- Mr
- Goodman Good"man, n. [Good + man]
[1913 Webster]
1. A familiar appellation of civility, equivalent to ``My
friend'', ``Good sir'', ``Mister;'' -- sometimes used
ironically. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
With you, goodman boy, an you please. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
2. A husband; the master of a house or family; -- often used in speaking familiarly. [Archaic] --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
Say ye to the goodman of the house, . . . Where is the guest-chamber ? --Mark xiv. 14. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.