Bachelor

For other uses, seeBachelor (disambiguation).

Abacheloris a man who is not and never has been married.

Etymology

A bachelor is first attested as the 12th-centurybacheler:aknight bachelor,aknighttoo young or poor to gather vassals underhis own banner.TheOld Frenchbachelerpresumably derives fromProvençalbacalarandItalianbaccalare,but the ultimate source of the word is uncertain.TheproposedMedieval Latin*baccalaris( "vassal", "field hand" ) is only attested late enough that it may have derived from the vernacular languages,rather than from the southern French and northern Spanish Latinbaccalaria.Alternatively, it has been derived from Latinbaculum( "a stick" ), in reference to the wooden sticks used by knights in training.

History

From the 14th century, the term "bachelor" was also used for a junior member of aguild(otherwise known as "yeomen" ) oruniversityand then for low-level ecclesiastics, as youngmonksand recently appointedcanons.As an inferior grade of scholarship, it came to refer to one holding a "bachelor's degree".This sense ofbaccalariusorbaccalaureusis first attested at theUniversity of Parisin the 13th century in the system of degrees established under the auspices ofPope Gregory IXas applied to scholars stillin statu pupillari.There were two classes ofbaccalarii:thebaccalarii cursores,theological candidates passed for admission to the divinity course, and thebaccalarii dispositi,who had completed the course and were entitled to proceed to the higher degrees.

In theVictorian era,the term "eligible bachelor"was used in the context ofupper classmatchmaking,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 expressionbachelor partyis 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 thegender-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. "

Bachelors have been subject topenal lawsin many countries, most notably inAncientSpartaandRome.At Sparta, men unmarried after a certain age were subject to various penalties (‹See Tfd›Greek:ἀτιμία,atimía): they were forbidden to watch women's gymnastics; during the winter, they were made to march naked through theagorasinging a song about their dishonor;and they were not provided with the traditional respect due to the elderly.SomeAthenianlaws were similar. 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 thetown halluntil kissed by a "virgin".In a 1912Pittsburgh Pressarticle, 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."

The idea of atax on bachelorshas existed throughout the centuries. Bachelors in Rome fell under theLex Juliaof 18 BC and theLex Papia Poppaeaof AD 9: these lay heavy fines on unmarried or childless people while providing certain privileges to those with several children.In 1695, a law known as theMarriage Duty Actwas imposed on single males over 25 years old by the English Crown to help generate income for theNine Years' War.InBritain,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.

A study that was conducted by professor Charles Waehler at theUniversity of Akronin Ohio on non-marriedheterosexualmales deduced that once non-married men hit middle age, they will be less likely to marry and remain unattached later into their lives.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.

In certainGulf Arabcountries, "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).

Bachelorette

Main article:Bachelorette

The termbacheloretteis sometimes used to refer to a woman who has never been married.

The traditional female equivalent to bachelor isspinster,which is consideredpejorativeand impliesunattractiveness(i.e. old maid,cat lady).The term "bachelorette" has been used in its place, particularly in the context ofbachelorette partiesandreality TVseriesThe Bachelorette.

See also

• Bachelor pad
• Incel
• Men Going Their Own Way
• Singleton (lifestyle)

External links

• Cole, David. "Note on Analyticity and the Definability of 'Bachelor'. "Philosophy Department of the University of Minnesota Duluth. 1 February 1999.