Dictionary

obsonator en · NOUN

Etymology

From Latin.

Meanings

1. (historical, obsolete) A caterer, a manciple.
   • Thus also in Caius College the Obsonator and Dispensator were Scholars, and the Promus too: but this was altered in 1634 — “cum multa incommoda et non leve damnum Collegium sæpius sustinuit″ and it was determined to elect some “virum idoneum et non Scholarum.” 1840, John James Smith, editor, The Cambridge Portfolio, volume 1, page 275:
   • 1814. The offices of Obsonator, or Manciple, and Cook severed. Tuition fees to be increased, viz. Gentlemen Commoners to twenty-six guineas, Scholars and Commoners to thirteen guineas. 1897, Douglas Macleane, A History of Pembroke College, Oxford, Anciently Broadgates Hall, page 500:
   • He looked down at Demetrius, the Obsonator, who sat on a platform several feet below him. “Will you have them bring in the cask? I confess, Demetrius, that I am anxious about it. It is an experiment this time.” 1952, Thomas B. Costain, The Silver Chalice, page 399:

Forms