From: tony@proctor_NoMore_SPAM.net   
      
   On 14/04/2019 01:57, Kate wrote:   
   >   
   >   
   > "Tony Proctor"  wrote in message news:q8q1mh$74m$1@gioia.aioe.org...   
   >   
   > I came across this phrase ("Index of Parents and Masters"), and associated   
   prefixes "p. to ..." and "p. of ...", in a document of 18th Century Freemen   
   > of the city of Leicester.   
   >   
   > The usage is clearly not that of present-day "parents", and appears to be   
   related to apprenticeships.   
   >   
   > Can someone enlighten me of whether this was an accepted usage at that time,   
   whether how it might have differed from "master"?   
   >   
   > Tony Proctor   
   >   
   > I found the following on Google   
   >   
   > Verb   
   > (third-person singular simple present prentices, present participle   
   prenticing, simple past and past participle prenticed)   
   > (obsolete) To apprentice.   
   > Origin   
   > An old (Middle English) aphetic form of apprentice; that is, a form which   
   lost the unstressed initial vowel a and reduced the initial double pp to a   
   > single p.   
   >   
   > Regards   
   >   
   > Kate   
   > Sydney, Australia   
      
   You didn't provide a link to your find, Kate, or say which word you were   
   actually looking up. However, I think I found the same information under   
   https://www.yourdictionary.com/prentice.   
      
   So, I believe you were saying the the "p" stood for "prentice" rather than to   
   "parent". I hadn't considered this, and was already steered down the   
   "parent" route by another researcher.   
      
   I think you have solved the problem so many thanks for your input, Kate.   
      
   Tony   
      
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