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Table of Contents

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 10s. 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).