cicisbeo

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian cicisbeo, of onomatopoeic origin.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

cicisbeo (plural cicisbeos or cicisbei)

(18th century Italy) A knightly servant of a high-born lady.
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

French: sigisbée (fr) m, cicisbée (fr) m, chevalier servant (fr) m, cavalier servant (fr) m
German: Cicisbeo m, ^{(please verify)} Hausfreund (de) m
Ido: cicisbeo (io)
Italian: cicisbeo (it) m, cavalier servente m

Russian: чичисбе́й (ru) m (čičisbéj)
Spanish: chichisbeo m
Ukrainian: чичисбе́й m (čyčysbéj), чічісбе́й m (čičisbéj)

Italian

Etymology

Onomatopoeic of people chatting.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /tʃi.tʃiˈzbɛ.o/
Rhymes: -ɛo
Hyphenation: ci‧ci‧sbè‧o

Noun

cicisbeo m (plural cicisbei)

(18th century) cicisbeo (knightly servant of a high-born lady)
Synonym: cavalier servente
(figuratively) A dandy, a vain young man who is concerned about his appearance, especially in order to attract women.
Synonyms: bellimbusto, damerino, galletto, vagheggino, zerbinotto

Derived terms

cicisbeatura
cicisbeismo

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.