ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS

=berry.= In the Malone Society’s Reprint, 1. 1432, of Quarto 1599, the

text is:

‘A berrie of faire Rooes I saw to day

Down by the groves, and there I’ll take my stand,

And shoot at one.’

Probably the correct reading would be ‘a bevie of faire Rooes’ (i.e. a

number of fair roe-deer). But see NED. (s.v. Berry, sb.^{3}), where the

word is used as the special name for a company of rabbits.

=bulk,= the trunk, body of a person; cp. Richard III, i. 4. 40, ‘The

envious flood Stopt in my soul . . . smother’d it within my panting

bulk.’

=Burgullian.= Perhaps a contemptuous form of _Burgundian_ (or

_Burgonian_), a native of Burgundy, with reference to John Larrosse, ‘a

Burgonian by nation and a fencer by profession’, who challenged all

comers in 1598.

=forslow.= For _Macilense_ read _Macilente_.

=Napier’s bones,= invented by John Napier, eighth laird of Merchiston

[not Lord Napier].

=skibbered.= The reading of the Bodleian MS. _skybredd_ shows that the

meaning of the word is _sky-bred_.

=sothery.= The play referred to is _The Four P’s_.

=spargirica.= B. Jonson’s spelling _spagyrica_ may be defended from

French usage; cp. Dict. de l’Acad., 1672: ‘_Spagyrique_ ou _Spagirique_.

Il se dit de la Chimie qui s’occupe de l’analyse des métaux, et de la

recherche de la pierre philosophale. C’est la même chose que la _Chimie

métallurgique_ ou la _Métallurgie_’. The word _spagyrique_ in the phrase

‘un philosophe spagyrique’ occurs frequently in Anatole France’s ‘La

Rôtisserie de la Reine Pédauque’.

=strummel.= _Strummel-patch’d_ (so Gifford). The 1616 Folio reads

‘whoreson strummel, patch’t, goggle-ey’d Grumbledories’.

=trash.= For Othello, ii. 1. 132, read ii. 1. 312; and see Schmidt’s

note on the word.

=turm.= Milton, P. R. iv. 66.

=warden.= _Dele_ or (from the arms of Warden Abbey).

A

=aband,= to abandon. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 10. 65; Mirror for Magistrates,

Albanact, st. 20.

=abatures,= the traces left by a stag in the underwood through which he

has passed. Turbervile, Hunting, c. 26, p. 68. F. _abatture_, a throwing

down. See NED.

=abeare,= _reflex._, to demean oneself. Only in Spenser in this sense,

F. Q. v. 12. 19; vi. 9. 45.

=abiliments,= ‘abiliments of war’, warlike accoutrements, things which

made ‘able’ for war. More, Richard III (ed. 1641, 414). OF.

(_h_)_abillement_, ‘tout ce qui est propre à quelque chose, machines de

guerre’ (Didot).

=able,= to warrant, vouch for. Middleton, The Changeling, i. 2 (Lollio);

King Lear, iv. 6. 173.

=ablesse,= ability. Only in Chapman, Iliad, v. 248.

=abode,= to forebode, Hen. VIII, i. 1. 93. An announcement, Chapman,

Iliad, xiii. 146, 226. Cp. OE. _ābēodan_, to announce (pp. _āboden_).

=abodement,= a foreboding, presage, omen. 3 Hen. VI, iv. 7. 13.

=abord,= used by Spenser for _abroad_, adrift. Ruins of Rome, xiv;

Mother Hubberd’s Tale, 324.

=aborde,= to approach. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 99, back, l. 8; lf.

103. 6; ‘_I aborde_, as one shyppe dothe an-other’, Palsgrave. F.

_aborder_, to come to the side of; from _à_, to, _bord_, side.

=abraid, abray,= in Spenser, to start out of sleep, a swoon, to awake;

‘I did out of sleepe abray’, F. Q. iv. 6. 36; ‘Sir Satyrane abraid Out

of the swowne’, F. Q. iv. 4. 22; to arouse, startle, ‘For feare lest her

unwares she should abrayd’, F. Q. iii. 1. 61; ‘The brave maid would not

for courtesie, Out of his quiet slumber him abrade’, F. Q. iii. 11. 8.

ME. _abreyde_, to start up, start from sleep, awake (Chaucer); OE.

_ābregdan_.

=abraid,= to upbraid. Greene, Alphonsus, ii (Belinus), ed. Dyce, 231; ‘I

abrayde one, I caste one in the tethe’, Palsgrave. A n. Yorks. form

(EDD.).

=Abram-colour’d,= auburn. Said of a beard. Middleton, Blurt, Mr.

Constable, ii. 2 (Curvetto); Coriolanus, ii. 3. 21. See Nares.

=Abram-man, Abraham-man,= a sham patriarch, a begging vagabond.

Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, ii. 1. 5; Massinger, New Way, ii. 1 (Marrall);

‘An Abraham-man is he that walketh bare-armed, and bare-legged, and

fayneth hymselfe mad, . . . and nameth himselfe poor Tom’, Awdeley,

Fraternity of Vagabonds, p. 3.

=abron,= auburn. ‘Curled head With abron locks was fairly furnished’,

Hall, Satires, v. 8. A Shropsh. pronunciation (EDD.). OF. _auborne_,

Med. L. _alburnus_, ‘subalbus’ (Ducange).

=abrook,= to brook, endure. 2 Hen. VI, ii. 4. 10.

=abrupt,= separated, parted asunder. Middleton, Family of Love, iii. 2

(Maria); as subst., an abrupt place, a precipice over an abyss, Milton,

P. L. ii. 409.

=absey-book,= a spelling-book, primer. King John, i. 1. 196. For _A-B-C

book_.

=aby,= to pay the penalty for. Mids. Night’s D. iii. 2. 175; Spenser, F.

Q. ii. 8. 33. ME. _abye_, to pay for (Chaucer, C. T. A. 4393); OE.

_ābycgan_.

=acates,= provisions that are purchased. B. Jonson, Staple of News, ii.

1 (P. sen.); Sad Shepherd, i. 3. 19. Norm. F. _acat_, purchase (Moisy).

=accent,= misused with the sense of ‘scent’. ‘The vines with blossoms do

abound, which yield a sweet _accént_’, Drayton, Harmonie of the Church;

Sol. Song, ch. ii. l. 28.

=access,= an attack of illness. Also spelt _axes_, Skelton, Garl. of

Laurell, 315; _accesses_, pl., Butler, Hudibras, iii. 2. 822. _Access_

is used in Kent and Sussex for an ague-fit (EDD.). F. _accès_, cp. ‘_un

accès de fièvre_’.

=accite,= to summon. 2 Hen. IV, v. 2. 141; Titus Andron. i. 1. 27;

Chapman, tr. Iliad, ii. 376, has ‘summon’ (his first version had

_accite_); pt. t. _accited_, id. xi. 595; _accite_, imp., Heywood,

Dialogue iv; vol. vi. p. 163. L. _accitare_, to summon.

=accite,= to excite. 2 Hen. IV, ii. 2. 67; B. Jonson, Underwoods (ed.

1692, p. 563).

=accloye,= to stop up, choke (with weeds). Spenser, F. Q. ii. 7. 15;

‘_accloyed_, as a Horse, Accloy’d or Cloyed, i.e. nail’d or prickt in

the shooing’, Phillips, Dict. 1706. F. _encloyer_, ‘to cloy, choak, or

stop up’ (Cotgr.). Med. L. _inclavare_, to lame a horse with a nail

while shoeing (Ducange); L. _clavus_, a nail.

=accomplement,= accomplishment. Shaks. (?), Edw. III, iv. 6. 66. See

NED.

=accourt,= to entertain courteously. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 2. 16.

=accoy,= to daunt, tame, soothe. Spenser, Shep. Kal., Feb., 48; F. Q.

iv. 8. 59. OF. _acoier_, to quiet; deriv. of _coi_, quiet; cp. Med. L.

_acquietare_ (_adquietare_), ‘quietum reddere’ (Ducange).

=accoyl,= to assemble, gather together. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 9. 30. OF.

_acoillir_, to assemble; Med. L. _accolligere_ (Ducange).

=accumber, acomber,= to encumber, oppress. ‘That my sowle be not

_acombred_’, Reynard the Fox (ed. Arber, p. 34). Anglo-F. _encumbrer_,

‘accabler’ (Ch. Rol. 15).

=achates,= provisions, purchased as required. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 9. 31.

See =acates.=

=acknown,= _pp._ acknowledged. Kyd, Cornelia, ii. 229; _to be acknown

on_, to confess knowledge of, Othello, iii. 3. 320; _to be acknowen of_,

to acknowledge, Puttenham, English Poesie, iii. 22 (p. 260). OE.

_oncnāwen_, pp. of _oncnāwan_, to acknowledge.

=a-cop,= on high; sticking up. B. Jonson, Alchem. ii. 1 (Drugger). OE.

_copp_, top, summit.

=acopus,= a restorative plant, mentioned by Pliny. Middleton, The Witch,

v. 2 (Hecate). L. _acopus_, Gk. ἄκοπος; ἀ, not + κόπος, weariness.

=acquest,= an acquisition, gain. Bacon, Hist. Hen. VII (ed. Lumby, pp.

90, 172). OF. _aquest_, Med. L. _acquistum_ (Ducange), L. _acquisitum_,

a thing acquired.

=acquist,= Milton, Samson Ag. 1755. Directly from the Latin, or

from the Ital. _acquisto_.

=acroche,= to grasp, try to acquire. ‘_I acroche_, as a man dothe that

wynneth goodes or landes off another by sleyght, _Iaccroche_’,

Palsgrave.

=acton;= see =haqueton.=

=actuate,= to act. Massinger, Roman Actor, iv. 2 (Paris). Med. L.

_actuare_, ‘perficere’ (Ducange).

=aculeate,= pointed. Bacon, Essay 57, § 5. L. _aculeus_, a sting, sharp

point. L. _acus_, a needle.

=adamant,= a load-stone, magnet. Mids. Night’s D. ii. 1. 195; Marlowe,

Edw. II, ii. 5 (Arundel). ME. _adamaunt_, the loadstone or magnet

(Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 1182).

=Adamite,= a member of a sect that dispensed with clothes at their

meetings. Shirley, Hyde Park, ii. 4 (Mis. Car.). Cp. The Guardian, no.

134 (Aug. 14, 1713), § last.

=adaunt,= to quell, subdue. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 8. 11; leaf 79,

back, l. 5. OF. _adonter_, _donter_, L. _domitare_, to tame (Virgil).

=adauntreley,= error for _ad[u]aunt-relay_, lit. a relay in front; a

laying on of fresh hounds to take up a chase. Return from Parnassus, ii.

5 (Amoretto). From _aduaunt_ (_avaunt_) and _relay_; see _Avant-lay_ in

NED.

=adaw,= to daunt, suppress, confound. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 7. 13; iv. 6.

26; v. 9. 35; Shep. Kal., Feb., 141. A word due to the ME. adv. _adawe_,

in phr. _do adawe_, to put out of life (lit. day), to quell. The ME.

_adawe_ = OE. _of dagum_, out of days.

=addulce,= to sweeten, render palatable. Bacon, Henry VII (ed. Lumby, p.

84).

=adelantado,= a Spanish grandee, a lord-lieutenant. Spelt _adalantado_;

B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of Humour, v. 4 (Puntarvolo); Alchemist, iii. 2

(Face); Fletcher, Love’s Cure, ii. 1 (Lazarillo). Span. _adelantado_,

promoted, advanced, pp. of _adelantar_, to advance. See =lantedo.=

=adjection,= addition. B. Jonson, Every Man, iv. 6. 5. L. _adjectio_.

=adjouste,= to add, give; lit. to adjust. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 43.

2; lf. 141, back, 24.

=adminiculation,= aid, help, support. Sir T. Elyot, The Governour, bk.

i, c. 3, § last; c. 8, § 6; c. 13, § 4. Med. L. _adminiculatio_,

‘auxilium’, _adminiculus_, ‘minister’ (Ducange).

=admire,= to wonder. Milton, P. L. ii. 677; Twelfth Night, iii. 4. 167.

=adore.= A form of _adorn_ in Spenser, F. Q. iv. 11. 46.

=adoubted,= afraid. Morte Arthur, leaf 241. 2; bk. x, c. 12 (end).

=adowbe,= to adub, to equip, array. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 32. 28;

lf. 222. 15. Also _adubbe_, to dub a knight, id. 312. 31. Anglo-F.

_aduber_, ‘armer’ (Ch. Rol.), also _adubber_.

=adrad,= _pp._ dreaded. Greene, A Maiden’s Dream, st. 4; frightened;

Spenser, Virgil’s Gnat, 304. ME. _adrad_, afraid (Chaucer, C. T. A.

605); OE. _ofdrǣd_, frightened.

=adrop= (ádrop), a term in alchemy; either the lead out of which the

mercury was to be extracted to make ‘the philosopher’s stone’, or the

stone itself. B. Jonson, Alchemist, ii. 1 (Surface).

=adust,= parched, burnt up. Bacon, Essay 36; Milton, P. L. xii. 635.

Also _adusted_, P. L. vi. 514. L. _adustus_, burnt up, pp. of _adurere_.

=advaile,= ‘avail’, advantage, profit. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. ii,

c. 9, § 6.

=advant-garde,= vanguard. Morte Arthur, leaf 28, back, 35; bk. i, c. 15.

F. _avant-garde_ (Cotgr.) See Dict. (s.v. Van).

=advaunt,= _reflex._, to boast, brag, ‘vaunt’. Sir T. Elyot, Governour,

bk. i, c. 4 (end); bk. i, c. 15, § 3.

=advision,= vision. Morte Arthur, leaf 14. 15; Table of Contents, xiv.

7. ME. _avisioun_ (Chaucer, Hous Fame, 7).

=advoutresse,= an adulteress. Roister Doister, v. 3. 9. Bacon, Essay 19,

§ 6. ME. _avoutresse_ (Wyclif, Rom. vii. 3); OF. _avoutresse_.

=adyt, addit,= a recess or sanctuary of a temple. Greene, A

Looking-glass, iv. 3 (1543); p. 137, col. 1. L. _adytum_, Gk. ἄδυτον,

not to be entered, sacred; from ἀ, not, δύειν, to enter.

=aerie= (in Shakespeare), the brood of a bird of prey, and particularly

of hawks, King John, v. 2. 149; Rich. III, i. 3. 264; ‘aerie of

children’ (with reference to the young choristers of the Chapel Royal

and St. Paul’s, who took part in plays), Hamlet ii. 2. 354. The word

represents an OF. _airiée_, pp. of _aairier_, _adairier_, Romanic type

_adareare_, der. of Med. L. _area_, ‘accipitrum nidus’ (Ducange).

=aeromancy,= divination by the air. Greene, Bacon and Friar Bungay, i. 2

(188); scene 2. 17 (W.); p. 155, col. 1 (D.).

=aesture,= surge, raging of the sea. Chapman, tr. of Odyssey, xii. 111.

Deriv. of L. _aestus_, the heaving motion of the sea.

=afeard,= afraid. Merry Wives, iii. 4. 28; _affered_, Dryden, Cock and

Fox, 136. In gen. prov. use throughout Scotland, Ireland, and England

(EDD.). ME. _afered_ (Chaucer, Tr. and Cr. iii. 482, OE. _āfǣred_,

frightened, pp. of _āfǣran_.

=affamed of,= famished by, starved by. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 248,

back, 2. F. _affamé_, famished, starved (Cotgr.).

=affect,= to love, be fond of. Two Gent. iii. 1. 82; Two Noble Kinsmen,

ii. 4. 2. L. _affectare_, to strive after a thing passionately.

=affect,= affection, passion. Spenser, F. Q. vi. 1. 45; vi. 5. 24; Hymn

in Honour of Love, 180. L. _affectus_, passion, desire.

=affectionate,= to feel affection for. Greene, Bacon and Friar Bungay,

iii. 3; scene 10. 78 (W.); p. 171, col. 1 (D.).

=affrap,= to strike sharply. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 1. 26; iii. 2. 6. Ital.

_affrappare_, to beat (Florio).

=affret,= onset, fierce encounter. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 9. 16; iv. 3. 16.

Cp. Ital. _affrettare_, to hasten, make speed (Florio).

=affront,= to meet face to face, to encounter. Hamlet, iii. 1. 31; Ford,

Perkin Warbeck, v. 1 (Dalyell). _Affront_, an accost, meeting. Greene,

Tu Quoque, or The City Gallant; in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, xi. 265. F.

_affronter_, ‘to come before, or face to face’ (Cotgr.).

=affy,= to betroth, 2 Hen. VI, iv. 1. 80; _to affy in_, to trust in,

Titus Andron. i. 1. 47. Anglo-F. _afier_, ‘affirmer, assurer; mettre sa

confiance en, se fier à’ (Moisy). Med. L. _affidare_, ‘fidem dare’

(Ducange).

=afterclap,= an unexpected consequence, generally unpleasant. Latimer,

Serm. I, 27; _after-claps_, pl., Butler, Hudibras, i. 3. 4; Tusser,

Husbandry, § 49; Taylor, Life of Old Parr (EDD.). In prov. use in

various parts of England (EDD.).

