▪ I. chapter, n.
(ˈtʃæptə(r))
Forms: 3 cheapitre, 3–5 chapitre, 4 chapitere, chaptire, 4–6 Sc. chaptour, 4–8 chapiter, 5 chapytur(e, chappytre, chapiltre, chaptur, 5–6 chapytre, 6 chapyter, chapytour, chapitour, chapiture, ? chapit, Sc. cheptour, 6– chapter.
[A later syncopated form of chapiter, a. OF. chapitre, earlier chapitle:—L. capitulum. dim. of caput head, used, in ancient Latin, in the senses ‘little head, head of a plant, capital of a column’, and later, those of ‘head-dress of women, chapter of a book, section of a law’. The form chapter appears in Sc. in 14th c., but in Eng. is rare before the 16th; chapiter survived beside it till the middle of the 17th, and is still occasional in the sense ‘capital of a column’. Cf. also capitulum, capitle, chapitle, chapiter, all orig. the same word.]
1. a. A main division or section of a book (whether the latter is an entire literary work, or one of the divisions or parts of a large work). Esp. used of the main divisions of the books of the Bible. Cf. book n. 8.
| [a 1000–1450 see capitle, chapitle]. |
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 14 Þeos boc ich to dele on eihte distinctiuns..I þisse distinctiun beoð fif cheapitres. c 1386 Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 245 In the same book..Right in the nexte chapitre after this. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. (W. de W.) i. 9 The chapytours of euery of thyse bokes folowyng. 1401 Pol. Poems (1859) II. 113 In the book of Deutronomye, the seven and twenty chapitre. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 15 In the last chapyter of his epystle to the Galathees. 1535 Coverdale Gen., The first boke of Moses..The first chapter. 1549 Compl. Scot. vi. 38 Sainct Agustyne..in the ix cheptour of his seuynt beuk. 1581 Lambarde Eiren. ii. ii. (1588) 124 In the next Chapiter of this Booke. 1625 Purchas Pilgrimes ii. 1502 In his Chapiter, Surato-Wagra..he bids them marry one, two, three or foure wives a man. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 13 ¶10 Unable to read a chapter in the bible. 1875 Stubbs Const. Hist. III. xviii. 243 The preceding sections of this chapter. |
b. fig.
| 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. i. v. 242 Ol. Where lies your Text? Vio. In Orsinoes bosome. Ol. In his bosome? In what chapter of his bosome? 1661 Earl of Orrery State Lett. (1743) I. 59 It is like the bills of mountebanks, where the contents promise more than in the chapter is made good. 1841 Myers Cath. Th. iv. §29. 317 Their [the Prophets'] lives constitute some of the noblest chapters of Jewish Chronicles. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Wealth Wks. (Bohn) II. 70 'Tis a curious chapter in modern history, the growth of the machine-shop. |
c. A head or division of the Acts of Parliament of a single session.
| 1660 R. Coke Power & Subj. 192 First we have granted to God, and by this our present Chapter have confirmed for us and our heirs for ever, that the Church of England shall be free. 1863 H. Cox Instit. i. iv. 20 The Acts of each Session were not divided into chapters with distinct titles. |
2. fig. Head, heading, subject, category. (Usually preceded by on, upon.) arch.
| 1393 Gower Conf. II. 192 Avarice, In whose chapitre now we trete. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 51 Prestis are nowe in þe same chapiter. 1681 Temple Mem. iii. Wks. 1731 I. 342 Upon which Chapter I said a good deal. 1766 H. Walpole Lett. III. 150 There are some chapters on which I still fear we shall not agree. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. III. viii. v. 39 Must lead a life clear of reproach; and more particularly on the chapter of women! |
3. a. A short ‘lesson’ or passage of Scripture read in certain services of the Latin Church. (In med.L. capitulum; F. chapitre and capitule.) b. ‘An anthem in the Ambrosian rite said at Lauds after the psalms and before the antiphon, and varying with the day’. Dict. Chr. Antiq.
