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The Alphabetary Heraldic

Genealogical Glossary

—B-Bn—

B : [anthropology] Br; brother.  Cf. kin types.

B : [LDS] birth, an LDS Event subject to the Ordinances.

B : [Ogham Q-Celtic] boibel.[1]

B : bapl. : [LDS] baptized, an Ordinance.

b : birth, Baptism LDS (bapl.).

B : blue, azure.

b. : born; bachelor; brother.

B.A. : Bachelor of Arts.

b.c. : bc : before Christ; a.c.n., ante Christum na­tum, before Christ’s birth.  Cf. ad.

B.C. : BC : British Columbia.

B.L. Reg.-’55 : [NA] Bounty Land Register, 1855; a reference to a claim for Bounty Land which was rejected, and therefore has a record in the register, but no warrant.

B.L. Wt. : [NA] Bounty Land Warrant

B.L. Wt. 145-100 : [NA] Bounty Land Warrant Number 145 for 100 acres, granted prior to 1855/3/3.

B.L. Wt. 145-160-’55 : [NA] Bounty Land Warrant Number 145 for 160 acres, granted under Act of Congress dated 1855/3/3.

B.L.F.S.N. : [Ogham] the first rank of consonants, expressed in Ogham tree script:  D DD DDD DDDD DDDDD.

B.M.V. : beatæ Mariæ virginis : the blessed Virgin Mary.

b.o.t.p. : both of this parish.

b.q. : bene quiescat : may he rest well.  Cf. r.i.p.

B’ham : Birmingham.

Ba : Babylonian.

Ba : Batch : [IGI] batch number, a six- or seven-digit alphanumeric code, sometimes having a one- or two-digit extension.  The specific reference in an IGI entry, normally appears together with a separate reference to the IGI Source (So).  Cf. So, Source; F#, Film Number; P#, Page Number.

babaylan : [Tagalog] a woman healer in a Filipino tribe; witch.

babe : baban : [We] an infant of either sex.

Babel-Lot alphabet : Cf. alphabet.

babus : basus : vasus : penis.

baby : [Du] a small child, infant.

baby : the rope baby fabricated to unite a pair of lesbians in Sioux culture.[2]  Cf. koskalada.

baby boom : [1945-1964] the population increase occasioned by the births of many babies after World War II (1931-1945).  Cf. generation W.

baby boomer : [1945-1964] someone born during the baby boom.  Baby boomers began to turn 50 years of age in 1995.  Cf. generation W.

babyhood : infancy, childhood.

Babylonian : [Ba] the language of ancient Babylon, capital of Mesopotamia, now Iraq, the Middle Eastern empire situated between the Rivers Euphrates and Tigris.  The Jews anciently marched to Babylon and lived there as exiles, and they returned to Judah with many Babylonian arts, such as astronomy and mathematics.  The old script of Babylon was a cumbersome, pictographic cuneiform, but its methods for calculation became the basis for our present systems.  Cf. foot, hour, minute, mile, second, yard.

Babylonian Exile : [586-516 bc]

babyship : infancy, childhood.

Bacchanalia : [186 bc] the festival outlawed by the Senate of Rome in 186 bc.

Bacchus : [Gk, Lt] the riotous god; the surname of Dionysus.  Cf. Dionysus.

bach. : bachelor.

bachelor : bach. : [Sx] a man unmarried; an unmarried person of either sex.  Bachelor was the lowest rank of knight, and it originally denoted a young man who followed the banner of an older knight.  The word came to signify the rank a young man attained when he earned his initial degree at a university.  Ben Jonson applied the term to an unmarried woman.[3]

bachelorship : the unwedded state of a bachelor, the condition of someone who has earned his first degree at a university.

bachgen : [We] boy.

backslashes : \\ : reversed virgules.

bad : baed, baedell : [1300 Sx] hermaphrodite.[4]  This original meaning of the word bad clearly represents a disparagement of androgynous types.  Johnson said bad was simply the preterite form of bid, such as appears in word forbade.  Cf. baedling.

badge: device; an emblematic figure representing membership in a particular household, and often applied as a decorative device at some conspicuous place on one’s clothing, such as the breast, sleeve, or back.  The badge was a personal ensign, so there was no heraldic restriction on its design and use.  Some monarchs and individuals were so strongly attached to their badge, that they had it copied onto flags, buildings, and liveries. A retainer or servant wore his master’s badge.  Cf. totem.

Badge of Nova Scotia : [1625] a canton or inescutcheon argent on a saltire azure an escutcheon of the Royal Arms of Scotland; arms of the province of Nova Scotia.

Badge of Ulster : argent, a sinister hand couped at the wrist and erect gules.  The Badge of Ulster was added to the armorial bearings of a Baronet of England, or a Baronet of Ireland, as a canton or inescutcheon.  Such an inset was called the Ulster Augmentation.

baedling : [1300 Sx] sodomite; literally a bad one.[5]  Cf. bad.

bailiwick : jurisdiction of a sheriff.

bailiff : Bayliff, baylye : [1537?/12/1] Sir Thomas paid 15s to the Bailiff of Necton or Neketon for renting the Manor of Godwick, on 1537?/12/1.

Bayliff : bailiff.

baylye : bailiff.

baillie : burgh official.

baillistre : guardian.[6]

bairn : barn : [Sx] Ch; child.

-baiting : a suffix denoting a blood sport.  Cf. bearbaiting, bullbaiting, horsebaiting.

Baker, James, Shipwright : father of Mathew Baker.

Baker, Mathew, shipwright : [1582] son of James Baker, shipwright.  Mathew Baker devised the first formula for measurement of the volumetric tonnage (L*B*D/100) of a ship.[7]  Cf. tonnage.

bakla : [Tagalog] gay.  Cf. tomboy.

baleyn : whale.[8]

baliva : baliff.

balivatus : baliff.

balivia : baliff.

ball- : bol- : ble- : [Gk] to throw, put.

ballivagium : waterbailage.

ballivus : baliff, royal officer.

