almoner
/ˈæl.mə.nəɹ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.82 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A person who distributes alms, especially the doles and alms of religious houses, almshouses.
Example Sentences
- "the almoner of a prince or bishop"
- "Francesca, from where she stood, could hear the Queen giving a laughing account of the Due de Domville's attachment to Mademoiselle Menneville, the prettiest of her maids of honour, all of whom were pretty. "It is a passion of the good old time, and has already lasted some four years; but Madame la Duchesse de Vantadour, his mother, will not hear of it. Never before was a lover of fifty so put out, to think that he cannot yet have his own way. Not content with his own cares, when obliged to be absent he leaves his almoner to take charge of her. It is gallantry equally antediluvian and interminable; I suppose they will be married one day, and buried the next.""
Etymology
From Middle English aumener, aulmener, from Old French almosnier, from almosne (“alms”), from Latin eleemosyna. See alms, Almosen.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: aumener, almosnier, eleemosyna
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈæl.mə.nəɹ/
- British English: /ˈal.mə.nə/
Usage
- British usage