| [c 1200 Winteney Rule S. Benet (1888) 45 æfter þam filye þæt captel of þare apostele lare, þæt beo ȝesed butan bocc. Ibid. 55 On non þri capitles syn ȝesungene of þam forseadan sealme.] |
| 1450–1530 Myrr. Our Ladye 126 A chapyter ys as moche to say as a lytel hed..yt ys alway taken of holy scripture, and often of the pystel that is redde in the masse the same daye. Ibid. 232 As ys writen before..in the chapiter at lawdes. 1482 Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 21 When the chaptur was ronge as the tyme requyred to calle the couent to matens, he went than to chirche as he did the daye before. 1875 Dict. Chr. Antiq. I. 288/1 The ‘little chapter’, said at all the canonical hours excepting Matins, after the psalms..consists of one or two verses of Scripture, usually taken from the Epistles..often from the Prophets, and occasionally from other parts of Scripture. It is recited by the officiating priest, standing. |
4. a. A duly constituted general meeting or assembly of the canons of a collegiate or cathedral church, of the members of any monastic or religious order, or of an order of knights, for consultation and transaction of the affairs of their order.)
[‘From the last-mentioned usage (the capitula of a monastic rule) coupled with the practice of reading a capitulum or chapter of the Rule, or (as was St. Augustine's practice) of the Scriptures, to the assembled canons or monks, the assembled canons or monks themselves came to be called in a body the capitulum or chapter, and their meeting-place the chapter-house.’ Dict. Chr Antiq. I. 288/1; cf. Du Cange and Littré. More exactly the name chapter was first transferred to the meeting, and then to those who met. The transference was easy through such expressions as ire or convenire ad capitulum, to go to (the reading of) the capitle or chapter, thus to the meeting.]
| [1123–1456 see chapitle.] |
| c 1305 St. Edmund 435 in E.E.P. (1862) 82 Þe chapitre of salesbury amorwe was plener; Alle þe Canouns of þe queor þer come fur & ner, To consailli him of þisse þinge. 1375 Barbour Bruce xvii. 589 That bargane callit wass The chaptour of mytoune; for thare Slayn sa mony prestis ware. 138. Wyclif Wks. (1880) 43 Þe chesynge of his successour be maad of mynistris prouincial & custodis in þe chapitre of witsontide. 1562 Leigh Armorie (1597) 77 He ordained that al the kings of armes, should keepe their Chapiters once euery quarter of the yere. 1679 M. Prance Narr. Pop. Plot 36 There being a Chapter (as they call it, that is, a General Convention) of Friars held in Somerset-House. 1681 Lond. Gaz. No. 1606/4 This morning was held a Chapter of the most Noble Order of the Garter. 1707 Ibid. No. 4300/2 The King of Prussia held a Chapter of the Order of the Black Eagle. 1751 Chambers Cycl. s.v., The establishment of general chapters of religious orders is owing to the Cistercians, who held the first in 1116. 1808 Scott Marm. ii. iv, To hold A chapter of St. Benedict, For inquisition stern and strict. |
† b. As the court for the trial and discipline of offences against ecclesiastical law. Obs.
| a 1300 Siriz 243 (Mätz.) For al the world ne wold I nout That ich were to chapitre ibrout. c 1386 Chaucer Friar's T. 61 He wolde..somne hem to the Chapitre. 1726 Ayliffe Parerg. 199 The word Chapter..sometimes..denotes the Place, where Delinquents receive Discipline and Correction according to the Orders of the Church. |
† c. The place in which the chapter meets; = chapter-house. Obs.
| [c 1386 Chaucer Sompn. T. 237 In oure chapitre pray we day and night. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 242/1 He called hys bretheren in to the chappytre.] 1726 Ayliffe Parerg. 199 The word Chapter is sometimes put to signify the Place where Collegiate Persons or Bodies Politick Ecclesiastical do usually meet. |
5. The members of such assembly collectively as a permanent body: esp. The body of canons of a collegiate or cathedral church, presided over by the dean. a. Of a cathedral.
