holy roodn.1
/ˌhəʊlɪ ˈruːd/, U.S. /ˌhoʊli ˈrud/ 1. The cross upon which Jesus suffered; = rood n. 3. Chiefly with the. Cf. Holy cross n. 1. Now archaic.
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society > faith > aspects of faith > Bible, Scripture > biblical events > [noun] > crucifixion > instruments of crucifixion > the cross
roodOE
beamOE
rood-treeOE
treeOE
crouchc1000
holy roodOE
crossc1275
Holy crossc1290
gibbetc1450
cross patif1543
OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1900) II. 268 Ic ne gelyfe þæt he to us cume..butan he æteowige þa ylcan dolhswaðe þære halgan rode þe he on ahangen wæs.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Domitian A.viii) anno 200 On þysum geare was gefunden seo halige rod.
a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 33 (MED) Ðin lauerd hes ofearnede on ðare hali rode.
c1300 Holy Cross (Laud) l. 1 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 1 (MED) Þe holie rode i-founde was ase ich eov nouþe may telle.
c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham Poems (1902) 157 (MED) Þat was ine þe holy rode, Þorȝ þe schewynge of þe blode Of godes sone.
c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame (Fairf. 16) (1878) l. 57 But oonly that the holy roode Turne vs euery dreme to goode.
1511 in J. Robertson Illustr. Topogr. & Antiq. Aberdeen & Banff (1857) III. 108 The Halie Rud conserue in prosperite your lordschipes noble lordschipe.
1568 Interlud Droichis Part Play 133 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1928) II. 320 God bliss thame and the haly rude.
1648 R. Herrick Hesperides sig. O7 Holy-Rood come forth and shield Us i' th' Citie, and the Field.
1781 M. J. Armstrong Hist. & Antiq. Norfolk IV. 83 The holy-rood or cross, stood on the rood-loft, between the church and chancel.
1839 H. W. Longfellow Celestial Pilot in Voices of Night (1840) 101 Then made he sign of holy rood upon them.
1934 L. Powys Earth Memories 146 Jesus,..surrounded by a drunken rabble, one of whom has put a foot on the holy rood for the deliberate purpose of making it heavier.
1998 W. Heyen Diana, Charles & Queen 49 Her host explains The artist rendered the fire bringer to suggest A Christ figure splayed on the holy rood, But Di is intuitions ahead of him.
2. A crucifix, esp. one positioned above the middle of a rood screen of a church or on a beam over the entrance to the chancel; = rood n. 4.
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society > faith > artefacts > symbol (general) > Christian symbols or images > [noun] > cross
roodOE
holy roodOE
crusade1613
society > faith > artefacts > symbol (general) > Christian symbols or images > [noun] > cross > crucifix > in church
holy roodOE
roodOE
OE Regularis Concordia (Tiber.) (1993) xliv. 90 Eos accolitus cum puluillo sequatur, super quem sancta crux ponatur : hi taporberend mid pyle folgige ofer þænne seo halige rod beo gesett.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 1070 Hi..geodon into þe mynstre, clumben upp to þe halge rode.
1582 G. Martin Discov. Manifold Corruptions Holy Script. by Heretikes iii. 38 Catholike Christians that reuerently kneele in praier before the Crosse, the holy Roode, the images of our Sauiour Christ and his Saincts.
1676 E. Stillingfleet Def. Disc. Idolatry ii. ii. 505 The Holy Rood of Boxtel in Kent, whose secret engines for moving the eyes and lips were laid open.
1713 W. Stephens Serm. to Protestants of Ireland 12 Daily before the holy Rood in St. Paul's Church at Rome.
1768 Hist. City & County Norwich ii. 481 A constant light was kept burning before the holy rood, on the rood loft, situated between the church and chancel.
1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles ii. xxiii. 67 The Abbot on the threshold stood, And in his hand the holy rood.
1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. iii. 119 Under the altar behind the holy rood.
1899 E. J. Chapman Drama Two Lives 48 The Holy Rood With its crown'd Christ.
1910 A. R. H. Moncrieff London 281 Among its [sc. the Abbey's] treasures was a Holy Rood, fished out of the Thames to become a goal of pilgrimage.
