celibate

(sĕl'ə-bĭt)
n.

1. One who abstains from sexual intercourse, especially by reason of religious vows.
2. One who is unmarried.

adj.

1. Abstaining from sexual intercourse, especially by reason of religious vows.
2. Unmarried; unwed.

[Latin caelibātus, from caelebs, caelib-, unmarried.]

USAGE NOTE   Historically, celibate means only "unmarried"; its use to mean "abstaining from sexual intercourse" is a 20th-century development. But the new sense of the word seems to have displaced the old, and the use of celibate to mean "unmarried" is now almost sure to invite misinterpretation in other than narrowly ecclesiastical contexts. Sixty-eight percent of the Usage Panel rejected the older use in the sentence He remained celibate [unmarried], although he engaged in sexual intercourse.

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adj

Definition: abstaining from sexual activity
Antonyms: active, promiscuous

IN BRIEF: One who abstains from sexual relations, especially by reason of religious vows.

They couple remained celibate until they got married.

Tutor's tip: The "celibate" (one who abstains from sexual relations) monk sat down to "cerebrate" (think) about how to "calibrate" (correct the gradations on a measuring instrument) his scale, but an old friend arrived to "celebrate" (engage in festivities to mark an

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For a list of words related to celibate, see:

• Moderate, Sane, Conservative, or Old-Fashioned

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See words rhyming with "celibate."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Celibate.

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - ugift, i cølibat
n. - ugift person, person i cølibat

Nederlands (Dutch)
celibatair

Français (French)
adj. - célibataire
n. - célibataire, personne chaste

Deutsch (German)
n. - Zölibatär
adj. - zölibatär, ehelos

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - άγαμος, εργένης
adj. - άγαμος, εργένικος

Italiano (Italian)
celibe

Português (Portuguese)
n. - celibatário (m)
adj. - celibatário

Русский (Russian)
давший обет безбрачия

Español (Spanish)
adj. - célibe, soltero
n. - célibe, soltero

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - person som lever i celibat
adj. - ogift

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
独身的, 独身主义的, 独身者, 独身主义者

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 獨身的, 獨身主義的
n. - 獨身者, 獨身主義者

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 독신의
n. - 독신자

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 独身者
adj. - 独身の

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) أعزب, غير متزوج (صفه) عزوبه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮מתנזר מיחסי-מין‬
n. - ‮רווק‬

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