a century in factories and offices across the UK. Despite its reputation as "a sodden farewell to maiden days" or "an evening of debauchery", these events can simply be parties given in honor of the bride-to-be, in the style that is common to that social circle.

A bachelor pad is a home (pad) in which a bachelor or bachelors live. The exact standards on what constitutes a bachelor pad are often ambiguous and debated but one definition describes it as:

A "bachelor pad" is a slang term for a living space owned by a bachelor that is designed as a collective space with the purpose of facilitating a bachelor in his daily activities to include but not limited to daily functionality, use of free time, hobbies and interests, entertaining friends, and seducing women. A bachelor pad can be done on a very limited budget as is the case with many young adults and college students, or to an extravagant level as seen amongst some celebrities.

In Chinese tradition, a Ghost Marriage refers to a marriage in which one or both parties are deceased. In mainland China, the practice of ghost marriages involves two deceased individuals. Meanwhile, in Taiwan and South East Asia, it involves one deceased individual and one living individual.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Germanic law</span> Form of law followed by the early Germanic peoples

Germanic law is a scholarly term used to describe a series of commonalities between the various law codes of the early Germanic peoples. These were compared with statements in Tacitus and Caesar as well as with high and late medieval law codes from Germany and Scandinavia. Until the 1950s, these commonalities were held to be the result of a distinct Germanic legal culture. Scholarship since then has questioned this premise and argued that many "Germanic" features instead derive from provincial Roman law. Although most scholars no longer hold that Germanic law was a distinct legal system, some still argue for the retention of the term and for the potential that some aspects of the Leges in particular derive from a Germanic culture. Scholarly consensus as of 2023 is that Germanic law is best understood in opposition to Roman law, in that it was not "learned" and incorporated regional pecularities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bachelor tax</span> Punitive tax imposed on unmarried men

A bachelor tax is a punitive tax imposed on unmarried men. In the modern era, many countries do vary tax rates by marital status, so current references to bachelor taxes are typically implicit rather than explicit; and given the state of tax law is very complicated, as tax accountancy concepts like income splitting can come into play.

Sheng nü, translated as 'leftover women' or 'leftover ladies', are women who remain unmarried in their late twenties and beyond in China. The term was popularized by the All-China Women's Federation. Most prominently used in China, the term has also been used colloquially to refer to women in India, North America, Europe, and other parts of Asia. The term compares unmarried women to leftover food and has gone on to become widely used in the mainstream media and has been the subject of several television series, magazine and newspaper articles, and book publications, focusing on the negative connotations and positive reclamation of the term. While initially backed and disseminated by pro-government media in 2007, the term eventually came under criticism from government-published newspapers two years later. Xu Xiaomin of The China Daily described the sheng nus as "a social force to be reckoned with" and others have argued the term should be taken as a positive to mean "successful women". The slang term, 3S or 3S Women, meaning "single, seventies (1970s), and stuck" has also been used in place of sheng nu.

"He never married" was a phrase used by British obituary writers as a euphemism for the deceased having been homosexual. Its use has been dated to the second half of the 20th century, and it may be found in coded and uncoded forms, such as when the subject never married but was not homosexual. A similar phrase is "confirmed bachelor".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Single women in the Middle Ages</span> Woman born between the 5th and 15th century who did not marry

During the Middle Ages in Europe, lifelong spinsters came from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, though elite women were less likely to be single than peasants or townswomen. The category of single women does not include widows or divorcees, which are terms used to describe women who were married at one point in their lives.

References

  1. ↑ Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". (Pitt, Richard; Borland, Elizabeth (2008), "Bachelorhood and Men's Attitudes about Gender Roles", The Journal of Men's Studies, vol. 16, pp. 140–158).
  2. 1 2 3 4 Oxford English Dictionary, 1st ed. "bachelor, n." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1885.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878), "Bachelor"  , Encyclopædia Britannica , vol. 3 (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 196–197
  4. 1 2 Du Cange, Charles du Fresne, sieur (1733), Glossarium ad scriptores mediae et infimae latinitatis (in Latin), vol. 1, pp. 906–912{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ↑ For further etymological discussion, with sources, see Schmidt,(Schmidt, Uwe Friedrich, Praeromanica der Italoromania auf der Grundlage des LEI (A und B), Europäische Hochschulschriften; Vol. 49, No. 9 (in German)) reprinted by Lang.
  6. ↑ Schmidt, Uwe Friedrich (2009), "Praeromanica der Italoromania auf der Grundlage des LEI (A und B)", Italienische Sprache und Literatur (in German), Peter Lang, pp. 117–120
  7. ↑ Severtius, De Episcopis Lugdunensibus, p. 377 cited in Du Cange. [4]
  8. ↑ Wikisource-logo.svg One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bachelor". Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 132.
  9. ↑ "R.I.P Bachelors and Spinsters". BBC. 14 September 2005. Archived from the original on 5 June 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  10. ↑ Plutarch, Lyc., 15.
  11. ↑ Schomann, Gr. Alterth., Vol. I, 548.
  12. ↑ Melican, Brian (2015-03-31). "Bizarre German birthday traditions explained". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 2019-12-28.
  13. ↑ Mellon, Steve (3 November 2016). "A tax on bachelors? Why not? 'There's one on dogs'". The Digs. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  14. ↑ Flatley, Louise (23 November 2018). "Men used to be Taxed if they Wanted to Remain a Bachelor". The Vintage News. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  15. 1 2 McManis, Sam (January 26, 2003). "Kind of looking for Ms. Right / Older bachelors say freedom, high standards keep them single". SFGate. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  16. ↑ "Hundreds of 'bachelors' crammed in squalid and dilapidated buildings". GulfNews.com. 2009-05-03. Archived from the original on 2014-01-03. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  17. 1 2 Eschner, Kat. "'Spinster' and 'Bachelor' Were, Until 2005, Official Terms for Single People". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2022-05-06.
  18. ↑ Gulla, Emily (2020-02-14). "The real meaning behind the word "spinster" and the secret ways it's still used today". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 2022-05-06.
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