fother en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈfɒðə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈfɑðɚ/ (General-American)
Etymology
From Middle English fother, fothir, from Old Norse fóðr (cognate to Old English fōdor), from Proto-Germanic *fōdrą (compare Dutch voer (“pasture, fodder”), German Futter (“feed”), Swedish foder). Doublet of fodder and foeder. More at food.
Meanings
-
(countable, historical, uncountable) A load, a wagonload, especially any various English units of weight or volume based upon standardized cartloads of certain commodities.
20 fothers of additional thickness in clay were thrown in.
1813, “Misc.”, in Ann. Reg., 507/2:Now measured by the old hundred, that is, 108 lbs. the charrus contains nearly 19½ hundreds, that is it corresponds to the fodder, or fother, of modern times.
1866, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 1, page 168:Four fother of clod lime, and fifteen fothers of good manure, on each acre.
1774-75, Act 14 Geo. III in Brand, Newcastle (1789) I, page 652Where the brass hez a' cum fra nebody can tell, / Some says yen thing and some says another - / But whe ever lent Grainger't aw knaw very well, / That they mun have at least had a fother.
1840, Tyne songster, The Tyne songster, a choice selection of songs in the Newcastle dialect, page 211:
-
(alt-of, alternative, countable, dialectal, uncountable) Alternative form of fodder, food for animals.
alt of fodderalt of food for animals
He ripp'd the womb up of his mother, / Dame Tellus, 'cause he wanted fother, / And provender, wherewith to feed / Himself and his less cruel steed.
1663, Samuel Butler, Hudibras, part 1, canto 2:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| fothers | Number=Plur | lexicographic |