| 释义 |
† ˈbeauˈpere Obs.
Forms: 4–6 bewpere, beaupere, 4–7 beaupeere, 5 beawpere, bepyr, bewpyr, 6 bewpeer, 7 beawpeer.
[f. OF. beau fine, good + père father, or, in sense 2, per, peer (mod. pair) equal, peer. See beau. In OF., beau père was politely used in addressing every one whom one called ‘father’; i.e. one's own father, a ‘father’ in the church, a god-father, a step-father, a father-in-law, an elderly man occupying a fatherly position in one's regard; about the 16th or 17th c., this use of beau became obsolete, and beau-père was retained as a distinctive term for ‘father-in-law’ and ‘step-father’ as distinct from a real father. In English the use appears to have been much more limited. See also bel.]
1. A term of courtesy for ‘father,’ used esp. to or of a spiritual or ecclesiastical ‘Father.’
c1300Beket 1299 The Bischop of Cicestre gon arise: Beau pere, he seide to the Pope. c1375Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. 1871 II. 380 Summe children þus maad freris ben worse þan her bewperis. c1450Pol. Poems (1859) II. 229 Bridelle, you, bysshoppe..And biddeth yowre beawperes se to the same. 1599Broughton's Lett. v. 17 The holy fathers of the Church, the reuerend Beaupeeres of diuine knowledge.
2. Good fellow, fellow, companion, compeer.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 229 Boke hiȝte þat beupere, a bolde man of speche. 1572Schole-house Wom. 774 in Hazl. E.P.P IV. 135 In her lap sleeping she clipt of his hear, Betraied her Lord and her bewpeer. 1610G. Fletcher Christ's Vict. in Farr S.P. (1848) 74 There The saints with their beawpeers whole worlds outweare. |