A bachelor is a man who is not married. It can also mean the first level of university degree in many countries.
From Old French “bacheler,” meaning a young man, squire, or junior member of a group, especially in knighthood. Universities later borrowed it to label the first rank of academic degree.
Bachelor once meant a junior knight, not just an unmarried guy. The student with a bachelor’s degree is, in a sense, a “junior” in the order of scholars, still waiting to be fully “knighted” by higher degrees.
“Bachelor” historically referred to an unmarried man and carried social assumptions that male singleness was acceptable or even desirable, while unmarried women were labeled with more stigmatizing terms like “spinster.” It reflects asymmetrical norms around gender and marriage.
Use “bachelor” mainly in fixed phrases (e.g., “bachelor’s degree”) or when marital status is specifically relevant; otherwise prefer gender-neutral terms like “single person.”
["single person","unmarried adult"]
Women’s choices to remain single or delay marriage have challenged double standards and expanded social and economic options for all genders.
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