cicisbeo
/ˌt͡ʃit͡ʃəzˈbeɪoʊ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A man who escorts a married woman to social functions, especially in 18th-century Italy; a married woman's lover.
Example Sentences
- "My old Cicisbee says it would do: & he is (or was poor fellow!) a famous Scholar."
- "The office of Cicisbeo is however an intolerably expensive one; especially to our countrymen."
- "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."
- "He accuses the women of having cicisbei, the girls of having lovers."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: cicisbeo
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌt͡ʃit͡ʃəzˈbeɪoʊ/
- British English: /ˌtʃɪtʃɪzˈbeɪəʊ/