buckall,the point of a horn; ‘You all know the device of the horn, where the young fellow slips in at the butt-end, and comes squeezed out at thebuckall’, Eastward Ho, i. 1 (Touchstone). Herebuckall=buckle, meaning the twisted or curled end of the horn, i.e. the smaller end. Cp. prov. E.buckle-horn, a crooked or bent horn;buckle-mouthed, having a twisted mouth (EDD.).
bucke,the body of a chariot; ‘The axletree was massie gold, thebuckewas massie golde’, Golding, Metam., ii. 107; fol. 16 (1603). In E. Anglia ‘buck’ is still in use for the body of a cart or wagon; esp. the front part, see EDD. (s.v. Buck, sb.63); also pronouncedbouk(Bouk, sb.15). See NED. (s.v. Bulk, sb.13. c).
buckle,to prepare oneself, esp. by buckling on armour; ‘To teach dangers to come on by over-early buckling towards them’, Bacon, Essay 21.Buckle with, to cope with, join in close fight with, 1 Hen. VI, i. 2. 95; Beaumont and Fl., Wit without Money, iv. 3. 19. Alsobuckle, to bow, give way, 2 Hen. IV, i. 1. 141;buckled, doubled up, Witch of Edmonton, ii. 1. 4.
bud,said of children; or used as a term of endearment. King John, iii. 4. 82; ‘O my dear, dear bud’, Wycherley, Country Wife, ii. 1 (Mrs. Pinchwife). A transferred sense ofbud(of a flower).
†bud;‘ ’Tis strange these varlets . . . should thus boldly Bud in your sight, unto your son’, Fletcher, Monsieur Thomas, iv. 2 (Thomas). Meaning unknown.
budge,lamb’s fur. Marston, Scourge of Villainy, Sat. vii. 65.Budge-bachelor, a bachelor or younger member of a company, who wore a gown trimmed withbudgeon Lord Mayor’s day (NED.). Hence,budge doctor, a consequential person, Milton, Comus, 707.
buff ne baff,never a word; ‘Saied to hym . . . neither buff ne baff’ Udall, tr. of Apoph., Socrates, § 25. Caxton, Reynard (Arber, 106).Buff nor baffis a phr. in use in Leicestersh., see EDD. (s.v. Buff, sb.56).
buffe,to bark gently; ‘Buffeand barke’, Udall, tr. of Apoph., Diogenes, § 140. A Yorksh. word, see EDD. (s.v. Buff, vb.31).
buffin,a coarse cloth in use for gowns of the middle classes. Massinger, City Madam, iv. 4 (Milliscent); Eastward Ho, i. 1 (Gertrude). See NED.
buffon(búff-on), a buffoon. B. Jonson, Every Man, ii. 3. 8. F.bouffon.
bufo,a term in alchemy. B. Jonson, Alchem., ii. 1 (Subtle). ‘The black tincture of the alchemists’ (Gifford). Only occurs in this passage. L.bufo, lit. a toad.
bug,an object of terror, bogey, hobgoblin. Tam. Shrew, i. 2. 214; Hamlet, v. 2. 22; Peele, Battle of Alcazar, i. 2 (Moor); ‘Thou shalt not nede to be afrayed for eny bugges by night’, Coverdale, Ps. xc (xci), 5. ME.bugge, ‘ducius’ (Prompt.).
bug words,pompous, conceited words, Massinger, New Way to Pay, iii. 2 (Marrall); Ford, Perkin Warbeck, iii. 2 (Huntley). See EDD. (s.v. Bug, adj. 1).
bulch,to stave in the bottom of a ship. Stanyhurst, tr. of Virgil, Aeneid i. 132. Cp.bulge, the ‘bilge’, bottom of a ship’s hull (NED. s.v. Bulge, sb. 4).
bulch,a bull-calf; used as a term of endearment by a witch. Ford, Witch of Edmonton, v. 1 (Sawyer). Still in prov. use in Scotland: ‘Sic a bonnie bulch o’ a bairn’, a Banffshire expression (EDD.).
bulchin,a bull-calf. Tusser, Husbandry, 33; Drayton, Pol. xxi. 65; used as a term of endearment, Shirley, Gamester, iv. 1 (Young B.); a term of contempt, Middleton, A Fair Quarrel, iv. 4 (Capt. Albo). A Shropsh. word for a calf;fig.a stout child (EDD.). Seebulkin.
bulcking,a term of endearment. Stanyhurst, tr. of Virgil, i. 671. See NED. (s.v. Bulkin).
bulk,the belly, Lucrece, 467; the trunk, the body; speltboulke. Elyot, Castle Health (NED.); Richard III, i. 4. 40.
bulk,a framework projecting from the front of a shop. Coriolanus, ii. 1. 226; Othello, v. 1. 1.
bulker,a petty thief; also, a street-walker, prostitute. (Cant.) Otway, Soldier’s Fortune, i. 1 (2 Bully). One who sleeps on a ‘bulk’, one who steals from a ‘bulk’; seebulk(above).
bulkin,a bull-calf; ‘A young white bulkin’, Holland, tr. of Pliny, bk. xxviii, c. 12. An E. Anglian word (EDD.). Seebulchin.
bull,a jest; ‘To print hisjests.Hazard.Hisbulls, you mean’, Shirley, Gamester, iii. 3.
bull-beggar,an object of terror, a hobgoblin. Middleton, A Trick to Catch, i. 4 (near the end); A Woman never vext, ii. 1 (Host); Bull-begger, ‘larva,Terriculamentum,’ Skinner (1671). Perhaps a corruption ofbull-boggart. See NED.
bulled,swollen. B. Jonson, Sad Shepherd, i. 2 (George). Still in use in Northamptonsh. and Shropsh. (EDD.). ME.bolled, swollen (NED.).
