suitor

[ soo-ter ]

/ ˈsu tər /

a man who courts or woos a woman.

Law. a petitioner or plaintiff.

a person who sues or petitions for anything.

Informal. an individual who seeks to buy a business.

Origin of suitor

1250–1300; Middle English s(e)utor, suitour < Anglo-French < Latin secūtor, equivalent to secū-, variant stem of sequī to follow + -tor -tor

I find both “admirer” and “suitor” to be presumptuous and one-sided.

What Should I Call the Man I Love? |Dushka Zapata |November 18, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
When Cato still refused, the suitor then asked Cato for Cato's own wife.

Who Was the Real Cato? |David Frum |December 20, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
Soni and Goodman attribute the complicated story to the shared Stoic philosophy of Cato and the suitor.

Who Was the Real Cato? |David Frum |December 20, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
It was only from her suitor that I heard at last of her distress.

Her Mother's Secret |Emma D. E. N. Southworth

Poverty-stricken and dishonoured, Margaret Basset's son might not be so successful a suitor as the heir of Trevethlan.

Trevethlan: (Vol 2 of 3) |William Davy Watson
She made no reply, for the situation seemed as complex to her as to her suitor.

Pocket Island |Charles Clark Munn
Before the catastrophe, however, he was so repulsively ugly that no lady had ever been willing to receive him as a suitor.

The Hated Son |Honore de Balzac
He had forfeited the right of appearing before Zeus as a suitor; for indeed he was no longer such as he had been only yesterday.

A Thorny Path [Per Aspera], Complete |Georg Ebers

suitor

/ (ˈsuːtə, ˈsjuːt-) /

a man who courts a woman; wooer

law a person who brings a suit in a court of law; plaintiff

rare a person who makes a request or appeal for anything

C13: from Anglo-Norman suter, from Latin secūtor follower, from sequī to follow