=agate,= on the way. ‘Let him agate’; Brewer, Lingua, iii. 6

(Phantastes); ‘Let us be agate, let us start’; Interlude of Youth, in

Hazlitt’s Dodsley, ii. 25. In prov. use in the north country, and in

various other parts of England (EDD.).

=agazed,= astounded, amazed. Surrey, Description of Restless State, 44

in Tottel’s Misc. (ed. Arber, 4); _agaz’d on_, 1 Hen. VI, i. 1. 126.

Prob. a variant of ME. _agast_ (Wyclif), E. _aghast_.

=agerdows,= compounded of sour and sweet. Skelton, Garl. of Laurell,

1250. F. _aigre-doux_, sour-sweet. L. _acer_ and _dulcis_.

=aggrace,= to shew grace and favour. Pt. t. _agraste_; Spenser, F. Q. i.

10. 18. Hence _aggrace_, sb. favour; id. ii. 8. 56. Ital. _aggraziare_,

to confer a favour; _agratiare_, to favour (Florio). Med. L.

_aggratiare_ (Ducange).

=aggrate,= to please, delight, charm. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 6. 50; v. 11.

19; vi. 10. 33. Ital. _aggratare_, ‘to sute’ (Florio).

=aglet,= the metal end or tag of a lace. ‘He made hys pen of the aglet

of a poynte that he plucked from hys hose’, Latimer, Serm. (ed. 1869, p.

117); a metallic stud or spangle. Spenser, F. Q. vi. 2. 5;

‘_Tremolante_, aglets or spangles’ (Florio). In Cumberland the metal end

of a bootlace is called an _aglet_ (EDD.). ME. _aglet_, to lace wyth

alle (Prompt. Harl. MS.). F. _aiguillette_, a point (Cotgr.).

=agloute,= to feed to satisfaction, to glut. Caxton, Hist. of Troye,

leaf 187, back, 14; lf. 41, back, 5. ME. _aglotye_ (P. Plowman, C. x.

76). See NED. (s.v. Aglut).

=agnize,= to recognize, acknowledge. Othello, i. 3. 232; _agnise_,

Udall, Erasmus Apophth. (ed. 1877, 271). Formed on the analogy of

_recognize_, cp. L. _agnoscere_, to acknowledge.

=a-good,= in good earnest, heartily. Two Gent. of Verona, iv. 3; Udall,

Roister Doister, iii. 4 (near the end); Marlowe, Jew of Malta, ii. 2

(Ithamar). See Nares.

=agreve,= to aggravate, make more grievous. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk.

i. c. 6 (end); Sir T. More, Rich. III (ed. Lumby, p. 68, l. 13). ME.

_agrevyn_, ‘aggravare’ (Prompt. EETS. 200). Anglo-F. _agrever_ (Moisy).

=agrim, agrum,= a common 16th-cent. form of ‘algorism’, a name for the

Arabic or decimal system of numeration, hence arithmetic; ‘I reken, I

counte by cyfers of agrym’, Palsgrave; ‘As a Cypher in Agrime’, Foxe, A.

& M. iii. 265 (NED.); ‘A poor cypher in agrum’, Peele, Edw. I (ed. Dyce,

p. 379, col. 1). ME. _awgrym_: ‘As siphre . . . in awgrym that noteth a

place and no thing availith’ (Richard Redeles. iv. 53); _algorisme_

(Gower, C. A. vii. 155). OF. _augorisme_, Med. L. _algorismus_,

‘numerandi ars’ (Ducange), cp. Span. _alguarismo_ (_guarismo_),

arithmetic (Stevens), from _al-Khowârezmi_, the surname of a famous Arab

mathematician who lived in the 9th cent. See Dozy, Glossaire, 131.

=agrise, agryse,= to terrify, horrify. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 6. 46; iii. 2.

24; _agrysed_, afraid, W. Browne, Shepherd’s Pipe, i. 501. OE.

_agrīsan_, to shudder.

=agrum;= see =agrim.=

=aguise, aguize,= to dress, array, deck. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 1. 21. 31;

ii. 6. 7. Cp. _guize_, fashion, appearance, ii. 2. 14; ii. 6. 25; ii.

12. 21.

=aim,= in phr. _to cry aim_, to encourage an archer by crying out _aim!_

King John, ii. 1. 196; _to give aim_, to direct; see Webster, Vittoria

(ed. Dyce, p. 20). The giver of aim stood near the butts, and reported

the success of the shot. Hence _aim-giving_, Ascham, Toxophilus, 160.

=A-la-mi-re,= a name given to the octave of _A-re_; the latter being the

second lowest note in the scale, which was denoted by the letter A, and

sung to the syllable _re_. Middleton, More Dissemblers, v. 1 (Crotchet);

Skelton, Colyn Cloute, 107. N.B. Wrongly defined in the NED.; but the

right definition, with a full explanation, is given in NED. under the

heading _A-re_. The octave of A was, in fact, sung to the syllable _la_

when occurring in the second hexachord, which began with C; to _mi_, in

the third hexachord, which began with F; and to _re_, in the fourth,

which began with the octave of G.

=alate,= of late, lately. King Lear, i. 4. 208; Greene, Friar Bacon, i.

1. 3. Still in use in Yorks. and Lancashire (EDD.). ME. _a-late_ (Dest.

Troy, 4176).

=albricias,= a reward for good news. Tuke, Adventures of Five Hours, v.

1 (Pedro); Digby, Elvira, ii. 1. 1. Span. _albricias_, reward for newes

(Minsheu). Arab. _al bishâra_, joyful tidings, cp. Port. _alviçaras_.

See Dozy, _Glossaire_, 74.

=alcatote,= a simpleton, a foolish fellow. Ford, Fancies Chaste, iv. 1

(Spadone). Cp. the Devon word _alkitotle_ (EDD.).

=alcatras,= a name given by English voyagers to the Frigate Bird,

_Tachypetes aquilus_, Drayton, The Owl, 549. Port. _alcatráz_, ‘mauve,

goéland: oiseau de mer; pélican du Chili, cormoran, calao des Moluques;

_alcatráz les Antilhas_, onocrotale, grand gosier, oiseau de marais’

(Roquette).

=alchemy,= a metallic composition imitating gold; spelt _alcumy_,

Middleton, Span. Gipsy, ii. 1 (Alvarez); applied to a trumpet of such

metal or of brass, ‘Put to their mouths the sounding alchymie’, Milton,

P. L. ii. 517.

=Alchoroden,= or =Alchochoden,= the planet which rules in the principal

parts of an astrological figure, at the nativity of any one, and which

regulates the number of years he has to live. Beaumont and Fl., Bloody

Brother, iv. 1 (Norbret). So explained in a note. Spelt _alchochoden_,

B. Jonson, Staple of News, iv. 1 (P. Canter). From Pers. _Kat-khudā_,

lord of the ascendant (Richardson). See =almuten.=

=alcumise, alchemize,= to change by help of alchemy, to transmute

metals. Heywood, Love’s Mistress, i. 1 (Midas).

=alcumyn,= a kind of brass. Skelton, Why Come ye Nat to Courte, 904. For

_alchem-ine_; see =alchemy.=

=alder,= of all; _your alder_ speed, the help of you all; Everyman, in

Hazlitt’s Dodsley, i. 135. ME. _alder_ (Chaucer). OE. _ealra_, gen. pl.

of _eall_, all.

=alderliefest,= dearest of all, 2 Hen. VI, i. 1. 28; ‘the

alderliefest swain of all’, Greene, Descript. Shepherd, 42 (ed.

Dyce, p. 304). ME. _alderleuest_ (Chaucer, Tr. & Cr. iii. 239).

=ale,= an ale-house. Two Gent. ii. 5. 61; _at the ale_, Greene, A

Looking-glass, iv. 4 (1616); p. 138, col. 1. Cp. ME. _atten ale_, at the

ale-house (P. Plowman, B. vi. 117).

=ale-bottle,= a wooden ale-keg. Dekker, Shoemaker’s Holiday, iii. 4

(Firk).

=alecie,= drunkenness; a humorous formation from _ale_, with _-cie_

added, as in _luna-cie_ (lunacy). ‘Lunasie or _alecie_’, Lyly, Mother

Bombie, iv. 2 (Riscio).

=Ale-conner,= an officer appointed to look to the assize and goodness of

bread and ale. Middleton, Mayor of Queenb., iii. 3 (Oliver). A

Lincolnshire word, see EDD. (s.v. Ale, 3).

=alegge,= to allay. Spenser, Shep. Kal., March, 5. ME. _alleggyn_ or

softyn peyn, ‘allevio, mitigo’ (Prompt. EETS. 21).

=alembic,= an alchemist’s still; sometimes, the head of the still. B.

Jonson, Alchemist, ii. 1 (Mammon); spelt _lembic_, iii. 2. 4.

=ale-stake,= a stake or pole projecting from an ale-house, to bear a

bush, garland, or other sign. Hickscorner, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, i. 191.

=alew,= halloo, outcry. Spenser, F. Q. v. 6. 13.

=alferez,= an ensign, standard-bearer. Fletcher, Rule a Wife, i. 1. 12;

_alfarez_, B. Jonson, New Inn, iii. 1 (Tipto). Span. _alférez_. Arab.

_al-fâris_, a horseman, from _faras_, a horse.

=alfridaria,= used of the power which a planet has (each for seven

years) over a man’s life. Tomkis, Albumazar, ii. 5. 5. From Arab. root

_faraḍa_, to define, decree, appoint a time for a thing; with suffix

_-aria_.

=alga,= seaweed. Dryden, Astræa Redux, 119. L. _alga_.

=algate=(=s,= always, continually. Stanyhurst, Aeneid, 1 (ed. 1880, 20);

altogether, ‘Una now he algates must forgoe’, Spenser, F. Q. iii. 1. 2;

nevertheless, notwithstanding, Shep. Kal., Nov., 21. _Algates_ is a

north country word, meaning ‘in every way, by all means’ (EDD.). ME.

_algates_, notwithstanding (Chaucer, C. T. B. 2222); _allegate_, in

every way (Ancren Riwle). See NED.

=alguazier, algazier,= an ‘alguazil’, warrant-officer, serjeant.

Fletcher, Span. Curate, v. 2 (heading); Love’s Cure, ii. 1. Span.

_alguazir_ (alguazil); Port. _al-vasil_, _al-vazir_; Arab. _al-wazîr_,

‘the minister’, officer, ‘vizier’, from root _wazara_, to carry.

=alicant, alligant,= wine from Alicante in Spain. Fletcher, The Chances,

i. 8. 10; Fair Maid of the Inn, iv. 2 (Clown); _aligant_, A Match at

Midnight, v. 1 (Sim.).

=a’ life,= as my life, extremely. Middleton, A Trick to Catch, iv. 3 (1

Creditor); The Widow, i. 1 (Martino); iv. 1 (2 Suitor).

=alkedavy,= the palace of a cadi or alcalde. Heywood, The Fair Maid, iv.

3 (Mullisheg); v. 1 (Mullisheg). From Arab. _alqâḍawî_, the (palace) of

the cadi.

=allay,= alloy. Bacon, Essay 1, § 2; Dryden, Hind and Panther, i. 320.

ME. _alay_, inferior metal combined with one of greater value (P.

Plowman, B. xv. 342). Norm. F. _aley_, _alay_, from _aleier_, to

combine. L. _alligare_.

=allect,= to allure, entice. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 14, §

13; Sir T. More, Works (1557), p. 275, col. 1. Med. L. _allectare_

(Ducange).

=allegge,= to alleviate. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 2. 15. See =alegge.=

=alleggeaunce,= alleviation. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 5. 42. OF. _alegeance_,

deriv. of _alegier_, to alleviate. L. _alleviare_, to lighten.

=all-hid,= the game of hide and seek. Love’s Lab. L., iv. 3. 78; cf.

Hamlet, iv. 2. 32; Two Angry Women, iv. 1. 27; Tourneur, Rev. Trag.,

iii. 5. 82.

=All-holland-tide;= see =Hollandtide.=

=alligarta,= alligator. B. Jonson, Barth. Fair, ii. 1 (Overdo);

_aligarta_, Romeo and J., v. 1. 43 (1st Q.). Span. _el lagarto_, the

lizard.

=alloune, aloune,= let us go. Anglicized form of F. _allons_. Marston,

What You Will, ii. 1 (Laverdure).

=all-to-bepowdered,= powdered all over. Vanbrugh, The Confederacy, v. 2

(Mrs. Amlet).

=all-to ruffled,= ruffled extremely. Milton, Comus, 380. The incorrect

compound _all-to_ came into use about 1500, in place of the older idiom

which would have given the form _all to-ruffled_, with the _to-_ linked

to the verb. Here _all_, adv., meant ‘extremely’, and merely emphasized

the prefix _to-_. Spelt _all to ruffl’d_ (1645).

=almacanter, almucantury,= a small circle of the sphere parallel to the

horizon, representing a parallel of altitude. Beaumont and Fl., Bloody

Brother, iv. 2 (la Fiske). Cp. Chaucer, Astrolabe, pt. ii, § 5. Spelt

_almacantara_, B. Jonson, Staple of News. ii. 1 (P. senior). Arab.

_al-muqanṭarât_, pl., bridges, arcs, almucanters. See Dozy, 164.

=Almain,= a German. Othello, ii. 3. 87; a kind of dance, Peele, Arraign.

of Paris, ii. 2, 28; hence _Almain-leap_, B. Jonson, Devil is an Ass, i.

1 (Satan); _the Almond leape_, Cotgrave (s.v. Saut). OF. _aleman_,

German (mod. _allemand_).

=almery,= an aumbry, a cupboard. Morte Arthur, leaf 362, back, 24; bk.

xvii. c. 23; _ambry_, Stanyhurst’s Aeneid, bk. ii (ed. Arber. p. 44. 2).

For various prov. forms of this word see EDD. (s.v. Ambry). ME.

_almery_, of mete kepyng, ‘cibutum’ (Prompt. EETS. 10). Norm. F.

_almarie_ (Moisy), Med. L. _armarium_ (Prompt. 395), deriv. of L.

_arma_, gear, tools.

=almuten,= the prevailing or ruling planet in a nativity. ‘Almuten lord

of the geniture,’ Fletcher, Bloody Brother, iv. 2 (Norbret and Rusee);

‘And Mars Almuthen, or lord of the horoscope’, Massinger, City Madam,

ii. 2 (Stargaze); ‘Almuten Alchochoden’, Tomkis, Albumazar ii. 5 (end).

Error for _almutaz_ (NED.); from Arab. _al_, the, and _muʿtaz_,

prevailing, from _ʿazz_, to be powerful.

=alonely,= solely. Kyd, Cornelia, iv. 3. 160; _all alonely_, Barnes,

Works, p. 226, col. 2; _alonely_, id. p. 227, col. 2. From _all_ and

_only_.

=alow,= below, low down. Dryden, Cymon, 370. ‘Ship, by bearing sayl

alowe, withstandeth stormes’, Tusser, Husbandry, § 2. In use in Scotland

(EDD.). ME. _alowe_: ‘Why somme (briddes) be alowe and somme alofte’ (P.

Plowman, B. xii. 222).

=aloyse!= _interj._, look! see! see now! ‘_Aloyse! aloyse_, how pretie

it is, is not here a good face?’ Damon and Pithias; in Hazlitt, iv. 79;

Anc. Brit. Drama, i. 91.

=alphin, alphyn,= a bishop, in the game of chess. Caxton, Game of the

Chesse, bk. ii. ch. 3. § 1. OF. _alfin_, Span. _al-fil_; from Arab.

_al-fîl_, ‘the elephant’. Pers. _pîl_, elephant; see Dozy, Glossaire,

113, 114.

=als,= also. Spenser, F. Q. i. 9. 18; ii. 1. 7. 40; iv. 7. 35. _As als_,

as also; id. iv. 4. 2. _Als_ is short for _also_, and _as_ is short for

_als_; hence _as als_ = also also.

=alther,= of all. _Alther fyrste_, first of all; Caxton, Hist. Troye,

leaf 303. 2. See =alder.=

=altitonant,= thundering from on high. Middleton, World Tost at Tennis

(Pallas). L. _altitonans_, with reference to Jupiter.

=altitudes,= _in the altitudes_, in a lofty mood, full of airs. Beaumont

and Fl., Laws of Candy, ii. 1 (Gonzalo); _in his altitudes_, Vanbrugh,

The Confederacy, v. 2 (Brass).

=alture,= altitude; said of the sun. Surrey, tr. of Psalm lv., l. 29.

Ital. _altura_, height; _alto_, high. L. _altus_, high.

=aludel,= an alchemist’s pot, used for sublimation. B. Jonson,

Alchemist, ii. 1 (Subtle). F. _aludel_, OF. _alutel_. Arab. _al-uthāl_,

the utensil. See NED.

=alvarado,= the rousing of soldiers at dawn of day by the beating of the

drum or the firing of a gun; ‘so that the very alverado given sounds the

least hope of conquest’, Dekker, Wh. of Babylon (Works, iii. 255); O.

Fortunatus, ii. 1 (Soldan). Port. _alvorada_, ‘aube, la pointe du jour;

(Mil.). Diane, battement de tambour, coup de canon à la pointe du jour

pour éveiller les soldats’; _alvór_, ‘la première pointe du jour’

(Roquette).

