Paul
(pɔːl)
Also 4 Poul, Poule; gen. 4 Powlys, 4–6 Poules, 5–7 Paules, 6 Pawles, Powlles, 6–7 Powles, 6–8 Pauls, 7– Paul's.
[a. OF. Pol, mod.F. Paul = It. Paolo, Sp. Pablo:—L. Paulum, in nom. Paulus.]
1. The English form of the Latin personal name Paulus, well known as that of the ‘Apostle of the Gentiles’ (Acts xiii. 9). Used in proverbial phrases in conjunction with Peter, q.v.
2. [tr. It. Paolo, Paul.] The paolo, an obsolete Italian silver coin, worth about fivepence sterling.
| 1767 Sterne Tr. Shandy IX. xxiv, I paid five Pauls for two hard eggs. 1854 Lowell Jrnl. in Italy Pr. Wks. 1890 I. 191 You give the custode a paul for showing you the wolf that suckled Romulus and Remus. |
3. a. Paul Pry: name of a very inquisitive character in a
U.S. song of 1820; often used allusively (also
attrib.).
| 1829 Macaulay Southey's Colloq. Soc. Ess. (1887) 118 The magistrate..ought to be a perfect jack-of-all-trades..a Paul Pry in every house, spying, eaves-dropping, relieving, admonishing [etc.]. a 1845 Hood Tale of Trumpet xi, She had much of the spirit that lies Perdu in a notable set of Paul Prys. 1870 M. Bridgman Rob. Lynne II. i. 4 It will cure her of her Paul-Pry tricks. 1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 695/2 Paul Pry,..always his [Liston's] most popular part, soon became to many a real personage. 1897 Pall Mall Mag. Nov. 311 Some of the Paul Prys of the parish had intercepted the flyman. 1928 E. Wallace Double xiii. 208 There are lots of quiet little nooks and places where a fellow can sit without a lot of Paul Prys seeing him. 1934 Sun (Baltimore) 27 Apr. 12/2 The Senate's theory that the way to enforce the tax laws is to give the Paul Prys of every community access to the private details of every man's gross and net income. 1956 H. G. de Lisser Cup & Lip ix. 109 It would be ruinous to a doctor to be known as a paul pry. 1978 H. C. Rae Sullivan i. ii. 24 Twenty-five thousand dollars?.. It's the going rate for a quiet investigation, a straight Paul Pry? |
b. Hence
Paul-Pry v. intr., to behave like Paul Pry; to be impertinently inquisitive or prying; also
Paul-Prying vbl. n.;
Paul Pryism, the conduct of a Paul Pry.
| 1839 Marryat Diary Amer. Ser. i. I. 110 Others mounting..and Paul Prying into the bed-room windows. 1865 H. Kingsley Hillyars & Burtons xxx, Who the deuce are you, cross-questioning and Paul-Prying? 1927 Daily Express 6 Oct. 8/2 These restrictions were imposed during the war... Their maintenance to-day is simply part of that fussy Paul Pryism which covers the State with ridicule. 1960 Times 4 Mar. 13/7 The straitest champion of marital fidelity would, surely, not defend such monstrous Paul Prying. |
† 4. Paul's: popular name of
St. Paul's Cathedral in London; in 16–17th c. a favourite resort of loungers, gossips, etc.
