A paternoster is the large bead on a rosary that is placed in sequence before the ten smaller ave beads. When a rosary is used for prayer, paternosters are the beads where the Lord’s Prayer is said. The name is derived from the Latin Pater Noster which translates as Our Father, an alternate name for The Lord’s Prayer.

Eventually, the term was applied to any large gold bead, not just in rosaries but also in necklaces and bracelets. The people who made these beads became known as paternosterers.