Dictionary

Valentino en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌvælənˈtiːnoʊ/

Etymology

From Italian Valentino, from Latin Valentīnus (“Valentine”), a patronymic from Valēns (Roman cognomen), itself nominalized from vālens (“strong, healthy”) + -īnus (“-ine”). As a noun, named after Italian-American actor Rudolph Valentino (1895–1926). Doublet of Valentine, Valentinus, Valentina, and Valentini.

Meanings

1. (dated) A strikingly handsome man, particularly one similar in appearance to Rudolph Valentino.
   • She was working on a stage which represented a guardroom for Christian prisoners, and presently they went there and watched Nicotera, one of many hopeful Valentinos, strut and pose before a dozen female “captives,” their eyes melancholy and startling with mascara. 1934, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, edited by Malcolm Cowley, Tender is the Night […], New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1951, →OCLC, book IV (Escape: 1925–1929), page 230:
   • He was a real Valentino.
2. (dated) Synonym of gigolo, a handsome man funded by an older woman.

Forms

Synonyms

gigolo

Valentino en · PROPN

Pronunciation

• /ˌvælənˈtiːnoʊ/

Etymology

From Italian Valentino, from Latin Valentīnus (“Valentine”), a patronymic from Valēns (Roman cognomen), itself nominalized from vālens (“strong, healthy”) + -īnus (“-ine”). As a noun, named after Italian-American actor Rudolph Valentino (1895–1926). Doublet of Valentine, Valentinus, Valentina, and Valentini.

Meanings

1. A surname from Italian

Forms