squire of dames

English

Etymology

From a character in Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene (III.7.53).

Noun

squire of dames (uncountable)

1. (archaic) A man who devotes himself to the ladies; a lady's man.
   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Challenge”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 238:

     Mr. Maynard has suddenly set up for a squire of dames. His romances have got up into his head, and he needs bleeding; so come with me.