Achatesn.
/əˈkeɪtiːz/, U.S. /əˈkeɪdiz/ allusively. A person likened to Achates, esp. a loyal friend or companion. Cf. fidus Achates n.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > retainer or follower > [noun] > faithful or devoted
Achates1582
fidus Achates1603
myrmidon1620
old faithful1648
liegeman1823
good soldier1972
1582 R. Stanyhurst in tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis 108 In learning Socrates, in faythful freendship Achates.
1602 B. Jonson Poetaster v. iii. sig. L2 Player? where is the Player? Beare backe; None, but the Player, enter... Yes: this Gent'man, and his Achates must.
1656 T. Blount Acad. Eloquence (ed. 2) 192 Though I were not born a Cicero for Eloquence, I am and must be another Achates for affection.
1779 Admin. Dissected 91 There was no friendly counsellor near, no trusty Achates.
1816 T. L. Peacock Headlong Hall ii. 12 Indefatigable in his requisition for the proximity of his vinous Achates.
1880 H. C. Adams College Days at Oxf. 114 Both he and his Achates Venner were specimens of what may be called the bad style of sporting man in the Oxford of that day.
1924 Amer. Hist. Rev. 30 85 Young was more than a faithful Achates or even an industrious Boswell with a view to a possible third term for Grant.
2004 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 13 June vii. 31/1 I was baffled by the lack of reference..to the sleuth of Baker Street and his trusty Achates.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1582