bullions.The full form isbullion-hose(NED.), a term applied to trunk-hose, puffed out at the upper part, in several folds. ‘His bastard bullions’, Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, iv. 4 (Higgen) [bastardis the name of a kind of cloth];a pair of bullions, The Chances, v. 2 (John);in the bullion, i.e. wearing bullions, Massinger, Fatal Dowry, ii. 2 (Pontalier).
bully-rook,a familiar term of endearment, fine fellow. Merry Wives, i. 3. 2; ii. 1. 200; Shirley, Gent. of Venice, iii. 1 (Thomazo). See EDD. (s.v. Bully, sb.1).
bum,to strike, beat, thump. Massinger, Virgin Martyr, iv. 2 (Spungius); Greene, James IV, iii. 2 (Andrew). See EDD. (s.v. Bum, vb.31).
bum out,to project; ‘What have you bumming out there?’ Rowley, A Match at Midnight, i. 1 (Tim).
bum vay,a familiar contraction ofby my fay, by my faith. Contention between Liberality and Prodigality, iv. 3, near the end; in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, viii. 364;by my vay, Wily Beguiled, Hazlitt, ix. 328. See EDD. (s.v. Fay, sb.11). ME.by my fey(Chaucer, C. T.A.1126).
bumb-blade.(Cant.) Given in NED. asbum-blade, a large sword, Massinger, City Madam, i. 2 (Page).
bump,to make a noise like a bittern, to boom. Dryden, Wife of Bath, 194.Bumping, the boom of the bittern, Sir T. Browne, Vulgar Errors, bk. iii. c. 27 (4). See EDD. (s.v. Bump, vb.2).
bunch,a company of teal; a technical word in falconry. Drayton, xxv. 63. In E. Anglia they speak of a ‘bunch’ of wild-fowl, see EDD. (s.v. Bunch, sb.1ii. 2).
bung,a purse. (Cant.) Dekker, Roaring Girl (Wks., ed. 1873, iii. 217); a pick-pocket, 2 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 138.
bunting,fat, plump. In Peele, Arraignment of Paris, i. 1. 10. NED. explains it as ‘plump’; but suggests that it may perhaps mean ‘butting’, from the verbbunt, to butt. I was at first inclined to take the same view; but the context decides altogether in favour of the adjective. In l. 7, Faunus brings with him ‘Thefattest, fairest fawn in all the chace: I wonder how the knave could skip so fast.’; i.e. because he was so fat. And Pan replies that he has brought with him an equally fat lamb, viz. ‘Abuntinglamb; nay, pray you, feel no bones [i.e. you can’t feel his bones]. Believe me now, my cunning much I miss If ever Pan feltfatterlamb than this’. See EDD. (s.v. Bunting, adj.1).
burble,to bubble. Speltburbyl, Morte Arthur, leaf 382, back, 8; bk. xviii. c. 21; pres. pt.burbelynge, id. lf. 208. 17; bk. x. c. 2; ‘I boyle up or burbyll up as a water dothe in a spring’,Je bouillonne, Palsgrave. See EDD.
burbolt,a bird-bolt, a kind of blunt-headed arrow used for shooting birds. Udall, Roister Doister, iii. 2 (Custance); Marston, What you Will, Induction (Philomuse).
burden,a staff, club. In Spenser, F. Q. vi. 7. 46. Seebordon.
burdseat,a board-seat, i.e. a stool. Stanyhurst, tr. of Virgil, Aeneid, iii. 408.
burgh;Seeburre(2).
burgullian,a term of abuse. B. Jonson, Every Man, iv. 4 (Cob).
burle,to pick out from cloth knots, loose threads, &c.; ‘Desquamare vestes, to burle clothe’, Cooper, Dict. (1565). HenceBurling-iron, a pair of tweezers used in ‘burling’, Herrick, To the Painter, 10. In prov. use, see EDD. (s.v. Burl, vb. 1). ME.burle clothe, ‘extuberare’ (Cath. Angl.).
Burmoothes,the Bermudas. Beaumont and Fl., Women Pleased, i. 2 (end). SeeBermoothes.
burnish,to grow stout or plump, to fill out; said of the human frame. Holland, tr. of Pliny, bk. xi, ch. 37; vol. i, p. 345 b (1634); Congreve, Way of the World, iii. 3 (Mrs. Marwood); ‘Femme qui encharge, that grows big on’t, who burnishes, or whose belly increases’, Cotgrave; Dryden, Hind and Panther, i. 390. In prov. use, see EDD.
burnt,branded as a criminal. Dekker, Honest Wh., Pt. II. v. 2 (Cat. Bountinall).
burnt sack,a particular kind of wine heated at the fire, Merry Wives, ii. 1. 222;burnt wine, Heywood, Eng. Traveller, i. 2 (Scapha);burnt claret, The Tatler, no. 36, § 5 (1709).
burre,the lowest of the tines on a stag’s horn. Turbervile, Hunting, c. 21, p. 53. Still in use in Somerset, see EDD. (s.v. Burr, sb.17), where the word is defined, ‘the ball or knob of a stag’s horn at its juncture with the skull’. Seeantlier.
burre,an iron ring on a tilting spear, just behind the place for the hand. ‘Burre or yron of a launce, &c.’, Florio, tr. of Montaigne, ii. 37; in formburgh, Middleton, Roaring Girl, ii. 1 (Moll). ME.burwhe, sercle, ‘orbiculus’ (Prompt. EETS., see note, no. 268). See EDD. (s.v. Burr, sb.6), and NED. (s.v. Burr, sb.1).
burrough, borrow,a pledge, a surety. B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, iii. 1 (Pan); v. 2 (Turfe). ME.borwe, a pledge (Chaucer, C. T.A.1622). OE.borh(dat.borge).
