beadsman
/ˈbiːdzmən/
beadsman noun: a petitioner; someone who seeks some type of favour from another, usually from a superior.
Noun
beadsman (plural beadsmen)
- A petitioner; someone who seeks some type of favour from another, usually from a superior.
- A man employed in praying; especially one who prays for another.
- Good Lord Cromwell, stand my friend: exert yourself for Thomas Howard, who is your daily beadsman, your debtor for life.2020, Hilary Mantel, The Mirror and the Light, Fourth Estate, page 499
- A poor man, supported in a beadhouse, and required to pray for the soul of its founder; an almsman.
- Whereby ye shall bind me to be […]your poor beadsman for ever unto Almighty God.1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI)
- 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.
Forms of beadsman
| plural | beadsmen |
|---|---|
| alternative form | bedesman |
Origin of beadsman
From earlier bedeman, from Middle English bedeman (“a petitioner”), equivalent to bead (“request, petition, prayer”) + -man.
Questions about beadsman
- What does beadsman mean?
- Beadsman means a petitioner; someone who seeks some type of favour from another, usually from a superior.
- What part of speech is beadsman?
- Beadsman is a noun.
- How do you pronounce beadsman?
- Beadsman is pronounced /ˈbiːdzmən/.
- What is the plural of beadsman?
- The plural of beadsman is beadsmen.
Words near beadsman in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: beadsman (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “beadsman.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/beadsman. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.