cupbearer

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See also: cup bearer and cup-bearer

English[edit]

WOTD – 20 July 2020

Etymology[edit]

From cup +‎ bearer; attested since 1483.[1]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

cupbearer (plural cupbearers)

  1. (chiefly historical) One who ceremonially fills and hands out the cups in which a drink is served.
    Synonym: (obsolete) cupper
    • 1596, William Lambarde, “The Goodwine, or Goodwine Sands: Lomea after Twyne”, in A Perambulation of Kent: Conteining the Description, Hystorie, and Customes of that Shyre. […], London: […] Edm[und?] Bollifant, →OCLC, page 107:
      [W]hile the King [Edward the Confessor] and Godwine [Godwin, Earl of Wessex] ſate at the table, accompanied with others of the nobilitie, it chanced the Cupbearer (as he brought wine to the bourd) to ſlip with the one foote, and yet by good ſtrength of his other leg, to recouer himſelfe without falling: [...]
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Nehemiah 1:11, column 1:
      [P]rosper, I pray thee, thy ſeruant this day, and grant him mercie in the ſight of this man. For I was the kings cup-bearer.
    • 1683, Francis Osborn[e], “Some Traditional Memorials on the Reign of Q. Elizabeth”, in The Works of Francis Osborn, Esq; […], 9th edition, London: Printed, and are to be sold by the booksellers of London and Westminster, published 1689, →OCLC, paragraph 10, page 374:
      This Princeſs [Elizabeth I], in imitation of her Father Henry the Eighth did admit none about her for Penſioners, Privy Chamber-men, Squires of the Body, Carver's, Cupbearers, Sewers, &c. (that were not a few in number) but perſons of ſtature, ſtrength, and birth, [...]
    • 1736, [Gauthier de Costes, seigneur de la Calprenède], translated by Robert Loveday, Hymen’s Præludia: Or, Love’s Master-piece. Being that So-much-admir’d Romance, intitled, Cleopatra. […], volume I, London: […] J. Watson, […], →OCLC, part II, book I, page 78:
      [C]alling for Drink, one of the King's Cup-bearers that was accuſtomed to ſerve me, preſented the Cup with a troubled Look, and diſcompoſed Countenance: [...] taking the Cup from his Hands, I was carrying it to my Mouth, when Arſanes enter'd the Chamber, and haſtily running up to me, juſt as I touched the Cup with my Lips, he ruſhed against my Arm ſo rudely, as he made me let fall the Cup, [...]
    • 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter VII, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 101:
      The cup-bearer shrugged his shoulders in displeasure. "I thought to have lodged him in the solere chamber," said he; "but since he is so unsocial to Christians, e'en let him take the next stall to Isaac the Jew's.— [...]"
    • 1986, John W[esley] Baldwin, “The King’s New Men”, in The Government of Philip Augustus: Foundations of French Royal Power in the Middle Ages, 1st paperback edition, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Calif., Oxford, Oxfordshire: University of California Press, published 1991, →ISBN, page 109:
      The routine of the royal household required great swarms of servants, designated variously as cupbearers (scantiones), squires (scutiferi), pantlers (panetarii), cooks, and falconers, all of lesser importance than the chamberlain.
    • 2015, Kaori O’Connor, “The Assyrians and Achaemenid Persians: Empires of Feasting”, in The Never-ending Feast: The Anthropology and Archaeology of Feasting, London, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Academic, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 78:
      The hands were washed with perfumed water before commencing, and frequently wiped on a napkin as the meal proceeded, while cupbearers stood by to replenish the drinking cup and bowls of the king and his guests.

Alternative forms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ “cup-bearer, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1893; “cup-bearer, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading[edit]

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