cicisbeo
English
Alternative forms
- cicisbee, sigisbeo
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian cicisbeo, of onomatopoeic origin.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˌtʃɪtʃɪzˈbeɪəʊ/
Audio (UK) (file) - (US) IPA(key): /ˌt͡ʃit͡ʃəzˈbeɪoʊ/
- Rhymes: -eɪəʊ
Noun
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, Hester Thrale Piozzi, Thraliana, 7 December:
- My old Cicisbee says it would do: & he is (or was poor fellow!) a famous Scholar.
- 1792, Thomas Holcroft, Anna St. Ives, vol. 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 1970, p. 452:
- He accuses the women of having cicisbei, the girls of having lovers.
- 1784, Hester Thrale Piozzi, Thraliana, 7 December:
Derived terms
- cicisbeism
Related terms
- cicisbea
Translations
Married woman's gallant or lover
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Esperanto
Etymology
Borrowed from Polish cicisbeo, ultimately from Italian cicisbeo.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [t͡sit͡sizˈbeo]
- Rhymes: -eo
- Hyphenation: ci‧ciz‧be‧o
Noun
cicisbeo (accusative singular cicisbeon, plural cicisbeoj, accusative plural cicisbeojn)
- cicisbeo
Italian
FWOTD – 16 September 2020
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /t͡ʃi.t͡ʃiˈzbɛ.o/
- Rhymes: -ɛo
- Hyphenation: ci‧ci‧sbè‧o
Etymology 1
Onomatopoeic of people chatting.
Noun
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
- cicisbeare
- cicisbeismo
Related terms
- cicisbea
- cicisbeatura
Descendants
- → French: sigisbée
- → Spanish: chichifo
Further reading
- cicisbeo in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
cicisbeo
- first-person singular present indicative of cicisbeare