Burse,an Exchange; esp. the Royal Exchange built by Sir Thomas Gresham in 1566; it contained shops. Massinger, City Madam, iii. 1. 13; Middleton, The Roaring Girl, iv. 1 (Moll’s Song). F.bourse.
bursmen,(perhaps) shopmen; ‘Welcome, still my merchants ofbona speranza[i.e. gamblers]; . . what ware deal you in? . . Say, my brave bursmen’, A Woman never vext, ii. 1 (beginning). I think the reference is to keepers of shops in the Burse; see above.
bursten,ruptured. Beaumont and Fl., Scornful Lady, v. 3 (Savil). In common prov. use (with various pronunciations), see EDD. (s.v. Burst, vb. 2).
bushment,an ambush. Ascham, Toxophilus, p. 70. ME.buschment(Prompt. EETS., see note, no. 269).
busine,a trumpet. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 199. 20;busyne, id., lf. 187, back, 26. Anglo-F.buisine(Ch. Rol., 3523), L.buccina.
buske,a bush. Ralph, Roister Doister, i. 4 (M. Merygreek). ME.buske, or busshe, ‘rubus’ (Prompt.).
buskets,a spray, as of hawthorn.May buskets, sprays of ‘May’ or hawthorn, Spenser, Shep. Kal., May, 10. See Dict. (s.v. Bouquet).
buskined,wearing the buskins of tragedy; hence tragic, dignified. ‘The buskin’d scene’, Massinger, Roman Actor, i. 1. 6; ‘buskin’d strain’, Drayton, Pol. ii. 333.
busking,an attiring; esp. the dressing of the head. Ascham, Scholemaster, bk. i. (ed. Arber, p. 54). ME.busken, to get oneself ready (Cursor M., 11585). See Dict.
buskle,to prepare oneself; hence, to set out, start on a journey, set to work, Stanyhurst, tr. Aeneid iii. 359 (ed. Arber, 81); to hurry about, Warner, Albion’s England, bk. i, c. 6, st. 51. Freq. ofbusk, vb.; see above.
busk-point,the lace, with its tag (or point), which secured the end of the ‘busk’, or strip of wood in the front of the stays. Dekker, Shoemaker’s Holiday, v. 2 (Hodge); Marston, Malcontent, iv. 1 (Maquerelle); How a Man may Choose, i. 3 (Fuller).
busky,bushy. 1 Hen. IV, v. 1. 2. Seebosky.
bustain,(prob.) clothed inbustianorbusteyn, a cotton fabric of foreign manufacture; used as a term of derision; ‘Penthesilea with her bustain troopes’ (i.e. her Amazons). Heywood, Iron Age, pt. ii; vol. iii, p. 368. OF.bustanne, ‘sorte d’étoffe fabriquée à Valenciennes’ (Godefrey).
but,except, 2 Hen. VI, ii. 2. 82; Massinger, Renegado, i. 2; unless,Bible, Amos iii. 17;but if, Spenser, F. Q. iii. 3. 16; iv. 8. 33. In prov. use in Cheshire (EDD.). ME. Wyclif, John xii. 24: ‘But a corn of whete falle in to the erthe, and be deed, it dwellith alone.’
but-bolt, butt-bolt,an unbarbed arrow used in shooting at the butts. Ford, Witch of Edmonton, ii. 1 (Cuddy). Seebutt-shaft.
butin,booty. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 277, back, 18. F.butin.
butter-box,a contemptuous term for a (fat) Dutchman. Massinger, Renegado, ii. 5. 8; Ford, Lady’s Trial, iv. 2 (Fulgoso).
butter-print,a humorous expression for a child, as bearing the stamp of the parents’ likeness. Beaumont and Fl., Wit without Money, v. 4. 10; The Chances, i. 5 (Don John); Span. Curate, ii. 1 (Diego).
buttery-bar,the horizontal ledge on the top of thebuttery-hatch, or half-door, to rest tankards on, Twelfth Nt., i. 3. 75.Buttery-hatch, Heywood, Eng. Traveller, i. 2 (Robin). A ‘buttery-hatch’ is still to be seen opposite the entrance to the dining-hall in every college in Oxford. See NED.
button,a bud. Two Noble Kinsmen, iii. 1. 6. ME.botoun(Rom. Rose, 1721). OF.bouton, a bud (Rom. Rose); see Bartsch, 412.
buttons, to make,to be in great fear. Middleton, Span. Gipsy, iv. 3 (Sancho). See EDD. (s.v. Button, sb.18 and 12).
butt-shaft,an arrow (without a barb), for shooting at the butts. B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels, v. 3 (2 Masque: Cupid); L. L. L. i. 2. 181.
buxom,yielding, obedient; blithe, lively. Spenser, Mother Hubberd’s Tale, 626; Henry V, iii. 6. 28; Milton, L’Allegro, 24. See Dict.
buzzes,forburrs-es, double pl. ofburr; burrs; used of the rough seed-vessels of some plants. Field, Woman a Weathercock, ii. 1 (Scudmore).
by and by,immediately.Bible, Matt. xiii. 21; Luke xxi. 9; Spenser, F. Q. i. 8. 2. See Wright’s Bible Word-Book.
by-blow,a bastard. Ussher, Annals, 499 (NED.); Cox, Registers, Lambeth,A.D.1688, p. 75. In common prov. use in the north of England and the Midlands, see EDD. (s.v. By(e, 8 (4)).
by-chop,a bastard. B. Jonson, Magn. Lady, iv. 2 (Chair).
