bachelor

American  

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

noun

• bachelors
  plural

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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• bachelors
  plural

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); see origin at -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

See Examples For:

bachelor bachelors

Here’s a breakdown of the top-five-earning bachelor degrees, the middle five and the bottom five:

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

Graduates of English bachelor programs, for example, earned an average of about $55,000 four years after completion compared with an average of $36,082 for people who only graduated high school, HEA’s analysis shows.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

Marcello Hernández, Teyana Taylor and Andy Garcia star alongside the actor in this Netflix comedy about a 40-year-old who crashes a Miami bachelor party.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

In his 2016 presidential run, Graham would campaign about how he, a bachelor with no kids, had no life and would be purely focused on the work.

From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026

And an eligible bachelor at that, without three wives or even one as far as I know.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

But for students who do get a spot, they can expect to make more than some of the most popular bachelors degrees — at least within four years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

One was married, but the other was single, so the bachelors lived together.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2026

A movie where the perennially single New York matchmaker has finally met her match in two highly eligible bachelors?

From Salon ● Jun. 14, 2025

Ugly Christmas sweaters: They’re gaudy, loud, and the chosen uniform of seasonal rom-com bachelors.

From Slate ● Dec. 12, 2024

Fern had just come out in Lockhart, and it was time to buckle down to the business of meeting bachelors.

From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly