cavalier

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌkævəˈlɪə/ (UK); /ˌkævəˈlɪɚ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French cavalier (“horseman, knight”),^[2][3][4][5] from Italian cavaliere (“mounted soldier, knight”),^[2][3][6] from Late Latin caballārius (“horseman”),^[2][4][6][3] from Latin caballus (“horse”).^[2][3][5] In classical Latin caballus meant a workhorse or nag, but it became the everyday word for “horse” and displaced equus.^[6] The earliest English forms, cavaliero and cavallero, came from Spanish and Italian, and the French spelling was adopted in the 1640s.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A horseman, especially a mounted soldier; a knight (about 1470).^[7][6]

Semantic evolution

In Elizabethan English the word meant a courtly, gallant gentleman, but also a swaggerer.^[6][7] From 1641 Cavalier was the name for the Royalist supporters of Charles I.^[6][7] The adjective first meant “gallant, brave” (1640s), then “easy, offhand” (1650s, or 1657 in Barnhart),^[6][4] and by 1817 “disdainful”,^[6] the sense in which it is mostly used today.^[2][3]

Timeline

• about 1470 – a horseman, a knight.^[7]
• 1589 – a gentleman trained to arms; a gallant.^[7][4][3]
• 1641–1642 – a Royalist supporter of Charles I.^[7][6]
• 1640s – adjective, gallant, brave.^[6][4]
• 1657 – adjective, offhand, haughty.^[4]
• 1752 – a man escorting a lady.^[7]
• by 1817 – adjective, disdainful.^[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Showing arrogant or offhand disregard for something important.
2. Carefree and nonchalant.
3. (capitalized) Relating to the supporters of Charles I, or to the Cavalier poets of his court.

Noun

1. A gallant gentleman, especially one escorting a lady.
2. A mounted soldier; a knight.
3. (capitalized) A supporter of Charles I in his struggle with Parliament.

Word family

• cavalierly
• cavalierism
• uncavalier

Related words

• caballero
• cavalry
• chivalry
• chevalier

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press