celibacy

English

Alternative forms

• cælibacy (archaic)

Etymology

From Latin caelibātus (“celibacy, a single life”), from caelebs (“unmarried”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛləbəsi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

celibacy (countable and uncountable, plural celibacies)

1. Abstaining from marriage; the state of being unmarried.
   • 1920, American Lutheran Survey‎^[1], volumes 13-14, page 16:

     They came to believe that men, who would live a godly life, must view marriage as a sin and choose a life of celibacy.

   • 1970, The Futurist‎^[2], page 42:

     I could document this defense of celibacy. Unmarried women show up very well in all the tests of mental health.

2. (by extension) Abstinence from sexual relations.

Synonyms

• sexlessness

Hypernyms

• chastity

Derived terms

• anticelibacy
• celibacist
• celibacy syndrome
• incelibacy

 

Related terms

• celibate

Translations

state of being unmarried

• Arabic: عُنُوسَة f (ʕunūsa)
• Asturian: celibatu m
• Belarusian: бясшлю́бнасць f (bjasšljúbnascʹ), цэліба́т m (celibát)
• Bulgarian: безбра́чие n (bezbráčie), ергенство n (ergenstvo)
• Catalan: celibat m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 獨身／独身 (zh) (dúshēn)

• Czech: svobodný stav, celibát (cs) m, (without women): bezženství, celibát (cs) m
• Finnish: selibaatti (fi)
• French: célibat (fr) m
• Galician: celibato (gl) m
• German: Zölibat (de) m or n
• Greek: αγαμία (el) f (agamía)
• Hebrew: פרישות f (prīshūth)
• Hungarian: cölibátus (hu)
• Irish: aontumha f
• Italian: celibato (it) m
• Japanese: 独身 (ja) (どくしん, dokushin)
• Korean: 독신 (ko) (doksin)
• Norwegian: sølibat n
• Polish: celibat (pl) m
• Portuguese: celibato (pt) m
• Romanian: celibat (ro) n
• Russian: безбра́чие (ru) n (bezbráčije), целиба́т (ru) m (celibát)
• Scottish Gaelic: aontamhachd f
• Slovak: celibát m
• Spanish: celibato (es) m
• Swahili: useja
• Swedish: celibat (sv) n
• Thai: การอยู่เป็นโสด
• Turkish: bekârlık
• Ukrainian: безшлю́бність (uk) f (bezšljúbnistʹ), целіба́т (uk) m (celibát)

abstaining from sexual relations

• Bulgarian: сексуа́лно въздържа́ние n (seksuálno vǎzdǎržánie)
• Czech: celibát (cs) m
• Finnish: selibaatti (fi)
• French: célibat (fr) m
• German: Zölibat (de) m or n, Keuschheit (de) f
• Greek: αγαμία (el) f (agamía)
• Hungarian: cölibátus (hu)
• Japanese: 独身 (ja) (どくしん)
• Maori: takakautanga
• Norwegian: sølibat n
• Polish: celibat (pl) m
• Portuguese: celibato (pt) m
• Russian: воздержа́ние (ru) n (vozderžánije), сексуа́льное воздержа́ние n (sɛksuálʹnoje vozderžánije)
• Scottish Gaelic: aontamhachd f
• Spanish: celibato (es)
• Swedish: celibat (sv) n
• Turkish: bekârlık

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} fraŭleco
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} celibato
• Slovak: celibát m

See also

• abstinence
• asexuality
• chaste
• chastity
• purity
• bachelordom

Further reading

• “celibacy”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “celibacy”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.