Paternoster literally means "Our Father" in Latin. That is, pater is "father;" noster is "our." 

This noster, "our," also shows up in the word nostr__, which literally means "our remedy" but in modern English means "a fake medicine, or a fix for some problem that's often promoted but never works." Can you recall that term?

Let's pivot back to paternoster, "Our Father." Depending on how much time you've spent in churches, when you hear "Our Father," your brain might spit out the rest of this line: "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name." It's the opening of the Lord's Prayer, a Christian one rooted in the Bible and popular throughout the world in many versions. And as we'll see in a second, it's this prayer that gives the word paternoster its various meanings in English.

Believe it or not, we've studied three other terms rooted in specific prayers. See if you can recall them:

1. From a prayer that translates to "Direct, O Lord, my God, my way in thy sight," a dir__ is a sad expression of love for something or someone departed.

2. From a Roman Catholic confessional prayer, a m__ c___a (two words) is an apology: an admission of personal fault.

3. From a very specific prayer that translates to "Lord, now you dismiss your servant in peace," a n__c dim____s (two words) is a dismissal, a departure, or permission given to leave.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) 

In its most literal sense, the paternoster (or a paternoster) is the Lord's Prayer. There are several versions of it, but they all basically praise God, then ask for sustenance, guidance, protection, and forgiveness. You might talk about people saying, reciting, or mumbling the paternoster.

Because this prayer involves asking for help and protection, a paternoster can be any word, phrase, or prayer that someone says as if asking for divine or magical help or protection.

And in a looser sense, a paternoster is some word or phrase that someone repeats a lot in a ritualistic way, as if they expect it to do something powerful.

Finally, because some people say the Lord's Prayer using a rosary (pictured below), a paternoster is anything that's arranged like a long row of identical beads.

(Source)

For example, a paternoster lift (or paternoster elevator) works like a chain of beads. Looks scary, doesn't it? I wouldn't use it, no matter how many paternosters we said beforehand.

(Source)

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Noun, the countable kind: "He recited a paternoster;" "They withdrew in fear, mumbling paternosters."

Other forms: 

The plural is "paternosters."

No other forms are common in general use.

how to use it:

"Paternoster" is rare and formal, with a heavy religious tone. When that's the mood you're going for, then you can refer to someone's often-repeated phrase as a paternoster, especially if it seems to give them hope, faith, guidance, comfort, or protection.

For example, in the movie Field of Dreams, Ray's paternoster is "If you build it, he will come." In times of stress and doubt, he repeats that to himself to boost his own faith.

examples:

"Robert and Thomas and the priest, whispering paternosters, followed the prints all the way to the mill."
   — Karen Cushman, The Midwife's Apprentice, 1991

"Don Quixote busied himself by concocting the enchanted liquor over the fire, saying over it many credos and paternosters."
   — Lewis Spence, Legends & Romances of Spain, 1920

has this page helped you understand "paternoster"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "paternoster" without saying "prayer" or "incantation."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "'_____' is the paternoster of (some person, or some type of person)."

Example 1: "'Keep our heads down and power through' is the paternoster of Michael, the only character on Arrested Development with a good work ethic."

Example 2: "Noblesse oblige, he had often said to himself, resisting temptation in his oft-tempted career, but no one ever heard him say aloud that paternoster of princes."
   — Marie Louise De la Ramée; Moths, by Ouida; 1880

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for this month is Palindromes in Poems: Yay!

Check out the snippet of a poem, and supply the missing palindrome: the word spelled the same backward and forward, like "yay," "sees," or "racecar." Highlight the hints if you need them, and see the answer by scrolling all the way down. Enjoy!

Try this one today:

"And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and _____ a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings."
   — William Butler Yeats, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree," 1890

To reveal the hints below, highlight the hidden white text.

Hint 1: The number of letters in this palindrome is... four.
Hint 2: The letter that this palindrome starts and ends with is... "N."

review this word:

1. The opposite of a PATERNOSTER could be

A. a CURSE.
B. a TROJAN HORSE.
C. a KILLING OF TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE.

2. In The Devil Wears Prada, as Emily works endless hours for the toxic and demanding boss she nevertheless adores, her paternoster is _____.

A. hourly espressos
B. "I love my job. I love my job"
C. a silent hour in a hot sauna

Answers to the review questions: 1. A 2. B Answer to the game question: "And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow, Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings; There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow, And evening full of the linnet's wings."    — William Butler Yeats, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree," 1890

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.