fother

Definition

A load, a wagonload, especially any various English units of weight or volume based upon standardized cartloads of certain commodities.

Etymology

From Middle English fother, fothir, from Old Norse fóðr (cognate to Old English fōdor), from Proto-Germanic *fōdrą (compare Dutch voer (“pasture, fodder”), German Futter (“feed”), Swedish foder). Doublet of fodder and foeder. More at food.

Example Sentences

• "Four fother of clod lime, and fifteen fothers of good manure, on each acre."
• "20 fothers of additional thickness in clay were thrown in."
• "Where the brass hez a' cum fra nebody can tell, / Some says yen thing and some says another - / But whe ever lent Grainger't aw knaw very well, / That they mun have at least had a fother."