▪ I. fellowship, n.
(ˈfɛləʊʃɪp)
[f. fellow n. + -ship.]
Primarily, the condition or quality of being a fellow, in various senses.
1. † a. Partnership; membership of a society. Also, in political sense, alliance. Obs.
| 1382 Wyclif 1 Macc. viii. 17 He sente hem to Rome, for to ordeyne with hem frendship and felawship. 1592 West 1st Pt. Symbol. §26 C, There may be partnership or fellowship amongst the persons contracting. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 289 Would not this Sir..get me a Fellowship in a crie of Players. 1623 Bingham Xenophon 87 They would enter into fellowship of warre with the Grecians. |
b. Participation, sharing (in an action, condition, etc.); ‘something in common’, community of interest, sentiment, nature, etc.
| a 1240 Ureisun in Cott. Hom. 185 Ich nabbe no mong, ne felawscipe, ne priuete, wiþ þe world. 1382 Wyclif 2 Cor. vi. 14 What felowschip of liȝt to derkenessis? 1535 Coverdale Acts i. 17 He..had opteyned the felashippe of this mynistracion. 1671 Milton P.R. i. 401, I feel by proof That fellowship in pain divides not smart. 1714 Swift Epist. Corr. Wks. 1841 II. 529, I congratulate with England for joining with us here in the fellowship of slavery. 1869 W. P. Mackay Grace & Truth (1875) 244 Christians can have fellowship with Christ..as the rejected of earth. |
2. Companionship, company, society; an instance of this. Also,
to bear (a person) fellowship;
to have, hold, † fall in, fellowship with (a person).
| c 1200 Vices & Virtues (1888) 41 Ðas ȝewerȝede gaste[s] felauscipe fram e[u]wȝ driuen. a 1225 Ancr. R. 160 Vor þi fleih sein Johan þe feolauschipe of fule men. a 1300 Cursor M. 12568 (Cott.) All þai felascip him bar. a 1340 Hampole Psalter vi. 7, I dwelled lange in synn & in felaghschip of ill men. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. iv. 155 For hue ys fayne of þy felaushep. 1449 ? M. Paston in Paston Lett. I. 83 Purry felle in felaschepe with Willyum Hasard at Querles. c 1450 Merlin 218 The feliship of so worthi men is not to be refused. 1484 Caxton æsop i. vi, The poure ought not to hold felauship with the myghty. 1535 Coverdale Wisd. viii. 16 Hir felashipe hath no tediousnesse. 1607 Shakes. Cor. v. iii. 175 He..kneeles, and holds vp hands for fellowship. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. iii. i. §1 A necessity to have fellowship with those of his own kind. 1814 Cary Dante's Parad. viii. 121 Were it worse for man, If he lived not in fellowship on earth? 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 404 The least respectable members of that party renounced fellowship with him. |
| transf. 1578 Banister Hist. Man v. 70 The fift veyne, being not depriued of the felowshyp of an Arterie. |
† b. collect. Habitual companions;
= company 4 b.
Obs.| 14.. Tundale's Vis. 183 This his thi felyschyp thou caytyff That thou chase to the in thi lyffe. 1548 Forrest Pleas. Poesye 90 They shull pluck too their societee, Feloshippe that neuer will after goode bee. |
† 3. Communication, dealing, intercourse.
Obs.| 1555 W. Watreman Fardle Facions ii. ix. 202 As he iudgeth theim..by his eye..without further trade or feloweshippe betwixte theim. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, iii. i. 121, I am old my Lords, And all the Fellowship I hold now with him Is onely my Obedience. |
b. Mutual intercourse,
esp. spiritual; intimate personal converse;
= communion 2 a, b, c.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 10401 (Cott.) Þir hundreth scepe..Bitakens felascip, i-wiss, Of halus hei in heuen bliss. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 422 [Þei] were translate to felowschippe and dwellyng wiþ Gods. a 1400 Cov. Myst. (1841) 16 Than Cryst them ovyrtok..And walkyd in felachep fforth with hem too. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 144 But fallowschip of ony bot thame sell. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. 3 The end and reward of the studie [of Scripture being] fellowship with the Saints. 1746–7 Hervey Medit. (1818) 12 Who admits us to a fellowship with himself. 1871 Macduff Mem. Patmos ii. 23 Since John had last held visible fellowship with his Redeemer. |
† c. Sexual intercourse. More fully
fleshly fellowship.
