Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Goodman?

\Good"man\, n. [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.