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celibate

ce·li·bate

UK/ˈsɛləbət/ US/ˈsɛlɪbʌt/ uncommon obsolete rare

noun

adjective

1.

abstaining from sexual intercourse

  • “celibate priests”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

From French célibat (“celibacy”), from Latin caelibātus (“celibacy”), from caelebs (“unmarried”); compare German Zölibat (“celibacy”). Equivalent to Latin caelebs + -ate (forming nouns denoting a rank, a state)

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Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.