batman

bat (“packsaddle”) +‎ man. The element bat is from French bât, from Old French bast,[1] from Late Latin bastum, possibly from Ancient Greek βαστάζειν (bastázein, “to bear, carry, lift”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbætmən/

• Audio (AU)

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• Hyphenation: bat‧man

batman (plural batmen)

1. (military) A servant or valet to an army officer.
2. (by extension, informal) A personal assistant or supporter.
   • 2008, Darren Smith, Fade, →ISBN, page 278:

     He became my retainer, my batman, the solution to my ever-growing need for an extra pair of hands.

   • 2012, Jeffery Hayton, Just One More Time, →ISBN, page 78:

     Thank you to a special Carer, Thank you for being my nurse, My housemaid, and my cook, My batman and my chauffeur, And my eyes when I forget to look!

   • 2014, Andrew S Cowan, Estate Life, →ISBN, page 186:

     The Quease, as you will have read, thought this a huge cheek and, as is ever the case with her, was not slow to point it out. She further accused me of treating him as my batman.

batman (third-person singular simple present batmans, present participle batmanned, simple past and past participle batmanning)

1. To act as a batman.
   • 1985, Chris Vokes, ‎John Philip Maclean, Vokes, my story, page 98:

     Batmanning was voluntary. McPherson was a bit incensed about the loss of his batman, but he made do with somebody else.

   • 2000, Baylor Wetzel, Winter Project, →ISBN, page 96:

     OK, I batmanned. Give me an Xterm.

   • 2014, Andris Bear, Lust:

     Yes, well, had I known you were having a row with the loo, I would have batmanned the other direction.

   • 2017, Clare Makepeace, Captives of War, →ISBN:

     The preservation of the batmanning system in captivity was established through an Anglo-German agreement of 1918, which had allowed one orderly to be allocated to a group of seven imprisoned captains, one to a group of four field officers and one to each general.

• batty man

From Ottoman Turkish بطمان‎ (batman). Cognate with Chagatai bātmān‎.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /batˈman/
• Hyphenation: bat‧man

batman (plural batmans)

1. (Turkish units of measure) A unit of weight established in 1931 equal to 10 kg.
2. (historical units of measure) A Turkish unit of weight varying by location, time, and item from 2–8 okas (about 2.5–10 kg).
   • 1583 July 20, J. Newbery, letter in Richard Hakluyt's The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, p. 209:

     Euery bateman [in Bagdad] maketh 7. pound and 5. ounces English waight.

   • 1614, Samuel Purchas, Purchas His Pilgrimage, p. 544:

     A Batman is fiue and fiftie pound weight English.

   • 1753, G. Thompson & al. in Jonas Hanway's Historical Account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea, Vol. I, p. 351:

     Their weights [in Khiva] are the great batman equal to 18 lb. russian, and the lesser batman 9¼.

   • 1819, Abraham Rees, The Cyclopaedia, Vol. XXX, s.v. "Rottolo":

     At Smyrna, the cantaro, or kintal, contains 45 okes, or 100 rottoli. The batman is 6 okes, or 2400 drachms; and the oke is 400 drachms, and the rottolo = 180 drachms. The cantaro of 45 okes weighs 123 lbs. 4 oz. avoirdupois; and, therefore, the oke is = 2 lbs. 11 oz. 13 drs. avoirdupois.

   • 1900, William B. Dick, Encyclopedia of Practical Receipts and Processes, p. 530:

     6107. Turkish Weights. The Turkish Chequi is 11⅓ ounces avoirdupois...
     1 Batman = 6 Okas
     1 Oka = 4 Chequi

• man (من‎) (Persian contexts); maund (Indian contexts)

• (subdivisions): dirhem or dram; cheki; rottol or rotl; oka
• (superdivisions): kantar or quintal; cheki

• "batman" in the Ottoman Turkish Dictionary
• "batman, n.¹", in the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

In reference to the superhero Batman.

batman (third-person singular simple present batmans, present participle batmanning, simple past and past participle batmanned)

1. (slang, mountaineering) To climb up a rope free hand (i.e. like Batman does).
   • 1993, Steve Roper, ‎Allen Steck, The Best of Ascent: Twenty-Five Years of the Mountaineering Experience:

     At 16,200 feet I batmanned madly down the fixed ropes, stopping constantly to catch my breath, not sure how much longer I could continue.

   • 2005, Alan Hobson & Jamie Clarke, Above All Else: The Everest Dream, →ISBN, page 53:

     Instead, they batmanned effortlessly hand-over-hand up the rope like kids pulling in perch.

   • 2006, Alpinist - Issue 18; Issue 20‎, page 36:

     The Germans had left fixed ropes in place, which the Brits unashamedly batmanned up to reach the summit ridge.

   • 2011, Kerry Burns, ‎Cameron Burns, Climb: Tales of Man Versus Boulder, Crag, Wall, and Peak, →ISBN, page 96:

     So without hesitation I “batmanned” the rope, freed it, and we continued.

   • 2018, Nate Fitch, ‎Ron Funderburke, Climbing: From First-Timer to Gym Climber, →ISBN:

     When climbers fall they will usually want to return to their high point to resume climbing, and that will either involve batmanning or boinking.

• Bantam, bantam

Its shape being likened to Batman's chest logo.

batman

1. a spiny orb-weaver; a common name of the spiders in the genus Gasteracantha

From Middle Turkic *batmān, from Old Turkic batman, from Proto-Turkic.

• IPA^(key): /bɑtmɑn/

batman (definite accusative batmanı)

1. (historical) a unit of weight formerly used in the Ottoman period
   • 1992, Pertev Nailı̂ Boratav, Zaman zaman içinde‎, page 38:

     Bin batmandan olsa kazan
     Ustager değil mi düzen
     Hayranlık esince cana
     Bengilik de gereğ olur.

     Even if the kettle weighs thousands of batmans
     Isn't the order skillful
     If the admiration blows to the soul
     The eternity also is indispensable.