▪ I. parsonage
(ˈpɑːsənɪdʒ)
Forms: see parson; also 6 -edge, -ige, 7 -adge.
[Altered form, as in prec., of personage, a. AF. personage, OF. person(n)age, ecclesiastical dignity or benefice, = late L. persōnāticum, med.L. (from Fr. or Eng.) personāgium: see personage.]
1. The benefice or living of a parson; a rectory. Obs. exc. in Law.
| α [1292 Britton iv. iii. §7 II. 179 A prendre garde lequel ele est de tut voide, ou soulement le personage. Nichols tr. It must be observed whether it [the church] is entirely vacant, or the parsonage only.] c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 433 Þe fourþe part shulde be dispendid to kepe þe housis of þe personage. 1425 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 290/2 Noun residens of Persons of holy Chirche, upon theire Personages. 1482 Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 93 A certen knyght that was patron of a chyrche solde..a personage to a certen clerke for xxvij. marke. 1544 Supplic. to Hen. VIII (E.E.T.S.) 34 Other patrons haue presented theyr clerckes to personagyes & vicaragyes. 1642 Milton Apol. Smect. iii. Wks. (1851) 288 Whether..a good Personage, or Impropriation bought out for him would not improper him. |
| β 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 245 And I hadde neuere of hym..Noither prouendre ne parsonage ȝut of þe popis ȝifte. 1450 Rolls of Parlt. V. 206/1 Churches, Parsonages, and other Possessions. 1588 Fraunce Lawiers Log. Ded. ¶iv b, Their fathers haue either compounded with their Landlord for some pelting vicaredge, or payd ready money for a better parsonage. 1646 Royalist Comp. Papers (Yorksh. Rec. Ser.) II. 57 He offers the parsonage of Hornsey worth {pstlg}100 for {pstlg}1000. a 1704 T. Brown Two Oxford Scholars Wks. 1730 I. 5, I cannot exercise the Office..without some Curacy, Vicarage, or Parsonage. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) III. 60 The rectory or parsonage, which comprises the parish church with all its rights, glebes, tithes, and other profits whatsoever. |
2. (= parsonage-house). The house attached to a parson's living, the rector's house. Also, in later use, the house of a vicar, perpetual curate, or other incumbent of a parish or parochial district; sometimes (esp. in U.S. and Colonies) applied to the residence provided for any minister of religion.
| 1472 Will in Rec. St. Mary at Hill (E.E.T.S.) 16 The parsonage & Chirchyerd of seynt Botolphes Chirche. 1523 Fitzherb. Surv. xx. (1539) 41 The syte of the personage standeth..between the sayd hye way. 1628 Earle Microcosm., Surgeon (Arb.) 62 It is ofter out of reparations, then an old Parsonage. a 1704 T. Brown Two Oxford Scholars Wks. 1730 I. 10 An old rotten Parsonage or Vicarage-house. 1806 Bowles Banwell Hill ii. 34 Where the white parsonage, among the trees, Peeped out. |
† 3. The parson's or rector's tithe. Sc. Obs.
| 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. viii, What have I been paying stipend and teind, parsonage and vicarage for, ever sin' the aughty-nine, and I canna get a spell of a prayer for't? |
4. attrib., as parsonage-garden, parsonage-house, parsonage-land.
| 1566 Eng. Ch. Furniture (ed. Peacock) 145 Burnte by the said Churchwardens at the said parsonedge house. 1610 Burford Reg. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) Var. Collect. I. 82 The buildinge of the said cottage..uppon the parsonadge land of Calne. 1796 M. Robinson Angelina I. 26 We have but few houses of any note, and please your honour—only three... The parsonage-house, the poor-house, and the public-house. 1838 D. F. Strauss Lutheran Clergym. iii. 273 The door of the parsonage garden opened. |
▪ II. parsonage
obs. form of personage.