cicisbeo
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Italian cicisbeo, of onomatopoeic origin.
Pronunciation edit
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˌtʃɪtʃɪzˈbeɪəʊ/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - (US) IPA(key): /ˌt͡ʃit͡ʃəzˈbeɪoʊ/
- Rhymes: -eɪəʊ
Noun edit
cicisbeo (plural cicisbeos or cicisbei)
- (now chiefly historical) A man who escorts a married woman to social functions, especially in 18th-century Italy; a married woman's lover.
- 1784 December 7, Hester Thrale Piozzi, Thraliana:
- My old Cicisbee says it would do: & he is (or was poor fellow!) a famous Scholar.
- 1792, Thomas Holcroft, Anna St. Ives, volume II, 19:
- The office of Cicisbeo is however an intolerably expensive one; especially to our countrymen.
- 1957, Lawrence Durrell, Justine:
- Of course a cicisbeo is a normal enough figure in Alexandrian life, but things are going to become socially very boring for you if you go out with those two so much.
- 1962, WH Auden, Elizabeth Mayer, translating JW Goethe, Italian Journey, Penguin, published 1970, page 452:
- He accuses the women of having cicisbei, the girls of having lovers.
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
Married woman's gallant or lover
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Esperanto edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Polish cicisbeo, ultimately from Italian cicisbeo.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
cicisbeo (accusative singular cicisbeon, plural cicisbeoj, accusative plural cicisbeojn)
Italian edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
Onomatopoeic of people chatting.
Noun edit
cicisbeo m (plural cicisbei)
- (historical, 18th century) cicisbeo (knightly servant of a high-born lady)
- Synonym: cavalier servente
- 1906, Maria Merlato, Mariti e cavalier serventi nelle commedie del Goldoni, page 86:
- Como abbiamo visto, Beatrice ha un cicisbeo.
- As we have seen, Beatrice has a cicisbeo.
- (by extension) a dandy, a vain young man who is concerned about his appearance, especially in order to attract women
- Synonyms: bellimbusto, damerino, galletto, vagheggino, zerbinotto
- 2016, Sandra Heath, La lady mascherata, tr. by Fabrizio Pezzoli, Edizioni Mondadori (publ.), →ISBN.
- Subiva spesso le sgradite attentioni di cicisbei di quel tipo, e senza eccezioni li teneva a debita distanza.
- She often drew the unwanted attention of that kind of dandies, and without fail she kept them at a distance.
- (historical, 18th century, figurative) a kind of ribbon
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Descendants edit
Further reading edit
- cicisbeo in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
Etymology 2 edit
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb edit
cicisbeo