fjärdingsman
Swedish
[edit]
Etymology
[edit]Compound of fjärding (“quarter”) + -s- + man (“man”), as each fjärdingsman was originally responsible for one quarter of their härad (“hundred”). Attested since 1510.
Noun
[edit]fjärdingsman c
- from the 16th century a position of trust and from the 19th century a minor government part-time job (engaged in, among other things, tax collection, police tasks, and road inspections; abolished and incorporated into the police during the first half of the 20th century); an assistant to a länsman
- Synonym: fjärsman
- 1667 February 3, Petrus Gyllenius, edited by Reinhold Hausen, Diarium Gyllenianum eller Petrus Magni Gyllenii dagbok 1622–1667[1], published 1822, page 355:
- [...] jagh sände straxt til Dye effter fierdingzmannen, och lätt arrestera honom [...]
- [...] I soon sent for Dye after the fierdingzman, and had him arrested [...]
- 1843, Julius Axel Kiellman-Göranson, Miniaturer[2]:
- Nu kom fjerdingsman med ett par handklofvar och två styfva bönder fattade genast mod och togo tag i armarna på henne.
- Now came the fjerdingsman with a pair of handcuffs and two able peasants immediately took courage and grabbed her arms.
- (colloquial, dated, after c. 1950) a police
Declension
[edit]| nominative | genitive | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | indefinite | fjärdingsman | fjärdingsmans |
| definite | fjärdingsmannen | fjärdingsmannens | |
| plural | indefinite | fjärdingsmän | fjärdingsmäns |
| definite | fjärdingsmännen | fjärdingsmännens |