goodman

See also: Goodman and good man

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English godeman, equivalent to good +‎ man.

Noun

goodman (plural goodmen)

  1. (now rare, chiefly Scotland) A familiar appellation of civility for a man. [from 10th c.]
  2. (now Scotland or historical) A husband; the master of a house or family. [from 13th c.]
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 7:18-19:
      Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey.
    • 1863, Anthony Trollope, Rachel Ray:
      ‘The gudeman,—he's done with t' paper, and you'll keep it for good and all.’
    • 1899, Proceedings of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow (page 55)
      The centre of the kitchen was the well-caumed fireside, the saut girnel in the jambs, the goodman's seat between the lowe and the candle, and pussy bawdrons not far from the warmth of the ace.

References

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.