Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Betty"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Betty \Bet"ty\, n.
1. [Supposed to be a cant word, from Betty, for Elizabeth, as
such an instrument is also called Bess (i. e., Elizabeth)
in the Canting Dictionary of 1725, and Jenny (i. e.,
Jane).] A short bar used by thieves to wrench doors open.
[Written also {bettee}.]
The powerful betty, or the artful picklock.
--Arbuthnot.
2. [Betty, nickname for Elizabeth.] A name of contempt given
to a man who interferes with the duties of women in a
household, or who occupies himself with womanish matters.
3. A pear-shaped bottle covered round with straw, in which
olive oil is sometimes brought from Italy; -- called by
chemists a Florence flask. [U. S.] --Bartlett.
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