Obs.| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 271 Þe fende..fallen in felaȝschyp with hem on folken wyse. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xvii. 77 When þai will hafe felischepe of men. c 1450 Merlin 7 We be made..to haue counfort and ioye of mannes felishep. 1450–1530 Myrr. our Ladye 191 He fledde the flesshely felyshyp of hys wyfe. |
4. = communion 3.
to give the right hand of fellowship (after
Gal. ii. 9): to acknowledge a person as entitled to communion; also
transf. In several Protestant denominations, a literal giving ‘the right hand of fellowship’ by some representative person is part of the ceremony of admitting a person to church- membership, and of the ordination or induction of a minister.
| 1382 Wyclif Gal. ii. 9 James and Cephas..and John..ȝauen to me and Barnabas the riȝt hondis of felowschip. 1539 Cranmer ibid., Ryght handes of that felouschippe. 1611 Bible ibid., Right handes of fellowship. a 1649 Winthrop New Eng. (1853) I. 215 The elder desired of the churches that..they would give them the right hand of fellowship. 1661 Bramhall Just Vind. i. 3 They haue separated them⁓selues..from the fellowship of their own Sisters. 1809–10 Coleridge Friend (1865) 57, I will honour and hold forth the right hand of fellowship to every individual who, etc. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 64 He shall receive the right hand of fellowship. |
5. The spirit of comradeship; friendliness.
good fellowship (parasynthetically): the temper and disposition of a ‘good fellow’. So,
bad fellowship.
† of fellowship: out of friendly feeling.
| c 1370 Chaucer Troylus ii. 157 He..wher hym lyst, best felawship can To such as hym thinkith able to thrive. 1462 Paston Lett. No. 445 II. 95 Hertely thankyng you..of the felyshipp that my cosyn your sonne shewid unto me. 1463 Bury Wills (Camden) 36 My beedys of jeet..for rememberaunce of old good felashipp. 1570 North Doni's Mor. Philos. ii. (1888) 117 First of fellowship heare me but foure wordes. 1604 Jas. I. Counterbl. (Arb.) 111 It is become..a point of good fellowship. 1670 Maynwaring Vita Sana vi. 67 Drink for necessity, not for bad fellowship. 1818 Shelley Rosalind & Helen 121 The birds..with fearless fellowship..round him wheel. 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville II. 86 The rival companies..prosecuted their journey in great good fellowship. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola (1880) I. 2 There must still be fellowship..for him among the inheritors of his birthplace. |
† b. collect. good fellowship = ‘good fellows’.
| 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. vii. (1703) II. 225 Wilmot..was..much belov'd by all the good fellowship of the Army. |
6. A body of fellows or equals; a company. Now
rare (
arch.).
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 27/23 A felauȝschipe of quoynte Men. a 1300 Cursor M. 14249 (Cott.) Jesus..was cummen..Wit his felauscip þat he ledd. c 1350 Will. Palerne 1317 But feiþli his felachipe forþ wiþ him he hadde. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 32, I was of hir felawschipe anon. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) ix. 34 Iosue and Caleph and þaire felyschepe come first. 1471 Sir J. Paston in Lett. No. 675 III. 15 Sir Thomas Fulfforthe is goon owt off Sceyntewarye and a gret ffelaschyp ffettchyd hym. 1535 Coverdale Isa. xliv. 10 Beholde all the felashippe of them must be brought to confucion. 1549 Bk. Com. Prayer, Te Deum, The goodly felowship [L. numerus] of the Prophetes. 1640 Yorke Union Hon. 27 With his sonne the young Prince of Wales, and a very noble fellowship. 1742 Bailey, Fellowship, a Company. 1879 Butcher & Lang Odyssey 160 He went on his way and with him two and twenty of my fellowship. |
| transf. 1827 Scott Jrnl. (1890) I. 383, I am sorry when I think of the goodly fellowship of vessels which are now scattered on the ocean. |
† b. A body of armed men.
Obs.| c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 5313 A..takeþ til hym scheld & sperre..Oþer felaschip ne takeþ he non. 1467 Marg. Paston in Lett. No. 576 II. 308 He..sendyth dayly aspies to understand what felesshep kepe the place. c 1500 Three Kings' Sons 97 Therfore toke he his feliship, &..went to releef his first company. |
† c. The crew of a vessel.
Obs.| 1466 Mann. & Househ. Exp. 169 My lorde..ȝafe..to the felschepe of the Kervel. 1513 Douglas æneis i. vi. 158 Thi schippis and fallowschip on the samyn wise. |
d. In the Eucharistic service, the words
cum omni militia cælestis exercitus have from an early date been rendered ‘with all the holy fellowship of heaven’; possibly with some allusion to 6 b.
| 1389 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 116 In hon{supr} of ihesu crist..and al the holy felichipe of heuen. c 1450 Bidding Prayer iii. in Lay Folks Mass Bk. 71 All þe feir falychyp þat is in heuen. 1583 Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 90 Al the heunly feloship from the earth such a monster abandon. |
† e. An ordinary meal or entertainment for a company or household.