Balt. : Balto. : Baltimore.

balthazar : a large wine bottle sixteen times (16x) the normal size.  Cf. bottle sizes.

baluster : a short shaft used to support a balustrade.

bambino : [It] infant.

ban : [Gm] public notice of a commandment or prohibition; curse; excommunication; interdiction; a public censure by which noble privileges are rescinded.

band : wedding band.

bandos : [Sp] banns of marriage.

bank : a medical service center dedicated to protecting and preserving organic material for future use.  Cf. egg bank, sperm bank.

bank : banco : [It] bench; a bench of moneychangers, who typically trade at a fair or market.  The institution of banks at periodic markets evolved into the Royal Exchange in London, and eventually into the networks of banks and automated teller machines (ATMs) we know today.

banner : heraldic flag or pennant.  The Lord Lyon of Scotland authorizes by patent the use of two pennants, namely the standard and pinsel.

banneret : a knight created such on the battlefield.  The dubbing of a banneret involved a ceremony in which the lord cut off the point of the nominee’s standard, transforming it into the squared banner of  knight.

banns : public proclamations or announcements made to the congregation of a church.

banns of marriage : banns of matrimony : the custom of publicly proclaiming the betrothal of a couple to the congregation of a parish church on three successive Sundays, so as to provide the community with ample opportunities to voice any objections to the marriage prior to the ceremony.  Cf. bandos, leidas.

bans : banns.

Bantu : black; African.

Bantu shaman : a transvestite medicine man in South Africa.[9]

Bantustans : [1913] Bantu Homelands, the South African territories established by the white Euro-Africans as segregated homelands for indigenous African tribes.  In 1975, there were 10 homelands, namely Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Ciskei, Ganzankulu, KwaZulu, Leboswana, Qwaqua, South Ndebele, Swazi, and Venda, but only 3 of the homelands comprised continguous areas.

bap : baptized.

bap. : baptisans, baptizatus : baptism, baptized.

bapl. : [LDS] baptizans LDS : baptism LDS, a Gedcom tag, an Ordinance of the Church of Latter Day Saints.  Mormon baptism formally links a sealing parent (slgp.) to a sealing child (slgc.), often posthumously and genealogically, whereas endowment (endl.) and final sealing (blsl.) confirm the Blessing of the Latter Day Saints.

baptisata : she was baptized.

baptisatus : baptizatus.

baptism : an external ablution of the body.  The blessing an infant or adult with water is normally accompanied with formulaic words, and it constitutes a central sacrament of many Christian churches.  Cf. anabaptism, pedobaptism.

baptism rate : [1600] 35/1000; a ratio of 35 baptisms per 1,000 inhabitants has been used as a standard for sixteenth-century communities in England.[10]  Cf. baptisms per year, birth rate, ratio of baptisms per marriage.

baptism record : baptismal record : a parish register entry showing the date of a baptism.  Minimally the record should have the name of the father and baptized infant.  A complete record might name the mother, as well as two sponsors, called godparents.  A record showing the mother’s name instead of the father’s is likely to represent the baptism of an illegitimate child.  Records missing details of parents or sponsors are likely to pertain to foundlings or converts.

baptisma : baptisus : baptism.

baptisms per year : [1538-1570] 8.96 baptisms per year was the baptism rate at Hunstanton for 26 recorded years, 1538-1553 and 1561-1570.  Registers were not kept during the Marian interlude (1554-1660).[11]  Cf. baptism rate, birth rate.

baptisms per year at Hunstanton : [1538-1553] 9.4 baptisms per annum, a higher annual rate that was true in the post-Marian period.[12]

baptisms per year at Hunstanton : [1561-1570] 8.1 baptisms per annum, a lower annual rate than had been true in the pre-Marian period.[13]

baptist : [1300] one who administers baptism.

Baptist : [1609] Anabaptist [1565], one who administers baptism; an evangelical Protestant sect characterized by congregational polity and baptism by full immersion of true believers.  The Baptists were one of four Old Dissenter Sects that rejected the Act of Uniformity (1662).  Cf. Brethren, Dissenter, Dunkers, hemerobaptists, Mennonite, Moravians, Nonconformist.

baptisterium : baptistry.

baptizatorum catalogus : baptism register.  Cf. catalogus.

baptizatus : baptized.

baptizatus erat : he was baptized.[14]

baptizatus in ædibus privatis : baptized at home; baptized in a private house.

baptizatus sub conditione : conditionally baptized; an expression used for the baptisms of foundlings and converts.

baptized : baptizatus, baptisans : ba. : bap. : bapt. : bp.

baptizo : to baptize.

bar : [Aram] So; son.

bar- : [Gk] weight, pressure.

Bar- : [Hb] the patronymic prefix for a man.[15]  Cf. Bat-.

barbari : barbarians, enemies.  Cf. hostes, pere­grini.

barbarian : a man uncivilized, a brutal monster, foreigner, savage.

barbatus : bearded man; adult.

barbed, rowed, and shorn : an expression denoting the three steps in finishing woven cloth.  The words refer to mounting the wool on a loom, passing a shuttle through the strands, and trimming the piece.

barber’s itch : ring-worm of the beard.

Barca : the new name for ancient Cyrenaica or Pentapolis.

bard : [700 Ir] an inferior poet of the second rank; a poet below the rank of ollave.

bard : [We] a poet.  The Welsh ranked the Chief Bard (Penkerdd) as the 10th dignitary at Court, and permitted him to sit to the left of the Heir Apparent, thereby according him the same status as the Chief Smith.  Cf. ollave.

bardache : [Fr] Er; berdache.

bardaj : [Ar] Er; slave boy; berdache.

bardajo : [Sp] Er; berdache.

Barea : Barya : the Chari-Nile language spoken in northern Ethiopia.  Cf. Lango.

Barea-Kunama shaman : northeast Africa.[16]

barge : [Fr] a boat for burden, or for pleasure.  Barges also served as sea-commander ships, for they were positioned at the rear of the action, behind the ships of the line.  Cf. galley, row-barge, ship Galie Subtile.

barn : bairn : [Sx, Dn, Nw, Sw] Ch; child.

barne-barn : [Dn, Nw] SoCh; grandchild.

barne-barns gutt : [Nw] SoSoSo; great-grandson.

barne-barns pike : [Nw] SoSoDa; great-granddaughter.

barne-barnsbarn : [Nw] SoSoCh; great-grandchild.

