celibacy

== English == === Alternative forms === cælibacy (archaic) === Etymology === From Latin caelibātus (“celibacy, a single life”), from caelebs (“unmarried”). By surface analysis, celib(ate) +‎ -acy. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈsɛləbəsi/ === Noun === celibacy (countable and uncountable, plural celibacies) Abstaining from marriage; the state of being unmarried. (by extension) Abstinence from sexual relations. ==== Synonyms ==== sexlessness ==== Hypernyms ==== chastity ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== celibate ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== abstinence asexuality chaste chastity purity bachelordom ==== Further reading ==== “celibacy”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “celibacy”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.