batman

See also: Batman and bất mãn

English

WOTD – 15 November 2012, 24 October 2016

Edward Ardizzone, Pulling off the Padre’s Boots (1940), collection of the Imperial War Museum, UK. It is a caricature of a military chaplain lying exhausted on a chair while his batman removes his footwear for him.

Etymology 1

From bat (“packsaddle”) +‎ man. The element bat is from French bât, from Old French bast, from Late Latin bastum, possibly from Ancient Greek βαστάζω (bastázō, “to bear, carry, lift”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbæt.mən/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bat‧man

Noun

batman (plural batmen)

2. (military) A servant or valet to a military officer.

   Synonym: orderly

   • 1932, John Galsworthy, chapter III, in Flowering Wilderness […], London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, page 19:

     [A]s a rule the chambers were occupied only by Stack, who had been Wilfrid's batman in the war, and had for him one of those sphinx-like habits which wear better than expressed devotions.

3. (by extension, informal) A personal assistant or supporter.
   • 2008, Darren Smith, Fade, →ISBN, page 278:

     He became my retainer, my batman, the solution to my ever-growing need for an extra pair of hands.

   • 2012, Jeffery Hayton, Just One More Time, →ISBN, page 78:

     Thank you to a special Carer, Thank you for being my nurse, My housemaid, and my cook, My batman and my chauffeur, And my eyes when I forget to look!

   • 2014, Andrew S Cowan, Estate Life, →ISBN, page 186:

     The Quease, as you will have read, thought this a huge cheek and, as is ever the case with her, was not slow to point it out. She further accused me of treating him as my batman.

Translations

servant to an army officer — see also orderly

• Bulgarian: ордина́рец m (ordinárec)
• Dutch: ordonnans (nl) m
• Erzya: ушмовардо (ušmovardo)
• Finnish: sotilaspalvelija
• French: ordonnance (fr) m or f
• German: Ordonnanz (de) f, Ordonanz (de) f
• Hungarian: tisztiszolga (hu)
• Italian: attendente (it) m
• Latin: cacula m
• Macedonian: орди́нарец m (ordínarec), ордона́нс m (ordonáns)
• Polish: ordynans (pl) m
• Russian: денщи́к (ru) m (denščík), ордина́рец (ru) m (ordinárec), вестово́й (ru) m (vestovój),
• Turkish: emir eri (tr), emirber (tr), hizmet eri (tr), yaver (tr)

Verb

batman (third-person singular simple present batmans, present participle batmanning, simple past and past participle batmanned)

1. To act as a batman, wait on an officer.
   • 1985, Chris Vokes, John Philip Maclean, Vokes, my story, page 98:

     Batmanning was voluntary. McPherson was a bit incensed about the loss of his batman, but he made do with somebody else.

   • 2000, Baylor Wetzel, Winter Project, →ISBN, page 96:

     OK, I batmanned. Give me an Xterm.

   • 2014, Andris Bear, Lust:

     Yes, well, had I known you were having a row with the loo, I would have batmanned the other direction.

   • 2017, Clare Makepeace, Captives of War, →ISBN:

     The preservation of the batmanning system in captivity was established through an Anglo-German agreement of 1918, which had allowed one orderly to be allocated to a group of seven imprisoned captains, one to a group of four field officers and one to each general.

See also

• batter
• batty man

Etymology 2

From Ottoman Turkish بطمان (batman). Cognate with Chagatai [script needed] (bātmān).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /batˈman/
• Rhymes: -an
• Hyphenation: bat‧man

Noun

batman (plural batmans)

1. (Turkish units of measure) A unit of weight established in 1931 equal to 10 kg.
2. (historical units of measure) A Turkish unit of weight varying by location, time, and item from 2–8 okas (about 2.5–10 kg).
   • 1583 July 20, J. Newbery, letter in Richard Hakluyt's The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, p. 209:

     Euery bateman [in Bagdad] maketh 7. pound and 5. ounces English waight.

   • 1614, Samuel Purchas, Purchas His Pilgrimage, page 544:

     A Batman is fiue and fiftie pound weight English.

   • 1753, G. Thompson & al. in Jonas Hanway's Historical Account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea, Vol. I, p. 351:

     Their weights [in Khiva] are the great batman equal to 18 lb. russian, and the lesser batman 9¼.

   • 1819, Abraham Rees, The Cyclopaedia, Vol. XXX, s.v. "Rottolo":

     At Smyrna, the cantaro, or kintal, contains 45 okes, or 100 rottoli. The batman is 6 okes, or 2400 drachms; and the oke is 400 drachms, and the rottolo = 180 drachms. The cantaro of 45 okes weighs 123 lbs. 4 oz. avoirdupois; and, therefore, the oke is = 2 lbs. 11 oz. 13 drs. avoirdupois.

   • 1900, William B. Dick, Encyclopedia of Practical Receipts and Processes, page 530:

     6107. Turkish Weights. The Turkish Chequi is 11⅓ ounces avoirdupois...
     1 Batman = 6 Okas
     1 Oka = 4 Chequi

Synonyms

• man (من) (Persian contexts); maund (Indian contexts)

Meronyms

• (subdivisions): dirhem or dram; cheki; rottol or rotl; oka
• (superdivisions): kantar or quintal; cheki

Translations

former unit of weight

• German: Batman m
• Ottoman Turkish: بطمان (batman), باطمان, باتمان
• Russian: батма́н (ru) m (batmán)
• Turkish: batman (tr)

Further reading

• "batman" in the Ottoman Turkish Dictionary
• "batman, n.¹", in the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Etymology 3

In reference to the superhero Batman.

