Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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noun
Chiefly in court of piepowders, etc. (sense 2): a traveller, particularly one on foot; a wayfarer; specifically, a travelling merchant.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
In full court of piepowders (also court of piepowder) or piepowder court: an ancient court in England held in conjunction with a fair or a market to administer summary justice over occurrences therein such as disputes between merchants and acts of theft and violence; they were presided over by the mayor and bailiffs of the borough, or by the steward if the fair or market was held by a lord.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, historical
Topics: law
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
From the following: * Late Middle English pe-poudre, pipouder (“(noun) itinerant; travelling merchant, peddler; court of piepowders; (adverb) summarily”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman pepoudrous, pié poudrous (“having dusty feet; an itinerant”) [and other forms] (compare Middle French pyé pouldreux (“travelling merchant”) (Poitou) (modern French pied poudreux (“one who cannot pay”) (obsolete))), from pé, pié (“foot”) + poudrous, poudrus (“dusty”); pié is derived from Old French pié (“foot”) (modern French pied), from Latin pedem, the accusative singular of pēs (“foot”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“to step; to walk; to stumble; to fall”); while poudrous, poudrus (modern French poudreux (“dusty”)) is from Old French poudre (“dust; powder”) (from Latin pulverem, the accusative singular of pulvis (“dust; powder”), from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“dust; flour”)) + -ous (a variant of -us (suffix forming adjectives)); and * Late Middle English pe-poudrus, pypoudrus (“for itinerants or travelling merchants”, adjective), from pe-poudre (see above). Cognates Late Latin pede pulvericatus, pede-pulverosus, pes pulverizatus (“itinerant; travelling merchant”)
Across languages
2 source translations are retained for this English entry.
