Dictionary

girdlestead en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈɡɜː(ɹ)dəlˌstɛd/

Etymology

From girdle + stead.

Meanings

1. (obsolete) That part of the body where the girdle is worn, i.e. the waist.
   • [T]he Lance his target tooke, / Which could not interrupt the blow, that through it cleerly ſtrooke, / And in his bellies rimme was ſheath’d, beneath his girdle-ſtead; […] [1611?], Homer, “The Fifth Booke of Homers Iliads”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, →OCLC, page 74:
   • [D]iuide your ſelfe in two halfes, iuſt by the girdleſtead; […] 1605 August (first performance), Geo[rge] Chapman, Ben Ionson, Ioh[n] Marston, Eastward Hoe. […], London: […] [George Eld] for William Aspley, published September 1605, →OCLC, Act III, scene ii, signature E, recto:
   • [T]hey have made me swell above the girdle-stead. c. 1604–1626, doubtfully attributed to Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “The Faithful Friends”, in Henry [William] Weber, editor, The Works of Beaumont and Fletcher, in Fourteen Volumes: […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] F[rancis] C[harles] and J[ohn] Rivington; […], published 1812, →OCLC, Act III, scene ii, page 72:

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