beldame

noun

1. (obsolete)A grandmother.

   “There he was welcom'd of that honeſt ſyre, / And of his aged Beldame homely well; / Who him beſought himſelfe to diſattyre, / And reſt himſelfe, till ſupper time befell.”

   “Diſeaſed nature oftentimes breakes forth, / In ſtrange eruptions, oft the teeming earth / Is with a kind of collicke pincht and vext, / By the impriſoning of vnruly wind / Within her vvombe, vvhich for enlargement ſtriuing / Shakes the old Beldame earth, and topples down / Steeples and moſſegrovvn towers.”

2. (archaic)An old woman, particularly an ugly one.

   “Justice is an old hobbling beldame, and I can't get her to keep pace with Generosity, for the soul of me.”

   “[…] have a curiosity to hear my fortune told: therefore, Sam, order the beldame forward.”

   “Therefore, the teacher of to-day is not the graybeard and beldame, but the man and woman most newly filled with the gathered experience of the world.”

   “The tablets upon which the events of the day were recorded refer to enchantresses, and we can conclude that they were by no means restricted to ancient beldames.”

   “Among the large number of characters are [...] young boys and old knowledgeable beldames familiar with every lubricity, every love charm and potion.”