Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Paternoster \Pa"ter*nos`ter\, n. (Mining)
   An elevator of an inclined endless traveling chain or belt
   bearing buckets or shelves which ascend on one side loaded,
   and empty themselves at the top.

Paternoster \Pa"ter*nos`ter\, n. [L., Our Father.]
   1. The Lord's prayer, so called from the first two words of
      the Latin version.

   2. (Arch.) A beadlike ornament in moldings.

   3. (Angling) A line with a row of hooks and bead?shaped
      sinkers.

   {Paternoster pump}, {Paternoster wheel}, a chain pump; a
      noria.

   {Paternoster while}, the space of time required for repeating
      a paternoster. --Udall.

Source : WordNet®

Paternoster
     n 1: (Roman Catholic Church) the Lord's Prayer in Latin;
          translates as `our father'
     2: a type of lift having a chain of open compartments that move
        continually in a loop so that (agile) passengers can step
        on or off at each floor