Barney, Natalie : a lesbian friend of Gertrude Stein in Paris.

barnlös : barnløs [Dn] : [Sw] childless.

baron : [address] The Right Honorable Lord; [reference] His Lordship, Your Lordship.

baron : baro [1066 Lt] : the lowest degree of nobility, next below a viscount.  In Norman French, the term baron meant a man or the King’s tenant-in-chief.  A baron is an ordinary officer of the king, and anciently his power derived from the hereditary tenancy of a small fiefdom.  Barons are summoned to Parliament, and some were created for special functions, such as the baron of the exchequer to the king, or the barons of the Cinque Ports.  Cf. life peer, summons.

baron in England : [En] the customary title of a lord in England, a Normanesque word connoting a freeman having temporal and legislative powers.  The Scots objected to the term baron, and therefore are styled Lords of Parliament, rather than Barons.  Cf. baron in Scotland.

baron in Scotland : [Sc] the title of a foreign, Anglo-Norman style, feudal Baron.  The Scots traditionally used their indigenous word laird or lord to designate a Lord with temporal powers, and therefore insisted upon having their summonses directed to Lords of Parliament, rather than Barons.[17]  Cf. baron in England.

baron’s daughter, married : [address] The Honorable Mrs. ——, the form of address for a married daughter, who uses titles derived from both her father (The Honorable) and her husband (Mrs.); [salutation] Madam.  Cf. viscount’s daughter.

baron’s daughter, unmarried : [address] The Honorable Mary ——, the form of address for an unmarried daughter; [salutation] Madam.  Cf. viscount’s daughter.

baron’s son : [address] The Honorable John ——; [salutation] Sir.  Cf. earl’s younger son, viscount’s son.

baron’s son’s wife : [address] The Honorable Mrs. ——; [salutation] Madam.  Cf. viscount’s son’s wife.

baron’s wife and baroness suo jure : [address] The Right Honorable Lady ——; The Lady ——; [salutation] Madam; [reference] Your Ladyship. 

baronage : the noble body of barons and peers, the dignity of a baron; the land which gives title to a baron.

baroness : the lady of a baron.

baronet : [address] Sir John ——, Bart.; [salutation] Sir; [1611-1850 obsolete address] the Honourable …  The courtesy title Honourable was sometimes claimed by baronets, but was never conceded by the Crown.  Cf. Honourable.

baronet : Bt. : Bart. : [1611] the diminutive form of baron; a noble title peculiar to England and Scotland.  The title of baronet was created as the sixth and lowest degree of dignity or rank deemed to be hereditary, ranking below a baron, but higher than a knight.  This hereditary title does not confer nobility.  James I created the title to generate extra revenue, but the honor remained mainly titular and meaningless, signifying someone less than noble, but gentlemanly enough to deserve royal attention.  A baronetcy is created by a letter patent, and descends to male heirs.

baronet’s wife : [address] Lady —— (surname); [obsolete address] Dame —— (Christian name); [reference] Your Ladyship.  Today, a writer should not mention a baronet’s wife’s Christian name, unless she has a title in her own right, as the daughter of a peer.  It was once appropriate to use the prefix Dame with the baronet’s wife’s Christian name, so as to say Dame Anne, et cetera, but this style has become obsolete, and can now be found only in legal documents.

barony : [Ir] a subdivision of a county sometimes containing several parishes.[18]

barony : the honor or lordship that gives title to a baron or baroness.  Originally each barony was associated with a physical place, such as a manor house or castle.  Life peers are not routinely associated with such places anymore, but the naming custom persists nonetheless.  Parliament continues to name barons and baronesses by both surname and place name, even though the place name might merely signify residence, and have no hereditary connection to the lord or lady.

barred d : Ð : ð [ante 1600] the English sound th, or \th\, as in this.

barrenness : want of offspring, want of matter, unfruitfulness, devoid of children; want of invention; want of emotion or sensibility.

barrister : [1533] a counsel permitted to plead at the bar; causidicus, advocate.

barrister : [1673] a legal profession that arose out of the Test Act of 1673 (25 Chas II), which prohibited Roman Catholics from practising at the bar, thus forcing Roman Catholics to become instead ‘pleaders’ and es­pecially ‘conveyancers,’ qq.v.[19]

barrister : [1700] a consulting expert, su­perior to an attorney.[20]

Bart. : Baronet.

Bartholin secretion : vaginal fluid.

Bartholin’s glands : [1901] the two oval racemose glands on the sides of the lower vagina which secrete the lubricating mucus called vaginal fluid, during sexual excitement.  The name derived from Danish physician Kaspar Bartholin (obiit 1738).  Cf. Cowper’s glands.

Bartholomeus : Bartholomew.

bar-tracery : surface patterns on masonry formed in the semblance of iron bars bent in gradual shapes.

Base : [Gm] FaSbCh; cousin.

base : illegitimate.  The adjective ‘base’ was added to a baptismal record to indicate that the mother had no husband.[21]

baseborn : of low and mean parentage; illegitimate, born out of wedlock.  Cf. bastard, nothus.

basinet : [1400] a light helmet made of steel, usually having a pointed top.

bastard : [We] So; natural child; a child born out of wedlock; an illegitimate child; something spurious.  The term bastard specifically referred to a child born outside Christian wedlock.  Cf. nothus.

bastardism : the state of a bastard; a Christian dogma.

bastille : outwork, redoubt, a defensive structure that protrudes from the top of a wall.

basus : vasus : penis.

Bat- : [Hb] daughter of ——; the patronymic prefix for a woman.  A daughter of Isaac uses the surname BatIssac.[22]  Cf. Bar-.

Batch and Source Information : [IGI] a column of IGI data showing the specific Batch Number (Ba) and the general Source Number (So).  The column may alternatively show a Film Number (F#), Page Number (P#), Printout (Pr), or Ordinance Number (O#).

bate : to flap the wings; the motion of a hawk flapping its wings.

battesaro : battesimo : [It] baptized.

Battle of the Boyne : [1690] the decisive defeat of James II at the River Boyne near Drogheda.  James II returned to Ireland with 6,000 troops from France, and William III arrived to challenge him in June 1690.  The war lasted until October 1691, when the last Irish garrison surrendered at Limerick.  The Treaty of Limerick permitted 12,000 Irish troops to seek exile as the Wild Geese, and they did so under the leadership of General Sarsfield, working as mercenaries.

