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); speltarbor, 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; fromarctus, confined. Seeart(to constrain).
arecte,to assign, attribute, impute. Skelton, Magnyfycence, 95. The form used by Lydgate forarette. Med. L.arrectare, to accuse (Ducange), due to association withrectum. Seearette.
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.Rewis 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. Seerew.
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): ‘Lesargouletsétaient des arquebuisiers à cheval; et comme ils n’étaient pas considérables en comparaison des autres cavaliers on a dit unargouletpour 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 wereplural; 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 asAragouse,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 toarmigeroin 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).Rointis 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. ofrūm, 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 alsoarras, 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. ofarachen, to obtain, attain (Gower, C. A. i. 3207). OE.ārǣcan, to attain.
arre,to snarl as a dog. ‘Theyarreand bark’, Nash, Summer’s Last Will (Autumn), in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, viii. 44; ‘a dog snarlinger’, B. Jonson, Alchemist, ii. 1. 691 (Subtle).
arrearages,arrears. Massinger, Picture, ii. 2 (Honoria); Cymb. ii. 4. 13. OF.arerage; fromarere, 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 ofarrigere, 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. Speltarowze, 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.arismeticafor L.arithmetica, Gk. ἡ ἀριθμητική (τέχνη). The formarsmetrikeis due to popular etymology, which associated the word with L.ars metrica, ‘the art of measure’. See NED. (s.v. Arithmetic).
arsmetry,a corruption ofarsmetrick, by form-association withgeometry. 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. ‘Iarte, I constrayne’, Palsgrave. L.artare, to confine. Seearcted.
artier,an artery. Marlowe, 2 Tamburlaine, v. 3 (Physician). F.artere, ‘an artery’ (Cotgr.). L.arteria, Gk. ἀρτηρία.
artillery,missile weapons. ‘Artillarienow 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. Dutchquansijs(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 ofascauncesin Tr. and Cr. i. 205, 292 is precisely the same as that ofals quansijsin 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. Alsoasinego, Beaumont and Fl., Scornful Lady, v. 4 (Welford);asinigo, Marmion, Antiquary, v. 1 (Ant.). Speltasinicoin ed. 1606; Tr. and Cr. ii. 1. 49; Span.asnico, ‘a little asse’ (Minsheu), deriv. ofasno, 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 ofassoil, to absolve. ME.assoilen, to absolve, pardon, discharge (Chaucer). Anglo-F.assoiler, to pardon (Rough List);-soileris formed from the present stemsoilleof the verbsoldre, Romanic typesol’re, L.solvere, to loosen.
assoil,used forsoil, 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. ofsot, 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; speltastoynde, astounded, Sackville Mirrour, Induct. 29. ME.astonie, to amaze (Chaucer, H. Fame, iii. 1174). Seestoin.
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). Foranatomy(a skeleton), thean-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. ‘Iatteynt, 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,forat 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; speltattwite, Hazlitt, Early Pop. Poetry, iii. 25. OE.æt, prep., andwītan, to blame. The mod. E.twitis a shortened form ofatwite.
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,afkperverse (Vilmar). Seeawk.
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. Seeouphe.
aumayld,enamelled. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 3. 57. Deriv. of OF.amail, foresmail, enamel. Seeamell.
aums-ace,double aces; given as the name of a card-game. Interlude of Youth, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, ii. 35. Seeames-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(withoutin) was used in the same sense, and represented an adverbial form founded onaunter, a contraction ofaventure(Mod. E.adventure); seeAuntersin NED. Cp. the Yorkshire wordanters: ‘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-mortesbe 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’. Speltautumn 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. ofaval, 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. ofavenir, 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 foraveutre?Aveutre=afeutre= OF.afeutrer, to lay a spear in rest in thefeutre, the felt-lined socket for a lance or spear attached to the saddle of a knight. Spenser has the verbfewterequivalent in meaning toafeutrerin 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 printedat 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. Henceavouch, 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. wordwallop, ‘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.). Seenope.
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). Seeauke.
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.13). OE.œx-trēo.
aygulets,an aglet, metal tag. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 3. 25. A doublet ofaglet. 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. ofaiguille, a needle.
ayle,a grandfather. ‘Ayle,Pere, andFitz, 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 speltassogue. F.assogue; Span.azogue, quicksilver; Arab.az-zāūq;zāūqis 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; speltbabyoneSkelton, 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 ofbables’ (some edd.baubles), Beaumont and Fl., Wit without Money, v. 4. 7; ‘Thatbablecalled love’, Lyly, Endimion, iii. 3 (Epi.). OF.babel,baubel, a child’s plaything (Godefroy);beau+bel, cp. F.bonbon.
bace,(Spenser); seebase.
bacharach, backrack,the name of a wine. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, v. 2 (Vandunke);Bacrack, Butler, Hudibras, iii. 3. 300. FromBacharach, on the Rhine. Seebackrag.
back,a bat.Backesor reermice; Golding, Metam., iv. 415; fol. 49 (1603). The pl.backesis the form used by Wyclif, Coverdale and the Geneva Bible, in Isaiah ii. 20, where AV. hasbattes, see NED. (s.v. Bat). In Scotland the usual word for the bat isBackie(orBackie-bird), see EDD. (s.v. Backie, sb.11 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). Seecheat.
backrag,the name of a wine. Shirley, Lady of Pleasure, v. 1 (Bornwell); Mayne, City Match, i. 3 (near the end). Seebacharach.
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 withbaies’, 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;seebanes.
bait,to stop at an inn to feed the horses, also to stop for refreshment; usedfig.‘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.12).
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.34).
ball,a white streak on a horse’s face. Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 73. Henceball, 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, Bretonbal, 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 forat the Balloon, i.e. when playing at the game. Alsoballoon-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).