释义 |
goodman|ˈgʊdmən, gʊdˈmæn| [good a. + man; cf. MDu. goedman (Du. goeman).] †1. = good man. Sometimes used as a vague title of dignity or a respectful form of address. Obs. Perh. really two words, though written as one.
[c1175Lamb. Hom. 151 Job wes anfald rihtwis Mon and swa godmon; þet ure drihten him solf hine herede.] a1300Signs bef. Judgem. 21 in E.E.P. (1862) 8 Godmen takiþ nou gome of tokninges þat commiþ bi for. a1400–50Alexander 436 And, gudman, [on] þe gold rynge, þe thre grauen thyngis, Þai ere þus mekill to mene. Ibid. 2407 Þan takis þe gudman þe gifte, & gretly þam þankis. †b. Sc. Applied euphemistically to the Devil.
1779Arnot Hist. Edin. (1788) 80 Farmers left a part of their lands perpetually untilled..this spot was dedicated to the Devil, and called the Goodman's croft. 2. The master or male head of a household or other establishment; † the host (of an inn), † the keeper (of a prison). Now only Sc. or arch.
c1340Cursor M. 13507 (Fairf.) Alle was fed godemen & knauis. 1399Langl. Rich. Redeles i. 66 Ther gromes and the goodmen, beth all eliche grette. 1464Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 247 Item, to the goodman of Cardenallys Hat for horsemet the same day vijs. vjd. 1556Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden) 7 Thys yere the goodman at the Cooke in Cheppe..was morderd in hys bede by nyght. 1581Lambarde Eiren. ii. vii. (1588) 266 In like sort is it, if the goodman of the house (perceiuing that theeues are without) wil open the doores, and go out against them. 1631Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 72 Wherefore doth the word say, that our Christ, the Goodman of this house, His dear kirk, hath feet like fine brass? 1722Wodrow Hist. Ch. Scot. II. 636 The Goodman (Jaylor) of the Tolbooth came to him in his Chamber. 1785Burns Halloween xvii, The auld guidman raught down the pock, An' out a handfu' gied him. 1842Macaulay Lays Anc. Rome, Horatius lxx, When the goodman mends his armour, And trims his helmet's plume. vocatively.1724Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 8 Good⁓man, quoth he, be ye within, I'm come your doghter's love to win. 1828Scott F.M. Perth ii, Good-even to you, goodman. b. A householder in relation to his wife; a husband. Now only Sc. or arch.
1513Douglas æneis viii. vii. 7 To Vulcanus, hir husband and gudeman, Within his golden chalmer sche began Thus for to speik. 1529More Comf. agst. Trib. ii. Wks. 1184/2 Shee sayde it in sport to make her good man laugh. 1593Tell-Troth's N.Y. Gift 37 Why is the husband called his wives good-manne? 1609Rowlands Crew of Kind Gossips 20 Little our goodmen knowes what their wiues thinkes. 1816Scott Old Mort. xxxvii, ‘It's my gudeman, sir’, said the young woman, with a smile of welcome. 1856Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh iii. 1159 One was tender for her goodman. 1881J. Grant Cameronians I. iii. 30 The next who was knocked over was your good-man, Mrs. Garth. †3. a. Prefixed to designations of occupation.
1484Caxton Fables of Alfonce iii, Hit befelle somtyme that a good man labourer went fro lyf to deth. 1592Greene Upst. Courtier D b, In my time he was counted but good⁓man Tailor, now he is growne since veluet breeches came in, to be called a marchant or Gentleman Marchant Tailor. 1602Shakes. Ham. v. i. 13 Nay, but heare you, goodman deluer. 1638Ford Fancies i. i, A nod From goodman⁓usher, or the formal secretary. †b. Prefixed to names of persons under the rank of gentlemen, esp. yeomen or farmers (cf. sense 4). Also in ironical use. Obs.
a1577Sir T. Smith Commw. Eng. xxiii. (1589) 40 These [Yeomen] be not called masters, for that (as I said) pertaineth to Gentlemen onely. But to their surnames men adde Good⁓man: as..goodman White,..goodman Browne, amongst their neighbors, I meane not in matters of importance or in lawe. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. iv. i. 37 Dictisima goodman Dull, dictisima goodman Dull. 1618in Kerry St. Lawrence, Reading (1883) 87 Itm. pd. to goodman Knight for casting of the 4 bell, 6l. 10s. c1626Dick of Devon ii. iv. i. in Bullen O. Pl. II. 59 Pray (goodman rascall) how long have you and he bene Brothers? 1641Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 42 In that howse lived goodman Akam, to whom this close belonged. 1692Washington tr. Milton's Def. Pop. xii, Now I come to you again, Good-man Goosecap, who scribble so finely. 1702Lond. Gaz. No. 3858/4 A Watch..was dropt the 14th past near Goodman Peacock's Farm. a1732Gay Poems (1745) I. 82 The sun-beams bright..gild the thatch of goodman Hodges' barn. 4. A man of substance, not of gentle birth; a yeoman; a Scottish ‘laird’ (cf. quot. 1657). Obs. exc. Hist. or poet. This sense is evolved from the use in 3 b.
1587Harrison England ii. v. (1877) I. 137 [The yeomen] be not called masters and gentlemen, but goodmen, as goodman Smith [etc.]. 1657Sp. Fife Laird in J. Watson Collect. Poems (1706) i. 28 When I was born..There was no word of Laird or Knight: The greatest Stiles of Honour then, Was to be titl'd the Good-man. But changing Time..puts a Laird in th' Good-man's place. a1661Fuller Worthies (1811) I. 14 He is called a Good Man in common discourse, who is not dignified with Gentilitie. 1870Morris Earthly Par. II. iii. 496 There went that morn a goodman of the dale..His herdsman with him. 1874Stubbs Const. Hist. (1875) I. xi. 424 The aldermen and brethren constituted the guild, and the reeve and good-men the magistracy of the township. †b. Sc. The laird or tenant of a specified estate or farm. Obs.
1592MS. in Hunter Biggar & House of Fleming (1862) xxiv. 298 John and Adam Tweedie, Sons to the Guidman of Dreva. 1604R. Birrel Diary in Dalyell Fragm. Sc. Hist. ii. (1798) 61 Robert Weir broken on ane cart wheel..for murdering the guidman of Warriston. c1610Sir J. Melvil Mem. (1683) 122 Alexander Hume of Manderstoun, Coildinknows, and the Good man of North Berwick. 1640–1Kirkcudbr. War-Comm. Min. Bk. (1855) 143 The gudeman of Erlistone, James Tailfeir of Haircleugh [etc.]. 1824Scott Redgauntlet let. xi, The rental-book..open at the place where it bore evidence against the Goodman of Primrose Knowe, as behind the hand with his mails and duties. Hence ˈgoodmanlike a. Sc., husbandlike; ˈgoodmanship Sc., a holding conferring the rank of ‘goodman’.
1823Galt Entail I. 306 It's your wife, my lad..ye'll surely never refuse to carry her head in a gudemanlike manner to the kirk-yard. 1864Burton Scot Abr. II. ii. 182 When lands were held of any of the great families, they were but a gudemanship. |