Obs. (Now always
St. Paul's.) Hence
attrib. in
Paul's Alley,
Paul's Chain, now London lanes,
Paul's Cross, etc.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 65 Þis freke bifor þe den of poules Preched of penaunces. [1393 Ibid. C. xvi. 70 At seint paules by-for þe peuple what penaunce þei suffreden.] a 1460 Gregory's Chron. (Camden) 98 Powlys Crosse. The whiche was pronounsyd at Powlys Crosse. 1573 Baret Alv. To Rdr., The right Worshipfull M. Nowell, Deane of Pawles. 1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Familye of Loue 29 b, Protesting the truth of HN. his bookes openly at Paules crosse. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 576 This oyly Rascall is knowne as well as Poules. 1597 ― 2 Hen. IV, i. ii. 58, I bought him in Paules. 1613 ― Hen. VIII, v. iv. 16 We may as well push against Powles as stirre 'em. 1613 Middleton Triumphs of Truth B ij, The Angell and Zeale..conduct him to Pauls⁓chaine. c 1645 Howell Lett. (1655) IV. 83 While you adorn your Churches there, we destroy them here: Among other, poor Pouls looks like a great Skeleton... Truly I think nor Turk or Tartar..would have us'd Pauls in that manner. |
5. Paul Jones [the name of John
Paul Jones (1747–92), Scottish-born naval officer noted for his victories for the Americans during the War of Independence]: a ballroom dance during which the dancers change partners after circling in concentric rings of men and women. Also
attrib. and
fig.| 1920 Atlantic Monthly July 89/1 The whole sprightly, smiling, hand-clapping population seems engaged in one vast ‘Paul Jones’..with no one..refusing to join the dance. 1934 Punch 14 Feb. 174/1 There was nothing doing in the matter of Paul Joneses, from which even the most emphatic protestations could not give us release. 1938 Times 10 Jan. 10/4 The ‘party’ began with ‘I've been to Harlem’, a change-partner dance of the ‘Paul Jones’ type sung to the pure English harvest-home tune, ‘I've been to France and I've been to Dover’. 1942 M. Dickens One Pair of Feet vii. 147 A blond A.C.2 whom I had picked up in the Paul Jones. 1958 L. Durrell Balthazar xiii. 233 But now the band had begun to play a Paul Jones (perhaps the very dance in which Arnauti first met Justine?). 1967 Times Rev. Industry May 58/3 Driving a private car is often a death-defying Paul Jones with an endless succession of lorries. 1972 V. Canning Rainbird Pattern iv. 66 Harriet..was seduced in the back of the officer's car while Grace was dancing a Paul Jones. |
6. Phrases and Combinations with
Paul's:
Paul's betony (
erron. St. Paul's betony), name for a species of
Veronica, the Wood Speedwell (
V. officinalis), described by Paulus ægineta as a betony; improperly applied to
V. serpyllifolia;
† Paul's foot, a lineal foot, the standard of which was the foot of Algar carved on the base of a column of old
St. Paul's, London (
Gent. Mag. July 1852, 57);
† Paul's man (see
quot.);
Paul's pigeon (see
quot. a 1661);
† St. Paul's tide, the season about the festival of the Conversion of
St. Paul (Jan. 25);
† Paul's walk, the nave of
St. Paul's Cathedral as a resort of loungers, newsmongers, etc. in 16th and 17th c.; so
† Paul's-walker, one who frequented
St. Paul's as a lounger or gossip;
† Paul's-walking a.;
† Paul's work, (?) botched work, a ‘mess’.
| 1548 Turner Names of Herbes 19 Betonica Pauli aeginete..maye be called in englishe *Paules betony or wodde Peny ryal. 1551 ― Herbal i. F iv b, Paulis betony is myche dyfferyng from Dioscorides betony, as Paulus witnesseth hys selfe. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. vi. 101 Betonica Pauli, or Pauls Betony, hereof the people have some conceit in reference to S. Paul, whereas indeed that name is derived from Paulus ægineta, an ancient Physitian of ægina. 1879 Prior Plant-n. (ed. 3) 178 Paul's Betony,..Veronica serpyllifolia. 1886 Britten & Holland Plant-n., Paul's Betony, Veronica officinalis. |
| [1419 Liber Albus (Rolls) I. 279 Paiement..vii pees et demy en longur, et de le pee de Seint Poul.] 1442 Rolls of Parliament V. 44/1 The seide newe brigge so to be made with a draght lef contenyng the space of iiii fete called *Paules fete in brede. 1447 Will of Sharyngton (Somerset Ho.), Height of two poules fete. |
| 1616 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. Dram. Pers., Cap. Bobadill, a *Paules-man. 1816 Gifford B. Jonson's Wks. I. 6 note, A Paul's man, i.e. a frequenter of the middle aisle of St. Paul's cathedral, the common resort of cast captains, sharpers, gulls, and gossipers. |
| a 1661 Fuller Worthies, London (1811) II. 65 One of St. Anthonies Pigs therein (so were the Scholars of that School commonly called, as those of St. Paul's, *Paul's Pigeons) [cf. Stow Surv. (1603) 75]. |
| 1701 Lond. Gaz. No. 3718/4 The Fairs held at the City of Bristol at St. James-Tide, and at St. *Pauls-Tide. |
| 1628 Earle Microcosm. (Arb.) 73 *Pauls Walke is the Lands Epitome. |
| 1658 Osborn Jas. I Wks. (1673) 477 Edward Wimark the *Pauls-walker. |
| Ibid. Index 20 The *Pauls-walking News-mongers—report Northumberland too..intimate with P. Henry. |
| 1602 Dekker Satiromast. Wks. 1873 I. 212 And when he had done, made *Poules worke of it. 1620 in Court & T. Jas. I (1848) II. 203 But I doubt, when all is done, it will prove, as they say Paul's work. 1673 S'too him Bayes 15 But I must dispatch, for I see He's making Paul's work on't already. |