bye,a secondary object;bye and main,a term orig. used in dicing, expressing different ways of winning.To bar bye and main, to prevent entirely, stop altogether, Beaumont and Fl., Wildgoose Chase, iii. 1 (Rosalura).
bye,to pay the penalty for, atone for. Ferrex and Porrex, iv. 1. 30. Cp. ME.abyen, to buy off (Chaucer, C. T.A.4393). Seeaby.
bynempt,declared solemnly, promised with an oath. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 1. 60; Shep. Kal., July, 214. Seebenempt.
by’r lakin,by our Lady-kin or little Lady (with reference to the Virgin Mary). Temp. iii. 3. 1; Mids. Night’s D. iii. 1. 14. So alsoByrlady, Middleton, A Trick to Catch, iv. 2 (1 Gent.). In prov. use from Yorksh. to Derbysh., see EDD. (s.v. Byrlakins).
byse,greyish; light blue, or azure. Skelton, Garl. of Laurell, 1158. See Dict. (s.v. Bice).
bysse,fine linen; also, a vague name for any fine or costly material. Middleton, Father Hubberd’s Tales, ed. Dyce, v. 558; Peele, Honour of the Garter, l. 88. OF.bysse, L.byssus, Gk. βύσσos, ‘fine linen’ (Luke xvi. 19); Heb.būts, applied to the finest and most precious stuffs as worn by persons of high rank or honour (1 Chron. iv. 21).
C
cabage,to cut off the head of a deer close behind his horns. Turbervile, Hunting, xliii. 134; ‘I wyll cabage my dere,je cabacheray ma beste’, Palsgrave. ME.caboche(Book on Hunting; NED.). F. (Picard)caboche, the head, see H. Estienne, Précellence, 175. 397.
cabbish,a cabbage. Middleton, No Wit like a Woman’s, i. 3 (Sir O. Twi.). A Yorksh. pronunc. (EDD.).
cabinet,a cabin, hut, lodging. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 12. 83; ‘(the lark’s) moist cabinet’, Venus and Adonis, 854.
cabrito,a kid. Middleton, Game at Chess, v. 3 (B. Knight). Span.cabrito.
cacafugo,a spitfire, a braggart, blustering fellow. Fletcher, Fair Maid of the Inn, iii. 1. 8. Span.cacafuego.
cackler,the domestic fowl. B. Jonson, Gipsies Metamorphosed (Jackman).
cackling-cheat;seecheat.(Cant.)
cacokenny,a purposely perverted form ofcacochymy, an unhealthy state of the humours or fluids of the body. Middleton, Anything for a Quiet Life, iii. 2 (Sweetball). Gk. κακοχυμία.
caddess,the jackdaw. Chapman, tr. Iliad, xvi. 541; ‘A cadesse or a dawe,Monedula’, Baret, Alvearie. An old Yorksh. word (EDD.).
caddow,the jackdaw. Huloet, Dict. (1552); speltcadowe, Golding, Metam., vii. 468; Tusser, Husbandry, § 46. 28. ME.cadow(e, ‘monedula’ (Prompt. EETS., see note no. 313).
cade,a young animal brought up by hand; usually, a pet-lamb; rarely, a foal. ‘TheCadewhich cheweth the Cudde’ (here, apparently, a calf), Gascoigne, Glasse of Governement, iii. 4 (Ambidexter). In prov. use in various parts of England, see EDD. (s.v. Cade, sb.31). ME. acade, ‘ovis domestica’ (Cath. Angl.).
cade, oil of,oil from the prickly cedar.Oyle of Cade, Turbervile, Hunting, c. 66; p. 187. F.cade, the prickly cedar (Cotgr).
caitif,a captive. Gascoigne, Steel Glas, 794;caitifes, unhappy men, Surrey, tr. of Aeneid ii. 253. Also, mean, niggardly, Sir T. Browne, Rel. Medici, pt. 2, § 3. Norm. F. ‘caitif, malheureux, misérable, captif’ (Moisy); cp. Prov.caitiu, ‘captif, chétif, misérable, mauvais, méchant’ (Levy). Celto-L. type *cactivum, L.captivum.
calambac,an Eastern name of aloes-wood or eagle-wood. A Knack to know a Knave, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vi. 571. Malaykalambak. See NED.
caldesed, chaldesed,cheated. Butler, Hudibras, ii. 3. 1010; Elephant in the Moon, 494. Coined from Chaldees, pl. of Chaldee, a Chaldean, an astrologer.
Calipolis,the wife of the Moor in Peele’s play, Battle of Alcazar, ii. 3: ‘Feed, then, and faint not, fair Calipolis.’ Hence Pistol has: ‘Feed, and be fat, my fair Calipolis’, 2 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 193; and Heywood has: ‘To feed, and be fat, my fine Cullapolis’, Royal King (Captain), vol. vi, p. 30. Those who consult Peele’s play will find the quotation to be extremely humorous. Pistol’s words occur again in Marston, What you Will, v. 1. 1.
calke,to calculate. Mirror for Mag., Cobham, st. 15;kalked, pp.; id. Clarence, st. 26. Short forcalcule, F.calculer, L.calculare.
calker, calcar,a calculator, an astrologer; ‘Calkersof mens byrthes’, Coverdale, Isaiah ii. 6;calcars, Sir T. Wyatt, Song of Jopas, 60; in Tottel’s Misc., p. 95.
calkins,the turned-up ends of the horse-shoe which raise the heels from the ground. Two Noble Kinsmen, ii. 4. 68; ‘Rampone, a calkin in a horses shoon to keepe him from sliding’, Florio. This word, with various pronunciations, is in prov. use in many parts of England from Lancash. to Shropsh. and Lincolnsh., see EDD. (s.v. Calkin). OF.calcain, heel (Godefrey). L.calcaneum, heel (Vulg., John xiii. 18).
callet,a lewd woman, a tramp’s concubine. Othello, iv. 2. 122. B. Jonson, Volpono, iv. 1 (Lady P.); ‘Paillarde, a strumpet, callet’, Cotgrave. In prov. use in Scotland, Yorksh., and Lancash., see EDD. (s.v. Callet, sb.11). A Gipsy word, see Englische Studien, XXII (ann. 1895).
callot, calotte,a coif worn on the wig of a serjeant-at-law, a skull-cap. B. Jonson, Magn. Lady, i. 1 (Bias); Etheredge, She Would if she Could, iii. 3 (Sir Joslin). F.calotte, dimin. ofcale, a caul.
