beadle

[ beed-l ]

noun
  1. a parish officer having various subordinate duties, as keeping order during services, waiting on the rector, etc.

Origin of beadle

1
before 1000; Middle English bedel, dial. (SE) variant of bidel,Old English bydel apparitor, herald (cognate with German Büttel), equivalent to bud- (weak stem of bēodan to command) + -il noun suffix

Other words from beadle

  • sub·bea·dle, noun
  • un·der·bea·dle, noun

Words Nearby beadle

Other definitions for Beadle (2 of 2)

Beadle
[ beed-l ]

noun
  1. George Wells, 1903–1989, U.S. biologist and educator: Nobel Prize in Medicine 1958.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use beadle in a sentence

  • The matron expressed her entire concurrence in this intelligible simile, and the beadle went on.

  • He fixed his eyes on Mrs. Corney as he said this; and if ever a beadle looked tender, Mr. Bumble was that beadle at that moment.

  • Mrs. Corney drooped her head when the beadle said this, and the beadle drooped his to get a view of Mrs. Corneys face.

  • Peppermint, explained Mrs. Corney, in a faint voice, smiling gently on the beadle as she spoke.

  • With these words, the beadle strode, with a lofty and gloomy air, from the undertakers premises.

British Dictionary definitions for beadle (1 of 2)

beadle

/ (ˈbiːdəl) /


noun
  1. (formerly, in the Church of England) a minor parish official who acted as an usher and kept order

  2. (in Scotland) a church official attending on the minister

  1. Judaism a synagogue attendant: See also shammes

  2. an official in certain British universities and other institutions

Origin of beadle

1
Old English bydel; related to Old High German butil bailiff

Derived forms of beadle

  • beadleship, noun

British Dictionary definitions for Beadle (2 of 2)

Beadle

/ (ˈbiːdəl) /


noun
  1. George Wells . 1903–89, US biologist, who shared the Nobel prize for physiology or medicine in 1958 for his work in genetics

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012