† ˈbeauˈpere Obs.
Forms: 4–6 bewpere, beaupere, 4–7 beaupeere, 5 beawpere, bepyr, bewpyr, 6 bewpeer, 7 beawpeer.
[f. OF. beau fine, good + père father, or, in sense 2, per, peer (mod. pair) equal, peer. See beau. In OF., beau père was politely used in addressing every one whom one called ‘father’; i.e. one's own father, a ‘father’ in the church, a god-father, a step-father, a father-in-law, an elderly man occupying a fatherly position in one's regard; about the 16th or 17th c., this use of beau became obsolete, and beau-père was retained as a distinctive term for ‘father-in-law’ and ‘step-father’ as distinct from a real father. In English the use appears to have been much more limited. See also bel.]
1. A term of courtesy for ‘father,’ used esp. to or of a spiritual or ecclesiastical ‘Father.’
| c 1300 Beket 1299 The Bischop of Cicestre gon arise: Beau pere, he seide to the Pope. c 1375 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. 1871 II. 380 Summe children þus maad freris ben worse þan her bewperis. c 1450 Pol. Poems (1859) II. 229 Bridelle, you, bysshoppe..And biddeth yowre beawperes se to the same. 1599 Broughton's Lett. v. 17 The holy fathers of the Church, the reuerend Beaupeeres of diuine knowledge. |
2. Good fellow, fellow, companion, compeer.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 229 Boke hiȝte þat beupere, a bolde man of speche. 1572 Schole-house Wom. 774 in Hazl. E.P.P IV. 135 In her lap sleeping she clipt of his hear, Betraied her Lord and her bewpeer. 1610 G. Fletcher Christ's Vict. in Farr S.P. (1848) 74 There The saints with their beawpeers whole worlds outweare. |