batman

1 9.9

A male soldier who helps an officer with personal and household tasks

noun
/ˈbæt.mən/

Archaic

: batman

As a batman, he was responsible for managing the officer's personal affairs during the campaign.

Examples

I was Colonel Armstrong's batman in the war.

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
He looked surprised to find his batman waiting for him with a cup of tea.
- Best batman I ever had.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
What do I want with a batman?

Jet Pilot (1957)
Are you a good batman?

The Go-Between (1971)
I was the smartest batman in the army.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
You'll have a batman to look after you.

Jet Pilot (1957)
He would have had a British batman, like Private Beddoes, to serve his personal needs.

Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
I was Colonel Armstrong's batman in the war, assisting him with his daily tasks.

Synonyms

batwoman

vsbatman

Archaic

9.9

A woman in the army who helps an officer with personal and household tasks

is the male equivalent serving the same personal and domestic role

Surface Forms

batman singular

batmen plural

Morphology

batman = bat + man (opaque) = bat + man

The word is historically a compound of 'bat' and 'man', but the 'bat' element is an obsolete sense meaning a pack saddle, so the modern military meaning is not guessable from the familiar words.

Etymology

Batman comes from an old French word bât meaning 'pack-saddle', so a batman was originally the man who looked after an officer's pack, horse and equipment. That's why a batman means a soldier who helps an officer with personal and household tasks.