(often initial capital letter) Also Pater Noster. the Lord's Prayer, especially in the Latin form.
a recitation of this prayer as an act of worship.
one of certain beads in a rosary, regularly every 11th bead, differing in size or material from the rest and indicating that the Lord's Prayer is to be said.
any fixed recital of words used as a prayer or magical charm.
a doorless, continuously moving elevator for passengers or goods, having numerous platforms or compartments that rise or descend on a moving chain.
(initial capital letter) pearl molding.
RC Church the beads at the ends of each decade of the rosary marking the points at which the Paternoster is recited
any fixed form of words used as a prayer or charm
Also called: paternoster line. a type of fishing tackle in which short lines and hooks are attached at intervals to the main line
a type of lift in which platforms are attached to continuous chains. The lift does not stop at each floor but passengers enter while it is moving
the Lord's Prayer, esp in Latin
the recital of this as an act of devotion
before 1000; Middle English, Old English: Lord's prayer < Latin pater noster our father, its first two words in the Vulgate (Matthew VI: 9
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Such so-called paternoster elevators still survive in some German public buildings.
From Seattle Times ● May 25, 2023
As the paternoster cabin in which he was slowly descending into the bowels of Stuttgart’s town hall plunged into darkness, Dejan Tuco giggled infectiously.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 14, 2015
It warns of the “risk of being crushed … between car and landing”, and states that the paternoster is only to be ridden “at the user’s own risk”.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 14, 2015
“I’m used to talking about the Greek crisis, or the recent train drivers’ strike, but little did I expect that the paternoster would turn into my subject,” Strohschneider said.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 14, 2015
“It is as though the bearer had run for a paternoster while, and then leaped the river,” Dick observed.
From The Black Arrow A Tale of the Two Roses by Stevenson, Robert Louis
Pictures of the sign, near Paternoster School, attracted hundreds of comments on social media, with locals complaining the error was part of a wider problem with the town's roads.
From BBC ● Dec. 6, 2024
And Paternoster totally shreds, on her guitar and in her throat.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 20, 2023
She may have voters like Christy Paternoster in mind.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2019
A few years ago, the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund hired criminologist Ray Paternoster to study the impact of race on death penalty prosecutions in Harris County during the 1990s, when Mr. Buck’s trial occurred.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2016
Every day he is to recite seven times the Paternoster and Ave Maria.
From A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume I by Lea, Henry Charles
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
