godparentn.

1693 Grounds Infant-baptism Explained 12 God..is beholden to us by our Parents, or by our Nominal God-Parents, or by our selves, for our good Merits and Deservings.

1708 Brit. Apollo 27–29 Oct. There is as near a Relation in Spirituals between the Clergy and their Parishioners, as between God Parents and God-Children.

1793 St. James Chron. 19 Oct. 4/1 Can the father or mother of a child stand proxy at the font for the real God-parent?

1865 E. B. Pusey Eirenicon 38 The exhortation to Godparents in the Baptismal service.

1879 A. Salts (title) Godparents at confirmation. One of the church's appointed means for retaining her younger members.

1885 W. E. Addis & T. Arnold Catholic Dict. (ed. 3) 210/2 Those to be confirmed are brought to the sacrament by their god-parents.

1906 F. M. Brookfield Cambridge ‘Apostles’ xiv. 317 It was naturally upon Arthur Hallam that the honour devolved of being the munificent godparent to the poet's early literary offspring.

1953 C. Wagley Amazon Town v. 152 Any adult might also expect to be invited several times to serve as godparent of baptism.

2000 Saga Mag. Feb. 8/3 In that week of mourning, the British public became honorary godparents to William and Harry and began to care about the future of the two boys and their single father.

1932 P. A. Sorokin et al. Systematic Source Bk. in Rural Sociol. III. xxiii. 691 In the past, god-parenthood was taken seriously as a step towards heaven.

1961 Annals. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Soc. Sci. 338 76/2 The traditional religious festas..and the interlocking system of god-parenthood are becoming rarities.

1985 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 9 Apr. For me, the joys of godparenthood were diluted by being dragooned into service as the official church musician.

2004 D. Lodge Author, Author ii. ii. 91 Henry had been rather apprehensive that his qualifications for godparenthood would be put to the test by Ainger before the christening, or at the reception afterwards.