Redesman

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic term for a person who gives counsel or advice to others, especially a trusted adviser to a ruler or lord
2. An old-fashioned word for a counsellor, someone whose role is to offer guidance and recommendations in matters of judgement
3. Historically, a man who advised a leader or noble, offering counsel on decisions and the course of action to take

Etymology: Redesman comes from Old English "rǣd," meaning counsel or advice, combined with "mann," "man." A redesman was therefore simply a man who gave counsel, and the word was used for an adviser attached to a king or lord. It is recorded in Middle English, when royal councils were the setting in which such advisers worked, and it has since fallen out of use. The root turns up in some surprising places. The "rǣd" of redesman is the same root as the verb "read" in its older sense of interpreting or puzzling something out, and "riddle" comes from the Old English "rǣdels," a puzzle or enigma. In each case the idea is of working out meaning, whether by advising a king or by solving a puzzle. "Rede," meaning counsel, survives in a few archaic phrases, but the king's adviser has not.