bachelor

American  

[bach-ler, bach-uh-ler] / ˈbætʃ lər, ˈbætʃ ə 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.

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bachelor British  

/ ˈbætʃlə, ˈbætʃələ /

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. a young male seal, esp a fur seal, that has not yet mated

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Usage

Gender-neutral form: single person

Other Word Forms

• bachelorhood noun
• bachelorlike adjective
• bachelorly adjective
• nonbachelor noun
• prebachelor adjective

Etymology

Origin of bachelor

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English bacheler “squire, young knight,” from Old French; origin uncertain; probably from assumed Vulgar Latin baccalār(is) “tenant farmer, farm hand”; akin to Late Latin baccalāria “piece of land,” originallly plural of assumed baccalārium “dairy farm,” equivalent to assumed baccālis “pertaining to cows” (from bacca, variant of Latin vacca “cow” + -ālis + -ārium); -al ¹, -arium ( def. ) )

Explanation

There are two criteria needed in order to be a bachelor: one is that you can’t be married, and the other is that you have to be a man. Any people outside of these criteria are some other word. The origins of bachelor are unclear, but some similar Latin words are baccalāris (“farm hand”), baccalārium (“dairy farm”), and bacca (“cow”). Maybe some bachelors spent a lot of time milking cows before getting married in the olden days. The phrase “eligible bachelor” means a guy who would make a great husband, and the phrase “confirmed bachelor” describes a man who is having so much fun being single that he’ll probably never marry. Either way, pronounce it like this: BATCH-uh-lur.

Example Sentences

On TV, comics imitate the bespectacled bachelor, joking a raised eyebrow from Velarde is enough to steady food prices.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026

Upon completion of their bachelor of fine arts degree in May 2025, they joined full-time.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 12, 2026

Weeks later, Realtor.com revealed that the football pro listed his four-bedroom, three-bathroom Dana Point bachelor pad for $8.5 million, seemingly in an effort to commit to life as a married man.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 4, 2026

Pratt’s stuffed cougar, representing the late P-22 whose bachelor life trapped in Griffith Park helped inspire the project, sat placidly amid workers moving native plants onto the site.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 26, 2026

Maxim and I had lunch with Frank at his bachelor establishment next door to the office to be out of the way.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier