Link Centre Dictionary

philander

phi·lan·der

UK/fɪˈlændə/ US/fɪˈlændəɹ/ uncommon obsolete

verb

1.

have amorous affairs; of men

  • “He has been womanizing for years”
Synonyms
2.

talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions

  • “The guys always try to chat up the new secretaries”
  • “My husband never flirts with other women”
Synonyms

Origin

As a verb, first seen in the 1824 play Philandering: Or, The Rose Queen, by Samuel Beazley. From the given name Philander, used for love interest or suitor stock characters in several 18th century stories and poems, from Ancient Greek Φίλανδρος (Phílandros), name of the mythological son of the nymph Acacallis and the god Apollo. Semantically disconnected from the adjective φίλανδρος (phílandros, “loving one’s husband; excessively attracted to males, slutty, boy crazy”).

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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.