different between cavalier vs attentive

English

Etymology

[1589] Borrowed from Middle French cavalier (“horseman”), itself borrowed from Old Italian cavaliere (“mounted soldier, knight”), borrowed from Old Occitan cavalier, from Late Latin caball?rius (“horseman”), from Latin caballus (“horse”), probably from Gaulish caballos 'nag', variant of cabillos (compare Welsh ceffyl, Breton kefel, Irish capall), akin to German (Swabish) K?b 'nag' and Old Church Slavonic ?????? (kobyla) 'mare'.

Previous English forms include cavalero and cavaliero.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kæv??l???/
• Rhymes: -??(?)
• Hyphenation: cav?a?lier

Adjective

cavalier (comparative more cavalier, superlative most cavalier)

1. Not caring enough about something important.
   • 2012, Barbara Seaman, Laura Eldridge, Voices of the Women's Health Movement (volume 1)

     Such a cavalier attitude might seem to suggest that doctors consider the uterus as dispensable an organ as, say, an appendix—and some feminists have accused the medical profession of just such callousness […]

2. High-spirited.
3. Supercilious.

   Synonyms: haughty, disdainful, curt, brusque

4. (historical) Of or pertaining to the party of King Charles I of England (1600–1649).

Translations

Noun

cavalier (plural cavaliers)

1. (historical) A military man serving on horse, (chiefly) early modern cavalry officers who had abandoned the heavy armor of medieval knights.
2. (historical) A gallant: a sprightly young dashing military man.
3. A gentleman of the class of such officers, particularly:
   1. (historical) A courtesan or noble under Charles I of England, particularly a royalist partisan during the English Civil War which ended his reign.

      Antonym: Roundhead

4. (slang) Someone with an uncircumcised penis.

   Antonym: roundhead
5. (architecture) A defensive work rising from a bastion, etc., and overlooking the surrounding area.

Translations

Verb

cavalier (third-person singular simple present cavaliers, present participle cavaliering, simple past and past participle cavaliered)

1. (transitive, dated) Of a man: to act in a gallant and dashing manner toward (women).
   • 1863, Charles Cowden Clarke, Shakespeare-characters; Chiefly Those Subordinate (page 427)

     His social and kind nature is inferred from his cavaliering the ladies Percy and Mortimer, and introducing them, before their husbands depart for the war.

   • 1916, Good Housekeeping (volume 64, page 113)

     "I thought," Graeme burred at him, transfixing him with shrewd eyes, "that you were cavaliering the Italian girl, Beatrice Cenci or Vittoria Colonna or whatever her name is?"

References

Anagrams

• variceal

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian cavaliere, itself borrowed from Old Occitan cavalier, from Late Latin caball?rius. Doublet of chevalier, which was inherited.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.va.lje/

Noun

cavalier m (plural cavaliers, feminine cavalière)

1. horseman, particularly:
   • 1876, "C" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. IV, p. 616:

     ...before a in French an original c has the sound sh, and is spelt ch... Exceptions to this rule are generally words incorporated into classical French (i.e., the descendant of the old dialect of the Isle de France) from other dialects, as those of Normandy or Picardy, or are introduced from the Italian, as cavalier, &c.

   1. knight
   2. cavalier: an early modern cavalry officer
   3. (horse-)rider
2. (chess, m) knight
3. (card games, m) knight (in tarot)
4. (m) U-nail, fence staple, construction staple
5. (m) cable clip
6. (danse, m) (male) partner
7. (m) (male) date, (male) companion for social activities

Derived terms

• faire cavalier seul

Adjective

cavalier (feminine singular cavalière, masculine plural cavaliers, feminine plural cavalières)

1. equestrian
2. cavalier (all senses)

See also

Further reading

• “cavalier” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• calvaire

English

Etymology

From Middle English attentif, attentijf, from Old French attentif.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??t?nt?v/

Adjective

attentive (comparative more attentive, superlative most attentive)

1. Paying attention; noticing, watching, listening, or attending closely.

   She is an attentive listener, but does not like to talk much.

   • 1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka (republished by Eland, 2019; p. 94):

     King-of-the-Sky was sitting alone in the Leeward Village meeting-house, gesticulating to the attentive shades of night, roaring out the genealogy of his ancestors, telling the sleeping world of his greatness.

2. Courteous; mindful.

   a husband attentive to his wife's needs

Synonyms

• audient
• mindful
• reckful

Antonyms

• inattentive, reckless

Translations

See also

• alert
• wary
• watchful

Anagrams

• tentative

French

Adjective

attentive

1. feminine singular of attentif