=amate,= to dismay, daunt, confound. Spenser, F. Q. i. 9. 45; ii. 1. 6

and 2. 5; Greene, Orl. Fur. ii. 1 (488); ‘_Matter_, to quell, mate,

amate’, Cotgrave. Norm. F. _amatir_, ‘soumettre par la frayeur,

terrifier’ (Moisy). See Nares.

=amazza,= (perhaps) slaughter. Pl. _amazza’s_; Nabbes, Microcosmus, ii.

1 (Choler). From Ital. _ammazzare_, to slay (Florio).

=amber,= to perfume with ambergris. Beaumont and Fl., Custom of the

Country, iii. 2 (Zabulon). The sb. is spelt _ambre_ in B. Jonson,

Cynthia’s Revels, v. 2 (Perfumer).

=ambidexter,= one who acts with either party, a double-dealer.

Middleton, Family of Love, v. 3 (Dryfat); Peele, Sir Clyomon, ed. Dyce,

p. 503. Med. L. _ambidexter_, ‘judex qui ab utraque parte dona accipit’

(Ducange).

=Ambree, Mary,= an English heroine, who fought at the siege of Ghent in

1584. Beaumont and Fl., Scornful Lady, v. 4 (Lady); B. Jonson, Tale of a

Tub, i. 2 (Turfe).

=amell,= to enamel. Pp. _amell’d_; Chapman, tr. of Iliad, xvi. 123. ‘I

_ammell_ as a goldesmyth dothe his worke, _Jesmaille_’, Palsgrave. ME.

_amelen_, to enamel (Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 1080). Anglo-F. _aymeler_

(Rough List). See =aumayld.=

=amenage,= to domesticate, make quite tame. Only in Spenser, F. Q. ii,

4. 11. OF. _amenagier_, _amesnagier_, to receive into a house. Deriv. of

_mesnage_, a household, whence E. _menagerie_.

=amenaunce,= conduct, behaviour, mien. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 8. 17; Mother

Hubberd’s Tale, 781. Deriv. of F. _amener_, to lead, conduct.

=ames-ace,= double aces, the lowest throw with dice. All’s Well, ii. 3.

85; used as a term of contempt, _ambs-ace_, Beaumont and Fl., Queen of

Corinth, iv. 1 (Page). ME. _ambes as_ (Chaucer, C. T. B. 124). Norm. F.

_ambes as_, ‘deux as, mauvaise chance’ (Moisy). See =aums-ace.=

=amiss,= a fault, misdeed, misfortune. Hamlet, iv. 5. 18; Sonnet xxxv.

7; cli. 3; Heywood, Pt. 2, King Edward IV (Works, i. 119).

=amite,= aunt. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 88, back, 13. L. _amita_,

father’s sister.

=ammiral,= admiral. Milton, P. L. i. 294. OF. _amiral_; Port. _amiralh_.

=amomus,= amomum, an odoriferous plant. Nabbes, Microcosmus, iii. 13

(from end). L. _amomum_; Gk. ἄμωμον. See NED.

=amoneste,= to admonish. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 216. 1; lf. 327. 17.

Anglo-F. _amonester_ (Rough List).

=amoret,= a love-glance, a loving look. Greene, Friar Bacon, iii. 2

(1264); scene 9. 177 (W.); p. 168, col. 2; also iv. 2 (1668); scene 12.

8 (W.); p. 173, col. 2. F. _amourette_, a love-trick (Cotgr.).

=amort,= in phr. _all amort_, spiritless, dejected. Greene, Friar Bacon,

i. 1; Taming Shrew, iv. 3. 36; 1 Hen. VI, iii. 2. 124. The phr. is due

to F. _à la mort_, to the death. See NED.

=amortise,= to alienate in mortmain, to convey (property) to a

corporation. Bacon, Henry VII, ed. Lumby, p. 71. Anglo-F. _amortir_ (see

Rough List). Med. L. _admortire_, ‘concedere in manum mortuam’

(Ducange).

=a-mothering;= see =mothering.=

=amphiboly,= an ambiguity, a sentence that can be construed in two

different senses. B. Jonson, Magn. Lady, ii. 1 (Compass). L.

_amphibolia_; Gk. ἀμφιβολία, ambiguity.

=amphisbæna,= a serpent fabled to have a head at each end, and hence

capable of advancing in either direction. Milton, P. L. x. 524. Gk.

ἀμφίσβαινα, a kind of serpent that can go either forwards or backwards

(Aeschylus).

=amrell,= admiral. Skelton, How the douty Duke of Albany, 55. See

=ammiral.=

=amuse,= to distract, bewilder, puzzle. B. Jonson, Sejanus, v. 6

(Macro); ‘I am amused, I am in a quandary, gentlemen.’ Chapman, Mons.

D’Olive, ii. (D’Olive). See Dict.

=an,= if (freq. in Shaks.); in old edds. mostly written _and_. Of very

freq. occurrence in the phrase _an it please you_, 2 Hen. VI, i. 3. 18;

_an if_, if, Othello, iii. 4. 83. See =and if.=

=anadem,= a wreath, chaplet. B. Jonson, Masque of the Barriers (Truth);

Drayton, The Owl, 1168. Gk. ἀνάδημα, a headband; from ἀναδέειν, to bind

up.

=analects,= pl. scraps, gleanings. ‘No gleanings, James? No

trencher-_analects_?’ (lit. gleanings from trenchers), Cartwright, The

Ordinary, iii. 5 (Rhymewell). Gk. ἀνάλεκτα, things gathered up; from

_ἀναλέγειν_, to pick up.

=anatomy,= a skeleton. King John, iii. 4. 25; Com. Errors, v. 1. 238;

Two Noble Kinsmen, v. 1. 121. Cf. =atomy.=

=anchor,= an anchorite, hermit. Hamlet, iii. 2. 229. ME. _ancre_, a

hermit (P. Plowman, C. i. 30; ix. 146). OE. _ancra_ (Ælfric), shortened

from Eccles. L. _anachoreta_ (Ducange); Gk. ἀναχορητής, one who

withdraws, retires (from the world).

=ancient,= an ‘ensign’, standard, or flag. Hence, _ancient-bearer_, a

standard-bearer, an ‘ensign’; ‘_alférez_, an ancient-bearer, signifer’,

Percivall, Span. Dict.; ‘office or charge, as captaine . . . sergeant,

ancient-bearer’, Act 3, Jas. I (NED.); Dekker, Old Fortunatus, i. 2

(Shadow); also _ancient_ (alone), ‘Welcome, Ancient Pistol!’ 2 Hen. IV,

ii. 4. 120; Othello, i. 1. 33. A corrupt form of _ensign_. Anglo-F.

_enseigne_, a standard (Rough List).

=ancome,= a boil, a foul swelling. Eastward Ho! iii. 2 (Mrs. T.).

‘_Vijt_, an ancombe, or a sore upon one’s finger’, Hexham. _Ancome_ is a

north-country word (EDD.). ME. _oncome_; used of the plagues of Egypt

(Cursor M., 5927). Cp. Icel. _ákoma_, arrival, visitation; eruption on

the skin.

=and if= (a redundant expression, both particles having the same

meaning). ‘But and yf that evyll servaunt shall saye in his herte,’

Tyndal, Matt. xxiv. 48 (cp. A. V.); Two Gent. iii. 1. 257; All’s Well,

ii. 1. 74. See =an.=

=andveld,= an anvil. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 216, back, 16. ME.

_anefeld_ (Wyclif, Job xli. 15), OE. _anfilte_ (Sweet).

=anele,= to anoint with holy oil. ‘I aneele a sicke man, I anoynte hym

with holy oyle’; and ‘I aneele a sicke man . . . j’enhuylle’, Palsgrave.

Hence =unaneled,= q.v. ME. _anelen_ (R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 11269).

Deriv. of OE. _ele_, oil, L. _oleum_.

=an-end,= on end. Hamlet, i. 5. 19; _still an-end_, continually, Two

Gent. iv. 4. 68. _An-end_ in the sense of ‘without stop or intermission’

is in prov. use in various parts of England from Durham to Cornwall, see

EDD. (s.v. On-end, 3).

=anenst,= side by side with, beside, opposite, in view of; ‘And right

anenst him’, B. Jonson, Alchemist, ii. 1 (Subtle). See EDD. (s.v.

Anent). ME. _anentis_, with, in view of; ‘Anentis men this thing is

impossible, but anentis God alle thingis ben possible’ (Wyclif, Matt.

xix. 26); _anent_ ‘juxta’ (Barbour’s Bruce, viii. 124). OE. _on efen_,

on even (ground) with.

=angel,= applied to a bird. ‘An _angel_ of the air’, Two Noble Kinsmen,

i. 1. 16; ‘Roman angel’, the eagle, Massinger, ii. 2 (Harpax).

=angel,= a gold coin worth 10_s._ Merch. Ven. ii. 7. 56. Very common,

and often used in quibbles.

=angelot,= a small rich cheese, made in Normandy. Davenant, The Wits,

iv. 1 (Y. Pallantine). Said to be so called from being stamped with the

coin called an _angelot_, a piece struck by Louis XI (so Littré). F.

_angelot_, the cheese called an angelot (Cotgr.).

=angler,= a term used of a thief who fished for plunder, through an open

window, with a rod, line, and hook. Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1

(Moll).

=another-gates,= of a different kind. Butler, Hudibras, pt. i. c. 3.

428; Lyly, Mother Bombie, A. i (Nares). From _gate_, a way; lit. ‘of

another way’. In prov. use in Lancashire (EDD.).

=another-guess,= of a different kind. ‘This is another-guess sort’,

Foote, The Orators, A. iii (O’Drogheda). Howell has the intermediate

form _another-gets_ in his Famil. Letters, vol. i. sect. 4. letter 9

(Feb. 5, 1635). Corruption of the form above. In prov. use in

Gloucestershire (EDD.).

=anslaight,= an onslaught. Fletcher, M. Thomas, ii. 2 _or_ ii. 3

(Sebastian). Some read _onslaught_; see NED.

=anthropophagi,= pl. man-eaters, cannibals. Othello, i. 3. 144; Greene,

Orl. Fur. i. 1. 111 (Orlando, p. 90, col. 2). L. pl. of

_anthropophagus_, Gk. ἀνθρωποφάγος, man-eating; from ἄνθρωπος, a man,

φαγεῖν, to eat.

=antick,= a grotesque pageant or theatrical representation. Ford, Love’s

Sacrifice, iii. 2 (Fernando); Love’s Lab. L., v. 1. 119.

=antick,= a burlesque performer, buffoon, merry-andrew. Richard II, iii.

2. 162; Spenser, F. Q. iii. 11. 51. Ital. _antico_, grotesque. L.

_antiquus_, antique. For the development of the meaning of the Ital.

_antico_ from ‘antique’ to ‘grotesque’, see the full account in NED.

=antimasque,= a burlesque interlude between the acts of a masque. The

prefix is uncertain; perhaps for L. _ante_, before (NED.). But B. Jonson

has the form _antick-masque_, Masque of Augurs (Noteh). Bacon has

_anti-masque_, Essay 37; cf. Shirley, The Traitor, iii. 2 (Lorenzo).

=antiperistasis,= a contrast of circumstances; opposition. B. Jonson,

Cynthia’s Revels, v. 3 (2 Masque: Mercury). Gk. ἀντιπερίστασις,

reciprocal replacement of two substances.

=antlier,= an antler, tine of a stag’s horn. ‘The first _antlier_, which

Phoebus calleth and termeth _antoiller_’, Turbervile, Hunting, c. 21, p.

53. The lowest tine was _the burre_, growing out of _the pearles_; the

second tine, the _antlier_; the third, the _surantlier_; the next,

_royal_ and _surroyal_; and those at the top, _croches_ (more correctly

spelt _troches_ at p. 137); see Turbervile (as above), p. 54. ‘The thing

that beareth the antliers, royals, and tops [or troches] ought to be

called _the beame_, and the little clyffes or streakes therein are

called _gutters_’; id. p. 53. OF. _antoillier_ (F. _andouiller_).

=antre,= a cave. Othello, i. 3. 140. F. _antre_, L. _antrum_, Gk.

ἄντρον.

=aourne,= to adorn. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 223, back, 17; lf. 253,

back, 15. Anglo-F. _aourner_ (_adourner_), to adorn (Gower).

=apaid, appaid,= satisfied. Peele, Edw. I, ed. Dyce, p. 381 (Guenthian);

Chapman, Iliad, v. 143; Milton, P. L. xii. 401; Spenser, F. Q. ii. 12.

28; v. 11. 64; Shep. Kal., Aug., 6. ME. _apayed_, satisfied (Wyclif,

Luke iii. 14); pp. of _apayen_. Norm. F. _apaier_ (Moisy); deriv. of

_paier_, L. _pacare_, to pacify.

=apayre,= to impair, injure. Morte Arthur, leaf 51, back, 12; bk. iii.

c. 3. ME. _apeyryn_, to make worse (Prompt. EETS. 21). OF. _empeirer_,

deriv. of L. _peiorare_, from _peior_, worse. See =appair.=

=apeche, appeche,= to ‘impeach’, charge with a crime. Morte Arthur, leaf

212, back, 23; bk. x. c. 7; ‘I apeche, I accuse’, Palsgrave. ME.

_apechyn_, ‘appellare’ (Prompt. EETS. 13). Anglo-F. _empescher_ (Rough

List). Late L. _impedicare_, to hinder, catch by a fetter (Ducange). See

=appeach.=

=A-per-se,= A by itself; a type of excellence, because A begins the

alphabet. Middleton, Blurt, Mr. Constable, iii. 3 (Lazarillo); Mirror

for Mag., Warwicke, st. 1.

=apostata,= apostate. Massinger, Virgin Martyr, iv. 3 (Theoph.); v. 2

(Artemia). The usual old form.

=apostle spoons,= silver spoons, the handle of each terminating in the

figure of an apostle; usually given by sponsors at christenings. B.

Jonson, Barthol. Fair, Act i (Quarlous); Fletcher, Noble Gentlemen, v. 2

(Longueville).

=appair, apaire,= to impair, damage. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c.

7, § last; Skelton, Against Garnesche, i. 19. Also intrans.; ‘I appayre

or waxe worse’, Palsgrave. See =apayre.=

=appeach,= to ‘impeach’, accuse, censure. Richard II, v. 2. 79; Spenser,

F. Q. v. 9. 47. See =apeche.=

=apperil,= peril, risk. Timon, i. 2. 32; B. Jonson, Devil an Ass, v. 3

(Sledge); Magnetic Lady, v. 6 (Ironside).

=appertise,= dexterity, a feat of dexterity. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf

122, back, 4; lf. 303, back, 29. OF. _appertise_, ‘industrie, dextérité,

tour d’adresse’; Histoire de Charles VII: ‘Fist de belles vaillances et

appertises d’armes contre les Anglois’, see Didot, Glossaire; _appert_,

‘adroit industrieux, habile en sa profession’ (id.). Cp. O. Prov.

_espert_, ‘adroit, habile’ (Levy). L. _expertus_.

=apple-John,= or _John-apple_, an apple said to keep for two years, and

in perfection when shrivelled. 2 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 5; Dekker, Old

Fortunatus, iv. 2 (Shadow). Ripe about St. John’s day (June 24).

Purposely confused with _apple-squire_, a pander, B. Jonson, Barth.

Fair, i. 1 (Quarlous).

=apple-squire,= a pander. B. Jonson, Every Man, iv. 8 (Kiteley);

Middleton, A Fair Quarrel, Meg’s Song.

=apposal,= a posing question. Skelton has _apposelle_, Garl. of Laurell,

141. From _appose_, v.

=appose,= to ‘pose’, to ask a difficult question. Udall, Roister

Doister, i. 1. 14; Short Catechism, Edw. VI, 495 (NED.). ME. _appose_,

_apose_ (P. Plowman, C. ii. 45). Cp. to question (Chaucer, C. T. G.

363), Prompt. 13: ‘_Aposen_ or _oposyn_, opponere’. F. _aposer_ (for

_opposer_), to make a trial of a person’s learning; see Palsgrave (s.v.

Oppose).

=appropinque,= to approach. Butler, Hudibras, pt. i. c. 3. 590. L.

_appropinquare_.

=approve,= to prove, demonstrate to be true; to corroborate, confirm.

Merch. Ven. iii. 2. 79; All’s Well, iii. 7. 13; to put to the proof,

test, as in _approved_, tested, tried, 1 Hen. IV, i. 1. 54.

=apricock,= an apricot. Richard II, iii. 4. 29; Two Noble Kinsmen, ii.

1. 291. ‘_Abricot_, the abricot or apricock plumb’, Cotgrave. _Apricock_

is in common prov. use in various parts of England from the north

country to Somerset; _abricock_ is the usual form in West Somerset

(EDD.). Port. _albricoque_.

=aqueity,= watery quality. B. Jonson, Alchemist, ii. 1 (Subtle).

=arace, arasche,= to tear, tear away. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 256,

back, 14; lf. 319. 1. ‘I _arace_, I pull a thyng by violence from one’,

Palsgrave. ME. _arace_, to uproot (Chaucer, Tr. and Cr. v. 954). OF.

_esrachier_; L. _exradicare_, to tear up by the roots.

