5.

2 2 Amelioration of meaning
A second class of nouns which underwent moralization is made up of terms
whose meaning was ameliorated and got positive connotation: knight, cavalier,
gentleman, prince, baron.
It is interesting to mention that all these words belong to a semantic sphere that
denotes high social ranks. Unlike the previous category that contained only words
describing low social status and which got negative connotation, the terms which
are to be analysed developed positive social status through generalization.
1) The noun knight referred to 'a boy, youth or lad' in Old English. Subsequently it
acquired senses pertaining to the military field. The process of amelioration of
meaning can be seen in the shift from S2 to S3 and from S3 to S4. With S5, S6,
the semantic domain changes and the moralization of meaning is more obvious:
the term takes a positive connotation and points to a specific behaviour (28)
knight
S1 (obsolete) = a boy, a youth
S2 = a boy or youth employed as an attendant or servant
S3 (Hist) = In the Middle Ages: a military servant or follower of a king; He was a
passyng good knight of a kynge... (1470, Malory, OED, V, 732)
S4 = a man raised to honorable military rank esp. by a monarch after a service
as a page and squire, and ranking below a baronet
S5 = such a man serving or attending a woman of rank, esp. as her champion in
a war or tournament I shall have to have a lady-love...added the future knight
...so that I can do deeds in her honour (T. H. White, NSOED, I, 1499)
S6 = a man devoted to the service of a woman, cause In all your quarrels will I be
your knight (Tennyson, NSOED, I, 1499)
S7 = a man awarded a title (now non-hereditary) by a sovereign in recognition of
personal merit or of services rendered, ranking below a baronet.
2) The term cavalier has evolved from the tough primary meaning which
pertained to the military aspect of court life (S1, S2) to the domain of indoors life
at a court (S3) or extended even more to any man who possessed fine manners
(S4).
(29) cavalier
S1 = a horse-man, esp. a cavalryman
Cavalier, a knight or gentleman serving on a horseback, a man of arms
S2 = a lively military man; a courtly or fashionable gentleman
Ill drink to Mr. Bardofe, and to all the cavileroes about London.
S3 = a gentleman attending or escorting a lady, a squire, a gallant; a ladys
partner in dance
Ill take a dance, said Iwe want a cavalier, said she, holding out both her hands,
as if to offer them.
S4 = a title or term of address
Cavaleiro Slender, goe you through the tonn of Frogmore.
S5 = a name given to those who fought on the side of Charles I in the wars
between him and the Parliament; Royalist

The cavaliers and others of that good quality who seem to have little interest or
affection to the public good.
In Romanian, the term cavaler covers senses of both knight and cavalier:
(30) cavaler
S1 = knight of a military or religious order
Sa mbracat in zale lucii cavalerii de la Malta.
S2 = title of nobility, a man awarded such a title in recognition of personal merit
or services rendered.
S3 = a man devoted to the service of a woman
Astept din parte-ti, o rege cavaler
Ca-mi vei da prins pe-acela uimilit ce ti-l cer (Eminescu, ibidem)
S4 = a gentleman, a gallant
Din cind in cind trecea pe linga ea cite un tinar cavaler. (Eminescu, ibidem)
S5(folk usage) = young unmarried man
S6 = young unmarried man accompanying a bridesmaid at a wedding
S7 = a horseman (This sense is also denoted in Romanian by calaret, calaras,
rosior, cavalerist. The first two terms used in the 19 th century until 1947. The
third term was used in the period between WW1 and 1947 (e.g. Regimentul IV
Rosiori, Regina Maria). The fourth term is a generic name.
As can be noticed, S2 and S3 of cavaler and S7 and S6 of knight are overlapping,
while S6 and S7 of the same Romanian term almost coincide with S6 and S7 of
cavalier. The senses that are not shared by the two languages are S5 of the
English cavalier and S5 of the Romanian cavaler. The sense containing evaluative
features relative to a man' s gentle behaviour in general is encoded by the
Romanian cavaler (S4) and by the term gentleman that we shall discuss next.
The evolution of the senses of the word gentleman clearly illustrates the process
through which a term that designated a social rank (S1) extended to denote a
man with fine manners and behaviour:
(31) gentleman
S1 = a man of gentle, noble birth
Pierre de la Motte was a gentleman descended from an ancient house of France.
(A. Radcliffe, NSOED, I, 1077)
S2 = a man who demonstrates his gentle birth by appropriate behaviour or moral
qualities (chivalrous conduct, consideration for others, sense of honour, etc.)
I give you my word as an officer and as a gentleman. (E. O'Neill ibidem)
S3 (gen) = a man (of whatever rank) who displays such qualities
Clarence is a gentleman. He is incapable of insulting a woman.
(P. G Wodehouse, ibid.)
In former times, gentleman referred or was used vocatively to a man of noble
birth. For example, in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Juliet says to Romeo: Trust

me gentleman, Ill prove more true /Than those who have more cunning to be
strange.
Today's usage is far more frequently 'gentlemen' addressed to a group of men,
used either alone or as a part of the formulaic 'ladies and gentlemen'. In many of
its uses, 'gentlemen' functions as the vocative plural of 'sir'.
In Romanian, the borrowings gentilom (< Fr. genitilhomme) and gentleman are
slightly different in that the former denoted both a person of noble birth and a
man with gentle manners while the latter is a more recent loan denoting a man
with noble behaviour.
A similar semantic development can be found with prince whose first meaning
was that of sovereign, and then implied fine moral qualities and conduct:
(32) prince
S1 = a sovereign
Good night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!
(Shakespeare, Hamlet, 5: ii)
From this sense extended sense 2.
S2 = any person possessing admirably fine and genial characteristics:
He is a prince of a man. (OED, VII, 521)
In Romanian, the term print was used as a synonym of voievod and principe. In
the 19th century it was used as a social title: e.g. Printul ctirbei, Printul Bibescu,
Printul Sturza. Its figurative sense, i.e. 'man with a noble behaviour' appears in
the expression a se purta ca un print.
(33) print
S1 = voievode
Inca inainte de 1290...se aflau printi romini, Intre care, la 1247, unul numit
Litovoi si altul Seneslau.
S2 = a man with a noble behaviour
Se poarta ca un print.