goodman

Good"man, n. Etym: [Good + man] 1. A familiar appellation of civility, equivalent to "My friend", "Good sir", "Mister;" -- sometimes used ironically. [Obs.] With you, goodman boy, an you please. Shak. 2. A husband; the master of a house or family; -- often used in speaking familiarly. [Archaic] Chaucer. Say ye to the goodman of the house, . . . Where is the guest-chamber Mark xiv. 14. Note: In the early colonial records of New England, the term goodman is frequently used as a title of designation, sometimes in a respectful manner, to denote a person whose first name was not known, or when it was not desired to use that name; in this use it was nearly equivalent to Mr. This use was doubtless brought with the first settlers from England.

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