admiralty
(ˈædmɪrəltɪ)
Forms: 5 amyralte, amrelte, ameralte; 6 amraltie, amiraltye, admiraltie; 6– admiralty.
[a. OFr. admiralté, amiraulté; see admiral and -ty.]
1. The office or jurisdiction of an admiral, or of the Lord High Admiral; admiralship.
| 1327–1485 Pol. Poems II. 158 Cheryshe marchandyse, kepe thamyralté, That we bee maysteres of the narowe see. 1538 Leland Itin. VII. 87 The Wyndowes be full of Rudders..his Badge or Token of the Amiraltye. 1600 Holland Livy xliii. xi. 1162 k, The admiraltie of the navy. 1668 Pepys Diary (1877) V. 386 The Duke of York's regiment is ordered to be disbanded, and more, that undoubtedly his Admiralty will follow. 1846 Prescott Ferd. & Isab. II. xvi. 117 Exclusive right of jurisdiction over all commercial transactions within his admiralty. |
† 2. The department under command of the admiral; the naval branch of the public service; the navy. Obs.
| 1465 Manners & Househ. Exps. Eng. 473 My master hathe receyvid of doctor Aleyn, sen he ocupyd in the Ameralte, but xxxiij.s. iiij.d. a 1626 Bacon Union of Eng. & Scot. (T.) For admiralty or navy, I see no great question will arise. |
3. That branch of the Executive which superintends the navy; the power or officers appointed for the administration of naval affairs; the Lord High Admiral or his jurisdiction.
In England, the Lords Commissioners of Admiralty, together with a Parliamentary Secretary, formerly carried out this function as the Board of Admiralty, but this became part of the Ministry of Defence in 1964.
| 1459 Brackley in Paston Lett. 341 I. 497 The bokys of regystre of the amrelte [were] takyn a wey from my Lord Scalys men. 1679 Dk. York in Pepys V. 131 It is Mr. Pepys, who now, upon this change in the Admiralty, is like to suffer. 1758 in Phil. Trans. LI. 461 Sir Charles Wager, first lord of the admiralty. 1833 Marryat Peter Simple (1863) 435 His case was strongly recommended to the consideration of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 233 Meanwhile the admiralties of the allied powers had been active. |
4. a. That branch of the administration of justice which deals with maritime questions and offences. Court of Admiralty: the tribunal for the trial and decision of such causes, formerly presided over by the Lord High Admiral, whose jurisdiction was transferred to the Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice from 1873–1970; also elliptically called The Admiralty. Admiralty Court: a court set up in 1970 as part of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court to hear admiralty cases.
| 1589 Marprel. Tr., Hay any Work. (1844) 46 Yea but Civilians liue by the court of Amraltie. 1666 Pepys Diary IV. 131 Sir R. Ford would accept of one-third of my profit of our private man-of-war, and bear one-third of the charge, and be bound in the Admiralty. 1667 Ibid. IV. 281 This Judge of the Admiralty, Judge Jenkins. 1768 Blackstone Comm. IV. xix, The high court of admiralty, held before the lord high-admiral of England, is not only a court of civil, but also of criminal jurisdiction. 1853 Encycl. Brit. II. 145 By the 6th and 7th Will. IV. c. 53, the admiralty jurisdiction is extended to Prince of Wales' Island, Singapore, and Malacca. |
b. In full Admiralty coal, a type of large steam coal supplied to the Royal Navy under contract.
| 1914 Coal & Iron 11 May 709/2 For best Admiralities up to 20s. is still being quoted. 1915 Ibid. 4 Jan. 337/2 Best Admiralty large steams are not dealt in to any extent, the Naval authorities still controlling supplies. 1928 Daily Mail 9 Aug. 12/3 The Ferndale Collieries, which are among those producing the finest Admiralty coals in the world. |
5. The building where the Admiral or Lords of the Admiralty transact business.
| 1617 Minsheu, Admiraltie..the place where the Admirals office is kept. 1661 R. Burney κέρδιστον Δῶρον 66 He takes the Flag down from the main Top-mast head, when he pleases at the Admiralty. 1879 Whitaker's Almanac 302/2 Public and Private Buildings..Admiralty, Horse Guards, Treasury, War Office. |
† 6. A station for ships of war in charge of an admiral. Obs. rare.
| 1677 A. Yarranton Eng. Improvem. 40 Ships for the Royal Navy may..be kept either in an Admiralty at Wexford, or in some Port near. |
† 7. A sailing in company (originally for mutual defence against pirates). Obs. rare. [Pardessus Coll. Lois Maritimes II. 548 ‘Toutes les lois et coutumes anciennes de la Hollande, de la Basse Saxe et de la Baltique, emploient le mot admiralitas, amirauté, pour désigner les voyages de conserve.]
| 1622 Malynes Anc. Law-Merch. 180 When ships do enter into Admiraltie one with another, whosoeuer breaketh the Admiraltie is bound to answer the damage which shall happen thereby. ― Laws of Hanse Towns 24 When ships do enter into admiralty one with another, they shall be bound to keep together, and to stay for each other. |
8. Rhet. Command of the seas (esp. in phr. the price of admiralty).
| 1893 Kipling ‘Song of the English’ in Eng. Illustr. Mag. May 535 If blood be the price of admiralty Good God, we ha' paid in full! 1923 E. K. Chatterton Auxiliary Patrol viii. 121 By the end of the following year three more mine⁓sweepers..and three more motor-boats had also gone, with, of course, loss of life. Such was the inevitable price of Admiralty. |