▪ I. questor
(ˈkwɛstə(r))
Also 6, 9 quæstor.
[a. med.L. questor agent-n. f. quērĕre = quærĕre to ask (cf. quæstor): hence also It. questore, F. questeur.]
1. R.C.Ch. An official appointed by the Pope or by a bishop to grant indulgences on the gift of alms to the Church; a pardoner.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 49 Now cherles and pardoneres beeþ i-cleped questores. 1415 York Myst. Introd. 26 Escriueners, Lum[i]ners, Questors [Pardoners written above], Dubbers. 1502 Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W. 1506) iv. xxi. 239 Yf he hath suffred wyttyngly questours to renne thrughe his dyocese in prechynge false indulgences. 1580 Fulke Agst. Allen 168 Men pay monie to the Pope or his pardoning quæstors, for leaden bulls. 1748 Earthquake Peru i. 85 The great Monastery alone has twenty-four Questors. 1823 Lingard Hist. Eng. VI. 125 Ninety-five short theses on the nature of indulgences and the errors of the questors. 1895 Month July 447 The malpractices of the Questors. |
2. a. In France: One of the treasurers of the National Assembly.
| 1848 W. K. Kelly tr. L. Blanc's Hist. Ten Y. I. 413 He arrived at the Palais Bourbon..went straight to the questors [etc.]. 1896 Daily News 28 Mar. 5/5 There seemed a danger yesterday..that the Questors would be obliged to call in the police. |
b. In Italy: A commissary of police.
| 1865 Maffei Brigand Life II. 169 The indefatigable questor of Naples..says [etc.]. |
3. [? f. quest v.] One who seeks or searches.
| 1887 M. B. Betham-Edwards Next of Kin Wanted II. x. 117 Unhappy questors after something to their advantage. 1977 Times Lit. Suppl. 23 Dec. 1498/5 The prosing of that coruscating bore Dr Emily Brightman, a notator and questor of the first water. |
▪ II. questor
obs. variant of quæstor.