beardlingn.
/ˈbɪədlɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈbɪrdlɪŋ/ Now rare.
A person who has a beard.In quot. 1622: a layman (with allusion to the fact that members of the clergy at the time were rarely bearded).
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > laity > [noun] > member of
worldhoodeOE
man of the worlda1225
secularc1425
idiot?c1430
layman?a1475
lay?1533
beardling1568
laic1596
terrestrial1602
layperson1972
1568 N. Leigh tr. Erasmus Modest Meane to Mariage sig. C.v At your departing you had no berd at al, now you become a handsome beardling.
1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue ii. 261 Leauing out neither beardling nor shaueling [Sp. velloso ni raso], high nor low.
1996 White Dwarf Sept. 100/1 Leaving the White Dwarf to his fate, the thrice-cursed beardlings fled back down the mountain to seek cover in the blasted wastes of the Dark Lands.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2020; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1568