†callymoocher,a term of abuse. Only occurs in Middleton, Mayor of Queenborough, iii. 3 (Oliver).
calophantic,making a show of excellence; hypocritical. ‘Calophantic Puritaines’, Warner, Albion’s England, bk. ix, ch. 53, st. 21. Gk. καλό-ς, fair + -φαντης, one who shows, from φαίνειν, to show.
calvered salmon,fresh salmon prepared in a particular way; sometimes, apparently, pickled salmon. Massinger, Maid of Honour, iii. 1 (Gasparo). ME.calvar, ‘as samone or oder fysch’ (Prompt. EETS., see note, no. 320).
cambrel,a crooked stick with notches on it, on which butchers hang their meat. Alsocambren, see Phillips (1706). Wel.cambren;camcrooked, andprenwood, stick. In prov. use in Scotland, and in England, from the Border as far south as Warwick, see EDD. (s.v. Cambrel, sb.1). Seegambrel.
cambrel,the hock of an animal; speltcamborell. Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 107. 3; ‘His crooked cambrils’, Drayton, Muses’ Elysium, Nymphal, x. 20; ‘Chapelet du jarret, the cambrel hogh of a horse’, Cotgrave. See EDD.
camisado,a night attack by soldiers; orig. one in which the attacking soldiers wore shirts over their armour, that they might recognize one another. Butler, Hudibras, iii. 2. 297; Gascoigne, Jocasta, Act ii, sc. 2, l. 56. Span.camiçada, ‘a camisado, assault’ (Minsheu).Camiça,camisa, ‘a shirt’, id. Late L.camisia, a shirt (Jerome). See NED. (s.v. Chemise).
cammock, camocke,a crooked tree; esp. one that is artificially bent. Lyly, Euphues, pp. 46, 408; Peele, Works, ed. Dyce, p. 579, col. 2. ME.cambok, ‘pedum’ (Voc. 666. 27); Med. L.cambuca, ‘baculus incurvatus’ (Ducange).
camois(e.Of the nose: low and concave; ‘a Camoise nose, crooked upwarde as the Morians’, Baret, Alvearie; ‘Camously croked’, Skelton, El. Rummyng, 28;camused, B. Jonson, Sad Shepherd, ii. 1 (Lorel). F.camus, having a short and flat nose (Cotgr.).
camomile;said to grow the more, when the more trodden upon. 1 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 441; Shirley, Hyde Park, iii. 2 (Mis. Carol).
camouccio,a term of reproach. B. Jonson. Ev. Man out of Humour, v. 3 (Sogliardo); speltcamooch, Middleton, Blurt, Mr. Constable (Lazarillo). Perhaps Ital.camoscio, the chamois.
can,a wooden measure for liquor. Phr.burning of cans, branding measures, to show that they were of legal capacity; B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels, i. 1 (Amorphus).
Can,a lord, prince; ‘A great Emperor in Tartary whom they call Can’, Puttenham, Eng. Poesie, bk. ii, c. 11; p. 106. See Dict. (s.v. Khan).
can,pres. indic., know; ‘Unlearned men that can no letters’, Foxe, Martyrs (ed. 1684, ii. 325); ‘Can you a remedy for the tysyke?’ Skelton, Magnyf. 561; B. Jonson, Magnetic Lady, i. 1 (Compass). ME. ‘I can a noble tale’ (Chaucer, C. T.A.3126). See NED. (s.v. Can, vb.11).
can,used as an auxiliary of the past tense; ‘Tho can she weepe’, Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 50; ‘He can her fairely greet’, id. i. 4. 46. ME. very common in Cursor M.; e.g. ‘Moses fourti dais can (v.r. gan) þer-on duell’, 6462. See NED. (s.v. Can, vb.22).
canaglia,canaille, rabble. B. Jonson, Volpone, ii. 1 (Vol.). Ital.canaglia, ‘base and rascally-people, only fit for dogs company’ (Florio).
canary,a quick and lively dance. All’s Well, ii. 1. 77; pl.canaries, Middleton, Women beware, iii. 2 (Ward); to dance, L. L. L. iii. 12.
canceleer, cancelier,a hawking term. A hawkcanceleerswhen, in stooping, she turns two or three times upon the wing, to recover herself before she seizes the prey. Massinger, Guardian, i. 1 (Durazzo); a turn or two in the air, Drayton, Pol. xx. 229. OF. (Picard)canceler(F.chanceler), to swerve, waver.
candle:phr.to hold a candle to the devil, to assist an evil person, to persevere in evil courses. Greene, Orl. Fur. i. 1. 316 (Orgalio, p. 93, col. 1). Cp. the Gloucestersh. saying, ‘To offer a candle to the devil’, see EDD. (s.v. Candle, 2 (5)).
candles’ ends,bits of lighted candle swallowed as flapdragons; seeflapdragon.Fletcher, Mons. Thomas, ii. 2. 24; 2 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 267.
candle-waster,one who sits up late, and so wastes candles; a student, or a rake. B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels, iii. 2 (Hedon); Much Ado, v. 1. A Somerset expression, see EDD. (s.v. Candle, 1 (22)).
