beadsman
A petitioner; someone who seeks some type of favour from another, usually from a superiorA petitioner; someone who seeks some type of favour from another, usually from a superior.
Meaning
4 senses(historical)A petitioner; someone who seeks some type of favour from another, usually from a superior.
a male person who is paid to pray for the soul of another
A man employed in praying; especially one who prays for another.
(England, historical)A poor man, supported in a beadhouse, and required to pray for the soul of its founder; an almsman.
(Scotland, historical)A public almsman; one who received alms from the king, and was expected in return to pray for the royal welfare and that of the state; a licensed beggar.
Origin
From earlier bedeman, from Middle English bedeman (“a petitioner”), equivalent to bead (“rFrom earlier bedeman, from Middle English bedeman (“a petitioner”), equivalent to bead (“request, petition, prayer”) + -man.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: beadsmenSynonyms
1 synonyms- a male person who is paid to pray for the soul of another:bedesman
Word family
1 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Plural nouns — Because its plural is irregular
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.