Dictionary

cicisbeo en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌt͡ʃit͡ʃəzˈbeɪoʊ/ (US)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˌtʃɪtʃɪzˈbeɪəʊ/ (UK)

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian cicisbeo, of onomatopoeic origin.

Meanings

1. (historical) A man who escorts a married woman to social functions, especially in 18th-century Italy; a married woman's lover.
   • The office of Cicisbeo is however an intolerably expensive one; especially to our countrymen. 1792, Thomas Holcroft, Anna St. Ives, volume II, 19:
   • 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. 1957, Lawrence Durrell, Justine:
   • My old Cicisbee says it would do: & he is (or was poor fellow!) a famous Scholar. 1784 December 7, Hester Thrale Piozzi, Thraliana:
   • He accuses the women of having cicisbei, the girls of having lovers. 1962, WH Auden; Elizabeth Mayer, translating JW Goethe, Italian Journey, Penguin, published 1970, page 452:

Forms

Deriveds

cicisbeism

Relateds

cicisbea

Translations (15)

eo cicisbeo (Married woman's gallant or lover) · de Hausfreund (Married woman's gallant or lover) · fr chevalier servant (Married woman's gallant or lover) · de Cicisbeo (Married woman's gallant or lover) · es chichisbeo (Married woman's gallant or lover) · fr cavalier servant (Married woman's gallant or lover) · fr cicisbée (Married woman's gallant or lover) · io cicisbeo (Married woman's gallant or lover) · pl cicisbeo (Married woman's gallant or lover) · fr sigisbée (Married woman's gallant or lover) · uk чічісбе́й (Married woman's gallant or lover) · it cavalier servente (Married woman's gallant or lover) · ru чичисбе́й (Married woman's gallant or lover) · uk чичисбе́й (Married woman's gallant or lover) · it cicisbeo (Married woman's gallant or lover)