Antiq. [A literal rendering of OE. hláf-ǽta. Cf. BEEF-EATER.] One who ‘eats the bread’ of a master; a household servant.
[a. 1000. Laws of Ethelbert, c. 25, in Thorpe, Laws, I. 8. Gif man ceorles hlaf-ætan ofslæhð.]
1844. [C. Macfarlane], Camp of Refuge, I. 54. Frithric … had maintained one score and ten loaf-eaters or serving men in his glorious abbey.
1897. Maitland, Domesday & Beyond, 101. A mere ceorl has had … a soke … over his house and over his loaf-eaters.