Obs.| 1494 Househ. Ord. 121 As for the Shrove Thursday at night there longeth none estate to be kepte, but onely a fellowshippe. |
7. A guild, corporation, company. Now
rare.
fellowship of porters: see 11 b.
| 1515 Sir R. Jernegan in Strype Eccl. Mem. I. App. vii. 13 The same passport may be sent..to the Master of the fellowship. 1523 Act 14–15 Hen. VIII, c. 2 All wardens and maisters of felowshyppes of all and euery such handie craftes. 1560 Grant of City of Lond. 1 Feb. in Entick London (1766) IV. 228 Being freemen of this city in the fellowship of the stationers. 1622 E. Misselden Free Trade (ed. 2) 74 That..fellowship of the Merchants Adventurers of England. 1692 Lond. Gaz. No. 2799/4 Mr. Thomas Johnson Clerk to the Fellowship of Carmen. 1740 in Hanway Trav. (1762) I. i. ix. 43 Any subject..hath a right to be made free of the said fellowship. 1819 E. Mackenzie Hist. Newcastle (1827) 706 note, Waits, or Musicians, were an ancient fellowship. |
| transf. a 1626 Bp. Andrewes Serm. (1661) 700 A fellowship or Society, which is called the fellowship or corporation of the Gospell. |
† b. collect. The members of a corporation or guild.
Obs.| c 1440 Gesta Rom. xi. 35 (Add. MS.) His felishipp put out his eyen. 1513 Act 5 Hen. VIII, c. 6 The Wardens and felisshippe of the crafte..of Surgeons enfraunchesid in the Citie of London. 1571 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford 335 The Master Wardens..and Fellowship of the sayde occupation. 1649 Lawfulnesse Present Govt. 9 The Mayor of London and his Fellowship received him. |
c. In wider sense: An association or union of any kind; also a brotherhood, fraternity.
| 1541 Barnes Wks. (1573) 246/1 Wee beleeue..that holy church is a communion or felowshyp of holy men. 1683 in Faithful Contendings (1780) 59 It was desired that every one of the fellowships that sends Commissioners..would be conscientious in choosing of them. 1775 Johnson West. Islands Wks. X. 424 Land is sometimes leased to a small fellowship. 1847 Mrs. A. Kerr Hist. Servia x. 191 The peaceful fellowships in villages..had also the right. 1861 Mill Utilit. v. 90 A person's fitness to exist as one of the fellowship of human beings. 1883 O. B. Frothingham in Schaff Encycl. Relig. Knowl. 2381 The public..gave to the little fellowship the name of the ‘Transcendental Club’. 1889 Lux Mundi iv. (1890) 178 Building up a new cosmopolitan fellowship. |
8. The position or dignity, or the emoluments, of a ‘fellow’ in a college, university, learned society, etc.
| 1536 Act 27 Hen. VIII, c. 42 §1 in Oxf. & Camb. Enactm. 13 The said..Chauntries, free Chapelle Felowshippes, Scolershippes. 1631 T. Powell Tom All Trades 148 In some Colledges the Fellowship follows the Schollership. a 1674 Clarendon Hist. Reb. x. (1704) III. 56 They placed..such other of the same leven in the Fellowships. 1808 Med. Jrnl. XIX. 271 He had it in contemplation..to offer himself a candidate for a fellowship in the London College of Physicians. 1868 M. Pattison Academ. Org. iv. 57 The proposal to commute fellowships into scholarships. |
† b. collect. The body of ‘fellows’ in a college or university; the society constituted by the ‘fellows’.
Obs.| 1480 Bury Wills (1850) 58 The seid maist{supr}, presedent, or reuler, and phelaschep of the seid collage. 1567 in Gutch Coll. Cur. II. 278 The said Richard Barber..shall call the whole fellowship then present within the College together. 1710 Hearne Collect. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) III. 53 Any one that ever entered that Fellowship. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 437 Adjudging and conferring degrees, which exclusively belongs to the fellowship as a learned faculty. |
9. Arith. The process by which a partner's share of gain or loss is determined in proportion to his share of the capital.
