Hernhutter, noun

/ˈhɛrnhʊtə(r)/
Forms:
Herneuter, HerrnhuterShow more Also Herneuter, Herrnhuter, Herrnhutter, Herrnhütter, and with small initial.
Origin:
GermanShow more Either from Herrnhuter a member of the Moravian religious group, or named for a building at the mission station of Genadendal (see quotation 1986); both from German Herrnhut, literally ‘the Lord’s keeping’, the name of the first Moravian settlement in Saxony + noun-forming suffix -er.
historical
A particular type of sheath-knife formerly made at the Moravian mission station of Genadendal; boslemmer. Also attributive. Cf. Bushman’s friend.
1916 J.M. Orpen Reminisc. (1964) 306Steenberg on my right loosed his right hand and seized his ‘hernhutter’ sheath knife from his pocket, saying he would rip me up.
1924 G. Baumann in Baumann & Bright Lost Republic (1940) 121An argument ensued, during which E. drew his long hunting knife (herrnhutter) and stabbed young Koekemoer.
1937 F.B. Young They Seek a Country 539A sheath-knife with an eighteen-inch blade of the sort they called Herneuters.
1951 H. Davies Great S. Afr. Christians 5The new missionaries built a station, a school, a mill and a cutlery. In the latter they made pruning knives which were in great demand by the fruit-farmers of the district who called them herrnhuters.
1973 J. Meintjes Voortrekkers 107Also part of every man’s gear was his knife with a blade of from seven to eight inches in length and with handles from four to five inches long, known as a Hernhutter. Such a knife had a hundred uses — skinning game, cutting up the carcase, for eating, slicing biltong, as a weapon, and so on.
1986 Motorist 1st Quarter 13The boys’ hostel dates from before 1816 and is called Herrnhut, which gave its name to the Herrnhütter sheath-knives which were made there until well into the present century and which were prized possessions.
1990 TV1, 28 Nov. (Antenna)Genadendal is the home of the famous Hernhutter knife.
A particular type of sheath-knife formerly made at the Moravian mission station of Genadendal; boslemmer. Also attributive.
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Hermitage, nounn.Heroes’ Day, noun phrasen. phr.
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