† lixn.
Obsolete. rare.
Esp. in ancient Roman contexts: a camp follower (camp-follower n.).Apparently only attested in the writings of John Brown (c1610–79), a Church of Scotland minister.figurative in quot. 1665.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > camp follower > [noun]
rascal1539
lackey1556
boy1572
soldier's boy1611
camper1631
lix1665
retainer1784
camp-follower1810
1665 J. Brown Apologeticall Relation Sufferings Church Scotl. sig. **4 These prelats..must have some time to do that work, in which the Lord is imploying them as his lixes.
a1679 J. Brown Swan-song (1680) x. 98 He [sc. the Lord] is ordering, disposing and moderating all, that under agents and lixes are doing.
a1679 J. Brown Swan-song (1680) xi. 106 Consider by whom He was put to suffer,..by judges higher and lower, and by lixes, by Jewes and Romans.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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n.1665