| 1491 Act 7 Hen. VII, c. 22 §3 And confermed by the Chapiltre of the Cathedrall Churche. 1523 Act 14 & 15 Hen. VIII, c. 9 The Deane and Chapiter..of the free chapell of the kynge, of Sainct Martins le graunde. 1555 in Strype Eccl. Mem. III. App. xlvi. 142 In the name of the whole chapter they have appealed unto th' Arches. 1628 Coke On Litt. i. 95. 1641 R. Brooke Eng. Episc. 11 A Cloistered Chapiter, among which are usually the very dregges of lowest men. 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. i. ii. 297 The dean and chapter are..the nominal electors of a bishop. 1861 A. Beresford-Hope Eng. Cathedr. 19th C. 115 A body of clergy both to assist and counsel the Bishop and to serve the church itself..the Chapter as it is called. |
b. Of Knights.
| 1842 Penny Cycl. XXIV, 180/1 The Master [of the Knights Templars]..was elected by the Chapter, or general body of the Knights..The head province was that of Jerusalem; the affairs of the order..were for the most part directed by the chapter of this province. |
c. A branch of an organization or society, esp. of a college fraternity. U.S.
| 1815 D. Drake Cincinnati 166 A Chapter of Royal Arch Masons was established in this place. 1871 L. H. Bagg 4 Years at Yale 55 Sigma Eps at Yale, calling itself the ‘Kappa’ chapter, established a branch ‘Alpha’ chapter at Amherst. 1964 Listener 30 July 149/2, I have instructed our chapters in the South, even in the Deep South, to begin immediately testing all places of public accommodation. |
6. (See quot.)
| 1726 Ayliffe Parerg. 199 The word Chapter is sometimes..used to signify a Decretal Epistle. |
7. = capitulation 3 b, c.
| 1864 Kirk Chas. Bold I. ii. 105 With many ceremonies and courtly rites the ‘chapters’, or preliminaries of the combat, are arranged. |
8. Clock-making. [From the use of Roman numerals to mark chapters of the Bible, etc.] (See quot.)
| 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 50 [The] Chapters..[are] the Roman characters used generally to mark the hours in watch and clock dials. |
† 9. Arch. The capital of a column: for this the fuller form chapiter is now used. Obs.
10. Phrases. † a. a hard chapter: a painful lesson or experience, ‘hard lines’. Obs.
| 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 146, I dare say it was a hard Chapter that then he did read unto them. 1699 Frampton in Life of Ken. (1854) 766 (D) An hard chapter you'll say, for me. 1696 Phillips s.v., We say 'tis a hard Chapter when a man suffers undeservedly. And by way of reproof, we say, he read him a Chapter in Job. 1721–33 Strype Eccl. Mem. III. i. x. 91 Lady Jane..had a very hard chapter to be set up to be queen, even against her will,..and soon after adjudged to be executed for being queen. 1725 Bailey Erasm. Colloq. (1877) 209 (D.) Necessity is a hard chapter. |
b. chapter and verse: the exact reference to a passage of Scripture; fig. exact authority for.
| 1628 Earle Microcosm. xliii. (Arb.) 63 Turning downe the leafe in her Booke when shee heares nam'd Chapter and Verse. 1711 Vind. Sacheverell 71 Here is an ugly Story with Chapter and Verse. 1862 Thackeray Philip II. xiii, She can give chapter and verse for her belief. 1870 J. A. Picton New The. & Old Faith iv. 112 The early Fathers did not care nearly so much about chapter and verse. |
c. to the end of the chapter: (fig.) through the whole of the subject; to the end, throughout.