cane,a ‘khan’, an Eastern inn. G. Sandys, Trav. p. 57. See Stanford (s.v. Khan). Arab,khān, a building (unfurnished) for the accommodation of travellers (Dozy, Glossaire, 83). Seehane.
canicular,due to the dog-star.Canicular aspect, influence of the dog-star, excessive heat, Greene, Looking Glasse, iv. 3 (2083); p. 144, col. 1. ‘Of the canicular or dog-days’, Sir T. Browne, Vulgar Errors; bk. iv, ch. 13. L.canicula, dog-star (Horace).
canion,an ornamental roll laid in a set like sausages round the ends of the legs of breeches; ‘French hose . . . withCanionsannexed reaching down beneath their knees’, Stubbes, Anat. of Abuses (see Furnivall, 56). ‘Chausses à queue de merlus, round breeches with strait cannions’, Cotgrave. Span.cañon, a tube, pipe, gun-barrel.
canker,a caterpillar, a canker-worm. Mids. Night’s D. ii. 2. 3; Milton, Lycidas, 45. An E. Anglian word, see EDD. (s.v. Canker, sb.26). ME.cankyr, ‘teredo’ (Prompt.).
canker,the dog-rose. 1 Hen. IV, i. 3. 176. Cp. the prov. wordscanker-ball, the mossy excrescence on a wild rose-bush,canker-bell, the bud of a wild rose,canker-berry, the ‘hip’ of a wild rose,canker-rose, ‘Rosa canina’, the wild rose (EDD).).
cankered,ill-tempered. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 9. 3; King John, ii. 1. 194. In prov. use in Scotland and various parts of England (EDD.).
cannakin,a small can; ‘Let me the cannakin clinke’, Othello, ii. 3. 71.
cannel:Cannel bone; ‘The neck-bone or windpipe’, Phillips, Dict.; Golding, tr. Metam. 284; the collar-bone, Holland, Plutarch’s Mor. 409; speltcanell:canell of the necke(?), the nape of the neck, Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 348. 10. Cp.cannell-bone(Lancash.), andchannel-bone(Somerset) in prov. use for the collar-bone (EDD.). OF. (Picard)canel, a channel; F.canneau du col, ‘the nape of the neck’ (Cotgr.).
canon-bitt,a smooth round bit for horses. Spenser, F. Q. i. 7. 37; ‘Canon, a canon-bitt for a horse’, Cotgrave. O. Prov.canon, a tube (Levy).
canstick,a candlestick. 1 Hen. IV, iii. 1. 131. Still in use in Berks. (EDD.).
cant,a corner, a niche; ‘Irene or Peace, she was placed aloft in a cant’, B. Jonson, James I’s Entertainment (1603); Warner, Monuments of Honour (ed. Dyce, 369) See EDD. (s.v. Cant, sb.31). Norm. F.cant, ‘angle’ (Moisy).
cant,a piece, portion. Sir T. Wyatt, Sat. iii. 45. A Kentish term, see EDD. (s.v. Cant, sb42). Cp. M. Du.kant(Verdam).
canted,tilted up, thrown up. Stanyhurst, tr. of Virgil, Aeneid, iii. 211. See EDD. (s.v. Cant, vb.39 (1)). E. Fris.kanten, ‘etwas auf die Seite legen’ (Koolman).
canter,one whocants, a vagrant. B. Jonson, Staple of News, ii. 1 (P. Can.).
cantharides,a kind of flies; Spanish flies; sometimes Aphides. Drayton, Muses’ Elysium, Nymph, viii. 54. Used as a stimulant, Beaumont and Fl., Philaster, iv. 1 (Cleremont). L.cantharides, pl. ofcantharis; Gk. κανθαρίς, blister-fly.
canting out,singing out, in a beggar’s whine; ‘ ’Tis easiercanting out, “A piece of broken bread for a poor man”, than singing “Brooms, maids, brooms: come, buy my brooms”,’ The London Chanticleers, scene 1 (Heath).
cantle,a part, portion; ‘Liron de pain, a cantle of bread’, Cotgrave; ‘A cantelpars, portio’, Levins. Manipulus. ME.cantel, ‘minutal’ (Prompt. EETS., see note, no. 324). OF. (Picard)cantel= F.chanteau, ‘a corner-piece or piece broken off from the corner, hence, a cantel of bread’ (Cotgr.).
cantle,to portion out, Dekker, Whore of Babylon, i. 1. 9; Dryden, Juvenal’s Satire, vii.
cantore,counting-house, office; ‘A Dutchman’s money i’ th’Cantore’, Butler, Abuse of human learning (Remains i. 211). Du.kantoor, F.comptoir, a counter.
cantred,a hundred; a district containing 100 townships. Spenser, View of Ireland, Globe ed., p. 676, col. 1. Peele, Edw. I, ed. Dyce, 398. Wel.cantref, a cantred;cant, a hundred +tref, a town. See Ducange (s.v. Cantredus).
canvas:phr.to receive the canvas, to get the sack; i.e. to be dismissed. Shirley, The Brothers, ii. 1 (Luys);give the canvas, to dismiss, Hyde Park, i. 1 (end).
canvasado,a night attack by soldiers. Merry Devil, i. 1. 44. App. a perverted form ofcamisado,q.v.; due to confusion withcanvass, vb., to knock about, to assault (NED.).
cap,to arrest. Beaumont and Fl., Knight of the B. Pestle, iii. 2 (Host). From. L.capias, the name of a writ;writ of capias, a writ of arrest.
cap a-huff, to set,to cock one’s cap or hat, to put on a swaggering appearance. Greene, James IV, iv. 4. 13. Seehuff-cap.
