▪ I. ‖ batman1
(ˈbætmən)
Also 6–7 bateman.
[Turkish (Chaghatai) bātmān, (Osmanli) baṭmān, baṭman. a weight equal to the Pers. man, the Anglo-Indian maund.]
An oriental weight varying greatly in value according to the locality.
| 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. 247 Euery bateman here [i.e. Babylon] maketh 7 pound and 5 ounces English waight. 1616 Purchas Pilgr. (1864) 38 A Batman is fiue and fiftie pound weight English. 1740 Thompson & Hogg in Hanway Trav. (1762) I. iv. lii. 242 Their weights [at Khiva] are the great batman, equal to eighteen lb. russian, and the lesser batman, nine and a quarter. 1852 M{supc}Culloch Dict. Comm. 391 [At Constantinople] 6 okes [i.e. about 16 lbs.] = 1 batman. |
▪ II. batman2
(ˈbætmən, ˈbɑːmən)
[f. bât n. + man.]
A man in charge of a bat-horse and its load; a military servant of a cavalry officer. Now generally, an officer's servant.
| 1755 in S. M. Hamilton Lett. to Washington I. 96 They have taken..another man who was batman to Doct. Craik. 1809 Wellington in Gurwood Disp. V. 198 The care of the Camp Kettles is not only the business of the Bâtman of the company, but of all the Bâtmen of the regiment. 1844 Regul. & Ord. Army 271 A Bât Man is allowed to the Surgeon for the care of the horse carrying the Instruments. 1855 W. Sargent Braddock's Exp. 206 The English loss was..a waggoner, three bat-men, and a horse. 1941 Aeronautics Oct. 60/3 R.A.F. officers in the future are to have the services of members of the W.A.A.F. for duties which have been carried out hitherto by batmen. 1955 Times 18 Aug. 5/1 Men employed as outside batmen in the married quarters were expected to clean and polish the houses, clean windows, cut lawns, fetch coal, and run errands. 1966 Times 9 July 9/7 Command Orders say a batman must now be dignified as an ‘orderly’. |
¶ See also bat n.2