=arber, erber,= the whole ‘pluck’ of a slain animal. _To make the

erbere_, to take out the ‘pluck’, the first stage in disembowelling,

Boke of St. Albans, fol. iij.; Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, v. 2 (Hubert);

spelt _arbor_, B. Jonson, Sad Shepherd, i. 2 (Marian). F. _herbier_, ‘le

premier ventricule du bœuf et des autres animaux qui ruminent’, Dict. de

l’Acad. (1762).

=arblast,= a cross-bow used for the discharge of arrows, bolts, stones,

&c., Caxton, Chron. Eng. xxviii. 23 (NED.). ME. _arblaste_ (Rob. Glouc.,

ed. 1810, 377). Anglo-F. _arbeleste_, Late L. _arcubalista_, a bow for

throwing missiles.

=arblaster,= a cross-bowman, Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 144, back, 20;

lf. 284, back, 30. ME. _arblaster_ (K. Alisaunder, ed. Weber, 2613).

Anglo-F. _arblaster_, Med. L. _arcubalistarius_ (Ducange).

=arcted,= pp. closely allied. Stanyhurst, tr. of Virgil, Aen. i. 336. L.

_arctare_, to draw close; from _arctus_, confined. See =art= (to

constrain).

=arecte,= to assign, attribute, impute. Skelton, Magnyfycence, 95. The

form used by Lydgate for _arette_. Med. L. _arrectare_, to accuse

(Ducange), due to association with _rectum_. See =arette.=

=areed,= to counsel, advise. Milton, P. L. iv. 962; Chapman, tr. of

Iliad, viii. 85; to explain, recount, Drayton, vi. 87. ME. _arede_, to

explain, counsel (Chaucer). OE. _ārǣdan_, to explain.

=areed,= advice. Downfall of E. of Huntingdon, i. 3 (Little John); in

Hazlitt’s Dodsley, viii. 116.

=arette,= to count, reckon. Morte Arthur, Caxton’s Pref., leaf. 1, back.

(_Aret_, _arret_, misused in Spenser in the sense of ‘to entrust,

allot’; F. Q. ii. 8. 8; iii. 8. 7.) ME. _aretten_, to count, reckon

(Wyclif, Luke xxii. 37). Anglo-F. _aretter_, to lay to one’s charge

(Rough List); cp. Span. _retar_, to accuse. O. Prov. _reptar_, ‘blâmer,

accuser’ (Levy). L. _reputare_, to count, reckon.

=arew,= in a row. Spenser, F. Q. v. 12. 29. Chapman, tr. Iliad, vi. 259;

Odyssey, viii. 679. _Rew_ is a prov. form of the word ‘row’ (EDD.). ME.

_a-rew_, ‘seriatim’ (Prompt. EETS. 15); _a-rewe_, in succession

(Chaucer, C. T. D. 1254). OE. _rǣw_, a row. See =rew.=

=argaile,= argol; i.e. tartar deposited from wine and adhering to the

side of a cask. B. Jonson, Alchemist, i. 1 (Subtle). ME. _argoile_,

crude tartar (Chaucer, C. T. G. 813). Anglo-F. _argoil_ (Rough List).

=argal,= therefore. Hamlet, v. 1. 21. A clown’s substitution for L.

_ergo_, therefore.

=argent,= silver; hence, money. Udall, Roister Doister, i. 4 (Roister).

F. _argent_. L. _argentum_, silver.

=argent vive,= quicksilver. B. Jonson, Alchemist, ii. 1 (Mammon). Cp. F.

_vif-argent_, quick-silver (Cotgr.).

=Argier, Argièr,= Algier, Algiers. _Argier_, Temp. i. 2. 261; _Argiers_,

Massinger, Unnat. Combat, i. 1 (Beauf. sen.).

=argin,= an embankment in front of a fort, glacis. Marlowe, 2

Tamburlaine, iii. 2. 85; 3. 23. Ital. _argine_, ‘a banke’ (Florio). See

Ducange (s.v. Arger (‘agger’) and Arginerius).

=argolet,= a light-armed horse-soldier. Peele, Battle of Alcazar, i. 2.

2; iv. 1 (Abdelmelec). F. _argolet_ (Cotgr.); _argoulet_, Essais de

Montaigne I. xxv (ed. 1870, p. 68): ‘Les _argoulets_ étaient des

arquebuisiers à cheval; et comme ils n’étaient pas considérables en

comparaison des autres cavaliers on a dit un _argoulet_ pour un homme de

néant’ (Ménage).

=argolettier,= a light-armed horse-soldier. Florio, tr. Montaigne, bk.

i. ch. 25: ‘_Guidone_, a banner or cornet for horsemen that be shot, or

Argolettiers’, Florio, Ital. Dict. See NED.

=argosy,= a merchant-vessel. Twice used as if it were _plural_; Marlowe,

Jew of Malta, i. 1. The original sense was ‘a ship of Ragusa’, the name

of a port in Dalmatia, on the Adriatic. Ragusa appears in 16th-cent.

English as _Aragouse_, _Arragosa_ (NED.).

=argument,= subject, topic, theme. Much Ado, i. 1. 266; 1 Hen. IV, ii.

2. 104; ii. 4. 314. So L. _argumentum_ (Quintilian).

=arietation,= an attack with a battering-ram. Bacon, Essay 58, § 8. L.

_ariēs_, a ram.

=armado,= an army. Dryden, Annus Mirabilis, st. 14. Span. _armada_. Med.

L. _armata_, army (Ducange); cp. F. _armée_.

=armiger,= an esquire. Purposely altered to _armigero_ in Merry Wives,

i. 1. 10. L. _armiger_, one who bears arms, in Med. L. an esquire.

=armine,= a beggar, a poor wretch. London Prodigal, v. 1. 174. Coined

from Du. _arm_, poor; and put into the mouth of a supposed Dutchwoman.

=armipotent,= powerful in arms. Dryden, Palamon, ii. 545; iii. 293. L.

_armipotens_, powerful in arms.

=arms:= phr. _to give arms_, to have the right to bear arms, in the

heraldic sense. Middleton, A Fair Quarrel, iv. 4 (Capt. Albo).

=aroint thee!,= begone!, out of the way!, make room!, ‘aroint thee,

witch!’ King Lear, iii. 4. 127; Macbeth, i. 3. 6. ‘A lady well

acquainted with the dialect of Cheshire informed me that the word is

still in use there. For example, if the cow presses too close to the

maid who is milking her, she will give the animal a push, saying at the

same time, _’Roynt thee!_ by which she means, stand off’ (Nares).

_Roint_ is used in this sense in the north country: Yorks., Lancs., and

Cheshire (EDD.). OE. _rȳm ðū, gerȳm ðū_, make thou room, cp. _rȳm þysum

men setl_, give this man place (Luke xiv. 9); _rȳman_, to make room,

deriv. of _rūm_, wide, roomy. See Dict.

=arpine, arpent,= a French acre. Webster, Devil’s Law-case, iii. 1 (near

the end). F. _arpent_.

=arraign,= to arrange, place. Webster, Sir T. Wyatt (Suffolk), ed. Dyce,

p. 187: ‘See them arraign’d, I will set forward straight’, Webster (Wks.

ii. 261). See Halliwell.

=arras-powder,= orris-powder. Webster, White Devil (Brachiano), ed.

Dyce, p. 41. So also _arras_, orris; Duchess of Malfi, iii. 2 (Duchess).

See Halliwell (s.v. Arras (2)).

=arraught,= _pt. t._, seized forcibly, with violence. Spenser, F. Q. ii.

10. 34. ME. _arahte_, pt. t. of _arachen_, to obtain, attain (Gower, C.

A. i. 3207). OE. _ārǣcan_, to attain.

=arre,= to snarl as a dog. ‘They _arre_ and bark’, Nash, Summer’s Last

Will (Autumn), in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, viii. 44; ‘a dog snarling _er_’, B.

Jonson, Alchemist, ii. 1. 691 (Subtle).

=arrearages,= arrears. Massinger, Picture, ii. 2 (Honoria); Cymb. ii. 4.

13. OF. _arerage_; from _arere_, behind.

=arrect,= to direct upwards, to raise. Skelton, Garl. of Laurell, 55; to

set upright, ‘I arecte . . . or set up a thyng; _Je metz sus . . . je

metz debout_’, Palsgrave. From L. _arrect-_, pp. stem of _arrigere_, to

raise up.

=arride,= to please, gratify. B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of his Humour, ii.

1 (Fastidious); Marmion, The Antiquary, ii. 1 (Mocinigo). L. _arridere_,

to smile upon.

=arrouse,= to bedew, moisten. Spelt _arowze_, Two Noble Kinsmen, v. 4.

103; _arrowsid_, pp., Caxton, Hist. of Troye, leaf 249, back, l. 24.

Norm. F. _ar_(_r_)_ouser_, ‘arroser’ (Moisy). O. Prov. _arozar_ (Levy).

Romanic type *_arrosare_, L. _ad_ + _rorare_, fr. _ros_, dew.

=arsedine,= a gold-coloured alloy of copper and zinc, rolled into thin

leaf, and used to ornament toys. B. Jonson, Barth. Fair, ii. 1 (Trash).

Of unknown origin.

=arsee-versee,= _adv._, backside foremost, contrary-wise, conversely.

Udall, tr. of Apoph., Socrates, § 13; Diogenes, § 45; ‘fighting

arsie-versie’, Butler, Hudibras, i. 3. 827; ‘_Cul sur pointe_,

topsie-turvy, arsie-varsie’, Cotgrave. In common prov. use, see EDD.

(s.v. Arsy-versy).

=arsmetrike,= arithmetic. Fabyan, vii. 604 (NED.). ME. _arsmetrike_

(Chaucer, C. T. D. 2222); _arsmetique_ (Gower, C. A. vii. 149). OF.

_arismetique_, Med. L. _arismetica_ for L. _arithmetica_, Gk. ἡ

ἀριθμητική (τέχνη). The form _arsmetrike_ is due to popular etymology,

which associated the word with L. _ars metrica_, ‘the art of measure’.

See NED. (s.v. Arithmetic).

=arsmetry,= a corruption of _arsmetrick_, by form-association with

_geometry_. Greene, A Looking-glass, iii. 2 (1161); p. 132, col. 1.

=arson,= saddle-bow. ‘The arson of his sadel’, Morte Arthur, leaf 339,

back, 22; bk. xvi. c. 10. F. _arçon_.

=art,= to constrain. Court of Love, l. 46. ‘I _arte_, I constrayne’,

Palsgrave. L. _artare_, to confine. See =arcted.=

=artier,= an artery. Marlowe, 2 Tamburlaine, v. 3 (Physician). F.

_artere_, ‘an artery’ (Cotgr.). L. _arteria_, Gk. ἀρτηρία.

=artillery,= missile weapons. ‘_Artillarie_ now a dayes is taken for ii.

thinges, Gunnes and Bowes’, Ascham, Toxophilus, p. 65; Bacon, Essay 29,

§ 3; Fairfax, Tasso xvii. 49; BIBLE, 1 Sam. xx. 40 (AV.). Norm. F.

_artillerie_, ‘armes de jet et de trait, non à feu; comme arbalètes,

flèches, lances, etc.’ (Moisy).

=askaunces,= as if, as much as to say. Gascoigne, Dan Bartholomew; ed.

Hazlitt, i. 113, l. 4; i. 136, l. 16. So in Chaucer, C. T. G. 838. Cp.

OF. _quanses_, as if (Godefroy). See Romania, xviii. 152; Cliges (ed.

Förster, l. 4553, note). The M. Dutch _quansijs_ (as if saying, as much

as to say) in Reinaert, 2569 (ed. Martin, p. 78) is probably the same

word as the OF. _quanses_. The Chaucerian use of _ascaunces_ in Tr. and

Cr. i. 205, 292 is precisely the same as that of _als quansijs_ in

Reinaert.

=aspect,= (_aspéct_), the peculiar position and influence of a planet.

King Lear, ii. 2. 112. Common. ME. _aspect_, the angular distance

between two planets (Chaucer).

=asper,= a Turkish coin worth about two farthings or less. Fletcher,

Span. Curate, iii. 3 (Jamie). F. _aspre_. Byzantine Gk. ἄσπρον, white

money, from ἄσπρος, white.

=asprely,= fiercely. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i. c. 17. § 8. OF.

_aspre_; L. _asper_, fierce.

=assalto,= assault. B. Jonson, Every Man, iv. 7 (Bobadil). Ital.

_assalto_.

=assassinate,= an assassin, murderer. Dryden, Span. Friar, iv. 1

(Dominic); Don Sebastian, v. 1 (Almeyda).

=assay,= proof, trial; attempt; attack. Hamlet, ii. 1. 65; ii. 2. 71;

iii. 3. 69. _At all assays_, in every trial or juncture, in any case, on

every occasion, always, Drayton, Harmony of the Church, Ecclus. xxxvi.

st. 6; ‘At all assayes, _en tous poynts_’, Palsgrave. ME. _assay_, trial

(Chaucer, C. T. D. 290). Anglo-F. _assai_ (Gower).

=assinego,= a donkey, a dolt. Also _asinego_, Beaumont and Fl., Scornful

Lady, v. 4 (Welford); _asinigo_, Marmion, Antiquary, v. 1 (Ant.). Spelt

_asinico_ in ed. 1606; Tr. and Cr. ii. 1. 49; Span. _asnico_, ‘a little

asse’ (Minsheu), deriv. of _asno_, an ass, L. _asinus_, ass.

=assistant,= used by Fletcher for Span. _asistente_, the chief officer

of justice at Seville. Span. Curate, iii. 1. 15.

=assoil,= to set free, to dispel. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 1. 58; iv. 5. 30.

A peculiar use of _assoil_, to absolve. ME. _assoilen_, to absolve,

pardon, discharge (Chaucer). Anglo-F. _assoiler_, to pardon (Rough

List); _-soiler_ is formed from the present stem _soille_ of the verb

_soldre_, Romanic type _sol’re_, L. _solvere_, to loosen.

=assoil,= used for _soil_, to sully, taint. Fletcher, Queen of Corinth,

iii. 1 (Euphanes). [NED. quotes a modern instance, from D’Israeli.]

=assot,= to befool, make a fool of. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 10. 8; iii. 8.

22; _assot_, pp. infatuated, Shep. Kal., March, 25. Anglo-F. _assoter_,

to make a fool of, deriv. of _sot_, a fool (Gower). Med. L. _sottus_,

‘stolidus, bardus, simplex’ . . . ‘hinc Carolus Sottus, qui vulgo

“Simplex”’ (Ducange).

=assurd,= to burst forth. Skelton, Garl. of Laurell, 302. OF.

_assordre_, _essordre_, L. _exsurgere_.

=assured,= affianced. Com. Errors, iii. 2. 145; King John, ii. 535.

=astart,= to start up. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 2. 29.

=astarte,= to escape. Turbervile, Hunting, 138. ME. _asterte_, to escape

(Chaucer, Leg. G. W. 1802).

=astert,= to come suddenly upon, happen suddenly to. Spenser, Shep.

Kal., Nov., 187. ME. _asterte_, to happen, befall (Gower, C. A. i. 722;

v. 707).

=astone,= to astound, confound. Peele, Sir Clyomon; ed. Dyce, p. 526.

ME. _aston-en_ (Chaucer); OF. _estoner_; Pop. Lat. _extonare_, for L.

_attonare_, to stun, stupefy as by thunder, _tonare_, to thunder.

=astonied,= astonished, astounded. BIBLE, AV.: Job xvii. 8; Jer. xiv. 9;

North’s Plutarch, M. Antonius (ed. Skeat, p. 204); stunned, Spenser,

Shep. Kal., July, 227; spelt _astoynde_, astounded, Sackville Mirrour,

Induct. 29. ME. _astonie_, to amaze (Chaucer, H. Fame, iii. 1174). See

=stoin.=

=astracism,= an astracism, or collection of stars. ‘The threefold

astracism’, Marlowe, 2 Tamburlaine, iv. 4. Possibly a deriv. of Med. L.

_astracum_ ‘pavimentum domus’ (Ducange); cp. Ital. _astracco_, a fretted

ceiling (Florio).

=at-after,= after. Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 22; Richard III, iv. 3. 31.

In prov. use in various parts of England from the north to Shropshire

(EDD.). ME. _at after_ (Chaucer, C. T. B. 1445).

=at all!= a gamester’s exclamation, when he challenges all present. ‘Cry

at all!’, Massinger, City Madam, iv. 2. 4; ‘have at all!’, Skelton,

Bowge of Courte, 391.

=atchievement,= ‘achievement’, an ensign memorial granted in memory of

some achievement or distinguished feat. Milton, Tetrachordon (Trench,

Sel. Gl.); Dryden, Palamon, iii. 344, 932.

=athanor,= an alchemist’s furnace. B. Jonson, Alchemist, ii. 1 (Subtle).

Arab. _attannūr_; _al_, the, _tannūr_, furnace.

=atomy,= an atom. As You Like It, iii. 2. 245; a tiny being, id. iii. 5.

13.

=atomy,= an emaciated person, a walking skeleton. 2 Hen. IV, v. 4. 33

(Qu. 1597). For _anatomy_ (a skeleton), the _an-_ being taken for the

indef. article.

=atone,= to set two persons ‘at one’. ‘Since we cannot atone you’,

Richard III, i. 1. 202; to agree, Coriolanus, iv. 6. 72.

