beadle

4 definitions found

beadle - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Beadle \Bea"dle\, n. [OE. bedel, bidel, budel, OF. bedel, F.
     bedeau, fr. OHG. butil, putil, G. b["u]ttel, 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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. An officer in a university, who precedes public
        processions of officers and students. [Eng.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: In this sense the archaic spellings bedel (Oxford) and
           bedell (Cambridge) are preserved.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
        [1913 Webster]

beadle - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  beadle
      n 1: a minor parish official who serves a ceremonial function
      2: United States biologist who discovered how hereditary
         characteristics are transmitted by genes (1903-1989) [syn:
         Beadle, George Beadle, George Wells Beadle]

beadle - Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) :

  BEADLE. Eng. law. A messenger or apparitor of a court, who cites persons to 
  appear to what is alleged against them, is so called. 
  
  

beadle - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  81 Moby Thesaurus words for "beadle":
     Bible clerk, Bible reader, G-man, MP, acolyte, almoner, anagnost,
     bailiff, beagle, bedral, bound bailiff, capitular, capitulary,
     captain, catchpole, chief of police, choir chaplain, churchwarden,
     clerk, commissioner, constable, deacon, deaconess, deputy,
     deputy sheriff, detective, elder, elderman, fed, federal, flic,
     gendarme, government man, inspector, lay elder, lay reader, lector,
     lecturer, lictor, lieutenant, mace-bearer, marshal,
     mounted policeman, narc, officer, parish clerk, patrolman,
     peace officer, police captain, police commissioner,
     police constable, police inspector, police matron, police officer,
     police sergeant, policeman, policewoman, portreeve, precentor,
     reader, reeve, roundsman, ruling elder, sacrist, sacristan,
     sergeant, sergeant at arms, sexton, shames, sheriff, sidesman,
     succentor, suisse, superintendent, teaching elder, thurifer,
     tipstaff, tipstaves, trooper, verger, vergeress