Battle of the Storoka and Katsina : [Arrosauk] a battle held north of Zuni Salt Lake, purported to have been a victory of the homosexual and shamanistic faction, over the heterosexual factions of the Arrosauk.  The shamanistic Storoka used bow strings made of the fibers of soap weed, whereas the Katsina used bow strings made of the sinews of deer and antelope, so when it rained, the rainwater tended to improve the strings of the Storoka, but tended to ruin those of the Katsina.[23]

battuo : to bang, beat.

baubella : jewels, personal treasure.

Baudwinus : Baldwin.

bäuerlich : [Gm] peasantlike.

bautizado : [Sp] baptized.

bavier : an armor chin-piece that derived its name from its resemlance to a bib.

Bayeaux tapestry : the famous Norman scroll embroidered with depictions of the Battle of Hastings.[24]

bce : [Hb] bc; Before the Common Era.  Cf. Jewish Mundane Era.

B-cell : B-lymphocite : a large white cell produced in the bone marrow that matures into a plasma cell and produces antibodies; a cell of the immune system that produces the humoral immune response.  Cf. T-cell.

bcer. : birth certificate.

BCP : Book of Common Prayer.

bd. : birthdate.

BDD : body dismorphic disorder.

Bede : the Venerable Bede.

beadle : [Sx] a petty officer in a parish; a messenger for a court or public body.

beam : the width of a ship at its broadest point.  The Tudor galley had a length of seven or eight times her beam (L=B*7, L=B*8).[25]  Cf. galley, length, row-barge, tonnage, ship proportions.

bearbaiting : [1603] a cruel and malicious Elizabethan entertainment wherein a captive bear was tied to a post, and then attacked by a team of four or five mastiffs.  It was never easy to procure bears, so the dogs were pulled away before fatally injuring the animal.  The events often resulted in the death of one or more dogs.  In Shakespeare’s time, bearbaiting was performed twice each week, on Sunday and Wednesday.  Cf. bullbaiting, horsebaiting.

beards : Levitical law prohibited shaving, and made beards mandatory for men.  Jewish law likewise required men to wear beards.  Clement of Alexandria upheld the Levitical proscription against shaving.  Shaving was just becoming popular in Rome when Christianity began its ascendency.  Beards became popular again under Hadrian.[26]

bearer : one of six who carry a corpse.  Cf. underbearer, pallbearer, honorary pallbearer.

bearings : whatsoever a man carries or bears when he rides out with horses and arms to discharge some military or official duty.  By extension, a person’s bearings refers particularly to a man’s heraldic achievement, or the badges and ensigns armorial that decorate his shield, his standard, and the liveries of his footmen.  Cf. achievement, armorial bearings.

Bearrokscira : Berkshire.

beastiality : zoöerasty.

beastiality : zoophthopia.

beatæ Mariæ virginis : B.M.V. : the blessed Virgin Mary.

Beatricia : Beatrix : Beatrice.

bed : [1200] a place for sleep; a place for sexual intercourse; a piece of furniture designed as a platform for sleeping.  Sleeping was once a casual and communal affair.  The Romans banqueted while reclining on couches, and would often fall asleep in a banquet hall.  Medieval retainers often made their beds of straw and all slept together in the Great Hall, and elsewhere on the estate, even in the stables.  Nobles were the only persons who enjoyed the privacy of the Great Chamber and a proper bed.  Only families of extreme wealth could afford to provide individuals with their own bed in the privacy of a closet.  Even after standing beds became fashionable, it was rare for a family to possess enough beds for everyone, so parents tended to sleep with their young, and siblings and cousins tended to share beds.  Straw beds evolved into padded mattresses, similar to the futon or shikibuton of Japan.  The Europeans and Chinese developed the bed into a raised, wooden platform, covered with a mattress.  In colonial and pioneer times, the mattress was usually supported by tightened ropes attached to wooden spindles mounted along the headboard, footboard, and side boards, and this old design permitted the bed to be easily dissembled and reassembled for transport by wagon.  Cf. bundling, family bed, trundle bed.

bedaget : [Dn] aged.

Beddeford : Bedfordshire.

Beddeforda : Beddefordia : Bedford.

Bedford : Budiforda : Beddeford : Beddeforda.

Bedja : a Hamitic Amazon tribe seated between the Nile and the Red Sea.[27]  They killed all of their male progeny.

Bedlam : Bethlehem : a large mental hospital or madhouse in London, converted for that use from a monastery.

Bedlamite : a madman.

Beds. : Bedford.

bedspread : counterpane.

bedstefader : [Du] FaFa; grandfather.

bedstemofer : [Du] FaMo; grandmother.

bedyddiwyd : [We] baptized.

Beebo Brinker : Brinker, Beebo.

beech tree: fagus.

beef : beffe : [1599] The maximum price for beef of the best quality was fixed at 14d for 8 pounds in August 1599.

beer : [1599] The maximum price for beer of the finest quality was fixed at 1d per quart in August 1599.  The ceiling for weak beer was set at ½d per quart.

bef. : before.

Befania : the Sabbat leader in Italy.

beget : to generate, procreate, produce.

beggars : Cf. beguines and beghards.

beghards : [1224-1396] male beggars.  Gautier de Coincy published a poem claiming that homosexuality was common among the beghards, about 1222 or 1224.  The earliest recorded arrests of beghards occurred in 1290.  John Wasmod was an inquisitor at Hamburg, and served as a rector at the University of Heidelburg, and he wrote a book accusing beghards of practicing homosexuality, in 1396.  Cf. beguines.

begot : begotten : the passive participles of beget.[28]

begrave : begraven : [Gm] to bury.

begraven : [Gm, Du] buried.

begravet : [Dn, Nw] buried.

beguiling : polymagganou.

beguines : [1259-1332] female beggars.  Bishop Bruno of Olmutz condemned the beguines for refusing to obey the order of men, in ad 1259.  In Bohemia, the beguines of Silesia confessed that that they accepted lesbianism, in 1332.  Cf. beghards, Free Spirit, Lady of Play.

beguines and beghards : [1290] the nonconformist homosexuals, characterized as vagrant beggars, who were systematically arrested for heresy from 1290. Cf. Free Spirit.