1959 L. Lipton Holy Barbarians ii. viii. 162 Winkler solved the problem by setting up his Christmas tree in the form of a Holy Rood made of agonizingly gnarled and knotted driftwood.
2004 P. Coppens Stone Puzzle of Rosslyn Chapel (new ed.) viii. 83 (caption) Sinclair decided to have a ‘Holy Rood’ made, to realise his belief that somewhere inside or underneath the chapel, the true ‘Holy Rood’, brought to Scotland by Queen Margaret in the 11th Century, remains hidden.
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society > faith > worship > liturgical year > feast, festival > specific Christian festivals > Exaltation of Cross (14 September) > [noun]
Holy Rood daya1225
Exaltation of the Cross1389
holy rooda1425
Rood Day1496
Roodmas1526
Roodsmas1622
Holy Cross day1662
rood1814
a1425 Edward, Duke of York Master of Game (Digby) ii Aboute þe tyme of holy rode in Septembre.
1573 P. Moore Almanack A viij b At holy Roode, and Gregorie, the nyght and day is equal.
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. xiv. 616/2 This victory hapned vpon Holyrood in haruest.
1761 J. Mordant Compl. Steward I. 127 It is common to fell or cut underwood from Martinmas to Holy-rood.
1832 J. Morton Monastic Ann. Teviotdale 294 Not content with the forty days' abstinence appointed by the church, they kept a fast from Holyrood, [September 14,] till Easter.
1844 R. White in M. A. Richardson Local Historian's Table Bk. Legendary Div. II. 134 The feat..had to be performed on the evening before Holy-Rood (14th September).
Phrases
In oaths and appeals, esp. expressing assertion and exclamation: chiefly in by the holy rood. Now archaic.In quot. a1225 apparently showing similar non-phrasal use.
ΚΠ
OE Homily: Sunnandæges Spell (Corpus Cambr. 419) in A. S. Napier Wulfstan (1883) 214 Wit sweriað..þurh þa halgan rode, þe Crist for manna hælo on þrowade, þæt hit is soð, þæt wit secgað.
OE Form of Adjuration (Corpus Cambr. 422) in F. Liebermann Gesetze der Angelsachsen (1903) I. 415 Ic eow halsie þurh ðonne Fæder & þone Sunu & þone Halgan gast.., & þurh þa halgan rode, þe Crist on ðrowode.
a1225 (c1174) Wace Roman de Rou (Royal) (1971) 7983 Alierot [v.rr. Alieroc; Halerode] sovent crioent..; Alierot [v.rr. Aleroc; Halierode] est en engleis que Sainte Croiz est en franceis.]
?1562 Thersytes sig. Aivv Or elles by the holye roode I wyl make them thinke, the deuyll caryeth them to the wood.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III iii. ii. 72 But by the holy roode. I doe not like these seuerall councels I. View more context for this quotation
1715 N. Rowe Lady Jane Gray iii. 27 No, by the holy Rood, I charge you, mix not With their pernicious Counsels.
1798 S. T. Coleridge Anc. Marinere vi, in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 42 And by the Holy rood A man all light, a seraph-man, On every corse there stood.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Day-dream in Poems (new ed.) II. 157 By holy rood, a royal beard!
1901 ‘M. Fairless’ Gathering of Brother Hilarius (1902) ii. vii. 107 He gained the village cross, and prayed them for love of the Saviour and His holy Rood to give him bread for his little maid and her mother.
1966 W. H. Gass Omensetter's Luck 119 You have to peek under the covers, Pike; then by the holy rood of Moses what you see!
2002 P. Tremayne Haunted Abbot (2004) iv. 55 By the holy rood, I will ensure Archbishop Theodore learns of it.
Compounds
C1. General attributive, in Holy Rood eve, Holy Rood tide, etc. Cf. rood n. Compounds 1.
ΚΠ
OE tr. Theodulf of Orleans Capitula (Corpus Cambr.) xxix. 351 Þonne [he] his heafod foreweard mid þære halgan rode tacne gewæpnige.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (1973) 193 [She] wrat on hire breoste..þe hali rode taken.
