Beadle : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: Beadle	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for Beadle
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
beadle n a minor parish official who serves a ceremonial function United States biologist who discovered how hereditary characteristics are transmitted by genes (1903-1989) Synonym(s): Beadle, George Beadle, George Wells Beadle
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Beadle \Bea"dle\, n. [OE. bedel, bidel, budel, OF. bedel, F. bedeau, fr. OHG. butil, putil, G. b[81]ttel, fr. OHG. biotan, G. bieten, to bid, confused with AS. bydel, the same word as OHG. butil. See. {Bid}, v.] 1. A messenger or crier of a court; a servitor; one who cites or bids persons to appear and answer; -- called also an {apparitor} or {summoner}. 2. An officer in a university, who precedes public processions of officers and students. [Eng.] Note: In this sense the archaic spellings bedel (Oxford) and bedell (Cambridge) are preserved. 3. An inferior parish officer in England having a variety of duties, as the preservation of order in church service, the chastisement of petty offenders, etc.