Meanings
plural sidesmen
- An assistant to a churchwarden, one of whose duties is to collect offerings during a service.
By the 17th century churchwardens, now assisted by sidesmen, were overseeing parish taxes (with the parish clerks), controlling the stocks and whipping posts, and organising relief for the poor and for wayfarers.
1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 187Synonyms: questman
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn assistant to a churchwarden, one of whose duties is to collect offerings during a service.
Origin
Corruption of synod's man.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
sidesman. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sidesman
“sidesman.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sidesman. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sidesman,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sidesman.
Source: sidesman on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.