paternoster
Syllables: pa·ter·nos·ter/ˈpɑːtəˌnɒstə(ɹ)/US/ˈpɑtəɹˌnɔstɚ/
paternoster noun: the Lord's Prayer, especially in a Roman Catholic context.
Noun
paternoster (plural paternosters)
- The Lord's Prayer, especially in a Roman Catholic context.
- The friar had said his paternosters dulyc. 1920, John Crowe Ransom, Necrological
- A slow, continuously moving lift or elevator consisting of a loop of open-fronted cabins running the height of a building.
- A bead-like ornament in mouldings.
- A tackle rig with a heavy sinker at the end of the line, and one or more hooks on traces at right angles spaced above the sinker.
- A paternoster is any style of hook rig where the hook(s) are on droppers above a fixed sinker. One or two hooks are used on a paternoster rig. The droppers are tied using dropper loops tied directly in the line. The twisted dropper is an ideal knot as it stands out at right angles to the line.2011, Jamin Forbes, “Tackle”, in Cod Cod Cod, Croydon, Vic.: Australian Fishing Network, →ISBN, page 56
- In plain terms, the paternoster is a rig with the weight at the bottom and hook traces (sometimes called snoods by sea anglers) attached above in fixed positions. Besides a tidy presentation, this arrangement allows the sea angler to try more than one bait and you'll often find paternosters with...2012, Peter Kaminsky, Greg Schwipps, Dominic Garnett, Fishing for Dummies, UK edition, Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN
- A string of beads used in counting prayers that are said.
- Every eleventh bead in a rosary, at which, while counting the beads, the Lord's Prayer is to be repeated.
- Holonyms: rosary; prayer beads
- A medieval artisan who crafted rosary beads or prayer nuts.
- A patent medicine, so named because salesmen would pray the Lord's Prayer over it before selling it.
- Near-synonyms: nostrum, nostrum remedium
- Synonyms:
- nostrum, nostrum remedium
Verb
paternoster (third-person singular simple present paternosters, present participle paternostering, simple past and past participle paternostered)
- To try to catch (fish, etc.) with a paternoster rig.
Proper noun capitalized: Paternoster
Paternoster (plural Paternosters)
- Alternative form of paternoster (“Lord's Prayer”).
- If Burd Ellen had gone “widishins" round the church, she would, I think, have used the best homoeopathic specific against the Elf-King's power; for "to go widishins" was the chief element in elfin practices, and if mortals wished to resist or unspell elf-craft, they, too, had "to go widershins," or...1891 January 3, I. Gollancz, “Widishins”, in The Academy, London, page 14, column 3
- A surname.
paternoster meaning in Arabic
paternoster in Arabic
- Lord's prayer
- اَلصَّلَاة اَلرَّبِّيَّة
Synonyms of paternoster
Forms of paternoster
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | paternosters |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | paternosters |
| present participle | paternostering |
| past participle | paternostered |
| past | paternostered |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Paternosters |
Origin of paternoster
From Middle English paternoster, pater noster, from Old English Paternoster, from Latin Pater noster (“our father”) (the first two words of the Oratio Dominica (“the Lord's prayer”)), from pater (“father”) + noster (“our”). The lift and the fishing equipment are named from their resemblance to a rosary.
From Latin pater (“father”) + noster (“ours”).
Words formed from paternoster
- paternosterer
- paternoster lake
- paternoster pump
- paternoster wheel
- paternoster while
Phrases with paternoster
Questions about paternoster
- What does paternoster mean?
- Paternoster means the Lord's Prayer, especially in a Roman Catholic context.
- What is paternoster in Arabic?
- Paternoster in Arabic is اَلصَّلَاة اَلرَّبِّيَّة. See Paternoster meaning in Arabic.
- What part of speech is paternoster?
- Paternoster can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce paternoster?
- Paternoster is pronounced /ˈpɑːtəˌnɒstə(ɹ)/ (UK).
- What is the plural of paternoster?
- The plural of paternoster is paternosters.
Words near paternoster in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: paternoster (page history and authors); Paternoster (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-paternoster.wav.
Cite this entry: “paternoster.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/paternoster. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.