butt womann.2
/ˈbʌt wʊmən/, U.S. /ˈbət ˌwʊmən/ English regional (south-western).
A female official responsible for the maintenance of a church and churchyard, and for acting as an attendant to parishioners; a female sexton.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > laity > lay functionaries > sexton > [noun] > female
sextona1325
sextressc1390
sextonessa1450
sextricec1475
butt woman1823
1823 Berrow's Worcester Jrnl. 13 Nov. At Tamerton, Mrs. Mary Poole, butt woman of the parish church.
1862 M. Goodman Exper. Eng. Sister of Mercy 25 The pew-opener or ‘butt-woman’.
1878 Free & Open Church Advocate 1 June A buttwoman is one who cleans the church, and..assists the verger or pew-opener in shewing persons into seats..In the west of England butt is an old word for hassock.
1896 London Society Oct. 426 The little old butt woman motioned towards a pew and pushed a prayer book into his hand.
1909 Scribner's Mag. Mar. 258/1 The Dean Prior butt-woman was hanging out the church-warden's washing, with pegs.
1934 Census 1931: Classif. Occupations 145/3 Butt woman.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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