goodman Meaning, Definition & Usage
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noun United States clarinetist who in 1934 formed a big band (including black as well as white musicians) and introduced a kind of jazz known as swing (1909-1986)
Benny Goodman; Benjamin David Goodman; King of Swing.
WordNet
Good"man noun
Etymology
Definitions
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A familiar appellation of civility, equivalent to "My friend", "Good sir", "Mister;" -- sometimes used ironically. Obs.With you, goodman boy, an you please. Shak.
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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.
✍ 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.
