cavalier
[ kav-uh-leer, kav-uh-leer ]
/ ˌkæv əˈlɪər, ˈkæv əˌlɪər /
noun
adjective
verb (used without object)
to play the cavalier.
to be haughty or domineering.
Origin of cavalier
1590–1600; < Middle French: horseman, knight < Old Italian
cavaliere < Old Provençal < Late Latin
caballārius man on horseback, equivalent to Latin
caball(
us) horse (cf.
capercaillie) +
-ārius
-ary
SYNONYMS FOR cavalier
historical usage of cavalier
Cavalier and its Romance cognates, Spanish
caballero, Portuguese
cavalleiro, Italian
cavaliere (source of English
cavalry ), Old Northern French
cavailler, cavaler, Old French and French
chevalier (source of English
chevalier ), all derive from Late Latin
caballārius “horseman, groom,” from Latin
caballus “horse, (inferior) horse for riding, packhorse, nag.” In English in the late 16th century,
cavalier meant “horseman, armed horseman, knight,” and also “gentleman at arms, courtly gentleman, gallant.”
By the end of the 16th century, cavalier had also become a term of abuse, meaning “braggart, swaggerer,” as in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 2 (1596–99). This sense persisted till at least the English Civil War (1642–1651); the Puritan Roundheads called King Charles’s bellicose aristocratic supporters Cavaliers. By the mid-18th century, a cavalier also came to mean “an attendant upon or escort for a lady, a lady’s dancing partner.”
The adjective senses of cavalier, “offhand, careless, free and easy” arose in the second half of the 16th century; the negative adjective sense “haughty, disdainful” arose in the mid-18th century; the historical sense in reference to the Stuart Royalists arose in the mid-19th century.
By the end of the 16th century, cavalier had also become a term of abuse, meaning “braggart, swaggerer,” as in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 2 (1596–99). This sense persisted till at least the English Civil War (1642–1651); the Puritan Roundheads called King Charles’s bellicose aristocratic supporters Cavaliers. By the mid-18th century, a cavalier also came to mean “an attendant upon or escort for a lady, a lady’s dancing partner.”
The adjective senses of cavalier, “offhand, careless, free and easy” arose in the second half of the 16th century; the negative adjective sense “haughty, disdainful” arose in the mid-18th century; the historical sense in reference to the Stuart Royalists arose in the mid-19th century.
OTHER WORDS FROM cavalier
cav·a·lier·ism, cav·a·lier·ness, noun cav·a·lier·ly, adverb un·cav·a·lier, adjective un·cav·a·lier·ly, adverbWords nearby cavalier
Example sentences from the Web for cavalier
British Dictionary definitions for cavalier (1 of 2)
cavalier
/ (ˌkævəˈlɪə) /
adjective
showing haughty disregard; offhand
noun
a gallant or courtly gentleman, esp one acting as a lady's escort
archaic
a horseman, esp one who is armed
Derived forms of cavalier
cavalierly, adverbWord Origin for cavalier
C16: from Italian
cavaliere, from Old Provençal
cavalier, from Late Latin
caballārius rider, from
caballus horse, of obscure origin
British Dictionary definitions for cavalier (2 of 2)
Cavalier
/ (ˌkævəˈlɪə) /
noun
a supporter of Charles I during the English Civil War
Compare Roundhead