bedel

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin pedellus, bedellus, bidellus, from Middle English bedel; cognate with beadle.

Noun

bedel (plural bedels)

1. (historical) An administrative official at universities in several European countries, often with a policiary function at the time when universities had their own jurisdiction over students.

   Oxford today has four bedels, representing Divinity, Law, Medicine, and Arts.

   • 1837, William Harrison Ainsworth, “The Rector”, in Crichton, volume I, London: Richard Bentley, page 59:

     Next came the bedels and minor-bedels of all the Faculties, who by some accident were so jumbled together, that it was impossible to determine or arrange any order of precedence. […] These bedels or greffiers were jolly robustious souls, bending beneath the weight of their ponderous silver maces, and attired in gowns of black, blue, violet, or dark red, each colour denoting the Faculty to which the wearer pertained.

Anagrams

• Lebed, debel, beled, deleb, bleed

Etymology

From Dutch bedelen.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

bedel (present bedel, present participle bedelende, past participle gebedel)

1. To beg

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

bedel

1. A toll, due, fee, contribution

References

• “bedel”, in Luğatçıq (in Russian)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbɛdɛl]
• Rhymes: -ɛdel
• Hyphenation: be‧del

Noun

bedel

1. genitive plural of bedla

Etymology 1

From bedelen.

Etymology 2

From Medieval Latin bidellus, bedellus, pedellus, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *budilaz.

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Anagrams

• beeld, belde

Etymology

From Medieval Latin bidellus, bedellus, pedellus, from a merger of Frankish *bidil (“candidate, volunteer”) (from Proto-Germanic *bidilaz (“seeker”), from *bidjaną (“to ask, beseech”)) and Frankish *budil (“herald, beadle”) (from Proto-Germanic *budilaz (“herald”)). Akin to Old High German bitil (“candidate”), Old High German butil (“beadle”) (German Büttel), Old English bydel (“apparitor, messenger, beadle”) (English beadle).

Noun

bedel oblique singular, m (oblique plural bedeaus or bedeax or bediaus or bediax or bedels, nominative singular bedeaus or bedeax or bediaus or bediax or bedels, nominative plural bedel)

1. A beadle, academic usher

Noun

bedel m or f by sense (plural bedeles)

1. janitor, porter

Further reading

• “bedel”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Etymology

Inherited from Ottoman Turkish بدل, from Arabic بَدَل (badal, “substitution, equivalent”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /beˈdel/, [beˈdæl]
• Hyphenation: be‧del

Adjective

bedel

1. equivalent

   Bir dolar, beş Türk lirasına bedel. ― One dollar is equivalent to five Turkish liras.

Noun

bedel (definite accusative bedeli, plural bedeller)

1. value, price

   Synonyms: paha, fiyat

2. substitute

   Synonym: yedek

3. substitute hajji (someone who performs the hajj for payment in place of someone else)

References

• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “bedel”, in Nişanyan Sözlük