BE'ADLE, noun 1. A messenger or crier of a court; a servitor; one who cites persons to appear and answer; called also an apparitor or summoner. 2. An officer in a university, whose chief business is to walk with a mace, before the masters, in a public procession; or as in America before the president, trustees, faculty and students of a college, in a procession, at public commencements. 3. A parish officer, whose business is to punish petty offenders.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI