Boyfriend - Wikipedia Boyfriend From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search For other uses, see Boyfriend (disambiguation). It has been suggested that this article be merged into Girlfriend. (Discuss) Proposed since August 2020. For technical reasons, "Boyfriend #2" redirects here. For that song, see Boyfriend No. 2. Relationships (Outline) Types Genetic or adoptive Kinship Family Parent father mother Grandparent Sibling Cousin By marriage Spouse Husband Wife Open marriage Polygamy Polyandry Polygyny Group marriage Mixed-orientation Partner(s) Significant other Boyfriend Girlfriend Cohabitation Same-sex Life partner Friendship (romantic / cross-sex / zone) Sexual Casual Monogamy Non-monogamy Mutual monogamy Polyamory Polyfidelity Cicisbeo Concubinage Courtesan Mistress Activities Bonding Courtship Dating Engagement Bachelor's Day Mating Meet market Romance Singles event Wedding Endings Breakup Separation Annulment Divorce Widowhood Emotions and feelings Affinity Attachment Intimacy Jealousy Limerence Love Platonic unconditional Passion Sexuality Practices Bride price dower dowry service Hypergamy Infidelity Sexual activity Transgression Repression Abuse Child Dating Domestic Elderly Narcissistic parent Power and control v t e This article appears to be a dictionary definition. Please rewrite it to present the subject from an encyclopedic point of view. If it cannot be turned into a full encyclopedia article in the near future, consider moving it to Wiktionary. Steps for moving to Wiktionary: Check that this article meets Wiktionary's criteria for inclusion. Check that Wiktionary does not have an article on this word or phrase, as verified using the search page. If Wiktionary has a definition already, change this tag to {{TWCleanup2}} or else consider a soft redirect to Wiktionary by replacing the text on this page with {{Wi}}. If Wiktionary does not have the definition yet, consider moving the whole article to Wiktionary by replacing this tag with the template {{Copy to Wiktionary}}. This template will no longer automatically categorize articles as candidates to move to Wiktionary. A boyfriend is a male friend or acquaintance, often specifying a regular male companion with whom a person is romantically or sexually involved.[1] This is normally a short-term committed relationship, where other titles (e.g., husband, partner) are more commonly used for long-term committed relationships.[citation needed] A boyfriend can also be called an admirer, beau, suitor and sweetheart.[2] The analogous female term is "girlfriend". Contents 1 Scope 2 Word history 3 Synonyms 4 See also 5 References 6 External links Scope A woman with her boyfriend at Alexanderplatz in March 1975. A man with his boyfriend. Partners in committed non-marital relationships are also sometimes described as a significant other or partner,[3] especially if the individuals are cohabiting. A 2005 study of 115 people ages 21 to 35 who were either living with or had lived with a romantic partner notes that the lack of proper terms often leads to awkward situations, such as someone upset over not being introduced in social situations to avoid the question.[4] Word history The word dating entered the American language during the Roaring Twenties. Prior to that, courtship was a matter of family and community interest. Starting around the time of the American Civil War, courtship became a private matter for couples.[5] In the early to mid 20th century in the US, women were often visited by "gentleman callers", single men who would arrive at the home of a young woman with the hopes of beginning a courtship.[6] The era of the gentleman caller ended in the early 20th century and the modern idea of dating developed.[5] In literature, the term is discussed in July 1988 in Neil Bartlett's, Who Was That Man? A Present for Mr Oscar Wilde. On pages 108–110, Bartlett quotes from an issue of The Artist and Journal of Home Culture, which refers to Alectryon as "a boyfriend of Mars". Synonyms An older man may be referred to as a sugar daddy, a well-to-do man who financially supports or lavishly spends on a mistress, girlfriend, or boyfriend.[7] In popular culture, slang, internet chat, and cellphone texting, the truncated acronym bf is also used.[8] Leman, an archaic word for "sweetheart, paramour," from Medieval British leofman (c.1205), from Old English leof (cognate of Dutch lief, German lieb) "dear" + man "human being, person" was originally applied to either gender, but usually means mistress.[9] The term young man was at some periods used with a similar connotation. For example, in the 1945 film "My Name Is Julia Ross" the female protagonist, seeking a secretarial job, is asked if she has "a young man"[10] – where in later films a similar question would have referred to "a boyfriend". See also Society portal Domestic partnership References ^ Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English , published 23 June 2005, University of Oxford, ISBN 978-0-19-861022-9 edition ^ Thesaurus.com. "Boyfriend". Retrieved 6 May 2012. ^ Thesaurus.com. "Significant other". Retrieved 6 May 2012. ^ Jayson, Sharon (23 June 2008). "Adults stumble over what to call their romantic partners". USA Today. Retrieved 6 May 2012. ^ a b Hirsch, Elaine. "The History of Dating and Communication". Retrieved 6 May 2012. ^ Hunt, Lana J. "Ladies and Gentleman". Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2012. ^ Merriam-Webster. "Sugar daddy". Retrieved 6 May 2012. ^ BF – Definition by AcronymFinder ^ The Free Dictionary By Farlex. "Leman". Retrieved 6 May 2012. ^ Aliperti, Cliff. "My Name is Julia Ross (1945) starring Nina Foch and George Macready". Retrieved 6 May 2012. External links Look up boyfriend in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. EtymologyOnLine Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Boyfriend&oldid=975586578" Categories: Intimate relationships Terms for men Hidden categories: Articles to be merged from August 2020 All articles to be merged Wikipedia pages semi-protected against vandalism Use dmy dates from May 2020 Flagged dictionary definitions All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from August 2020 Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read View source View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version Languages العربية বাংলা Català فارسی Français Galego 한국어 Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Simple English سنڌي Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Svenska தமிழ் తెలుగు Türkçe Українська اردو 粵語 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 29 August 2020, at 10:06 (UTC). 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