cicisbeo

American  

[chee-chiz-bey-oh, si-sis-bee-oh, chee-cheez-be-oh] / ˌtʃi tʃɪzˈbeɪ oʊ, sɪˈsɪs biˌoʊ, ˌtʃi tʃizˈbɛ oʊ /

noun

plural

cicisbei

1. an escort or lover of a married woman.

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cicisbeo British  

/ tʃitʃizˈbɛːo /

noun

1. the escort or lover of a married woman, esp in 18th-century Italy

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Etymology

Origin of cicisbeo

From Italian

Example Sentences

Heretofore, he had shunned everything that could secure for him the reputation of a cicisbeo.

From Jessamine A Novel by Harland, Marion

These girls as a rule, were married early to men of their own standing, and though the cicisbeo was not unknown after marriage he was not an authorised member of the household.

From The Valley of Decision by Wharton, Edith

It must be owned the Lady Louise had some excuse for a measure that seemed to have amazed and horrified her cicisbeo.

From At Last by Harland, Marion

For several months he played this unwholesome role of cicisbeo to Charlotte von Kalb.

From The Life and Works of Friedrich Schiller by Thomas, Calvin

There was nothing too mean, too repulsive, for the domestic brute—the cicisbeo, the priest, the half-witted page—to undergo, in the stupid belief that the power of a philtre increased with its nastiness.

From La Sorcière: The Witch of the Middle Ages by Michelet, Jules