† aldershipn.
Obsolete.
1. Lordship, chief authority. Cf. ealdordom n. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > [noun] > chief authority or dominion
ealdordomeOE
lord-domeOE
lordshipeOE
aldershipOE
danger?c1225
seignioryc1290
demesnec1300
lordheada1325
lordshippingc1384
dominationc1386
subjectiona1393
signory?a1425
dominionc1430
signority1525
seigniority1596
dynasty1613
seigniorage1656
OE West Saxon Gospels: Mark (Corpus Cambr.) x. 42 Wite ge þæt þa ðe on þeodum ealdorscype [c1200 Hatton ealderscype] habbað þæt hyra ealdras anweald ofer hi habbað.
2. In plural. The members of one of the nine orders of the celestial hierarchy, usually equated with principalities (principality n. 5). Cf. ealdordom n. 2.In quot. OE2 perhaps denoting dominations rather than principalities, but it is more likely that Aelfric has merely inverted the sequence of the two orders here (compare lordship n. 1b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > angel > [noun] > order of > principalities
aldershipsOE
ealdordomsOE
princec1384
principatec1384
princehooda1425
princedom1667
principality1756
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xxiv. 374 Principatus sind ealdorscipas [c1175 Bodl. 343 aldorscipæs], þe ðæra goddra engla gymað...Dominationes sind hlafordscipas gecwedene.
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xl. 526 Heofona miht sind englas & heahenglas, þrymsetl, ealdorscipas, hlafordscipas, & anwealdu.
a1225 ( Ælfric's Homily De Initio Creaturae (Vesp. A.xxii) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 219 Dominationes hlafordscipe, principatus alderscipen [OE Royal principatus, OE Vitell. C.v principatus, ealdorscypas].
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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n.OE