| a 1704 R. L'Estrange (J.) And so forward, mutatis mutandis, to the end of the chapter. 1843 Haliburton Sam Slick Eng. ii. (Hoppe) You always was a fool, and always will be to the end of the chapter. 1881 Saintsbury Dryden 30 Questions on which doctors will doubtless disagree to the end of the chapter. |
d. the chapter of accidents: the unforeseen course of events. So the chapter of possibilities. (Cf. 2.)
| 1769 F. Brooke Emily Montague (1784) II. lv. 2 Not having supposed her refusal to be in the chapter of possibilities. a 1773 Beauties of Chesterfield 46 (Hoppe) Consider how propitious the chapter of accidents is to them. 1817 Keatinge Trav. I. 160 Leaving every thing to the day and the chapter of accidents. 1871 [see accident 1.] 1880 Huxley Cray-Fish iii. 110 It will..trust to the chapter of accidents to turn over as it darts back. Mod. Story. The chapter of accidents was not yet complete. |
11. Comb. as chapter-heading, chapter-room; chapter-bread (see quot.); chapter-lands, lands belonging to a chapter (sense 5); chapter-quest, an inquest or inquiry held by an ecclesiastical chapter. Also chapter-house, q.v.
| 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Countr. Farm, Such is the white bread which is sold of the bakers, and *chapter bread: as also that which is wel leuened, knodden, somewhat salt, somewhat hollow, and well risen, like vnto court bread. |
| 1876 Contemp. Rev. June 107 With regard to the *chapter-headings. |
| c 1577 Canon in Mill Manx Ord. & Stat. Laws (1821) 53 All those which are suspected of Sorcerrie..and are presented by the *Chapter-Quest. |
| 1845 S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. III. 277 The *chapter-room of the bishop's palace. 1727 Swift To Earl of Oxford, Suppose him [the new dean] gone through all vexations..First-fruits, and tenths, and chapter-treats. |
▸ chapter book n. (a) a book containing records relating to an ecclesiastical chapter or (later) to a branch of a secular organization or society; (b) a children's book with text divided into chapters (opposed to picture book).
| 1700 F. Atterbury Rights Eng. Convocation v. 238 These, and several other Accidents might, I say, conspire to make the Entry of such Procuratoria in *Chapter-Books less frequent in after-times. 1836 Times 27 Dec. 4/5 We recommend him to consult the chapter books of Canterbury. 1949 Landmark (Statesville, N. Carolina) 23 June 3/1 In the scrapbook division the local chapter book was given honorable mention and Ann Knox, historian of the chapter, was complimented for her good work. 1986 Christian Sci. Monitor 1 Dec. 62/1, I can read. I listened when Mama was teaching Juniper. But I want to read chapter books but they're too hard for me. 2003 Book Mar.–Apr. 36/1 Beverly Cleary's enduring, hilarious Ramona books make great read-alouds for children who are ready to listen to chapter books. |
▪ II. chapter, v.
(ˈtʃæptə(r))
[f. prec. n., or a. F. chapitre-r, 15th c. in Littré.]
1. trans. To divide into chapters; to arrange in chapters. Hence, ˈchaptering, vbl. n.
| 1485 Caxton K. Arthur ad fin., xxi bookes chapytred and emprynted & finisshed. 1509 Hawes Examp. Virt. Prol., This boke..was..presented to our sayd souerayne lorde chapytred and marked after this table. 1603 Stow Surv. 196/1, I had long since gathered notes to have chaptered. 1662 Fuller Worthies (1840) II. 182 This general tradition of Langton's chaptering the Bible. 1817–8 Cobbett Resid. U.S. (1822) 105 Where I stopped in the First Part. I have, in like manner, resumed the chaptering. |
2. To reprove, take to task. [Cf. chapter n. 4 b, and F. chapitrer, ‘reprimander en plein chapitre; fig. et famil. adresser une reprimande’.]
| 1693 Dryden Char. Polybius (T.), He..arraigns him for the inconstancy of his judgement, and chapters even his own Aratus on the same head. 1888 Daily N. 18 Oct. 5/1. |
3. To mark with Roman numerals.