?a1425 (a1400) Brut (Corpus Cambr.) 292 In whiche ȝere, on Holy Roed ȝeue, deide Sere Iohn of Elham.
1574 T. Tymme tr. J. de Serres Three Partes Comm. Ciuill Warres Fraunce iv. 85 The church called Holy Rood Church, which was more beautyful, should be thus serued and spoyled.
1685 G. Langbaine Hunter v. 52 The seasons for these Chases begining about Midsummer, and ending about Holy-Rood-tide.
1861 M. E. C. Walcott East Coast Eng. 145 The steeple was begun under the direction of John Cole, 1501, and completed Holyrood Eve, 1515.
1963 Listener 7 Feb. 241/1 Tenderest of men in the morning before the ravening ghouls Swept out of his holyrood conscience like lost souls.
2008 Scotl. on Sunday (Nexis) 29 June 24 The Queen arrives in Edinburgh for Holyrood Week. At the Ceremony of the Keys, the City Chamberlain will present her with the keys of the city.
C2.
Holy Rood day n. now chiefly historical = Rood Day n., b; cf. Holy Cross day n. at Holy cross n. Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > liturgical year > feast, festival > specific Christian festivals > Exaltation of Cross (14 September) > [noun]
Holy Rood daya1225
Exaltation of the Cross1389
holy rooda1425
Rood Day1496
Roodmas1526
Roodsmas1622
Holy Cross day1662
rood1814
a1225 ( Rule St. Benet (Winteney) (1888) xlviii. 99 Fram kalendas octobris, þæt is fram þære haliȝe rode dæiȝe oð lenten [OE Corpus Cambr. from kalendas octobris oð lenctenfæsten].
c1300 St. Mary of Egypt (Laud) l. 35 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 261 (MED) Þe swete rode heo souȝten Þat scholde op-on þe holie rode-day eche manne i-schewed beo.
a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1869) I. 392 On Hooli roode Day in hervest.
1486 Bk. St. Albans E v Tyme of grece begynnyth at mydsomer day And tyll holi Roode day lastyth.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xliiiv At any tyme, bytwene martylmas, and holyrode day.
1612 J. Selden in M. Drayton Poly-olbion viii. Illustr. 130 For the Inuention she is yet celebrated in Holy-rood day in May.
1641 Art. Agreement in Harl. Misc. (1811) VII. 216 That there shall be a league offensive and defensive, concluded and conformed by both parties, at or before Holyrood-day next.
1731 Gentleman's Mag. (1732) 402 Sept. 14. Being Holy Rood Day, the King's Huntsmen hunted their Free Buck in Richmond new Park.
1843 L. D. Chapin Veg. Kingdom i. 36 The passion flower is supposed to blossom about Holy Rood day.
1898 K. D. Wiggin Penelope's Progress i. iii. 28 King David riding towards Drumsheugh forest on Holy Rood-day, with his horns and hounds and huntsmen following close behind.
1911 Every Where Sept. 28/2 The principal ancient church festival of the month, Holy-rood Day—on the fourteenth—commemorated an event of human interest, albeit one of supernatural quality.
1977 16th Cent. Jrnl. 8 50 Swynnerton decided to preach on Holy Rood Day at Woburn.
2007 E. Griffin Blood Sport iv. 56 Hunting season for female deer ran from Holy Rood Day till Candlemas.
Holy Rood fair n. = Rood fair n. at rood n. Compounds 1.
ΚΠ
1754 tr. Charters granted to Corporation of Ipswich 44 One Fair or Market, commonly called Holy Rood Fair, to be begun on and upon the 14th Day of September.
1896 T. Blashill Sutton-in-Holderness 233 The farmers looked forward to certain annual fairs—Maudling fair, near Headon; Holy Rood fair, and Michaelmas fair.
1991 J. P. Clancy tr. K. Roberts World K. Roberts: Sel. Stories 1925–1981 ii. 44 I remember Aels and me coming home across Gwredog footbridge with our sweethearts, from Holy Rood Fair.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1OE