paymistressn.
/ˈpeɪˌmɪstrᵻs/, U.S. /ˈpeɪˌmɪstrᵻs/ A woman who pays a person or thing; spec. a female official who administers payments. Frequently figurative in personifications.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > payment for labour or service > paying (money) for labour or service > [noun] > paymaster or paymistress
paymaster1537
paymistress1583
pagador1591
pay1878
paybob1916
1583 T. Watson Passionate Cent. of Loue fin. The Labour is light, where Loue is the Paiemistres.
1590 R. Greene Neuer too Late ii. sig. K2 Thou shalt finde..follie the paymistris that rewards all amorous trauells.
1651 True Relation Poysoning Sir T. Overbury 20 He charged..Mrs. Turner to be..the pay-mistresse of the Poysoners rewards.
1784 S. Johnson Let. 16 Sept. (1994) IV. 406 Paymistress..may be expressed by a word perhaps not in use, Pay mistress.
1859 ‘O. Optic’ Poor & Proud xii. 157 ‘I promised to pay you; and you know I would not take the money as a gift,’ replied Katy. ‘I am aware that you would not, and you are the promptest paymistress I ever knew.’
1886 Sat. Rev. 6 Mar. 329/1 Hissing the Attorney-General's Sovereign and paymistress.
1915 Times 8 Feb. 3/3 Mrs. Martin, the paymistress at the High-street, Hornsey, Post Office.
1931 C. W. Halberg Suez Canal IV. 60 England, the paymistress of her [sc. France's] enemies, remained undefeated.
1999 Illawarra Mercury (Australia) (Nexis) 7 July 3 A paymistress who skimmed $129,000 from her Unanderra employer..escaped a jail term when she faced a magistrate yesterday.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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