bachelor

[bach-uh-ler, bach-ler] /ˈbætʃ ə lər, ˈbætʃ lər/
noun
1.
an unmarried man.
2.
a person who has been awarded a bachelor's degree.
3.
a fur seal, especially a young male, kept from the breeding grounds by the older males.
4.
Also called bachelor-at-arms. a young knight who followed the banner of another.
5.
Also called household knight. a landless knight.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English bacheler < Old French < Vulgar Latin *baccalār(is) farm hand; akin to Late Latin baccalāria piece of land, orig. plural of *baccalārium dairy farm, equivalent to *baccālis of cows (bacca, variant of Latin vacca cow + -ālis -al1) + -ārium place
Related forms
bachelorlike, adjective
bachelorly, adjective
nonbachelor, noun
prebachelor, adjective, noun

bachelor's

[bach-uh-lerz, bach-lerz] /ˈbætʃ ə lərz, ˈbætʃ lərz/
noun, Informal.
1.
bachelor's degree.
Examples from the web for bachelor
  • Bighorn sheep live in divided herds: ewes and lambs together in larger groups, rams in smaller bachelor herds.
  • He says an old bachelor lived there, and then one day his home burned, and he rebuilt with concrete so it would be fireproof.
  • Brough, for instance, is enrolled in a bachelor of science program and hopes to complete a doctor of medicine program.
  • University quality especially at the bachelor level is often a chimera.
  • The play piers have taken a hold of the people which no crabbed old bachelor can loosen with trumped-up charges.
  • As he was a bachelor, and in nobody's debt, nobody troubled his head any more about him.
  • Twenty-two per cent of bachelor's degrees are awarded in that field.
  • Again, there is a wedding in the offing, with a bachelor party that nearly wrecks the day.
  • There are the favored settings: the opera house, the army barracks, the bachelor pad.
  • Nerd social maladroitness, rather than arrogance, is the key to understanding this bachelor's behavior.
British Dictionary definitions for bachelor

bachelor

/ˈbætʃələ; ˈbætʃlə/
noun
1.
  1. an unmarried man
  2. (as modifier): a bachelor flat
2.
  1. a person who holds the degree of Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Education, Bachelor of Science, etc
  2. the degree itself
3.
Also called bachelor-at-arms. (in the Middle Ages) a young knight serving a great noble
4.
bachelor seal, a young male seal, esp a fur seal, that has not yet mated
Derived Forms
bachelorhood, noun
Usage note
Gender-neutral form: single person
Word Origin
C13: from Old French bacheler youth, squire, from Vulgar Latin baccalāris (unattested) farm worker, of Celtic origin; compare Irish Gaelic bachlach peasant
Word Origin and History for bachelor
n.

c.1300, "young man;" also "youthful knight, novice in arms," from Old French bacheler (11c.) "knight bachelor," a young squire in training for knighthood, of uncertain origin, perhaps from Medieval Latin baccalarius "vassal farmer," one who helps or tends a baccalaria "section of land." Or from Latin baculum "a stick," because the squire would practice with a staff, not a sword. Meaning evolved from "knight in training" to "young unmarried man" (early 14c.). Bachelor party as a pre-wedding ritual is from 1882.