Buckeen

/bʌˈkiːn/ noun

Definition

An Irish word for a young gentleman or dandy, especially one from a wealthy Anglo-Irish family.

Etymology

From Irish 'bacach' combined with the diminutive suffix '-een,' originally meaning 'a young poor man' but evolved to mean a fashionable young gentleman in Anglo-Irish society by the 1700s.

Kelly Says

The buckeen was a distinctly Irish-English character—caught between cultures, these young men often became the subject of folk songs and satirical literature, embodying the contradictions of the Irish gentry.

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