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Meaning of cicisbea | Babel Free

Noun CEFR B2

Definitions

The female companion or lover of a (chiefly married) man, especially in eighteenth-century Italy.

historical

Examples

“The instant he was taken ill, he was persuaded he should dye, and refused to see⟳ anybody; even my neighbour, Anna Frescobaldi, his Cicisbea of 30 years standing was forbid⟳.”
“Bonducci […] had been actively courting Walpole with such projects as his Italian translation of Alexander Pope's Rape of the Lock⟳, which he dedicated to Horace Walpole's cicisbea Elisabetta Capponi.”

CEFR level

B2
Upper Intermediate
This word is part of the CEFR B2 vocabulary — upper intermediate level.
See all B2 English words →

See also

cicisbeism cicisbeo ciclacillin ciclafrine ciclatoun ciclazindol

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