eldershipn.
/ˈɛldəʃɪp/, U.S. /ˈɛldərˌʃɪp/ 1. The position of being elder or senior; seniority, precedence of birth, primogeniture.
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society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > child > relationship to parent > [noun] > primogeniture
primogeniturea1500
first-begottenship1583
eldership1595
1595 W. Allen et al. Conf. Next Succession Crowne of Ingland i. vi. 128 Primogenitura or eldership of birth..was greatly respected by God.
1667 J. Dryden Indian Emperour i. ii. 7 My claim to her by Eldership I prove.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison I. v. 19 Her sister addressed her always by the word Child, with an air of eldership.
1838 T. Arnold Hist. Rome I. 274 [By Roman law] all children..inherited their father's estate in equal portions, without distinction of sex or eldership.
2. As a mock title of honour (after lordship): The personality of an elderly person.Apparently an isolated use.
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1748 S. Richardson Clarissa IV. x. 43 So irresistible to their elderships to be flatter'd.
3. The office or position of elder in a church.
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society > faith > church government > ecclesiastical discipline > court > presbyterian > [noun] > kirk-session > member of > office of
eldership1577
presbytership1593
presbytery1596
presbyterate1642
1577 W. Harrison Descr. Eng. (1877) ii. v. i. 109 The office of eldership is equallie distributed betweene the bishop and the minister.
1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. ix. 186 He was deposed from his Eldership.
4. The collective body of (ecclesiastical) elders; a body or court of elders, a presbytery.
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society > faith > church government > ecclesiastical discipline > court > presbyterian > [noun] > presbytery
eldership1557
seniory1572
presbytery1581
classis1591
consistorya1593
class1644
colloquya1672
colloque1846
elderhood1860
society > faith > church government > ecclesiastical discipline > court > presbyterian > [noun] > kirk-session > member of > collective
eldership1557
presbytery1591
presbyterate1641
presbyterium1733
elderhood1860
1557 New Test. (Geneva) 1 Tim. iv. 14 That gyft..which was geuen thee by prophecie with the laying on of the handes, by the Eldership.
1634–46 J. Row Hist. Kirk Scotl. (1842) 66 They that tyrannize not over, but be subject to their particulare elderships.
1721 R. Wodrow Corr. (1843) II. 568 Do you not lay in one scale the minister against the whole eldership in the other?
1828 E. Irving Last Days 151 As office-bearers in the church we are an unholy and an unworthy eldership.
1885 A. Edgar Old Church Life Scotl. 189 All the courts of the Church might be called either Presbyteries or Elderships.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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