godsib

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Middle English godsib; doublet of gossip; see those entries for more.

Noun

godsib (plural godsibs)

1. (chiefly historical or anthropology) One's sibling or kin via a godfamily tie: one's or one's child's godparent, or one's godchild's parent, or one's godparent's child.
   • 1920, Courtenay Frederic William Dunn, The Natural History of the Child: A Book for All Sorts and Conditions of Men, Women, and Children, page 233:

     The fireplace also heated water for the godsibs to wash their hands with as they were instructed by the rubric to do before leaving the church.

   • 1965, Willard Marsh, Week with No Friday:

     […] the Bumgardners' maid, with Preston and Penelope in tow, was exchanging defamatory gossip with her godsib Ofelia Gomez, Luke Regan's scullion.

   • 1966, Henry F. Dobyns, Paul L. Doughty, Allan R. Holmberg, Cornell Peru Project, Peace Corps Program Impact in the Peruvian Andes: Final Report:

     The Vicosino then went to his godsib and then to the Cornell Peru Project field director for confirmation of  […]

   • 1968, Paul L. Doughty, Mary F. Doughty, Huaylas: An Andean District in Search of Progress, page 37:

     After a man's kin and godsibs, the next allegiance is to his paisanos (fellow countrymen) or […]

   • 1968, Earl W. Morris, Coming Down the Mountain: The Social Worlds of Mayobamba:

     […] to members of their own family, intimates (especially their godsibs), and ideally the priest, who usually is too busy to accept all invitations.

   • 2006, David Postles, Joel Thomas Rosenthal, Studies on the Personal Name in Later Medieval England and Wales (Western Michigan Univ.):

     where 34 % of testators who mentioned godchildren were homonymous with those godsibs.

   • 2007, Christina Hardyment, Malory: The Knight Who Became King Arthur's Chronicler, Harper Collins, →ISBN, page 50:

     The most important people in the baptismal party that processed from Newbold Revel to the church porch were the three people who had undertaken to support the baby's introduction into the Christian faith. […] Godsibs, as godparents were called, were chosen with care and took their responsibilities seriously. […] since a baby was almost always given the Christian name of the most important godsib, his name must provide a clue.

   • 2013, Edmund Curtis, A History of Medieval Ireland (Routledge Revivals): From 1086 to 1513, Routledge, →ISBN, page 306:

     Holinshed's Chronicle says: 'James Earl of Desmond being suffered and not controlled, during the government of Richard Duke of York his godsib and of Thomas Earl of Kildare his kinsman, did put upon the King's subjects […] '

Further reading

• “godsib”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• godzybbe, gossyb, gossyp, gossybe, gossebe, godsyp, gossip, gossibbe, godsybbe, gossippe, godsip, gossheppe, gossep

Etymology

From Old English godsibb, equivalent to god +‎ sibbe.

Noun

godsib

1. one's sponsor at baptism or confirmation, a godparent
2. a close friend or companion; buddy, pal
3. a gossip.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Chaucer to this entry?)

Descendants

• English: gossip, godsib