| 1561 Recorde Gr. Artes Y j, Thus you are..sufficiently instructed in the rule of felowship. 1594 Blundevil Exerc. i. xii. (ed. 7) 36 This is to be wrought according to the Rule of fellowship. 1661 Hodder Arithmetick 148 The Rule of Fellowship without time. 1695 W. Alingham Geom. Epit. 66 This Theo. helps to demonstrate the Rule of Fellowship. 1806 Hutton Course Math. I. 120 Fellowship is either Single or Double. 1859 Barn. Smith Arith. & Algebra (ed. 6) 508 Fellowship or Partnership. |
10. pl. Short for
fellowship-porters. (See 11 b.)
| 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. vi, The Fellowships don't want you at all. |
11. attrib. and
Comb., (sense 7) as
fellowship-merchant; (sense 8) as
fellowship-examination, -honour; also,
fellowship-meeting, an association formed for the purpose of religious converse.
| 1866 Mrs. Gaskell Wives & Dau. I. 307, I shall be going up for my *fellowship examination. |
| 1893 Daily News 7 July 11/3 The only American woman, holding the *fellowship honour of the Royal Geographical Society. |
| 1679 J. Finlay in Cloud of Witnesses (1810) 185, I bear my testimony to the *fellowship meetings of the Lord's people. 1806 Forsyth Beauties Scot. III. 176 All the fellowship-meetings of the parish of Cambuslang assembled. |
| 1485 Act 1 Hen. VII, c. 3 §1 No proteccion be..allowed in the Courte before the..*Felishipp merchauntes of the Staple at Calais. |
b. fellowship porter, a member of the ‘fellowship’ of the Porters of Billingsgate, a guild having certain monopolies in the City of London; see
quots. There was also a Guild of Fellowship Porters in Edinburgh, who joined the Trone-men in 1694 (Walford
Hist. Gilds 87).
| 1620 Draft Act Common Council 5 Oct. in Acts & Rep. Com. Council (Guildhall Lib.) No. 4 That the Company and ffellowship of Porters of Billingsgate..shall..continue to be from henceforth one Company or Brotherhood. 1681 Delaune State of London 341 The Porters of London are of two sorts. 1. Ticket Porters..2. Fellowship Porters. To these belong the..landing, housing, carrying or recarrying all measurable Goods, as Corn, Salt, Coals, &c. 1854 Rep. Parl. Comm. Corporation of London 23 The Fellowship of Porters, which exists as a separate body, created by an Act of Common Council. No person can be admitted as a Fellow of this body who is not free of the City of London. 1890 Daily News 18 July 7/2 The complainant is a fellowship porter. |
▪ II. fellowship, v. (
ˈfɛləʊʃɪp)
[f. prec. n.] † 1. trans. To unite in fellowship; to connect or associate (a person or thing)
with or
to another;
refl. to enter into companionship.
Obs.| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. vi. 53 Contrarious þinges ne ben not wont to ben yfelawshiped togidres. 1382 Wyclif Gen. xxvi. 7 She was to hym felowshipte thurȝ mariage. c 1440 Secrees 182 Twoo men þat felawschipped hem to gedre in a way. 1491 Caxton Vitas Patr. (W. de W. 1495) i. xlix. 98 a/1 They can not be compatyble ne felyshypped wyth the other. 1561 T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer Yy iv b, To felowship him self..with men of the best sort. |
† 2. To accompany.
Obs.| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iv. iii. 121 Grete peyne felawshipeþ and folweþ hem. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 405/1, I shal yet felawship the unto the gate. |
3. To admit to fellowship, enter into fellowship with. Now only in religious use.
| c 1440 Gesta Rom. xxxiv. 135 (Harl. MS.) Then pes seynge hir sistris alle in acorde..she turnid ayene..then pes was felashipid among hem. a 1860 Eclectic Rev. (Worcester), Whom he had openly fellowshipped. 1882 A. Mahan Autobiog. xi. 242 A charity which fellowshipped anything. |
4. intr. To join in fellowship; to associate
with. Now only in religious use, and chiefly
U.S.| c 1410 Love Bonavent. Mirr. lvi. (Gibbs MS.) Oure lorde Jesu came..and felischippede with hem. 1472 in Surtees Misc. (1890) 26 Derrick his lepere, & his not abyll to felychep emange the pepell. 1561 T. Hoby Castiglione's Courtyer A iij b, Like maye fellowship..with his like. 1883–4 J. G. Butler Bible-Work II. 109 He [Peter] fellowshipped freely with Gentile believers. 1886 Chr. Life 1 May, He never fellowshipped with any of our churches. |
Hence
ˈfellowshipping vbl. n., the action of forming a fellowship; in
quot. concr. as the alleged proper term for a company of yeomen.
| 1486 Bk. St. Albans F vj a, A ffelishippyng of yomen. |