=atonement,= reconciliation. Richard III, i. 3. 36; Beaumont and Fl.,

Bloody Brother, i. 1 (Rolls).

=attaint,= to hit, strike, wound. ‘His attainted thigh’, Chapman, tr. of

Iliad, xi. 572; _attaint_, pp. stricken, Sackville, Induction, st. 15.

‘I _atteynt_, I hyt or touche a thyng, _Iattayngs_’, Palsgrave.

=attame,= to commence. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 19, 12; lf. 71, back,

28. OF. _atamer_; L. _attaminare_, to lay hands on. Cp. O. Prov.

_entamenar_. ‘entamer’ (Levy). See Hatzfeld (s.v. Entamer).

=atte,= for _at the_; _atte last_, at the last; _atte castel_, at the

castle; Morte Arthur (see Glossary); _atten ale_ (_at nale_), at the

ale-house; Skelton, Bowge of Courte, 387. ME. _atte_, at the (Chaucer);

_atte nale_, at the ale-house (P. Plowman, c. viii. 19).

=attend,= attendance. Greene, A Looking-glass, i. 1. 8.

=attent,= attentive, attentively. Milton, P. R. i. 385; Dryden, Wife of

Bath, 310.

=attentate,= a criminal attempt or assault. Bacon, Henry VII, ed. Lumby,

p. 86. F. _attentat_, ‘tentative criminelle’ (Hatzfeld).

=atteynt,= an ‘attaint’, a wound on a horse’s foot due to a blow or

injury; either from overstepping, or from being trodden on by another

horse. Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 113; Topsell, Four-footed Beasts, 313

(NED.).

=attonce,= at once. Peele, Arr. of Paris, iii. 2 (Paris); iv. 1 (Paris).

=attract,= an attractive quality, charm. ‘The Soule . . . glides after

these attracts’, Manchester Al Mondo (ed. 1639, p. 117). Late L.

_attractus_, attraction.

=attrapt,= ‘trapped’, furnished with ‘trappings’; said of a horse.

Spenser, F. Q. iv. 4. 39.

=attrite,= worn by friction. Milton, P. L. x. 1073. L. _attritus_.

=atwite,= to reproach, upbraid, twit. Calisto and Melibaea, in Hazlitt’s

Dodsley, i. 85; spelt _attwite_, Hazlitt, Early Pop. Poetry, iii. 25.

OE. _æt_, prep., and _wītan_, to blame. The mod. E. _twit_ is a

shortened form of _atwite_.

=auberge,= a lodging, a term technically applied to a reception-house

provided by the Knights Hospitallers, hence, to their fraternity.

Beaumont and Fl., Knight of Malta, i. 3 (Mountferrat). F. _auberge_, O.

Prov. _alberga_. Cp. Med. L. _albergia_, ‘apud Milites Hospital. S.

Joan. Hieros. vocantur domus, in quibus Fratres Ordinis per nationes una

comedunt et congregantur. Statuta ejusd. Ordin. tit. 19 § 3’ (Ducange).

=aubifane,= the corn blue-bottle, _Centaurea cyanus_. Peacham, Comp.

Gentleman, c. 14, p. 158. F. _aubifoin_, the weed Blew-bottle (Cotgr.).

=auke,= backward, contrary to the usual way, from left to right. ‘With

an auke stroke’, Morte Arthur, leaf 156, back; bk. viii. c. 25 (end);

‘Ringing as awk as the bells, to give notice of the conflagration’,

Lestrange, Fables (NED.). In E. Anglia bells are said to be ‘rung awk’

when they are rung backward or contrary to the usual way, to give alarm

of fire (EDD.). The word is found in many German dialects: Kurhessen,

_afk_ perverse (Vilmar). See =awk.=

=auke,= untoward, froward. Tusser, Husbandry, § 62. 13.

=aukly,= inauspiciously; said of the flight of birds. Golding, Metam. v.

147; fol. 57, back.

=aulf,= elf, goblin. Drayton, Nymphidia, st. 10. See =ouphe.=

=aumayld,= enamelled. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 3. 57. Deriv. of OF. _amail_,

for _esmail_, enamel. See =amell.=

=aums-ace,= double aces; given as the name of a card-game. Interlude of

Youth, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, ii. 35. See =ames-ace.=

=aunt,= a cant term for a bawd or procuress. Middleton, A Trick to

Catch, ii. 1 (first speech); Michaelmas Term, ii. 3 (Thomasine).

=aunters:= in phr. _in aunters_, in case, in case that, if. ‘In aunters

the Englishmen shoulde sturre’, Robinson, tr. of More’s Utopia, p. 57.

_Aunters_ (without _in_) was used in the same sense, and represented an

adverbial form founded on _aunter_, a contraction of _aventure_ (Mod. E.

_adventure_); see _Aunters_ in NED. Cp. the Yorkshire word _anters_: ‘We

must have it ready, anters they come’ (i.e. in case they come); see EDD.

(s.v. Aunters, 2).

=autem mort,= a married woman (Cant). ‘_Autem-mortes_ be maried wemen’,

Harman, Caveat, p. 67. He adds ‘for Autem in their [slang] language is a

Churche; so she is a wyfe maried at the Church’. Spelt _autumn mort_,

Brome, Jovial Crew, ii. 1 (Randal).

=avails,= profits, proceeds, ‘vails’. Bacon, Henry VII (ed. Lumby, p.

94).

=avale, avail,= to sink, descend, droop; also, to lower, let down. To

sink, Spenser. F. Q. i. 1. 21; iii. 2. 29; to descend, ii. 9. 10; iv. 3.

46; to droop, Shep. Kal., Feb., 8; to lower, let down, F. Q. iv. 10. 19;

Shep. Kal., Jan., 73. Anglo-F. _avaler_, to lower, bring down, swallow,

deriv. of _aval_, down, lit. to the valley (Gower), L. _ad vallem_.

=avaunce,= to advance, promote, Sir T. Wyatt, Sat. iii. 71. ME.

_avaunce_, to promote (Chaucer, Leg. G. W. 2022). Anglo-F. _avancer_

(Gower).

=avaunt,= to ‘vaunt’, boast. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 3. 6. ME. _avaunten_

(Chaucer). Anglo-F. _s’avanter_, to boast; _avantance_, _avanterie_,

boasting (Gower).

=Ave-Mary bell,= a bell rung daily (once or twice) to direct the recital

of an Ave-Maria, or prayer to the Virgin. Sir T. Browne, Rel. Medici,

pt. 1. § 3.

=avenant,= suitable; _after the avenant_, in proportion, Caxton, Hist.

Troye, leaf 149. 30; _at avenant_, in proportion, id. lf. 225. 4. ‘Fayre

and avenant’, fair and graceful, id. lf. 256. 4. ME. _avenaunt_,

graceful, comely (Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 1263). Anglo-F. _avenant_,

suitable, agreeable (Gower), pres. pt. of _avenir_, to be suitable

(id.).

=avente him,= to refresh himself with air. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf

298. 2. ME. _aventen_, to open the helmet to admit the cool air, to

refresh with cool air (Merlin, xx. 335). Anglo-F. _aventer_; cp. OF.

_esventer_ (mod. _éventer_), Med. L. _eventare_ (Ducange), L. _ex_ +

_ventus_, wind.

†=aventre= (?). ‘[She] aventred her spear’, Spenser, F. Q. iii. 1. 28;

‘[He] aventred his spear’, iv. 3. 9; ‘aventring his lance’, iv. 6. 11.

The phrase ‘they aventred their speres’ occurs in King Arthur (ed.

Copland); see NED. Can this word be an error for _aveutre_? _Aveutre_ =

_afeutre_ = OF. _afeutrer_, to lay a spear in rest in the _feutre_, the

felt-lined socket for a lance or spear attached to the saddle of a

knight. Spenser has the verb _fewter_ equivalent in meaning to

_afeutrer_ in F. Q. iv. 6. 10: ‘He his threatfull speare Gan fewter’.

See NED. (s.v. Fewter).

=aventure,= in phr. _at aventure_, at adventure, at hazard, at random.

BIBLE, 1 Kings xxii. 34 (improperly printed _at a venture_); ‘Certayn

. . . rode forthe at adventure’, Berners, Froissart, I. cxcii. ME.

_aventure_, chance, peril (Gower). Anglo-F. _aventure_, chance, danger,

uncertainty: _par aventure_ (Gower, Mirour, 1239).

=averruncate,= to avert, ward off. Butler, Hudibras, pt. i, c. 1. 758.

L. _auerruncare_, to avert. Often explained in the 17th cent. by ‘to

weed out’, or ‘to root up’, but Butler uses the word correctly. See NED.

=aversation,= aversion. Bacon, Essay 27.

=avile,= to hold cheap, think little of. B. Jonson, Prince Henry’s

Barriers (Lady). Anglo-F. _aviler_, to debase (Gower).

=avise,= to see, observe; to think; _refl._ to bethink. Spenser, F. Q.

ii. 1. 31; iv. 2. 22; iii. 12. 10; _refl._ ii. 6. 46; iii. 3. 6. _To be

avised of_, to be well informed about, Merry Wives, i. 4. 106; Meas. ii.

2. 132. ME. _avise_, refl. to consider (Chaucer, C. T. B. 664). Anglo-F.

_s’aviser_, to take thought (Gower).

=avisefull,= observant. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 6. 26.

=avision,= a dream, vision. Douglas, Aeneid, iii. 1. 69. ME. _avisioun_

(Lydgate, Temple of Glas, 1374). Anglo-F. _avisioun_ (Gower).

=aviso,= advice, intelligence, piece of information. B. Jonson, Magn.

Lady, i. 1 (Sir Moth); Habington, Castara, ed. Arber, p. 102. Span.

_aviso_, information.

=avouch,= to maintain, make good. Mids. Night’s D., i. 1. 106; Tusser,

Husbandry, § 10. 12. Hence _avouch_, assurance, Hamlet, i. 1. 37.

=avoure,= acknowledgement, avowal. Spenser, F. Q. vi. 3. 48. OF.

_avouer_, an avowal, prop. infin., to avow.

=avoutry,= adultery. Paston, Letters, no. 883; vol. iii, p. 317;

Hickscorner, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, i. 175. ME. _avouterye_ (Chaucer).

Anglo-F. _avoulterie_ (Gower).

=avowre,= to vow, devote. Only in Phaer, Aeneid, viii. 85, Latin text (M

iiij, l. 6). See NED.

=awaite:= _in await_ (_awate_), in ambush. Fairfax, tr. Tasso, v. 18.

Anglo-F. _en await_ (_agwait_, _agueit_, _agait_), in ambush, lying in

wait (Rough List, s.v. Await).

=awaite:= in phr. _to have good awaite_, to take good care. Sir T.

Elyot, Governour, bk. ii, ch. 5, § 10.

=a-wallop,= in a boiling state, boiling quickly. Golding, Metam. vii.

263; fol. 82 (1603). Cp. the prov. word _wallop_, ‘to boil violently

with a bubbling sound’, in common use in Scotland and in various parts

of England. See EDD. (s.v. Wallop, vb.^{2}).

=awbe,= a bull-finch. Gascoigne, Philomene, l. 35. ME. _alpe_,

‘ficedula’ (Prompt.). See =nope.=

=awful,= profoundly reverential. Richard II, iii. 3. 76; Dryden,

Britannia, 106.

=awhape,= to amaze, confound. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 7. 5; v. 11. 32. ME.

_awhapen_ (Chaucer).

=awk,= reversed; _the awk end_, the wrong end, the other end. Golding,

Metam. xiv. 300 (L. ‘conversae verbere virgae’); fol. 170, back (1603).

See =auke.=

=awkward,= untoward, unfavourable, adverse. 2 Hen. VI, iii. 2. 83;

Marlowe, Edw. II, iv. 6. 34.

=axtree,= axle-tree. Drayton, Pol. i. 498. Still in prov. use, see EDD.

(s.v. Ax, sb.^{1} 3). OE. _œx-trēo_.

=aygulets,= an aglet, metal tag. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 3. 25. A doublet of

_aglet_. Spenser seems to speak here of the bright metal tops or tags of

lace, which he likens to stars; as in Two Noble Kinsmen, iii. 4. 2. F.

_aiguillette_, a point (Cotgr.), dimin. of _aiguille_, a needle.

=ayle,= a grandfather. ‘_Ayle_, _Pere_, and _Fitz_, grandfather, father,

and son’, Wycherley, Plain Dealer, i (Jerry). ME. _ayel_, grandfather

(Chaucer, C. T. A. 2477). Norm. F. _aiel_ (Moisy).

=azoch,= ‘azoth’, the alchemist’s name for quicksilver. B. Jonson,

Alchemist, ii. 1 (Surly). Also spelt _assogue_. F. _assogue_; Span.

_azogue_, quicksilver; Arab. _az-zāūq_; _zāūq_ is adapted from Pers.

_zhīwah_ (_jīvah_), quicksilver. See NED., Ducange, and Dozy, Glossaire

(s.v. Azogue).

B

=babion,= baboon. B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels, i. 1 (Amorphus); Drayton,

Man in the Moon, 331; spelt _babyone_ Skelton, ed. Dyce, i. 124, l. 163.

F. ‘_babion_, a babion or baboone’ (Cotgr.).

=bable,= a ‘bauble’, a toy, trick, fancy. ‘Has fill’d my head So full of

_bables_’ (some edd. _baubles_), Beaumont and Fl., Wit without Money, v.

4. 7; ‘That _bable_ called love’, Lyly, Endimion, iii. 3 (Epi.). OF.

_babel_, _baubel_, a child’s plaything (Godefroy); _beau_ + _bel_, cp.

F. _bonbon_.

=bace,= (Spenser); see =base.=

=bacharach, backrack,= the name of a wine. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, v. 2

(Vandunke); _Bacrack_, Butler, Hudibras, iii. 3. 300. From _Bacharach_,

on the Rhine. See =backrag.=

=back,= a bat. _Backes_ or reermice; Golding, Metam., iv. 415; fol. 49

(1603). The pl. _backes_ is the form used by Wyclif, Coverdale and the

Geneva Bible, in Isaiah ii. 20, where AV. has _battes_, see NED. (s.v.

Bat). In Scotland the usual word for the bat is _Backie_ (or

_Backie-bird_), see EDD. (s.v. Backie, sb.^{1} 1 and 2).

=backare!,= go back, keep back. ‘_Backare! quod Mortimer to his sow_;

i.e. keep back, said Mortimer’; an old proverb, often quoted against

such as are too forward, Udall, Roister Doister, i. 2 (Roister); Tam.

Shrew, ii. 1. 72. See EDD. (s.v. Baccare).

=backcheat,= stolen apparel, lit. things from the back. (Thieves’ cant.)

‘Back or belly-cheats’, Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, ii. 1 (Higgen). See

=cheat.=

=backrag,= the name of a wine. Shirley, Lady of Pleasure, v. 1

(Bornwell); Mayne, City Match, i. 3 (near the end). See =bacharach.=

=backside,= a yard behind a farmhouse. Witch of Edmonton, iv. 1 (Old

Banks). Very common in prov. usage, see EDD. (s.v. Backside, 2).

=badger-nab,= a strong little badger. ‘_Meg_ [a witch] What Beast was by

thee hither rid? _Mawd_ [second witch] A Badger-nab’, Heywood, Witches

of Lancs., iv. 1, vol. iv. p. 220. Cp. _knab_, a strong boy, a thickset,

strong little animal (EDD.).

=baffle,= to treat with ignominy and contempt. It was originally a

punishment inflicted on recreant knights, one part of it being that the

victim was hung up by the heels and beaten. See Spenser, F. Q. vi. 7.

27; Beaumont and Fl., A King and no King, iii. 2 (Bessus); 1 Hen. IV, i.

2. 113; Richard II, i. 1. 170. See Trench, Select Glossary, and NED.

=bag:= phr. _to give the bag_, to cheat. Westward Ho, iv. 2

(Honeysuckle).

=bagage,= refuse, worthless stuff; ‘When brewers put no bagage in their

beere’, Gascoigne, Steel Glas, 1082; Tusser, Husbandry, st. 21. An Essex

word in this sense, see EDD. (s.v. Baggage, sb.^{1}). Cp. Port.

_bagaço_, ‘marc; ce qui reste de plus grossier de quelque fruit, qu’on a

pressé pour en retirer le suc’ (Roquette).

=bagatine,= a small Italian coin, worth about the third part of a

farthing. B. Jonson, Volpone, ii. 2 (Vol.). Ital. _bagatino_,

_bagattino_, ‘a little coyne vsed in Italie’ (Florio).

=bagle,= a staff, or crosier such as a bishop carries. _Bagle-rod_,

Phaer, tr. of Aeneid, vii. 188 (see the side-note). Icel. _bagall_, a

crosier, L. _baculum_, a rod, staff.

=bague, baghe,= a ring, brooch. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 54, back, 8;

lf. 98. 11. F. _bague_.

=baies,= scoldings (?). ‘Ill servant . . . deserveth hir fee to be paid

hir with _baies_’, Tusser, Husbandry, § 81. 2.

=bain,= a bath. Chapman, tr. Odyssey, x. 567; to bathe, Greene, The

Palmer’s Verses, l. 88 (Capricornus); _bayne_, Surrey, Desc. of restless

state of a Lover, 13. F. _bain_.

