In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.
beadles
plural of beadle
Source: Wiktionary
Bea"dle, n. Etym: [OE. bedel, bidel, budel, OF. bedel, F. bedeau, fr. OHG. butil, putil, G. büttel, fr. OHG. biotan, G. bieten, to bid, confused with AS. bydel, the same word as OHG. butil. See. Bid, v.]
1. A messenger or crier of a court; a servitor; one who cites or bids persons to appear and answer; -- called also an apparitor or summoner.
2. An officer in a university, who precedes public processions of officers and students. [Eng.]
Note: In this sense the archaic spellings bedel (Oxford) and bedell (Cambridge) are preserved.
3. An inferior parish officer in England having a variety of duties, as the preservation of order in church service, the chastisement of petty offenders, etc.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
7 November 2024
(verb) remove by or as if by rubbing or erasing; “Please erase the formula on the blackboard--it is wrong!”
In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.