Boyfriend

A boyfriend is a man who is a friend or acquaintance to the speaker, often specifying a regular male companion with whom a person is platonically, romantically or sexually involved.

Starting around the time of the American Civil War, courtship became a private matter for couples.

[5] In the early to mid 19th century in the US, women were often visited by "gentleman callers", single men who would arrive at the home of a young woman with the hopes of beginning a courtship.

[6] The era of the gentleman caller ended in the early 20th century and the modern idea of dating developed.

On pages 108–110, Bartlett quotes from an issue of The Artist and Journal of Home Culture, which refers to Alectryon as "a boyfriend of Mars".