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Webster 1913 Edition
Beadle
Bea′dle
,Noun.
[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
, Verb.
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.]
☞ 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.
Webster 1828 Edition
Beadle
BE'ADLE
,Noun.
1.
A messenger or crier of a court; a servitor; one who cites persons to appear and answer; called also an apparitor or summoner.2.
An officer in a university, whose chief business is to walk with a mace, before the masters, in a public procession; or as in America before the president, trustees, faculty and students of a college, in a procession, at public commencements.3.
A parish officer, whose business is to punish petty offenders.