=bain,= supple, lithe. Golding, Metam. iv. 354 (fol. 48); xv. 202; fol.

182 (1603). In common prov. use, see EDD. (s.v. Bain, sb. 1). ME.

_beyn_, ‘flexibilis’ (Prompt.). Icel. _beinn_, straight; also, ready to

serve.

=bains;= see =banes.=

=bait,= to stop at an inn to feed the horses, also to stop for

refreshment; used _fig._ ‘Evil news rides post, while good news baits’,

Milton, Samson, 1538. In prov. use in the sense of stopping to feed. See

EDD. (s.v. Bait, vb.^{1} 2).

=bald,= marked with white upon the head. Hence ‘bald coot’, a coot

(_Fulica atra_); Beaumont and Fl., Knight of Malta, i. 1 (Zanthia). In

prov. use (EDD.).

=bale,= a set of dice; usually three. B. Jonson, New Inn, i. 1 (Host);

Heywood, Wise Woman of Hogsdon, i. 1 (Young Chartley); A Woman never

vexed, ii. 1 (Stephen). See NED. (s.v. Bale, sb.^{3} 4).

=ball,= a white streak on a horse’s face. Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 73.

Hence _ball_, as a horse’s name; orig. one marked with a white streak;

Tusser, Husbandry, § 95, st. 2. Prob. of Celtic origin; cp. Gael.

_ball_, spot, mark, Breton _bal_, a white mark on an animal’s face.

=balloon,= a game in which a large ball (like a football) was struck by

the arm, which was protected by a stout guard. Eastward Ho, i. 1 (Sir

Petronel); Chapman, Byron’s Conspiracy, iv. 1 (_1st Lady_). _Balloo_, in

the phr. _at the Balloo_ (B. Jonson, Volpone, ii. 1: _Volpone_), must be

an error for _at the Balloon_, i.e. when playing at the game. Also

_balloon-ball_, Middleton, Game at Chess, ii. 1 (B. Knight).

=ballow,= smooth. ‘Ballowe wood’, i.e. smooth wood without bark, see

Nottingham Corporation Records, ed. Stevenson, vol. iv, Glossary (date

of entry 1504); ‘The ballow nag’, Drayton, Pol. iii. 24. ME. _balhow_,

smooth, plain (Prompt. EETS., see note no. 136).

=ballow,= in King Lear, iv. 6. 247, prob. means a quarter-staff

made from _ballow_ wood. See above.

=ban,= to curse, imprecate damnation on. 2 Hen. VI, ii. 4. 25; a curse,

Hamlet, iii. 2. 269. Icel. _banna_, to prohibit, curse.

=band,= a collar, lying flat upon the dress, worn round the neck by man

or woman. Also called _falling-bands_, Middleton, Roaring Girl, i. 1

(Mary). The falling band succeeded the cumbersome ruff.

=band,= to bandy about, like a tennis-ball. Look about You, sc. 32, l.

5; in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vii. 490.

=banding-ball,= a ball to be driven about at tennis or in the game of

bandy. Wounds of Civil War; in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vii. 116.

=bando,= a proclamation. Shirley, Sisters, v. 2 (Longino). Ital.

_bando_, a public proclamation (Dante).

=bandoleer, bandalier,= a broad belt, worn over the shoulder and across

the breast. Peele, Polyhymnia, The Third Couple (l. 10). Hence, a wearer

of a bandoleer was _himself_ called by the same name. Thus Gascoigne

has: ‘Their peeces then are called Petronels, And _they themselves_ by

sundrie names are called, As Bandolliers . . . Or . . . Petronelliers’,

Works, i. 408. See Dict.

=bandora,= a kind of guitar; now called _banjo_. Middleton, Your Five

Gallants, v. 2 (hymn); also _pandore_, Drayton, Pol. iv. 361. Ital.

_pandora_, a bandora (Florio).

=bandrol,= a long narrow flag, with a cleft end; a streamer from a

lance. Drayton, Pol. xxii. 211. Spelt _bannerall_, Spenser, F. Q. vi. 7.

26. F. _banderole_, a little flag or streamer, a penon (Cotgr.).

=banes,= ‘banns’ of marriage (the usual spelling to 1661); Tam. Shrew,

ii, 1. 181; spelt _bains_, Spenser, F. Q. i. 12. 36. ME. _bane_ of a

play (or mariage, Pynson), ‘banna’ (Prompt.).

=bangling,= frivolous contention, squabbling. Englishmen for my Money,

iv. 1 (Heigham); in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, x. 528.

=banquerout, bankrout,= a bankrupt. Webster, Appius, v. 2 (Virginius);

Com. Errors, iv. 2. See Dict. (s.v. Bankrupt).

=banquet,= a slight refection, a dessert after dinner. Tam. Shrew, v. 2.

9; Timon, i. 2. 160; ‘The Banquet is brought in’, Middleton, No Wit like

a Woman’s, ii. 1 (stage direction).

=barate,= treason. Caxton, Hist. Troye, 327, back, 10; 335. 29. OF.

_barat_, deceit. See NED. (s.v. Barrat).

=barathrum,= abyss, a bottomless pit. ‘To the lowest barathrum’,

Heywood, Silver Age (Pluto), vol. iii. p. 159; used _fig._ ‘You

barathrum of the shambles!’ Massinger, New Way, iii. 2 (Greedy); (cp.

_barathrumque macelli_, Horace, Epist. i. 15. 31). L. _barathrum_, the

underworld; Gk. βάραθρον, the yawning cleft near the Acropolis at

Athens, down which criminals were thrown.

=baratour,= a quarrelsome person, a brawler, a rowdy, Sir T. Elyot,

Governour, bk. ii. c. 12. § 8. ME. _baratowre_, ‘pugnax, rixosus,

jurgosus’ (Prompt.). Norm. F. _barateur_ ‘provocateur, querelleur’

(Moisy), deriv. of _barat_, ‘lutte, dispute’ (id.).

=baratresse,= a female warrior. Stanyhurst, tr. of Virgil, Aen. i. 500.

†=baratto, barrato,= a small boat; explained as ‘an Indian boat’.

Fletcher, Island Princess, i. 1. 19; ii. 6 (end).

=barb,= to shave. Turbervile, Trag. T. 53 (NED.); to mow, Marston,

Malcontent, iii. 1 (Malevole); to clip money, B. Jonson, Alchemist, i. 1

(Face). F. _barber,_ to shave, to cut the beard (Cotgr.).

=barbed,= wearing a barb. From _barb_, lit. a beard (F. _barbe_); hence,

a piece of white plaited linen, passed over or under the chin, and

reaching midway to the waist; chiefly worn by nuns. ‘Barbyd lyke a

nonne’, Skelton, Magnyfycence, 1000.

=bard;= see =barred.=

=bard cater-tray,= for _barred cater-tray_, a kind of false dice in

which the throws _cater_ (four) and _tray_ (three) were _barred_, or

prevented from being likely to appear. Dekker, Honest Wh., Pt. II, iv. 1

(Matheo). NED. quotes from Diceplay (1532), ed. 1850, p. 24:—‘a

well-favoured die that seemeth good and square, yet is the forehead

longer on the cater and tray than any other, way . . . Such be also

called _bard cater-tres_, because, commonly, the longer end will, of his

own sway, draw downwards, and turn up to the eye sice, sinke, deuis or

ace; i.e. 6, 5, 2, or 1, but not 4 or 3’.

=baretour,= a fighting man, a brawler. Stanyhurst, tr. of Aen. i. 472;

id. i. 142. Anglo-F. _barettour_ (Rough List). See =baratour.=

=bargenette, bargynet,= the name of a rustic dance, accompanied with a

song. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i. c. 20. § 12; Gascoigne, ed.

Hazlitt, i. 430. Variant of _bargaret_ or _bargeret_; F. _bergerette_,

‘chant que les bergers chantaient le jour de Pâques’ (Hatzfeld). See

NED. (s.v. Bargeret).

=barley-bread,= coarse food. Gascoigne, Steel Glas, 637.

=barley-break,= an old country-game; usually one couple, left in a

middle den termed ‘hell’, had to catch the other two couples (who were

allowed to separate and ‘break’ when hard pressed, and thus to change

partners); when caught, they had to take their turn as catchers. _Two

Noble Kinsmen_, iv. 3. 34; ‘A course at _barley-break_’, B. Jonson, Sad

Shepherd, A. i (Clarion). The last couple left were said to be in hell:

‘_Barly-break: or Last in Hel_’, a poem by Herrick. See EDD.

=barley-hood,= a fit of ill-temper, brought on by drunkenness. So called

because caused by _barley_, i.e. malt liquor. Skelton, El. Rummyng, 372.

See EDD.

=barn,= a ‘bairn’, a child. Much Ado, iii. 4. 48. ME. _barne_, ‘infans’

(Cath. Angl.). OE. _bearn_ (Anglian _barn_).

=barnacles,= barnacle-geese. Drayton, Pol. xxvii. 305 (where the fable

is given). See EDD. (s.v. Barnacle, sb.^{1}).

=barratry,= vexatious persistence in litigation. Butler, Hudibras, iii.

3. 695. See =baratour.=

=barrèd,= misused for _barded_, i.e. caparisoned. Drayton, Pol. xii.

481. Shortened to _bard_; Dekker, O. Fortunatus, iii. 1 (Cornwall).

=barred gown,= a gown marked with stripes or bars of gold lace, like

that of a judge or law-officer. Shirley, Bird in a Cage, i. 1

(Rolliardo).

=barrendry,= a barony, a title of a baron. Chapman, Humorous Day’s

Mirth, p. 31. Anglo-F. _baronnerie_, a baronry, the domain of a baron,

the rank or dignity of baron. See NED. (s.v. Baronry).

=barriers,= lists, as for a tournament. _To fight at barriers_, to fight

within lists. ‘_Jeu de Barres_, a martial sport of men armed and

fighting together with short swords within certain Barres or lists,

whereby they are separated from the spectators’, Cowel’s Interpreter

(ed. 1701). Webster, White Devil; ed. Dyce, p. 40; at p. 6, the ‘great

barriers’ are said ‘to moult feathers’; alluding to the plumes cut from

the helmets of the combatants.

=barth,= a warm place or pasture for calves or lambs. Tusser, Husbandry,

§ 33. 26; Coles, Dict., 1677. An E. Anglian word (EDD.). Prob. a

derivative of OE. _beorgan_, to shelter, protect.

=basciomani,= kissings of the hand. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 1. 56. Ital.

_basciamano_, a kissing of the hand (Florio).

=base,= or _prison-bars_, the name of a boys’ game. _To bid base_, to

challenge to pursuit, as in the game, Venus and Adonis, 303; Spenser, F.

Q. iii. 11. 5; _at bace_, id. v. 8. 5. ‘_Barres_, play at _bace_, or

prison Bars’, Cotgrave. ME. _bace_, play, ‘barri’ (Prompt. EETS. 24, see

note no. 100). ‘_Barri_ sunt ludi, anglicè _bace_’ (Wright, Vocab. 176;

foot-note).

=bases,= pl. (used like _skirts_), applied to a plaited skirt of cloth,

velvet, or rich brocade, appended to the doublet, and reaching from the

waist to the knee, common in the Tudor period. Massinger, Picture, ii. 1

(Sophia); Chapman, Mask of the Inner Temple, § 2. Called ‘a pair of

_bases_’, Pericles, ii. 1. 167.

=bash,= to be abashed, Greene, Looking Glasse, i. 1. 3; Peele,

Arraignment of Paris, iv. 1 (Venus); to make abashed, Greene, Looking

Glasse, i. 1. 75 (Rasni). In prov. use in both senses, see EDD. (s.v.

vb.^{3}).

=basilisk,= a species of ordnance. 1 Hen. IV, ii. 3. 56; Marlowe, 1

Tamburlaine, iv. 1. 2; Harrison, Desc. England, bk. ii, ch. 16 (ed.

Furnivall, 281).

=basket, the,= one in which the broken meat and bread from the sheriffs’

table was carried to the counters, for poor prisoners. Middleton,

Inner-Temple Masque (Dr. Almanac). Hence, _go to the basket_, i.e. to

prison, Massinger, Fatal Dowry, v. 1 (Pontalier). Cp. Shirley, Bird in a

Cage, iii. 4 (Rolliardo). There were three grades of prisoners in each

of the counters; they occupied, respectively, the Master’s side, the

Twopenny Ward, and the Hole. Those in the Hole paid nothing for their

provisions, but depended upon the basket.

=baslard,= a kind of hanger, or small sword. Mirror for Mag., Glocester,

st. 18. Anglo-F. _baselard_. For the other French forms, _bazelaire_,

_badelaire_, _beaudelaire_, see Ducange (s.vv. Basalardus, Basalaria,

Bazalardus, Badelare).

=basque,= a short skirt. Etheredge, Man of Mode, iv. 1 (Sir Fopling). F.

_basque_, a short skirt (Cotgr.); from _Basque_, name of the ancient

race inhabiting both slopes of the western Pyrenees.

=bass,= to kiss. ‘Bas me’, Skelton, Speke Parrot, 106; ‘I _basse_ or

kysse a person, _Ie baise_’, Palsgrave. F. _baiser_; L. _basiare_.

=bassa,= an earlier form of the Turkish military title ‘Bashaw’. Butler,

Hudibras, iii. 3. 306; spelt _basso_, Marlowe, 1 Tamburlaine, iii. 1. 1.

Turkish _bāshā_, prob. fr. _bāsh_, a head. See NED. (s.v. Pasha).

=basta,= enough. Tam. Shrew, i. 1. 203. Ital. (and Span.) _basta_, it is

enough (Florio); Ital. _bastare_, and Span. _bastar_, to suffice.

=bastard,= a sweet Spanish wine resembling muscatel. 1 Hen. IV, ii. 4.

30; Fletcher, Woman’s Prize, ii. 1. 12.

=bastardeigne,= for =bastard eigné,= firstborn bastard. Wycherley, Plain

Dealer, iv (Widow). _Eigné_ is a late spelling of _ayné_, _ainé_; from

F. _aîné_, OF. _ainsné_; _ains_, before, + _né_, born (Hatzfeld).

=bastone,= a ‘baton’, cudgel. Marlowe, 1 Tamburlaine, iii. 3 (Tamb.).

ME. _baston_, a cudgel (Cursor M. 15827). OF. _baston_ (F. _bâton_). See

=batoon.=

=batable,= debatable. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. iii, c. 4, § 2.

‘_Batable ground_ seemeth to be the ground in question heretofore

whether it belonged to England or Scotland, 23 Hen. VIII, c. 16, as if

we should say debatable ground,’ Cowell, Interp. (ed. 1637).

=bate= (short for =abate=), to reduce, diminish, decrease, deduct.

Merch. Ven. iii. 3. 32; iv. 1. 72; 1 Hen. IV, iii. 3. 2; Hamlet, v. 2.

23; to blunt, Love’s L. L. i. 1. 6. Phr. _to bate an Ace_, to abate a

tittle, to make the slightest abatement, Heywood, Witches of Lancashire

iv (Robin); vol. iv, p. 223, l. 2; _Bate me an ace, quod Bolton_, an

expression of incredulity, R. Edwards, Damon and P. in Hazlitt’s

Dodsley, iv. 77 (NED. s.v. Bate, vb.^{2} 6 d).

=bate,= to beat the wings impatiently and flutter away from the fist or

perch. Tam. Shrew, iv. 1. 199; 1 Hen. IV, iv. 1. 99 (old edd. _bayted_).

F. _se battre_.

=bate,= bit, a northern form of the pret. of _bite_. Spenser, F. Q. ii.

5. 7. See EDD. (s.v. Bate vb.^{4}).

=batful,= fattening, full of sustenance. Drayton, Pol. iii. 349; vii.

93; &c. See =batten.=

=batoon, battoon,= a stick, cudgel. Shirley, The Traitor, iii. 1

(Rogers); _battoon_, Beaumont and Fl., Elder Brother, v. 1 (Egremont).

See =bastone.=

=battaile,= a body of troops in battle array. Bacon, Essay 58, § 9;

_battayle_, Psalm lxxvi. 3 (Bible 1539); _the main battle_, main body of

an armed force, Richard III, v. 3. 301. Prov. _batalha_ ‘troupe rangée’

(Levy).

=batten,= to feed gluttonously, Hamlet, iii. 4. 67; to fatten,

‘Battening our flocks’, Milton, Lycidas, 29; to grow fat, B. Jonson,

Barth. Fair, ii. 1 (Moon-calf). See Dict.

=battle,= (at Oxford) to have a kitchen and buttery account, to obtain

provisions in college. ‘I eat my commons with a good stomach and battled

with discretion’, Puritan Widow, i. 2. 42; ‘To battle, as scholars do in

Oxford, _Estre debteur au College pour ses vivres_’, Sherwood, Dict.

1672.

=battle, battill,= to grow fat. Spenser, F. Q. vi. 8. 38; _battling_,

fattening, nourishing to cattle, Greene, Friar Bacon, scene 9. 4;

nutritious to man, Golding, tr. of Ovid Met. xv. 359. See =batten.=

=battle.= See =battaille.=

=battled,= ‘embattled’, furnished with battlements. Fletcher, Woman’s

Prize, iii. 2 (Maria).