Behistun Inscription : [486 bc] a trilingual inscription in Persian cuneiform, Susian or Elamite cuneiform, and Babylonian cuneiform; an inscription of 413 lines discovered on a mountain wall by the Italian traveler Pietro della Valla at Persepolis, Iran, in 1621.  The French trader Jean Chardin first published the cuneiform characters in 1674, and divided them into three parallel groups.  Carsten Niebuhr was a German who joined a Danish expedition to the Middle East from 1761 to 1767.  Niebuhr determined that the three parallel groups of cuneiform script were three versions of the same text, so he published the first complete copy of the Behistun inscription in 1777.  It was eventually concluded that the kings of the Achaemenian Dynasty had used three kinds of cuneiforms to promulgate decrees, and that Darius I the Great,[29] King of Persia (regnavit 522-486 bc), had issued the Behistun edicts.  Cf. Rosetta Stone, stones, Zambia Stone.

bejaard : oud : [Du] old, aged.

belamour : bel amour : [Fr] friend, intimate.

beldam : belle dame : [Fr] an old woman, hag.

Belg. : Belgium.

Belgic alphabet : [400 bc] Cf. alphabet.

bell : alarm bell; an urgent ringing of a church bell to alert the community to some peril, such as a conflagration, or military attack.

bell : passing bell; the tolling of a single bell to announce the death of someone, or to mark the time of someone’s burial.  Parishioners generally knew who was sick or scheduled for burial, so the passing bell was intended to commence unified prayers for the decedent.

bell- : war.

Bellerophon : Cf. amazon-killers.

bells : a peal of bells that were gleefully and skillfully sounded together on joyous occasions, such as Sunday worship, holy days, weddings, and the accession or coronation of a monarch.

below : infra.

bema marriage : [1683] nuptials solemnized in the chancel or aspe (bema) of a church.  The Greek bema literally means ‘step’ or ‘tribunal’ and it refers to the separate space containing the altar of an Eastern church.  The Scottish word ben designates the inner room or parlor of a two-room cottage.

ben : [Hb] son, child, boy.  Cf. ob, seg, mah.

bend : one of the eight honorable ordinaries; a diagonal bar across the shield.  When uncharged, the bend may occupy as little as one fifth of the area of the escutcheon; but when charged, the bend may occupy one third of the area.

bendlet : the diminutive of bend, a small bend.

bendlet or : a gold bar, used to signify a cadet branch.  The junior branch of the family le Strange at Hunstanton used the bendlet or as a mark of cadency.[30]

bene- : well, good.

bene quiescat : b.q. : may he rest well.

benefactor : he who confers a benefit.

benefactress : she who confers a benefit.

benefice : an advantage one confers upon another.  The term benefice commonly referred to the ecclesiastical livings of a parish, so it generally referred to an emolument and a duty.  Ordinarily a local lordship held the benefice, and thus had the honor of appointing clerks to the parish church.

beneficium abstinendi : the power of abstaining from inheritance, held by a heres suus et necessarius.

beneficium separationis : the right of the heir to have his own property kept separate from the property of the deceased.  This right was normally accorded to heirs by necessity, heredes necessarii, or slaves made heirs of last resort, who could not abstain from the inheritance, and were obliged to assume the debts and liabilities of the deceased.

benign- : kind.

benyw : [We] woman.

bequest : any of the gifts a testor describes in his will; an act of bequeathing or leaving property to successor or heir by means of a last will and testament.

Berceia : Berkshire.

Bercheria : Berkshire.

berdache : [Fr] Er; a transgeneral or transvestite native American, accorded some higher degree of respect for his spiritual significance, and allowed to live with the women as a quasi-woman.  The berdache has figured as a popular subject among anthropologists for many years, and several articles have been published on the subject since 1938.  The custom of the berdache has been observed among the plains natives, and especially among the tribes Navajo, Pima, and Winnebago.[31]  American native tribes, and particularly the Navajo, have often served as living models of matrism and quasi-matriarchy, and therefore we believe that the respect shown to the berdache may be connected to the ancient existence of some permissive matrist culture.  The berdache was sometimes treated in all respects as a woman, even in the bestowal of dowry.  The berdache regularly crossdressed and behaved transgenerally, so he remained with the women when warriors departed camp.  Boswell noted that rural societies in general tend to tolerate transgeneral and hermaphroditic types, provided the subject’s gender conversion is complete and convincing.

berdache : bardache : [Fr] Er; slave boy; bowdash, bundosh.  The term is believed to have had its origin in the Muslim invasion of southern Europe.  The word now serves as an anthropological term for a native American shaman transvestite.  Cf. American shaman transvestites, bardache [Fr], bardajo [Sp], bardaj [Ar].

berdache women : native American lesbians.

bere : [Sx] barley.  Cf. Sengill Bere.

Berhta : Perchta : Herechin; the Sabbat leader among the Teutons.

Berkeia : Berkshire.

Berkeria : Berkshire.

Berks. : Berkshire.

Berkshire : Berks : Berceia : Bercheria : Berkeia : Berkeria.

besaiel : besayel : besayle : [Fr] FaFaFa; great-grandfather, proavus [Lt].  Cf. assize of besaiel.

besant : a gold coin equal to 2 shillings sterling; 72 besants equal 1 pound (£) of gold.[32]

Bessie Smith : [1894 vel 1898-1937] the great blues singer who recorded nearly 200 songs from 1923.  She was the protégé of Ma Rainey, and is believed to have been a lesbian.

beste-far : [Nw] FaFa; grandfather.

beste-foreldre : [Nw] FaPa, FaFa, FaMo; grandparents; grandfather and grandmother.

bestemor : [Nw] FaMo; grandmother.

bestiality : the use of animals for sexual pleasure; an act prohibited by scripture.[33]

bet. : between.

BETA (Ββ) : the letter B, second letter of the alphabet; one of the four cardinal letters (A.B.H.M.).

Bethlehem : Bedlam, quod vide.

Bethlehemite : Bedlamite, quod vide.

bet-overgrootvader : [Du] FaFaFaFa; great-great-grandfather, second-great-grandfather.

bet-over-overgrootvader : [Du] FaFaFaFaFa; great-great-great-grandfather, third-great-grandfather.

bet-over-over-overgrootvader : [Du] FaFaFaFaFaFa; great-great-great-great-grandfather, fourth-great-grandfather.

betroth : betrowen : [Du] to contract with someone in order to marry them; to affiance by promise to marry; to nominate to the bishopric in order to consecrate a bishop.

betrothal : betrothment : the act of betrothing.

