obley
(ˈɒblɪ)
Also 4 ub(b)le, ubli, obele, 4–5 oble, 5 ubly, obly(e, obeley, -ly, (oblys), 6 obleye, (obbley), 7 oublie; also 5 oblete, 7 oblett.
[ME., a. OF. oublee, ublee, o(u)bleie, oblie, etc., mod.F. oublie:—eccl. L. oblāta, n. from fem. pa. pple. of offerre to offer. Med.L. had also obliga, obleta, and other forms fashioned on or influenced by OF. The forms oblete, oblett, show med.L. influence. Cf. Ger. oblate wafer.]
† 1. An offering, oblation, sacrifice. Obs.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter l. 20 Þan þou sall accept þe sacrifice of rightwisnes, obles, & offrandis [oblaciones & holocausta]. |
2. A little cake of bread, usually thin, flat, and circular, and stamped with a cross, an Agnus Dei, or the letters IHS, prepared for consecration in the celebration of the Eucharist; a wafer. Now Hist.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 10044 Whan þe vble was on þe autere leyde, And þe prest þe wrdes hade seyde. 13.. Metr. Hom. (Vernon MS.) in Herrig Archiv LVII. 281 In his hond bret full he beere Of bernynge Obeleis a paniere. 1387 Trevisa tr. Higden (Rolls) VIII. 9 Anon þey brouȝte an obley þat was i-sacred [eucharistiam consecratam]. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 7060 Þe parte of þe oble he saw blak as any pyk. c 1509 Devyse Coron. Hen. VIII in Maskell Mon. Rit. III. p. lv. note, The kyng shall offre an obbley of brede..with the whiche obleye after consecrate, the king shall be howseld. 1881 T. E. Bridgett Hist. Holy Eucharist I. 169 Very detailed instructions were given..on the preparation of the ofletes or obleys. 1898 J. T. Fowler Durh. Cath. 58 An oven that was used for baking the obleys, or altar-bread. |
† 3. A thin cake of pastry; a wafer. (Cf. F. oublie.) Obs.
| c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 22 Take obles and wafrons..Close hom in dysshes fare and wele. 14.. Noble Bk. Cookry (Napier, 1882) 114 Tak obleys or waiffurs and couche them in a platter. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 585 The kinde of Wafers called Oublies, are made with Honey in stead of Sugar. |
† 4. (See quot.) Obs.
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 21/1 Obletts are certain pieces of Mony having the stamp of J.H.S. coined thereon..in Value it was worth our Penny Farthing. |
5. Comb., as obley-maker; obley-irons, irons between the plates of which wafers were baked, wafer-irons.
| 1346–7 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 118 Et in j par de vblihirnes..3s. 2d. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. lxix. (1869) 41 Bi the doore of an obley makere. a 1440 Liber de diversis medicinis in MS. Lincoln A i. 17 lf. 291 (Halliw.) Mak paste, and bake it in oble-yryns..and after ete the obletes. |