goodman

n. [ Good + man ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A familiar appellation of civility, equivalent to “My friend”, “Good sir”, “Mister;” -- sometimes used ironically. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

With you, goodman boy, an you please. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A husband; the master of a house or family; -- often used in speaking familiarly. [ Archaic ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Say ye to the goodman of the house, . . . Where is the guest-chamber ? Mark xiv. 14. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In the early colonial records of New England, the term goodman is frequently used as a title of designation, sometimes in a respectful manner, to denote a person whose first name was not known, or when it was not desired to use that name; in this use it was nearly equivalent to Mr. This use was doubtless brought with the first settlers from England. [ 1913 Webster ]