Bezezia : the Sabbat leader in Italy.

bezirk : [Sz] county.

bi- : [Gk] life.

bi- : bin- : two, twice.

biăo : piao : [Ch] outside, external; descendants of father’s sister; mother’s brother; mother’s sister.

biăobófù : [Ch] FaFaSiSo(e); elder paternal first cousin once removed, elder amital nepotin.

biăodì : [Ch] FaSiSo(y); younger male first cousin, younger amitin.

biăogūmŭ : [Ch] FaFaSiSo(e)Wi, FaFaSiSo(y)Wi; wife of elder or younger paternal first cousin once removed, elder or younger amital nepotin’s wife.

biăomèi : [Ch] FaSiDa(y); younger female first cousin, younger amitine.

biăoshūfù : [Ch] FaFaSiSo(y); younger paternal first cousin once removed, younger amital nepotin.

biăoxiōng : [Ch] FaSiSo(e); elder male first cousin, elder amitin.

biăozhí : [Ch] FaSiSoSo; first cousin once removed, amital nepotin.

biăozhínŭ : [Ch] FaSiSoDa; first cousin once removed, amital neptine.

biăozhísūn : [Ch] FaSiSoSoSo; first cousin twice removed.

biăozĭ : [Ch] FaSiDa(e); elder female first cousin, elder amitine.

biăozŭfù : [Ch] FaFaFaSiSo; paternal first cousin twice removed, amital magnanepotin.

biăozŭmŭ : [Ch] FaFaFaSiSoWi; wife of paternal first cousin twice removed, amital magnanepotin’s wife.

bias : a protrusion on a bowl or ball, added to make the game erratic and unpredictable.  Cf. bowls.

bib : biblical.

bibli- : [Gk] book.

biblical lesbians : Judith the Hebrew, Ruth and Naomi.

biblical marriage : one of the marriage types mentioned in the Bible.  The Bible contains no examples of heterosexual, serial monogamy, and no examples of any Christian marriage forms.  All of the Hebrew patriarchs practiced polygyny, with the sole exception of Isaac and Rebecca.  God particularly blessed with his Eternal Covenant the four polygynous marriages of Jacob, namely his two connubial marriages to the sisters Leah and Rachael, and his two contubernial marriages with the handmaidens.  Other types of biblical marriage included levirate marriage, same-sex marriage, and Lot’s oblique incest with his two daughters.  Heterosexual monogamy and serial monogamy were never discussed, and never expressly represented by biblical authors.  Isaac’s fidelity to one wife was preferential or elective, so it did not represent any actual departure from the biblical norm of polygyny.

biblio- : [Gk] book, liber, volumen, codex, tabulæ.

bibliographic record : an entry in a bibliography that normally names the author, title, edition, and date.  The place of publication normally appears first, suffixed with a colon (e.g., London: …; Ann Arbor, MI: …), and the name of the publisher follows, with any additional annotations, such as the publisher’s address (e.g. New York:  The Macmillan Company).  The date of copyright or publication follows thereafter.  In footnotes, the bibliographic record may be recited in full or abbreviated.  When the record is used to provide a cross reference, the date of publication is sometimes suffixed with a colon (e.g. 1086: …, 1952: …), in the same manner as a place, and the page citation follows directly (e.g. 1952:  386, 411, 540h).

bibliography : a concise catalog of manuscripts, articles, and books.

bicentenary, bicentennial : 200 years.

biennium : a period of two years.

bifurcate : bifurcatus : bifurcus : [1615] to divide into two branches; to divide into two forks or parts.

bifurcate collateral kinship : Sudanese system; a rare generational system that distinguishes each type of cousin from other types, as well as from siblings.

bifurcate collateral system : Chinese kinship, according to Chen and Shryock.

bifurcate collateral terminology : the generational system that differentiates uncles and aunts from one another, as well as from parents.  The Sudanese system has separate terms for FaSiCh, FaBrCh, Br, MoSiCh, and MoBrCh.

bifurcate merging kinship : a popular generational system of kinship that can be subdivided into the Iroquois system, the matrilineal Crow system, and the patrilineal Omaha system, through an analysis of terms for cousins.  Bifurcate merging equates one’s father and mother with one’s parallel uncle and aunt, such that FaBr=Fa and MoSi=Mo.

bifurcate merging system : Chinese kinship, according to Lowie.

bifurcate merging terminology : the system that groups together Fa and FaBr, as well as Mo and MoSi, but keeps distinct FaSi and MoBr.

Big Bang : the moment of the creation of the universe.

Big Bang theory : the Einsteinian theory that creation commenced with a ‘big bang’ and that the expansion of the universe and background radiation must constitute evidence of this initial explosion.  The name was coined by Fred Hoyle in 1948, when he tried to refute the theory.  Opp. Steady State theory.

big embrace : the sexual practice of frottage, or the rubbing of male or female genitals against one’s partner, instead of penetrating the partner.[34]

bigam : one twice married.[35]

bigamist : one who has committed bigamy.

bigamy : bigamia : [Lt] the Christian crime of having two wives at once.

bigbellied : pregnant.[36]

bigotry : intolerance of outsiders; prejudice.  Bigotry is a key characteristic of racism, sexism, agism, patriotism, and kinship, so it may be classed as a type of paranoia.  Cf. sectarian, rhetoric.

bilateral cross cousin marriage : Hu & MoBrDa=FaSiDa=Wi; symmetrical cross cousin marriage; marriage between the ego and his MoBrDa, who is also his FaSiDa.[37]  Opp. asymmetrical cross cousin marriage, unilateral cross cousin marriage.

bilateral descent : having two descent groups linked by sex rôles that tie the individual to parallel groups of close relatives of both sexes.  The close relatives are determined by equating parallel cousins with siblings, and by excluding some of the father’s kindred and some of the mother’s kindred on the basis of cross cousinage.  Cf. ambilateral, ambilineal, bifurcate merging terminology, cognatic descent, Iroquois system, non-unilineal, Washo.  Opp. double descent, unilineal descent.

bilateral organization : a family organized irregularly by sex; a family wherein neither inheritance nor descent are fixed in one sex.  The Washo divide the year into times for fishing, hunting, and gathering.  Washo males do the hunting, whereas Washo females do the gathering; but fishing is a joint activity wherein the females participate in the preparation for fishing, and the males perform the fishing.  However, the Washo never developed regular rules for organization by sex, so they tend to be closest to immediate bilateral relatives of both sexes. Ndembu couples likewise live alternatively with either the husband’s or wife’s group.  Opp. unilineal descent.