cap of maintenance,a kind of hat or cap worn as a symbol of official dignity, or carried before a sovereign or a high dignitary in processions. In the 17th cent. and later it is mentioned chiefly as borne, together with the sword, before the Lord Mayor, and before the Sovereign at his coronation. Massinger, City Madam, iv. 1; A Woman never vext, i. 1 (Stephen). See NED. (s.v. Maintenance).
capadochio,a prison. Puritan Widow, i. 3. 56; ‘inCaperdochy, i’ tha gaol’, 1 Edw. IV (Hobs), vol. i, p. 72; speltCapperdochy, id. p. 86. App. forCappadocia(a bit of university slang).
cap-case,a bandbox, cover, basket. Middleton, The Changeling, iii. 4 (De F.); a small travelling-bag, Gascoigne, Supposes, iv. 3 (Philogano).
caper,a privateer, cruiser. Otway, Cheats of Scapin, ii. 1 (Scapin). Du.kaper, a privateer (Sewel, ed. 1766).
capilotade,a kind of hash, or mixed dish; hence, a hash, a made-up story. ‘What a capilotade of a story’s here!’ Vanbrugh, The Confederacy, iii. 2 (Flippanta). F.capilotade, ‘a capilotadoe, or stued meat’, &c. (Cotgr.).
capnomanster,one who divines from the way in which smoke rises from an altar. Forcapnomancer, Birth of Merlin, iv. 1. 62. Fromcapnomancy, divination by smoke. Gk. καπνομαντεία.
capocchia,a simpleton. In Tr. and Cr. iv. 2. 33. Fem. of Ital.capocchio, ‘a doult, a noddie’ (Florio).
capot,in the game of piquet, the winning of all the tricks by one player, which scores 40. Farquhar, Sir Harry Wildair, ii. 2 (Wildair); to win all the tricks at the game of piquet against another; ‘I havecapottedher’, id. i. 1 (Fireball). F.faire capot(Dict. de l’Acad., ed. 1762).
cappadocian.In Dekker, Shoemaker’s Holiday, v. 1, Eyre, who had come to be Lord Mayor of London, says that he had promised ‘the madCappadocians’, who had been his fellow-apprentices, that he would feast them if he ever attained to that dignity. I think it is evidently a jocose expression formad-caps, with a punning reference to thecap, i.e. theflat-cap, which was the special headgear of the London apprentice, and to which frequent references are made. Just below he varies it to ‘my fine dapper Assyrian lads’.
caprich,a freak, a whim, fancy, sudden giddy thought. Butler, Hadibras, ii. 1. 18; printedcapruch, Shirley, Example, ii. 1 (Vainman). Ital.capriccio, ‘a sudden fear apprehended, making one’s hair to stand on end’ (Florio); lit. the bristling of the head (capo+riccio); see note on ‘Caprice’, by A. L. Mayhew, in Mod. Lang. Rev., July, 1912.
capricious,witty. As You Like It, iii. 3. 8; Heywood, The Fair Maid, iii. 2 (Roughman).
capte,capacity. Only in Udall: tr. of Apoph., Preface, p. vi (1877); fol. 23, back (1542); id. Cicero, § 45.
capuccio,a hood. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 12. 10. Ital.capuccio, a cowl.
carabin(e, carbine,a mounted musketeer. Beaumont and Fl., Wit without Money, v. 1 (Merchant). F.carabin, ‘cavalier qui porte une carabine’ (Dict. de l’Acad.).
caract,worth, value. B. Jonson, Ev. Man in Hum., iii. 3. 23 (Kitely); Volpone, i. 1 (Corvino); Magnetic Lady, i. 1 (Compass).
caract, carect,a mark, sign, character. Meas. for M. v. 1. 56;holy Carects, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Golding, De Mornay, iii. 37. ME.carect(Wyclif, Apoc. xx. 4). Prov.caracta, ‘marque, caractère’ (Levy). Norm. F.caractes, pl. caractères magiques (Moisy). L.caracter(Vulg., Apoc. xx. 4), Gk. χαρακτήρ.
caravan(Cant), an object inviting plunder; hence, a dupe, one easily cheated. Shadwell, Squire of Alsatia, i. 1; iv. 1 (Belfond Senior).
caravel, carvel,a kind of light ship. Eden, Three Books on America (ed. Arber, p. 45). Speltcarvel, Beaumont and Fl., Wit without Money, i. 2. 15. F.caravelle, Ital.caravella, Port.caravéla.
carbonado,a piece of flesh scored across and grilled upon coals. Marlowe, 1 Tamburlaine, iv. 4. 47; Coriolanus, iv. 5. 199; Lyly, Sapho, ii. 3. 175; to make a ‘carbonado’ of, King Lear, ii. 2. 42. Span.carbonada, ‘a carbonado on the coles’ (Minsheu).
carcanet,a collar or necklace of jewels. Com. Errors, iii. 1. 4; ‘Captain jewels in the carcanet’, Sonnet 52. 8. Cp. F.carcan, ‘une espèce de chaîne ou de collier de pierreries’ (Dict. de l’Acad., 1762).
card,a chart; esp. the circular card on which the points of the compass were marked. Macbeth, i. 3. 17; Fletcher, Loyal Subject, iii. 2 (Archas).To speak by the card, i.e. with the precision shown by such a card, Hamlet, v. 1. 149. ‘Climes that took up the greatest part o’ th’ card’, i.e. of the map, Heywood, If you know not me (Medina), vol. i. p. 334.
card,to play at cards. Latimer, Sermon on the Ploughers, ed. Arber, p. 25.To card a rest, to set up a rest, at the game of primero (seerest), Heywood, The Royal King, vol. vi, p. 32.
