bachelor

The word “bachelor” means a man who has never married. In plain terms, an unmarried man, an entry-level university degree, or a small one-room apartment.

“Bachelor” is pronounced BACH-uh-luh (/ˈbæt͡ʃ.ə.lɚ/ in IPA).

Here is “bachelor” used in a sentence: “At fifty, he was still a confirmed bachelor.”

“Bachelor” is a noun.

The word “bachelor” comes from Medieval Latin. From Old French bacheler, ultimately from Medieval Latin baccalarius — originally a term for a young knight or novice, later extended to unmarried men and academic degree-holders.

“Bachelor” is a fairly common word in modern English.

“Bachelor” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a man who has never married.

A bachelor is a man who has never married, while a bachelorette is the female equivalent, an unmarried woman. The two terms are most often paired in the phrases 'bachelor party' and 'bachelorette party', celebrations held shortly before a wedding.

A bachelor's degree is the undergraduate degree awarded after a typical three- or four-year university course, such as a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science. A master's degree is a higher, postgraduate qualification studied after the bachelor's has been completed.

The apostrophe appears only in the possessive form 'bachelor's degree', where the degree belongs to the bachelor. When referring to an unmarried man, 'bachelor' takes no apostrophe.

In some regions a 'bachelor', or bachelor apartment, is a small self-contained flat with no separate bedroom, much like a studio apartment. The living, sleeping, and kitchen areas all share a single main room.