-bile : -able : -ible : -ble : able to be, worthy to be; able to.

bilek : [Iban, Borneo] the private room of one family living in a longhouse, among the Iban of Borneo.  Cf. extended family.

bilineal descent : double descent.

bilinear kin group : a collection of persons affiliated with one another by both patrilineal and matrilineal types, including the horizontal relatives such as siblings and parallel cousins.  Cf. sections and subsections.

bilious colic : tortuous pain in the belly.

-bilis : -able : -ible : -ble : able to be, worthy to be; able to.

bill of sale : invoice, a formal instrument for the conveyance or transfer of title to goods and chattel property.  When it represents a direct transaction between a buyer and seller, the bill provides an itemization of transfer values or monetary prices; otherwise, the bill signifies an unpriced proforma invoice or packing list.

bilocal residence : a norm that permits a married couple to live with or near the parents of either spouse.  The place of ultimate settlement will often be determined by the relative wealth of one or the other family.  Cf. duolocal, matripatrilocal, residence.

bimeter : of two mothers; a name for Dionysus, who was conceived by Semele, and then incubated in the leg of Zeus.  Cf. Dionysus.

bimillennial : spanning two millennia, or two thousand years.

bin- : bi- : two, twice.

binei : [Gk] to mount a female in copulation.  Cf. pygixein.

bio- : [Gk] life, vita, anima.

biography : life, a written history of a person’s life; a person’s history in any form; a video or film record of a person’s life.  An exemplary biography in English is Boswell’s Life of Johnson.  Collections of biographical articles appear in many standard publications, such as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

biological parent : Pa; genitor, genitrix, natal parent, a term contradistinc­tive to an stepparent, adoptive parent, foster parent, or co­parent.  Opp. pater, mater.

biparous : bringing forth two at a birth.

bipolar disorder : manic-depression, a fairly common mental perturbation; the exhibition of alternating states of mania and melancholy, now known to be caused by chemical imbalances in the brain.  The poet Byron and the politician Winston Churchill were both afflicted by bipolarism.

birth : [Sx] production, something born, coming into life, the act of bringing forth; extraction, rank by descent.

birth : Cf. individuation.

birth : berth.  The spelling birth was used to denote a single pokenet hanging between a pair of vertical stakes or lawers.  Cf. lawer, pokenet, in-shore fishing, sea lawers.

berth : Cf. birth.

birth book : birth register.

birth control : any of several methods used to prevent pregnancy, which have been virtually outlawed by the Roman church as varieties of sodomy, from the nineth century.  Cf. sodomy.

birth order : the eighth child, sired by the sun.  Cf. Tlingit shaman.

birth parents : pun shung fu me [Ch].[38]  Cf. adoptive parents, chi fu me.

birth rate : [1501-1600 En] 35/1000; 35 births per 1,000 inhabitants.  This was a fairly stable birth rate during the sixteenth century.  Cf. baptism rate.

birth rate : [1558-1625 En] 25/1000 to 40/1000; 25-40 births per 1,000 inhabitants.  The birth rates began to fluctuate widely in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, or the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I.

birth record : a register entry showing a person’s date of birth.

birthdate formula : [1752-present] (obiit) -(aetatis) –8870; the death date of the proband, minus his age at death, minus a factor of 8870; the common method for finding the birthdate of a decedent whose age at death and date of death happen to be known.  The procedure is to convert the date of death (e.g. 6 May 1889) into simple digits (18890506), and to subtract from that death date the converted age at death (e.g. 71 years 7 months 9 days =710709), and finally to subtract from the result the magic number for adjustment (-8870).  Thus, 18890506 minus 710709 equals 18179797, and minus 8870 equals 18170927, or 27 September 1817.[39]  This formula should be applicable for Gregorian dates used by the English, Scots, Canadians, and Americans, starting from the Anglo-Scots adoption of Gregorian reckoning on 14 September 1752.  If the proband was born on the previous day, 2 September 1752, or earlier, the calculator should remember to accommodate the 11 days of the Julian calendar that were skipped, or leaped, when the Gregorian system became effective, namely the omitted days 3 September 1752 through 13 September (17520913 -17520202 =11 whole days).

birthday : die natalis, the day on which someone was born, the anniversary of one’s birth.

birthdom : privilege of birth.[40]

birthplace : place where someone was born.

birthright : the rights to which one is born.

birthsong : a song sung at the nativity of someone.

birthstrangled : strangled during birth, an accident sometimes caused by the umbilical cord.

bis : twice, in twofold; a replica, duplicate, or repetition.

bisabuela : [Sp] FaFaMo; great-grandmother.

bisabuelo : [Sp] FaFaFa; great-grandfather.

bisava : [It] SoSoDa; great-granddaughter.

bisavo : [It] SoSoSo; great-grandson.

bisexual : hermaphroditic, having the characteristics of both sexes; ambierotic, capable of sexual love with either sex.  Cf. ambierotic.

bishop : [formal address] The Right Reverend Father in God (John ——), by Divine Permission, Lord Bishop of ——.

bishop : [polite address] The Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of ——, The Lord Bishop of ——; [salutation] My Lord.  A bishop’s wife and children derive no titles from his office.

Bishop : Diocesan Bishop : [formal address] Right Reverend Father in God, by Divine Permission, Lord Bishop of ——; [salutation] Lord.[41]

Bishop of Durham : Episcopus Dunelmensis : the fourth highest of the bishops of England, after Canterbury, York, and London.  Cf. Archbishop of Canterbury, Bishop of Winchester.

Bishop of London : Episcopus Londiniensis, Episcopus Lundoniensis, the third highest of the bishops of England, after Canterbury and York.  Cf. Bishop of Winchester.

Bishop of Sodor and Man : Episcopus Sodorensis : a legislator on the Isle of Man, who therefore cannot vote in the House of Lords.[42]  The Bishopric was counted among the Bishoprics of England, but the Isle of Man is a sovereign state with respect to England.

