I. |kavə|li(ə)r, -iə noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle French, from Old Italian cavaliere, from Old Provençal cavalier, from Late Latin caballarius groom, hostler, from Latin caballus + -arius -ary
1. : a raised fortified structure usually rising from the middle of a bastion but sometimes erected by besiegers and designed to command the enemy's works
2. : a gentleman trained in arms and manege : a gallant courtly soldier
3. : a mounted soldier of rank, often colorful and with romantic appeal : knight
4. usually capitalized
a. : an adherent of Charles I of England as contrasted with a supporter of parliament : royalist
b. : a Southerner of the plantation-owning class ; specifically : virginian
5. : a lady's escort or dancing partner : gallant
II. intransitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
1. : to play the cavalier
2. : to act in a cavalier manner
III. adjective
1. : insouciant and debonair
2. : marked by lofty disregard of others' interests, rights, or feelings : highhanded and arrogant or supercilious : given to airy dismissal of things worthy of attention
cavalier in his methods, too lordly over appointments and forgotten promises — F.Tennyson Jesse
cavalier ignoring of his arguments
3.
a. usually capitalized : of or relating to the party of Charles I of England : royalist
an old Cavalier family
b. : marked by colorful self-confident affluence : aristocratic
older middle-class Virginia … being superseded by a cavalier Virginia — V.L.Parrington
c. usually capitalized : of, relating to, or resembling the work of the English Cavalier poets of the mid-17th century : valuing courtliness, urbanity, and polish
d. : imitative of the flaring ornamental dress of the Cavaliers
a cavalier cuff
• cav·a·lier·ness noun -es