Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To have a sexual affair with someone who is not one's spouse or partner. Used especially of a man.
  • intransitive verb To have many casual sexual affairs. Used especially of a man.
  • intransitive verb Archaic To flirt. Used especially of a man.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To play the philander; pay court to a woman, especially without serious intention; make love in a foolish way; “spoon.”
  • noun A lover.
  • noun In zoology, one of several different marsupial mammals.
  • noun A flirtation; a philandering.
  • noun Same as filander.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To make love to women; to play the male flirt.
  • noun A South American opossum (Didelphys philander).
  • noun An Australian bandicoot (Perameles lagotis).
  • noun rare A lover.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A lover.
  • noun A South American opossum, Didelphys philander.
  • noun An Australian bandicoot, Perameles lagotis.
  • verb To make love to women; to play the male flirt.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb have amorous affairs; of men
  • verb talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From philander, lover, from Philander, former literary name for a lover, from Greek philandros, loving or fond of men : phil-, philo-, philo- + anēr, andr-, man; see ner- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Ancient Greek φιλία (philia, 'love') and ἀνδρός (andros), genitive case of ἀνήρ (anēr, 'man').

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