Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A word found only in Shakspere, and explained by Malone as “an accountant of the exchequer.”
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word oneyer.
Examples
-
"Ah, yes -- you are a oneyer too, like myself," said Arabella, eyeing her visitor with humorous criticism.
Jude the Obscure 1896
-
"Ah, yes -- you are a oneyer too, like myself," said Arabella, eyeing her visitor with humorous criticism.
Jude the Obscure 1894
vanishedone commented on the word oneyer
The O.E.D. says the origin is uncertain, the meaning is perhaps 'a sheriff', and it's now used only in allusion to Shakespeare's 'great Oneyres'. However, it does seem to be sure that the -yer is the same as in lawyer; great oneyer is given as an example under the entry for the suffix.
March 12, 2009
reesetee commented on the word oneyer
So we're back to the question "Who shot the oneyer?"
March 12, 2009
bilby commented on the word oneyer
Ms Frogapplause. In the conservatory. With a musket.
March 13, 2009
rolig commented on the word oneyer
Doesn't it seem likely that Shakespeare was making a joke? Instead of saying simply "Great Ones" (which I think was a set phrase then, as it still is today, for the privileged in society), he was poking fun at such folks by appending the suffix -yer, as if being a Great One was not about character or moral stature, it was simply a profession, like that of lawyers and sawyers. In other words, might not oneyer be a Shakespearean madeupical?
March 13, 2009