Verb

batman (third-person singular simple present batmans, present participle batmanning, simple past and past participle batmanned)

1. (slang, mountaineering) To climb up or down a rope free hand (i.e. as Batman does).
   • 1993, Steve Roper, Allen Steck, The Best of Ascent: Twenty-Five Years of the Mountaineering Experience:

     At 16,200 feet I batmanned madly down the fixed ropes, stopping constantly to catch my breath, not sure how much longer I could continue.

   • 2005, Alan Hobson, Jamie Clarke, Above All Else: The Everest Dream, →ISBN, page 53:

     Instead, they batmanned effortlessly hand-over-hand up the rope like kids pulling in perch.

   • 2006, Alpinist - Issue 18; Issue 20‎^[1], page 36:

     The Germans had left fixed ropes in place, which the Brits unashamedly batmanned up to reach the summit ridge.

   • 2011, Kerry Burns, Cameron Burns, Climb: Tales of Man Versus Boulder, Crag, Wall, and Peak, →ISBN, page 96:

     So without hesitation I “batmanned” the rope, freed it, and we continued.

   • 2018, Nate Fitch, Ron Funderburke, Climbing: From First-Timer to Gym Climber, →ISBN:

     When climbers fall they will usually want to return to their high point to resume climbing, and that will either involve batmanning or boinking.

Anagrams

• Bantam, bantam

Azerbaijani

Etymology

Cognate with Turkish batman.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

batman (definite accusative batmanı, plural batmanlar)

1. (historical) A unit of weight corresponding to 20 girvənkə (“pounds”).

Declension

Declension of batman
	singular	plural
nominative	batman	batmanlar
definite accusative	batmanı	batmanları
dative	batmana	batmanlara
locative	batmanda	batmanlarda
ablative	batmandan	batmanlardan
definite genitive	batmanın	batmanların

Possessive forms of batman
	nominative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	batmanım	batmanlarım
sənin (“your”)	batmanın	batmanların
onun (“his/her/its”)	batmanı	batmanları
bizim (“our”)	batmanımız	batmanlarımız
sizin (“your”)	batmanınız	batmanlarınız
onların (“their”)	batmanı or batmanları	batmanları
	accusative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	batmanımı	batmanlarımı
sənin (“your”)	batmanını	batmanlarını
onun (“his/her/its”)	batmanını	batmanlarını
bizim (“our”)	batmanımızı	batmanlarımızı
sizin (“your”)	batmanınızı	batmanlarınızı
onların (“their”)	batmanını or batmanlarını	batmanlarını
	dative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	batmanıma	batmanlarıma
sənin (“your”)	batmanına	batmanlarına
onun (“his/her/its”)	batmanına	batmanlarına
bizim (“our”)	batmanımıza	batmanlarımıza
sizin (“your”)	batmanınıza	batmanlarınıza
onların (“their”)	batmanına or batmanlarına	batmanlarına
	locative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	batmanımda	batmanlarımda
sənin (“your”)	batmanında	batmanlarında
onun (“his/her/its”)	batmanında	batmanlarında
bizim (“our”)	batmanımızda	batmanlarımızda
sizin (“your”)	batmanınızda	batmanlarınızda
onların (“their”)	batmanında or batmanlarında	batmanlarında
	ablative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	batmanımdan	batmanlarımdan
sənin (“your”)	batmanından	batmanlarından
onun (“his/her/its”)	batmanından	batmanlarından
bizim (“our”)	batmanımızdan	batmanlarımızdan
sizin (“your”)	batmanınızdan	batmanlarınızdan
onların (“their”)	batmanından or batmanlarından	batmanlarından
	genitive
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	batmanımın	batmanlarımın
sənin (“your”)	batmanının	batmanlarının
onun (“his/her/its”)	batmanının	batmanlarının
bizim (“our”)	batmanımızın	batmanlarımızın
sizin (“your”)	batmanınızın	batmanlarınızın
onların (“their”)	batmanının or batmanlarının	batmanlarının

Further reading

• “batman” in Obastan.com.

Cebuano

Etymology

Its shape being likened to Batman's chest logo.

Noun

batman

1. a spiny orb-weaver; a common name of the spiders in the genus Gasteracantha

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from English batsman.

Noun

batman m (plural batmani)

1. (cricket) batsman

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	batman	batmanul		batmani	batmanii
genitive-dative	batman	batmanului		batmani	batmanilor
vocative	batmanule			batmanilor

References

• batman in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN

Turkish

FWOTD – 15 November 2012

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish بطمان (batman), from Proto-Turkic *batmān, from Middle Persian [Book Pahlavi needed] (ptmʾn' /⁠paymān⁠/, “measure, period; moderation; treaty”), compare Persian پیمان (peymân, “pledge; pact; agreement; contract”). Doublet of peyman.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɑtmɑn/

Noun

batman (definite accusative batmanı)

1. (historical) A unit of weight formerly used in the Ottoman period.
   • 1992, Pertev Nailı̂ Boratav, Zaman zaman içinde‎^[2], page 38:

     Bin batmandan olsa kazan
     Ustager değil mi düzen
     Hayranlık esince cana
     Bengilik de gereğ olur.

     Even if the kettle weighs thousands of batmans
     Isn't the order skillful
     If the admiration blows to the soul
     The eternity also is indispensable.

References

• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “batman”, in Nişanyan Sözlük