=battree,= a battle, encounter. Udall, tr. of Apoph., Julius, 16;

Pompey, 1. Variant of _battery_.

=baudkin,= a rich embroidered stuff, a rich brocade. Holland, Camden’s

Brit. i. 174; Gascoigne, Steel Glas, 777. Hence, _cloth of bodkin_,

Shirley, Lady of Pleasure, iii. 2 (Frederick); B. Jonson, Discoveries,

lxviii; Massinger, City Madam, ii. 1. OF. _baudequin_, med. L.

_baldakinus_ (Ducange), cp. Ital. _baldacchino_, lit. belonging to

_Baldacco_, the Italian name for Bagdad.

=baudricke,= ‘a baldric’, belt, girdle. Spenser calls the zodiac the

_baudricke_ (or _bauldricke_) of the heavens, F. Q. v. 1. 11;

Prothalamion, 174. ME. _bawdryk_ (Prompt.), MHG. _balderich_, a girdle

(Schade). See Dict. (s.v. Baldric).

†=bause= (?). Only in this passage: ‘My spaniel slept, whilst I _baus’d_

leaves’, Marston, What you Will, ii. 2 (Lam.).

=bauson, bawson,= a badger. Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 71; _bauzon’s_

skin; Drayton, Pastorals, Ecl. iv; Ballad of Dowsabel, st. 10. _Bauson_

is a common north-country word for a badger, see EDD. Cp. OF. _bausen_,

_bauzan_, black and white spotted, Ital. _balzano_, a horse with white

feet (Florio). See NED. The French word for a badger is _blaireau_.

=baux= (a plural form), the name of a breed of swift hounds used in the

chase; ‘Those dogges called Baux of Barbarie, of the whiche Phoebus

doeth speake’, Turbervile, Hunting, ch. i. p. 3; ‘White dogges called

Baux, and surnamed Greffiers’, id. ch. ii, p. 4; ‘_Greffiers_, a kind of

white hounds, the same as Bauds’, Cotgrave; ‘_Souillard_, the name of a

dog, between which and a bitch called _Baude_, the race of the _Bauds_

(white and excellent hounds) was begun’ (id.). Comb. _Baux-hound_,

Holme’s Academy of Armory, p. 184. F. _baud_, ‘chien courant, originaire

de Barbarie’ (Hatzfeld). Probably of Germanic origin, cp. OHG. _bald_,

bold (Schade).

=bavian,= a baboon, an occasional character in the old Morris dance. He

appears in Two Noble Kinsmen, iii. 5. See Nares. Du. _baviaan_.

=bawcock,= a fine fellow, Hen. V, iii. 2. 27; Twelfth Night, iii. 4.

125. A Lincolnshire word for a foolish person (EDD.). Hence probably the

surname ‘Bawcock’, see Bardsley, 475. F. _beau coq_, a fine cock.

=bawn,= a fortified enclosure, outwork of a castle. Spenser, View of

Ireland, Globe ed. p. 642, col. 2. Irish _baḋḃḋún_, an enclosure

(Dinneen).

=bawson,= see =bauson.=

=bay,= see =beck and bay, at.=

=bayard,= the name of the horse given to Renaud, one of the Four Sons of

Aymon (name of a romance), hence, a common name for a horse; ‘Bolde

bayarde, ye are to blynde’, Skelton, ed. Dyce, i. 123, l. 101; _a

Bayard’s bun_, horse bread, id. i. 15, l. 8. _Bayard_, lit. of a bay

colour, O. Prov. _baiart_, ‘bai; cheval bai’ (Levy).

=bayes,= ‘baize’. Howell, Foreign Travell, sect. v, p. 31. A plural form

of _bay_, bay coloured, reddish-brown. See Dict. (s.v. Baize).

=beace,= beasts; pl. of _beast_. Golding, Metam. xv. 13. This is the

usual pron. of _beast_ (and _beasts_) in the north of England. For

various spellings—_beas_, _beece_, _beess_, &c., see EDD. (s.v. Beast).

=beached,= apparently for _beeked_, i.e. seasoned (as wood) by exposure

to heat. ‘A coodgell [cudgel] _beached_ or pilled [peeled] lawfully’,

Turbervile, Hunting, c. 39; p. 106. Cp. ME. _beke_: ‘to beke wandes’

(Cath. Angl.), see NED. (s.v. Beek vb.^{1} 1 b). See =beak.=

=bead,= a prayer, Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 30; Gascoigne, Steel Glas, 872.

This is the orig. sense of mod. E. _bead_; a perforated ball was so

called because it was used for counting prayers. ME. _bede_ ‘oracio’

(Prompt.). OE. (_ge_)_bed_ prayer.

=bead-roll,= a list, catalogue. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 2. 32;

_bed-roll_, Heywood, A Woman Killed, iii. 1 (Sir Charles).

Properly, a list of persons to be specially prayed for.

=beadsman,= one who prays for another, Two Gent. i. 1. 18. ME.

_bedeman_, ‘orator, supplicator’ (Prompt.). OE. (_ge_)_bedmann_

(John iv. 23).

=bead-hook,= a kind of boat-hook. Chapman, tr. of Homer, Iliad xv. 356,

624; Caesar and Pompey, v. 1 (Septimius). Spelt _beede-hook_, Raleigh,

Hist. World (NED.).

=beak, beyk,= to expose to the warmth of the fire; to season by heat.

‘Beak ourselves’, Grimald, Metrodorus, 3; in Tottel’s Misc., p. 109.

_Beyked_, seasoned, Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 24. 3. See EDD. (s.v. Beek

vb. 1 and 2). See =beached.=

=beam,= the main trunk of a stag’s horn which bears the antlers,

Turbervile, Hunting, 53.

=beam,= see =beme.=

=beamy,= beam-like, massive. Dryden, Palamon, iii. 480; tr. of Aeneid,

xii. 641. Cp. 1 Sam. xvii. 7 (massive as a weaver’s beam—the spear of

Goliath).

=bear= (the animal). Are you there with your _bears_? are you at it

again? ‘Explained by Joe Miller as the exclamation of a man who, not

liking a sermon he had heard on Elisha and the bears, went next Sunday

to another church, only to find the same preacher and the same

discourse’ (NED.). Some think it refers to the bears in a bear-garden;

but they do not say why, nor how. Lyly, Mother Bombie, ii. 3 (Silena);

Howell, Foreign Travell, p. 20.

=bear-brich,= bear-breech, bear’s-breech; a popular name of the

acanthus; see NED. (s.v. Brank-ursine). Golding, Metam. xiii.

701 (L. acantho); fol. 162 (1603).

=bear-herd,= the keeper of a bear, 2 Hen. IV, i. 2. 191.

=bear-ward,= B. Jonson, Masque of Angus (Slug). Fletcher,

Beggar’s Bush, iv. 4 (Prigg).

=bear a brain,= to use one’s brains, to be cautious; also, to remember.

Romeo, i. 3. 29; Grim the Collier, v. 1. 1; in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, viii.

457. Cp. Skelton, Magnyfycence, 1422.

=bear in hand,= to lead one to believe, to keep in expectation, to amuse

with false _pretences_, Meas. for M., i. 4. 51. Hamlet, ii. 2. 67; B.

Jonson, Volpone i. 1; ‘_I beare in hande_, I threp upon a man that he

hath done a dede, or make hym byleve so’, Palsgrave. See EDD. (s.v.

Barenhond). ME. ‘I bar him on honde he hadde enchanted me’ (Chaucer, C.

T. D. 575).

=bearing.= ‘A standing [upright] bearyng bowe,’ Ascham, Toxophilus, p.

79. _A bearing arrow_ seems to have meant an arrow true in its flight

(Nares), though it merely meant stout, or strong; probably _a bearing

bow_ was a strong and trusty one, one to be relied upon to shoot

straight and well. So also _bearing_ dishes, i.e. solid, substantial

dishes or viands; Massinger, New Way to pay, v. 1 (Greedy).

=bearing-cloth,= the cloth in which a child was carried to the font.

Winter’s Tale, iii. 3. 119; Beaumont and Fl., Chances, iii. 3

(Landlady).

=beast,= an obsolete game at cards, resembling the modern ‘Nap’. Butler,

Hudibras, iii. 1. 1007. See NED. (s.v. Beast, 8).

=beaten,= orig. hammered; hence, overlaid or inlaid; embroidered.

‘Beaten damask’, Dekker, Shoemaker’s Holiday, iii. 1 (Firk).

=beath,= to dry green wood by placing it near the fire, to season wood

by heat. Tusser, Husbandry, § 23. 9; Spenser, F. Q. iv. 7. 7. An E.

Anglian word (EDD.). ME. _bethen_ (Treatyse of Fysshynge). OE. _beðian_,

to foment, to warm.

=beauperes,= fair companions. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 1. 35. OF. _beau_ +

_per_. F. _pair_, an equal, a peer.

=beaver;= see =bever.=

=becco,= a cuckold. Marston, Malcontent, i. 1 (Malevole); Massinger,

Bondman, ii. 3 (Gracculo). Ital. _becco_, a he-goat, a cuckold (Florio).

=beck and bay, at,= at some one’s command. Peele, Edw. I, ed. Dyce, 381.

The meaning of the word _bay_ in this phrase is uncertain; it is prob.

connected with ME. _beien_, to bend; OE. (Anglian), _bēgan_; cp. the

phr. _buken and beien_, Juliana, 27. See EDD. (s.v. Bay, vb.^{3}), and

NED. (s.v. Bow, vb.^{1} 6, quot. A.D. 1240).

=become;= ‘I know not where my sonne _is become_’, i.e. what has become

of him, Gascoigne, Supposes, v. 5 (Philogano); ed. Hazlitt, i. 251. Once

very common.

=bed,= to pray. Spenser, F. Q., vi. 5. 35. Cp. ME. _bede_, a prayer. See

=bead.=

=bed,= to command, to bid; ‘Until his Captaine _bed_’, until his captain

may command, Spenser, F. Q. i. 9. 41. 3 pr. sing. subj. of ME. _beden_;

OE. _bēodan_, to command.

=bedare,= to dare, defy. Peele, David (Salomon); ed. Dyce, p. 484. From

_dare_; see NED. (s.v. _Be-_, prefix, p. 720).

=bed-fere,= bed-fellow. Chapman, tr. Odyssey, iii. 542: spelt

_bedphere_, B. Jonson, Silent Woman, ii. 5.

=bedlam,= a lunatic; one who had been in Bethlehem hospital; the

half-cured patients were licensed to beg for alms for their support.

Barnes, Works (1572) p. 294, col. 2; Gammer Gurton’s Needle has, for one

of its characters, Diccon _the Bedlam_; Bunyan, Pilgr. i. 123 (NED.); ‘A

bedlam, _maniacus_, _insanus_, _furiosus’_, Coles, Lat. Dict. See EDD.

(sb.^{1} 4).

=bedrench,= to soak, swamp. Richard II, iii. 3. 46; _bedrent_, pt. s.

Sackville, Induction, st. 21.

=bed-staff,= ‘a staff or stick used in some way about a bed’ (NED.). The

precise sense is uncertain. Often used as a weapon; B. Jonson, Every

Man, i. 4 (Bobadil). ‘With throwing _bed-staves_ at her’, Staple of

News, v. 1 (Lickfinger).

=bee,= an armlet, ring. ‘A riche _bee_ of gold’, Morte Arthur, leaf 135

(end); bk. vii, c. 35. The word is still in use in Ireland for a ferule

(EDD.). ME. _bee_, an armlet (Paston Letters, iii. 464). OE. _bēah_.

=beech-coal,= charcoal made from beech wood. B. Jonson, Alchem. i. 1

(Face).

=beeld,= to ‘build’. Mirror for Magistrates, Emp. Severus, st. 21.

_Beeld_ is the pron. of _build_ in many parts of England and Scotland,

see EDD., The Grammar; Index (s.v. Build).

=beer,= a pillow. Stanyhurst, tr. of Virgil, Aen. iv. 414. See NED.

(s.v. Bear, sb.^{4}). See =pillowbeer.=

=before me,= a form of asseveration. Twelfth Nt. ii. 3. 194; Oth. iv. 1.

149. Cp. _before heaven_, Meas. ii. 1. 69; _before God_, Much Ado, ii.

3. 192.

=beg for a fool,= to ask for the guardianship of an idiot. The custody

of an idiot or witless person could be granted by the king to a subject

who had sufficient interest to obtain it. If the ‘fool’ was wealthy, it

was a profitable business. Middleton, Span. Gipsy, ii. 2 (Sancho);

Dekker, Honest Wh., Pt. I, i. 2 (Fustigo).

=begin,= s., a beginning. ‘Of fowr begynns’ (i.e. the four elements),

Grimald, Death of Zoroas, 38; in Tottel’s Misc., p. 121. ‘The hard

beginne’, Spenser, F. Q. iii. 3. 21.

=beglerbeg,= the governor of an Ottoman province. Massinger, Renegado,

iii. 4 (Carazie). Turk. _begler-beg_, bey of beys.

=beglarde,= for _beglaired_, smoothed over, as with a cosmetic. Mirror

for Magistrates; Guidericus, st. 43. From _glair_, q.v.

=behave,= to manage, govern, control. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 3. 40; Timon,

iii. 5. 22. OE. _behabban_, to restrain.

=behight= (in Spenser). Forms: _behight_, pres., pt. t., and pp.;

_behot_ (_behote_) pp. Meanings: (1) to promise, Pt. t.: F. Q. iv. 11.

6; Pp.: F. Q. ii. 3. 1; F. Q. i. 11. 38 (behot); (2) to name, call,

pronounce, F. Q. i. 10. 64; Pp.: Shep. Kal., April, 120; (3) to order,

command, F. Q. vi. 2. 30; Pt. t.: F. Q. ii. 11. 17; (4) to entrust,

commit, Pt. t.: F. Q. v. 9. 3; Pp.: F. Q. i. 10. 50; (5) to account,

consider, Pp.: F. Q. iv. 1. 44; (6) to adjudge, Pp.: F. Q. iv. 5. 7. The

normal ME. forms are: _Behote_ (infin.), _behight_ (pt. t.),

_behote_(_n_ (pp.).

=behight,= a promise. Surrey, tr. of Psalm lxxiii, l. 60.

=beholding,= indebted, under obligation. Merry Wives, i. 1. 283;

Beaumont and Fl., Wildgoose Chase, iii. 1 (Pinac). In common prov. use

in many parts of England (Midlands, E. Anglia, Somerset). See EDD.

=beholdingness,= obligation, indebtedness. Marston, Malcontent, iv. 1

(last speech).

=bel-accoyle,= fair welcome. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 6. 25. OF. _bel acoil_,

fair welcome. See =accoyl.=

=belamour,= a lover. Spenser, F. Q. 6. 16; iii. 10. 22. F. _bel amour_.

=belamy,= fair friend. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 7. 52. ME. _bel amy_ (Chaucer,

C. T. C. 318). OF. _bel ami_.

=belay,= to beset, encompass. Spenser, Sonnet, 14; _belayd_, pp. set

about with ornament; F. Q. vi. 2. 5.

=belee,= to place on the lee, in a position in which the wind has little

influence; ‘Beleed and calmed’, Othello, i. 1. 30.

=beleek,= belike, probably. Peele, Arr. of Paris, iii. 1 (Mercury); id.

Tale of Troy; ed. Dyce, p. 555. See =belike.=

=belgards,= amorous glances. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 3. 25; iii. 10. 52.

Ital. _bel guardo_, fair or kindly look.

=belike,= perhaps, no doubt (used ironically). Milton, P. L. ii. 156;

Two Gent. ii. 1. 85. In common prov. use (EDD.).

=belive,= quickly. Spenser, Shep. Kal., Sept., 227; B. Jonson, Sad

Shepherd, ii. 1. Still in use in Scotland and the north of England

(EDD.). ME. _bi life_, lit. with life or liveliness. See =bilive.=

=bell, to bear the,= to take the first place, be the first, be

pre-eminent. ‘Win the spurres, and beare the bell’, Udall, tr. of

Apoph., Aristippus, § 1. From the precedence of the bell-wether; see

NED.

=bellibone,= a fair lass. ‘Such a bellibone’, Spenser, Shep. Kal.,

April, 92. From F. _belle et bonne_, fair and good girl. See

=bonnibell.=

=bells,= pl.: in phr. _to take one’s bells_, used _fig._, to be ready to

fly away. Ford, Sun’s Darling, iii. 1 (Humour). A hawk had light bells

fastened to her legs before she flew off, that her flight might be

traced.

=belly-cheat,= an apron. (Cant.) Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, ii. 1

(Higgen); ‘A belly-chete, an apern’, Harman, Caveat, p. 83. See

=backcheat.=

=belly-cheer,= feasting, gluttony. Marston, Scourge of Villainy, Sat.

ix. 114; also, meat, viands; ‘_Carrelure de ventre_, meat, belly-timber,

belly-cheere’, Cotgrave.

=belsire,= grandfather. Drayton, Pol. viii. 73; _beel sire_, Caxton,

Hist. Troye, leaf 321. 6; _bele-fader_, id. lf. 344, back, 27;

‘_Belsyre_, grant pere’, Palsgrave. ME. _belsyr_, or belfadyr, ‘Avus’

(Prompt.).

