lecturer
(ˈlɛktʃərə(r))
Also 6 lectorer.
[f. lecture v. + -er1: it is possible that the earlier lectorer is not a misspelling, but an extension of lector, and lecturer an interpretative alteration.]
† 1. = lector 1. Obs.
| 1570 Foxe A. & M. (ed. 2) 94/2 [He] was commended of Cyprian to certayne brethren to haue hym for theyr lectorer. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. x. (1739) 18 Lecturers came next, who served to read and expound. |
2. One of a class of preachers in the Church of England, usually chosen by the parish and supported by voluntary contributions, whose duty consists mainly in delivering afternoon or evening ‘lectures’.
| 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 87 Preachers and lecturers, that haue no peculiar flockes, nor charges appointed them. a 1654 Selden Table-T. (Arb.) 67 Lecturers do in a Parish Church what the Fryers did heretofore, get away not only the Affections, but the Bounty, that should be bestow'd upon the Minister. 1666 Pepys Diary 15 July, To church, where our lecturer made a sorry, silly sermon. 1696 Phillips (ed. 5), Lecturer... Used now-a-days for a Minister that preaches at a Parish Church in the Afternoon, having no settled Benefits, but only the free gift of the Parishioners. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 178 That the half conformity of the Puritans before the war had set up a faction in every city and town between the lecturers and the incumbents. 1732–8 Neal Hist. Purit. II. 207 These Lecturers were chiefly Puritans, who..only preached in the afternoons. 1827 Oxf. Univ. Guide 10 Four Lecturers, appointed to preach in rotation before the Mayor and Corporation, are elected by the Mayor, Recorder, Alderman, and Assistants. 1844 Act 7 & 8 Vict. c. 59 §1 Whereas in divers Districts, Parishes, and Places there now are or hereafter may be certain Lecturers or Preachers in the Holy Orders of Deacon or Priest..appointed to deliver or preach Lectures or Sermons only, without the Obligation of performing other clerical or ministerial Duties. |
3. One who gives lectures or formal discourses intended for instruction, esp. in a college or university. In some universities, one who assists a professor in his department or performs professorial duties without having the corresponding rank or title (equivalent to the ‘Reader’ of Oxford and Cambridge).
| 1615 Sir G. Buck in Stow Annals 980 [Gresham College] To euery lecturer or reader is prouided..fiftie pounds of Annuall Fee. 1622 Peacham Compl. Gent. ix. (1634) 77 Doctour Hood, sometime Mathematicall Lecturer in London. a 1642 Sir W. Monson Naval Tracts iv. (1704) 437/2 The Maintenance of a Lecturer of Navigation. 1705 Hearne Collect. 16 July (O.H.S.) I. 8 Mr. Swinfin..was chosen Lecturer of Grammar for the University. 1845 Miss Mitford in L'Estrange Life III. xi. 199 Mr. Taylor, the medical lecturer at Guy's. 1882 J. L. Watson Life R. S. Candlish viii. 94 An institution, consisting of a professor and lecturer, should be established. |