Bishop of Winchester : Epsicopus Wintoniensis, the fifth highest of the bishops of England, after Canterbury, York, London, and Durham.  Cf. Archbishop of Canterbury.

bishop, Scottish : [address] The Bishop of ——; The Right Reverend Bishop (John ——); [salutation] Right Reverend Sir.

bishop’s arms : a bishop impales his arms with those of the See, but he does not independently bear his own crest, supporters, or motto.

Bishops : Diocesan Bishops of England; peers of the United Kingdom and peers of Parliament, who take precedence of the Lords Temporal, with a few key exceptions.  The 3 foremost bishops are the Bishops of London, Durham, and Winchester, and the others are ranked according to the seniority of their consecretion.[43]

Bishops : the 16 Junior Bishops who do not hold seats in the House of Lords.  Cf. Lords Spiritual.

Bishops of London, Durham, and Wincester : the 3 bishops who have precedence over all other bishops.

biskopsstift : stift.

bisnieta : [Sp] SaSaSaDa; great-granddaughter.

bisnieto : [Sp] SoSoSoSo; great-grandson.

bissextile : [Lt] leap year; a reference to the intercalary date that the Romans inserted between 23 February and 24 February during a leap year.

bisestile : [It] the Italian equivalent of bissexto-kalendæ [Lt].  The meaning of the Italian bisestile has expanded to signify not only the specific, intercalary leap day, but also the entire leap year that defines a special calendar.  A bisestile year is often marked with an asterisk (*).  Cf. bissexto-kalendæ.

bissexto-kalendæ : the extra leap day that the Romans inserted into their calendar between 23 and 24 February.  The leap day was regarded as a doubling of the date 23 February, called sexto-kalendæ ‘6th day before the Kalendæ of March.’  Those born on bissexto-kalendæ celebrated their birthdays on sexto-kalendæ during common years.  Cf. sexto-kalendæ.

Bithynia : Cf. Julius Caesar and Nicomedes.

bk. : book.

black : [AfAm 1968] an Afro-American person descending from slaves imported from Africa.  The English word black was strongly promulgated as a preferred substitute for the traditional word negro during the civil-rights turmoil in the 1960s.

black English : [AfAm] Afro-American, African-American, a family of English dialects prevalent among black people.  Black dialects arose during the slave trade and tend to have grammatical structures and vocabulary items imported from western Africa.  The Carolina legislature barred slaves from learning to read and write English in 1740, so black English tended to become an acutely idomatic, spoken language, from 1740 to 1863.  Cf. ebonics.

Black Hole of Calcutta : During the religious unrest in eastern India, British soldiers told of the vast hold for those condemned by the worshippers of Kali, and the place was called the Black Hole of Calcutta.  Cf. hole, Hole of Newgate Prison.

Black Mary : a Roman form of Cybele.

Black Swan : an informal title of Sappho.

blackjack : twenty-one, vingt-et-un, a card game.  Cf. card games.

blacks in the military : [1941]  Companies of blacks have existed in the U.S. military since the Civil War (1861-1865), but such units remained segregated until long after World War II.  Today, military units are integrated, but the number of black soldiers happens to be disproportionately large in comparision to the black representation in the general population.  Racism continues to deny education and employment opportunites to blacks in private sectors, and concomitantly inflates the number of blacks in the military, in prisons, and on death rows.

blancas : blanched money,[44] silver.

blanche firme : white rent; a rent reserved, payable in silver.  Cf. argent.

Blanche-Nef : White Ship.

blasen : [Gm] to blow the horn.  Cf. blasen, blazoning of arms.

blason : [It, Fr, Sp] science of heraldry.  Cf. blasen, blazoning of arms.

blast- : [Gk] bud, formative, substance, embryonic cell.

blastocyst : [1890] the modified blastula of a placental mammal.  Cf. blastula, gastrula, morula.

blastomere : [1877] a new cell produced by the cleavage of an egg.

blastopore : [1880] the opening of the archenteron, or the cavity of the gastrula of an embryo.

blastula : [1887 Gk-En] the inceptive form of a metazoan embryo wherein a single layer of cells surround a hollow cavity of fluid.  Cf. blastocyst, gastrula, morula.

blazoning : the heraldic painting of a shield, by using the seven tinctures.

blazoning the arms : the act of a herald, who blows his horn and announces the arrival of a knight to a tournament by describing his coat of arms.  Cf. blasen, blason.

ble- : ball- : bol- : [Gk] to throw, put.

-ble : -bilis : -bile : able to be, worthy to be; able to.

Blessed Lady Mary : Saint Mary the Virgin; the Catholic title and name that appeared in English Wills before the death of Mary I in 1558.  Cf. preamble to Catholic Will, saints.

blessing : beatus, benedictus.  Cf. blsl.

Blestium : Monmouth.

blood brothers : brothers by adoption among native Americans.  Cf. Arapahoe.

blood diseases : hemophilia, sickle-cell anemia, thalassemia.

blood relationship : Cf. one and one, two and two.

blood type : one category of the ABO blood types.

blood-brotherhood : a system of pseudo-kinship between men, based upon close cameradery, and formalized through the ritual exchange or mixing of bloods by the simple juxtaposition of open wounds.  Cf. kinship.

bloodshed : pleas of bloodshed.

bloodsport : Cf. whipping.

bloody flux : colitis, dysentery, inflammation of the large bowels; shigella, salmonella, amoeba, typhoid, typhus.[45]

bloom : prime, the peak of adolescence; the youthful time of puberty when the skin of a boy or girl matures in color and texture.[46]

B-love : being-love, the uncritical and accepting love of a spouse for his or her mate.[47]  Cf. D-love.

blsl. : [LDS] blessing LDS : blessing (beatus) of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, a Gedcom tag.  An Ordinance of the Mormons, confirming the baptismal sealing of parent and child.

blue disease : hypothermia, a human condition wherein the body loses its warmth and acquires a bluish coloring called cyanosis.  A person suffering from the blue disease has trouble breathing, and may easily die.  Modern medical treatments may significantly reduce the risk of death by hypothermia, if the subject is found and treated promptly.

Blue Mantle Pursuivant at Arms : one of four junior heralds.

Blues : the Roman or Byzantine circus faction opposed to the Greens.  Cf. circus factions.  Opp. Greens.

B-lymphocite : B-cell.

bndsmn. : bondsman.

[1] According to Duald Mac Firbis, bard of the O’Briens.  Roderick O’Flaherty, Ogygia.  Graves 1948, edition 1966:  116-117.