ppl. a. and sb.
A. ppl. adj. 1. Dearly loved, greatly beloved.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Prol., 215. And wel biloued and famulier was he With frankeleyns ouer al in his contree.
1422. Yonge, trans. Secreta Secret., 247. Wyth lefe and welbelowid Pepill lagh and Play.
c. 1440. trans. Bonaventura, in Hampole’s Wks. (1896), I. 218. Mari Mawdeleyne, þat wele-beluffed discypulas of Ihesu.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 8. The chrysten man, as the welbeloued chylde of god.
1601. Shaks., Jul. C., III. ii. 180. Through this [rent], the wel-beloued Brutus stabb’d.
1648. Bury Wills (Camden), 202. Susan Despotin, my well-beloued wife.
1799. Ht. Lee, Canterb. T., Old Woman’s T. (ed. 2), I. 335. Lothaire … was the trusty and well-beloved page of Louis IX.
1831. Scott, Ct. Robt., iii. Our well-beloved and highly-gifted daughter.
1850. Tennyson, In Mem., cii. We leave the well-beloved place Where first we gazed upon the sky.
2. In letters, decrees, etc., of a sovereign or lord, prefixed to the names or designations of the persons addressed or referred to. Usually ‘(right) trusty and well-beloved’; cf. TRUSTY a. 2. Also absol. (with omission of sb.), and † (Sc.) with plural ending.
1423. Rolls of Parlt., IV. 248/2. Ryght worshipfull and worshipfull Faders in God, oure ryght trusty and welebeloved.
1443. Hen. VI., in Ellis, Orig. Lett., Ser. III. I. 79. Our right trusty and right welbelouyd Cousin Therl of Suffolk.
c. 1450. Godstow Reg., 603. Our welbeloued in crist the Abbesse and Covent of Godestow.
1516. Reg. Privy Seal Scot., I. 423/2. Our welebelovit knycht and counsalour William Scot of Balwery.
1524. Hen. VIII., in Ellis, Orig. Lett., Ser. I. I. 239. Trusty and welbiloved we grete you wele.
1544. in Rymer, Fœdera (1719), XV. 19. Oure Welebelovittis Hew Cunnygahame, and Thomas Bischop.
1648. Hamilton Papers (Camden), 241. Our right trustie and right wellbeloued cousin the Earle of Lauderdaill.
1803. in Nairne Peerage Evid. (1874), 111. Our right trusty and welbeloved George Keith baron Keith of Stone Haven.
1814. Scott, Lett., in Lockhart (1837), III. x. 311. He would tell you of my departure with our trusty and well-beloved Erskine.
1884. Rep. Comm. Housing Working Classes, Pref. 3. Victoria [etc.] To Our right trusty and well-beloved Councillor Sir C. W. Dilke.
1924. Burke’s Peerage, 2. Barons are … addressed officially by the Crown, ‘Our Right trusty and well-beloved.’ Ibid., 3. A Viscount … is officially addressed by the Crown as ‘Our right trusty and well-beloved Cousin.’
B. sb. A dearly loved one.
1432–50. trans. Higden, VI. 79. Techynge Beda his welbelovyde while that he lyvede.
1575. Gascoigne, Glasse of Govt., III. iii. Wks. 1910, II. 47. Nowe my welbeloved, and what sayth the … Markgrave unto you?
1611. Bible, Cant. i. 13. A bundle of myrrhe is my welbeloued vnto me.
1795–1814. Wordsw., Excurs., VII. 342. The great, the good, The well-beloved, the fortunate, the wise,—These titles emperors and chiefs have borne.
c. 1805. H. K. White, Hymn, ‘Awake, sweet harp,’ iii. God sees his Well-beloved’s face.
1891. Kipling, Light that Failed, xv. 317. Then he comes back to me, for his well-beloved is here.
