batman
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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Etymology 1
From bat (“packsaddle”) + man. The element bat is from French bât, from Old French bast,[1] from Late Latin bastum, possibly from Ancient Greek βαστάζω (bastázō, “to bear, carry, lift”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈbæt.mən/
Audio (General Australian): (file) - Hyphenation: bat‧man
Noun
batman (plural batmen)
- (military) A servant or valet to a military officer.
- Synonym: orderly
- 1932, John Galsworthy, chapter III, in Flowering Wilderness […], London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, page 19:
- [A]s a rule the chambers were occupied only by Stack, who had been Wilfrid's batman in the war, and had for him one of those sphinx-like habits which wear better than expressed devotions.
- (by extension, informal) A personal assistant or supporter.
- 2008, Darren Smith, Fade, →ISBN, page 278:
- He became my retainer, my batman, the solution to my ever-growing need for an extra pair of hands.
- 2012, Jeffery Hayton, Just One More Time, →ISBN, page 78:
- Thank you to a special Carer, Thank you for being my nurse, My housemaid, and my cook, My batman and my chauffeur, And my eyes when I forget to look!
- 2014, Andrew S Cowan, Estate Life, →ISBN, page 186:
- The Quease, as you will have read, thought this a huge cheek and, as is ever the case with her, was not slow to point it out. She further accused me of treating him as my batman.
Translations
servant to an army officer — see also orderly
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Verb
batman (third-person singular simple present batmans, present participle batmanning, simple past and past participle batmanned)
- To act as a batman, wait on an officer.
- 1985, Chris Vokes, John Philip Maclean, Vokes, my story, page 98:
- Batmanning was voluntary. McPherson was a bit incensed about the loss of his batman, but he made do with somebody else.
- 2000, Baylor Wetzel, Winter Project, →ISBN, page 96:
- OK, I batmanned. Give me an Xterm.
- 2014, Andris Bear, Lust:
- Yes, well, had I known you were having a row with the loo, I would have batmanned the other direction.
- 2017, Clare Makepeace, Captives of War, →ISBN:
- The preservation of the batmanning system in captivity was established through an Anglo-German agreement of 1918, which had allowed one orderly to be allocated to a group of seven imprisoned captains, one to a group of four field officers and one to each general.
See also
Etymology 2
From Ottoman Turkish بطمان (batman). Cognate with Chagatai [script needed] (bātmān).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /batˈman/
- Rhymes: -an
- Hyphenation: bat‧man
Noun
batman (plural batmans)
- (Turkish units of measure) A unit of weight established in 1931 equal to 10 kg.
- (historical units of measure) A Turkish unit of weight varying by location, time, and item from 2–8 okas (about 2.5–10 kg).
- 1583 July 20, J. Newbery, letter in Richard Hakluyt's The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, p. 209:
- 1614, Samuel Purchas, Purchas His Pilgrimage, page 544:
- 1753, G. Thompson & al. in Jonas Hanway's Historical Account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea, Vol. I, p. 351:
- 1819, Abraham Rees, The Cyclopaedia, Vol. XXX, s.v. "Rottolo":
- 1900, William B. Dick, Encyclopedia of Practical Receipts and Processes, page 530:
Synonyms
Meronyms
Translations
References
- “batman”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
Further reading
- "batman" in the Ottoman Turkish Dictionary
- "batman, n.1", in the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Etymology 3
In reference to the superhero Batman.
Verb
batman (third-person singular simple present batmans, present participle batmanning, simple past and past participle batmanned)
- (slang, mountaineering) To climb up or down a rope free hand (i.e. as Batman does).
- 1993, Steve Roper, Allen Steck, The Best of Ascent: Twenty-Five Years of the Mountaineering Experience:
- At 16,200 feet I batmanned madly down the fixed ropes, stopping constantly to catch my breath, not sure how much longer I could continue.
- 2005, Alan Hobson, Jamie Clarke, Above All Else: The Everest Dream, →ISBN, page 53:
- Instead, they batmanned effortlessly hand-over-hand up the rope like kids pulling in perch.
- 2011, Kerry Burns, Cameron Burns, Climb: Tales of Man Versus Boulder, Crag, Wall, and Peak, →ISBN, page 96:
- So without hesitation I “batmanned” the rope, freed it, and we continued.
- 2018, Nate Fitch, Ron Funderburke, Climbing: From First-Timer to Gym Climber, →ISBN:
- When climbers fall they will usually want to return to their high point to resume climbing, and that will either involve batmanning or boinking.
Anagrams
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