=beme,= a trumpet. _Beames_ (spelt _beaumous_) pl., Morte Arthur, leaf

423, back, 1; bk. xxi. ch. 4. ME. _beme_ (Chaucer, Hous Fame, 1240). OE.

(Mercian) _bēme_.

=bemoiled,= covered with dirt. Tam. Shrew, iv. 1. 77. In prov. use in

the Midlands (EDD.).

=bemol,= B flat, in the musical scale. In the old sets of hexachords,

which began with C, G, or F; it was found necessary, in the hexachord

beginning with F, to flatten the note B. The new note, thus introduced

into the old scale, was called _B-mol_ or _Be-mol_, i.e. B soft; from

OF. _mol_, soft; L. _mollis_. Its symbol was _b_, later ♭, which

afterwards became a general symbol for a flattened note. ‘La, sol, re,

Softly bemole’, Skelton, Phyllyp Sparowe, 533. Also, a half-note; ‘_Two

beemolls_, or halfe-notes’, Bacon, Sylva, § 104.

=ben,= a cant term for good; _ben cove_, a good fellow. Middleton,

Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Tearcat).

=ben bouse,= a slang term for good drink. Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1

(Trapdoor).

=bend= (in heraldry), an oblique stripe on a shield. Morte Arthur, leaf

216. 27; bk. x. c. 12; ‘Our bright silver bend’, Drayton, Heroical

Epistles, Surrey to Lady Geraldine, 95. The _bend_ is usually the _bend

dexter_, from the dexter chief to the sinister base; the _bend sinister_

slopes the other way.

=bend,= a band or company. Spenser, Shep. Kal., May, 32. F. _bende_

(Cotgr.). See NED.

=bend,= a piece of very thick leather, a piece of sole-leather. ‘A bend

of leather’, Heywood, First Part of K. Edw. IV (Hobs); vol. i. p. 40.

Also, _bend-leather_ (NED.). The words _bend_, _bend-leather_, _bend of

leather_, _leather bend_ are in use in Scotland and the north of

England, see EDD. (s.v. Bend sb.^{1}).

=bend,= to cock a musket, pistol, or other fire-arms. A transferred use,

from bending a bow. ‘Like an engyn bent’, Two Noble Kinsmen, v. 3. 53

[‘With hackbut bent’, Scott, Cadyow Castle, 137]; to direct any weapon

(spear, dart, &c.), ‘to bend that mortal dart’, Milton, P. L. ii. 729;

‘so bent his spear’, Spenser, F. Q. i. 3. 34; (figuratively), King Lear,

ii. 1. 48.

=bene-bouse, benbouse,= good drink. (Cant.) Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush,

iii. 3 (Higgen); B. Jonson, Gipsies Metamorphosed (Jackman).

=bene whids,= good words; _to cut bene whids_, to speak good words.

(Cant.) Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, ii. 1 (Higgen).

=benedicite:= phr. _under ‘benedicite’ I speak it_, Stubbes, Anat.

Abuses (ed. Furnivall, 186). The expression is used by Stubbes, when

making a serious charge against the magistrates, as an invocation for

deliverance from evil. L. _benedicite_, bless ye.

=benempt,= _pp._ named. Spenser, Shep. Kal., July, 214. OE. _benemned_,

pp. of _benemnan_, to name (Matt. ix. 9, Lind.).

=benjamin,= corruption of _benjoin_, earlier form of benzoin. B. Jonson,

Cynthia’s Revels, v. 2 (Perfumer); Herrick, Hesp. (ed. 1869, p. 139).

=benome, benoom,= to deprive. Spelt _benome_, Mirror for Mag., Somerset,

st. 9; _benoom_, id. Buckingham, st. 15. _Benome_ due to pret. forms of

OE. _beniman_ (_nōm_, sing.; _nōmon_, pl.).

=bent,= a grassy slope. Dryden, Palamon, ii. 544 (from Chaucer, C. T. A.

1981); Fairfax, tr. of Tasso, XX. 9. Still in use in this sense in

Scotland and north of England, see EDD. (s.v. Bent, II. 3).

=benting times,= scarce times, times when pigeons have no food but

_bent-grass_. Dryden, Hind and Panther, iii. 1283.

=bepounced,= ornamented. Stanyhurst, tr. of Virgil, Aen. i. 454. See

=pounce.=

=beray,= to defile, befoul; ‘Berayde with blots’, Gascoigne, Steel Glas,

241 (p. 56); Middleton, The Witch, i. 2 (Firestone); ‘It’s an ill bird

that berays its own nest’, Ray’s Proverbs (A.D. 1678); Palsgrave;

Sherwood.

=berew,= in a row; ‘Mock them all berew’, World and Child, in Hazlitt’s

Dodsley, i. 246. See =rewe.=

=bergomask,= a rustic dance. Mids. Night’s D. v. 360. Ital.

_bergamasca_, ‘sorta di ballo composto tutto di salti e capriole’

(Fanfani); _Bergamasco_, belonging to _Bergamo_, a province in the state

of Venice. The inhabitants were ridiculed as being clownish in manners.

=berlina,= a pillory. B. Jonson, Volpone, v. 8 (1 Avoc.). Ital.

_berlina_, ‘a pillorie’ (Florio). Med. Lat. _berlina_ (Ducange).

=Bermoothes,= the Bermudas. Temp. i. 2. 229. See =Burmoothes.=

=berne,= a herb; ‘The iuyce of Berne or wylde Cresseys’, Turbervile,

Hunting, c. 8; p. 21. F. _berle_, Med. L. _berula_, the water-pimpernel,

see Gerarde, p. 621. See Prompt. EETS. (s.v. Bellerne, note no. 176).

†=berry,= an error for _bevy_, i.e. a number; ‘A _berry_ of fair roses’,

Two Angry Women, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vii. 322. Cp. ‘A Beuy of Roos’,

Book of St. Albans, fol. f 6.

=beryels,= a tomb. Morte Arthur, leaf 141, back, 7; bk. viii. c. 6

(end); spelt _buryels_, id. leaf 233, back, 23; bk. x. c. 32. OE.

_byrgels_. See Dict. (s.v. Burial).

=besant, besaunte,= a gold coin of Byzantium. Morte Arthur, leaf 78. 15;

bk. iv. c. 26. It varied in value from half a sovereign to a sovereign.

See Dict.

=bescumber,= to befoul. Marston, Scourge of Villainy, Sat. ix. 34; B.

Jonson, Poetaster, v. 1. (Tibullus); Staple of News, v. 2; Comical

History of Francion (Nares); spelt _bescummer_, Beaumont and Fl., Fair

Maid of the Inn, iv. The word _bescummer_, to besmear with dirt, _fig._

to abuse, calumniate, is in obsolescent use in Somerset and Devon

(EDD.). See =scumber.=

=beseen:= in phr. _well beseen_; spelt _well bisene_, Morte Arthur, leaf

22, back, 32; bk. i. c. 8; _well beseene_, well furnished, Spenser,

Tears of the Muses, 180; ‘I am besene, I am well or yvell apareyled’,

Palsgrave.

=besgue,= stammering. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 271. 5. OF. _besgue_ (F.

_bègue_).

=besides himself,= all by himself, alone. Middleton, Blurt, Mr.

Constable, i. 1 (Violetta).

=besit,= to suit, befit. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 7. 10; _besitting_,

befitting, id. iv. 2. 19; ‘It well besits’, Holland, Plutarch’s Morals,

227. Cp. use of F. _seoir_, to sit, also, to fit, suit, sit properly on

(Hatzfeld).

=beslurry,= to sully all over; ‘All beslurried’, Drayton, Nymphidia, st.

32. Prov. E. _slurry_, to soil, bedaub (EDD).

=beso las manos,= a kissing of hands; lit. ‘I kiss your hands’, a common

Spanish salutation to a lady. Massinger, Duke of Florence, iii. 1

(Calandrino).

=besogno,= a needy fellow (a term of contempt). B. Jonson, Cynthia’s

Revels, iv. 2 (Asotus). See =bisogno.=

=bespawl,= to bespatter with saliva. B. Jonson, Poetaster, v. 1 (Tucca);

‘Foam bespawled beard’, Drayton, Pol. ii. 440. OE. _spāld_ (_spādl_,

_spāðl_, _spātl_), saliva.

=besprint,= besprinkled. Spenser, Shep. Kal., Nov., 111. Also

_besprent_, _bespreint_. OE. _besprenged_, pp. of _besprengan_, to

sprinkle.

=bestead,= pp. _ill bestedded_, ill helped, in a bad plight. Spenser, F.

Q. iv. 1. 3; _ill bestad_, id. ii. 1. 52; _strangely bestad_, strangely

beset or placed, id. iii. 10. 54; _bestad_, treated, id. vi. 6. 18;

circumstanced, Tusser, Husbandry, § 113. 23. See Dict.

=bestraught,= distracted. Tam. Shrew, Induction, ii. 26. L. _distractus_

gave _distract_ and _distraught_ on the analogy of ME. _straught_, pp.

of _strecchen_, to stretch (Chaucer, Tr. and Cr. ii. 599); hence the

forms _bestraught_, _astraught_. See NED. (s.v. Bestraught).

=betake,= to commit, consign, deliver, hand over. Spenser, F. Q. i. 12.

25; vi. 11. 51; pt. t. _betook_, id. iii. 6. 28; pp. _betake_, Phaer,

tr. of Aeneid, i. 62; fol. B ij. ME. _bitaken_; ‘Ich bitake min soule

God’ = I commit my soul to God (Rob. Glouc. 475).

=be-tall,= to pay; ‘What is to _be-tall_, what there is to pay; the

amount of the reckoning’, Heywood, Fair Maid of the West, ii. 1 (Clem);

with a quibble on _to be tall_. Du. _betalen_, to pay (Hexham).

=beteem,= to grant, bestow, concede, indulge with. Mids. Night’s D. i.

1. 131; Hamlet, i. 2. 141; Spenser, F. Q. ii. 8. 19. A Gloucestershire

word (EDD.). Cp. ME. _temen_, to offer or dedicate (to God), Cursor M.

6170; see NED. (s.v. Teem, vb.^{1} 7).

=betight,= _pp._ for _betid_ or _betided_; happened. Spenser, Shep.

Kal., Nov., 174.

=betso,= a small Venetian coin; worth about a farthing. Marmion, The

Antiquary, iii. 1 (Bravo). Ital. _bezzo_, a small brass coin in Venice

(Florio).

=bett,= better. Spenser, Shep. Kal., Oct., 15. OE. _bet_, adv. better.

=beurn,= for _berne_, a warrior. Grimald, Death of Zoroas, 54; in

Tottel’s Misc., p. 121. ME. _burne_, a man (P. Plowman, C. xvi. 163).

OE. _beorn_, a brave man.

=bever,= the lower part of the moveable front of a helmet. Bacon, Essay

35, § 1; Spenser, F. Q. i. 7. 31; _beaver_, 2 Hen. IV, iv. 1. 120; Hen.

V. iv. 2. 44. F. ‘_Bavière d’un armet_, the beaver of a helmet’

(Cotgr.).

=bever,= a short intermediate repast. A supper, Chapman, tr. of Odyssey,

xvii, l. 10 from end. _Bever_ is in prov. use in many parts of England

in the sense of a slight refreshment taken between meals, either at 11

a.m. or 4 p.m. (EDD.). Norm. F. _bever_, ‘boire’ (Moisy); cp. Mod. Prov.

_grand-béure_, ‘petit repas que les moissonneurs font vers 10 heures du

matin’ (Glossaire, _Mirèio_).

=bever,= to tremble. Morte Arthur, leaf 28, back, 4; bk. i, c. 15.

_Bever_ (_biver_), to tremble, is in common prov. use in England and

Scotland (EDD.).

=bewaile,= to lament over; ‘An hidden rock . . . That lay in waite her

wrack for to bewaile’, Spenser, F. Q. i. 6. 31. The meaning seems to be:

the rock lay in wait so that she would have to bewail her wreck.

=beware,= to spend, bestow money. _Wel bywaryd_, well bestowed. Morte

Arthur, leaf 123, back, 18; bk. vii, c. 21. Cp. prov. word _ware_, to

spend, to lay out money (EDD.). ME. _waryn_, ‘mercor’ (Prompt.).

=bewared,= made to beware, put on one’s guard. Dryden, Cock and Fox,

799.

=bewet, buet,= a ring or slip of leather for attaching a bell to a

hawk’s leg. ‘The letheris that be putt in his bellis, to be fastyned

a-boute his leggys, ye shall calle _Bewettis_’, Boke of St. Albans, fol.

B 6; ‘That, hauing hood, lines, _buets_, bels of mee,’ Turbervile, To a

fickle Dame, 2. Dimin. of OF. _buie_, _bue_, _boie_, a bond, chain,

fetter. L. _boia_, sing. of _boiae_, a collar.

=bezoar’s stone,= for =bezoar-stone,= a supposed antidote to poison. B.

Jonson, Ev. Man out of Humour, v. 4 (Carlo). See Dict.

=bezonian,= needy beggar, rascal. 2 Hen. IV, v. 3. 115; 2 Hen. VI, iv.

1. 134; spelt _bisognion_, Massinger, Maid of Honour, iv. 1. 13; see

Dict. See =bisogno.=

=bezzle,= to besot, stupefy, to drink immoderately. Marston, Malcontent,

ii. 2 (Malevole). ‘To bezzle, _pergraecor_’, Coles, Dict. Hence,

_bezeling_, tippling, Marston, Scourge, ii. 7. In prov. use in the sense

of drinking immoderately, in various parts of England; see EDD. (s.v.

Bezzle, vb.^{1} 2). Norm. F. ‘_besiller_, s’user, s’épuiser, se perdre,

dépérir’ (Moisy). See Ducange (s.v. Besilium).

=bias, from the,= out of the way, off the track. Dekker, Shoemaker’s

Holiday, iii. 1 (Hodge). Prov. _biais_, ‘manière, façon’; _de biais_,

‘obliquement’ (Levy).

=bibble, bible,= to drink frequently. Stanyhurst, tr. of Virgil, Aen. i.

478; Skelton, Elynour Rummyng, 550. In prov. use in various parts of

England (EDD.).

=bidcock,= a bird; said to be the water-rail. Drayton, Pol. xxv. 100.

=biddell,= a beadle. Udall, tr. of Apoph., Augustus, § 28. OE. _bydel_.

=bidene,= in one body or company, together, World and Child, in

Hazlitt’s Dodsley, i. 268 (NED.); straightway, at once, forthwith,

Skelton, Colyn Cloute, 956; Douglas, Aeneid, I. ii. 33 (NED.). Often

used in Scottish poetry as a rime word, or to fill up the line, or as a

mere expletive, see EDD. (s.v. Bedene). Cp. ME. phrase _all_(_e bidene_,

continuously, one after another (Cursor M. 1457); in one body, all

together (Ormulum, 4793).

=bid-stand,= a highwayman. B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of Humour, iv. 4

(Sogliardo). Because he _bids_ men _stand and deliver_.

=bienvenu, benvenu,= a welcome. A Woman never vext, v. 1 (King);

Massinger, The Picture, ii. 2. 4. F. _bienvenuë_, a welcome (Cotgr.).

=big,= a pap or teat. Tusser, Husbandry, 74; Shadwell Witches (EDD.),

Holland, tr. of Pliny, bk. xviii. ch. 7; ‘_Bigge_, a country word for a

pap or teat’, Phillips, Dict., 1706. See EDD.

=big,= a boil, small tumour. Holland, tr. of Pliny, bk. xxxii. ch. 9;

Gaule Cases Consc. 6 (NED.).

=biggin,= a child’s cap. B. Jonson, Volpone, v. 5 (Mosca); Proverb,

‘From the biggen to the nightcap’ (i.e. from infancy to old age), B.

Jonson, Sil. Woman, iii. 2 (Haughty); the saying is still in use in

Cornwall (EDD.). F. ‘_beguin_, a biggin for a child’ (Cotgr.).

=biggon,= a barrister’s cap. Mayne, City Match, iv. 7 (Aurelia).

=bilander,= a coasting vessel, a by-lander. Dryden, Hind and Panther, i.

128. Du. _bijlander_.

=bilbo,= a sword of excellent quality. Merry Wives, iii. 5. 112. Hence,

one who wears a bilbo, id. i. 1. 165. From _Bilbao_ (E. Bilboa) in

Spain.

=bilboes,= pl., an iron bar, with sliding shackles, for securing

prisoners. Hamlet, v. 2. 6; Beaumont and Fl., Double Marriage, ii. 2

(near the end). Perhaps from Bilbao; see above.

=bilive,= soon, quickly. B. Jonson, Sad Sheph., ii. 1 (Lord). See

=belive.=

=bilk,= a statement having nothing in it. B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, i. 1

(Tub); a cheat, a fraud, Butler, Hudibras, ii. 3. 376.

=bill,= an advertisement. Much Ado, i. 1. 39; B. Jonson. Ev. Man out of

Humour, iii. 1. 1; a doctor’s prescription, Butler, Hudibras, i. 1. 603.

=billed,= _pp._ enrolled. North, tr. of Plutarch, M. Antony, § 3 (Shak.

Plut. p. 157, note 3).

=billiments,= pl., habiliments, apparel. Udall, Roister Doister, ii. 3

(Tibet); _billements_, Heywood, Rape of Lucrece, iii. 4 (Song). Short

for _habiliments_.