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halidom: orig. the holy relics upon which oaths were sworn, the ancient formula being ‘as helpe me God and halidome’, altered later to ‘by my halidome’, which was subsequently used by itself as a weak asseveration Gent. IV. ii. 138 “By my , I was fast asleep,” Shr. V. ii. 100, H8 V. i. 117 “Now, by my , What manner of man are you?,” Rom. I. iii. 43. ∥ In old edd. “hallidome, hollidam, holydam(e”; the form “holydame” is due to association with ‘dame’, the phrase being popularly taken as=by our Lady.
A Shakespeare Glossary. C. T. Onions. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1911.
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