batman

Etymology 1

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

noun

1. (military) A servant or valet to a military officer.
2. (by extension, informal) A personal assistant or supporter.
   He became my retainer, my batman, the solution to my ever-growing need for an extra pair of hands. 2008, Darren Smith, Fade, page 278
   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! 2012, Jeffery Hayton, Just One More Time, page 78
   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. 2014, Andrew S Cowan, Estate Life, page 186

verb

1. To act as a batman, wait on an officer.
   Batmanning was voluntary. McPherson was a bit incensed about the loss of his batman, but he made do with somebody else. 1985, Chris Vokes, John Philip Maclean, Vokes, my story, page 98
   OK, I batmanned. Give me an Xterm. 2000, Baylor Wetzel, Winter Project, page 96
   Yes, well, had I known you were having a row with the loo, I would have batmanned the other direction. 2014, Andris Bear, Lust
   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. 2017, Clare Makepeace, Captives of War

Etymology 2

From Ottoman Turkish بطمان (batman). Cognate with Chagatai [script needed] (bātmān).

noun

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).
   Euery bateman [in Bagdad] maketh 7. pound and 5. ounces English waight. 1583 July 20, J. Newbery, letter in Richard Hakluyt's The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, p. 209
   A Batman is fiue and fiftie pound weight English. 1614, Samuel Purchas, Purchas His Pilgrimage, page 544
   Their weights [in Khiva] are the great batman equal to 18 lb. russian, and the lesser batman 9¼. 1753, G. Thompson & al. in Jonas Hanway's Historical Account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea, Vol. I, p. 351
   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. 1819, Abraham Rees, The Cyclopaedia, Vol. XXX, s.v. "Rottolo"
   6107. Turkish Weights. The Turkish Chequi is 11⅓ ounces avoirdupois... 1 Batman = 6 Okas 1 Oka = 4 Chequi 1900, William B. Dick, Encyclopedia of Practical Receipts and Processes, page 530

Etymology 3

In reference to the superhero Batman.

verb

1. (slang, mountaineering) To climb up or down a rope free hand (i.e. as Batman does).
   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. 1993, Steve Roper, Allen Steck, The Best of Ascent: Twenty-Five Years of the Mountaineering Experience
   Instead, they batmanned effortlessly hand-over-hand up the rope like kids pulling in perch. 2005, Alan Hobson, Jamie Clarke, Above All Else: The Everest Dream, page 53
   The Germans had left fixed ropes in place, which the Brits unashamedly batmanned up to reach the summit ridge. 2006, Alpinist - Issue 18; Issue 20, page 36
   So without hesitation I “batmanned” the rope, freed it, and we continued. 2011, Kerry Burns, Cameron Burns, Climb: Tales of Man Versus Boulder, Crag, Wall, and Peak, page 96
   When climbers fall they will usually want to return to their high point to resume climbing, and that will either involve batmanning or boinking. 2018, Nate Fitch, Ron Funderburke, Climbing: From First-Timer to Gym Climber