cardecu,an old silver coin, a quarter of a crown. All’s Well, iv. 3. 314; v. 2. 35. F.quart d’écu.
carduus benedictus,the Blessed Thistle, noted for its medicinal properties. Much Ado, iii. 4. 72; Beaumont and Fl., Philaster, ii. 2 (Galatea). See Sin. Barth. 14.
care:phr.to take care for, to give attention to.Bible, 2 Kings xxii, and Esther vi (contents).
carect, carrect,a carrack, a ship of burden. ‘Carects or hulks’, North, tr. of Plutarch, M. Antonius, § 36 (in Shak. Plut., p. 213, n. 3);carrects, pl., Com. Errors, iii. 2. 140. Med. L.carraca, see Ducange, and Dozy, Glossaire (s.v. Caraca).
careful,anxious, solicitous. Titus And. iv. 4. 84; Milton, P. L. iv. 983;Bible, Dan. iii. 16. ME.careful, full of care, sorrowful (Chaucer, C. T.A.1565).
carfe,an incision, cut. Golding, Metam. viii. 762; fol. 104, bk. (1603) ‘Carf’ is in prov. use for the incision or notch made by a saw or axe in felling timber (EDD.).
cargazon,a cargo; ‘A cargazon of complements’, Howell, Foreign Travell, sect. xv, p. 67. Also, a list of goods shipped; Hakluyt, vol. ii, pt. 1, p. 217. Span.cargazon, cargo.
cargo,used as an exclamation. Wilkins, Miseries of inforst Marriage, iv (Butler); Tomkis, Epil. to Albumazar. In both cases the context refers to great riches.
cark(e,anxiety, grief. Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 44; Massinger, Roman Actor, ii. 1 (Paris); ‘Esmoy, cark, care, thought, sorrow, heaviness’, Cotgrave; Levins, Manipulus. In prov. use in the north country; gen. in phr.cark and care(EDD.). ME.cark(e, anxiety (Gamelyn, 760). Anglo-F.cark(kark), charge, load (Rough List). The Norman and Picard form of Central F.charge. See Dict.Cark(e, to be anxious; ‘I carke, I care, I take thought’, Palsgrave; Tusser, Husbandry, § 113. 15; Robinson, tr. More’s Utopia, 107.
carl,a countryman, a churl. Cymb. v. 2. 4; Spenser, F. Q. i. 9. 54. Icel.karl, a man, also, one of the common folk; opposed tojarl, as OE.ceorltoeorl.
carl,to act as a carl or churl, to snarl. Return from Parnassus, last scene (Furor). The verb is given as a north Yorksh. word in EDD. (s.v. Carl, sb.13).
carlot,a peasant. As You Like It, iii. 5. 108.
carnadine,a carnation-coloured stuff. Middleton, Anything for a Quiet Life, ii. 2. 4. Ital.carnadino, a flesh-colour (Florio);carne, flesh.
carnifex,a hangman; hence, a scoundrel. Middleton, A Fair Quarrel, iv. 4 (Capt. Albo). L.carnifex, an executioner.
caroche,a luxurious kind of carriage. Webster, White Devil (ed. Dyce, p. 6); Duchess of Malfi, iv. 2; Devil’s Law-case, i. 2 (Leonora). F.carroche(Cotgr.). Ital.carroccio, a carriage, a ‘caroche’.
carosse,a carriage. Chapman, Byron’s Tragedy, v. i (D’Escures). F.carosse(Cotgr.); Med. F.carrosse.
†carpell.Peele, Edw. I, ed. Dyce, p. 401, col. 1. Sense unknown.
carpet,a table-cloth, a table-cover. B. Jonson, Sil. Woman, iv. 2 (Truewit); Staple of News, i. 2. 2; ‘a carpet to cover the table’, Heywood, A Woman killed, iii. 2 (Jenkin); ‘carpets for their tables’, Heylin, Hist. of the Reformation, To the Reader. It was in this sense that a matter was said to be ‘on the carpet’ (i.e. of the council-table). See Trench, Select Glossary.
carpet-knight,a contemptuous term for a knight whose achievements belong rather to the carpet (the lady’s boudoir) than to the field of battle; ‘Mignon de couchette, a Carpet-knight, one that ever loves to be in women’s chambers’, Cotgrave; Fletcher, Fair Maid of the Inn, i. 1 (Alberto). There was once an order of Knights of the Carpet, so called to distinguish them from knights that are dubbed for service in the field. See NED.
carriage,that which is carried, baggage.Bible, 1 Sam. xvii. 22; Acts xxi. 15; ‘Carriages of an army are termedimpedimenta’, Fuller, Worthies of England, Norfolk; manner of carrying one’s body, bodily deportment, 1 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 472; demeanour, behaviour, Com. Errors, iii. 2. 14; moral conduct, Timon, iii. 2. 89; Fletcher, Love’s Pilgrimage, i. 1 (Sanchio); Island Princess, ii. 6. 12.
carricado,a movement in fencing. Nabbes, Microcosmus, ii. 1 (Choler); Marston, Scourge of Villainy, Sat. xi. 57. See NED. (s.v. Caricado).
carvel;seecaravel.
carwitchet, carwhitchet,a pun, quibble, conundrum. B. Jonson, Barth. Fair, v. 1 (Leath.); Shirley, Bird in a Cage, ii. 1 (Morello). See NED. (s.v. Carriwitchet), and Nares (s.v. Carwhichet).
case,a pair; ‘This case of rapiers’, Marlowe, Dr. Faustus, ii. 2 (description ofWrath); ‘A case (pair) of matrons’, B. Jonson, Case is altered, ii. 3. 1; ‘a case of pistols’, Shirley, The Traitor, iii. 1 (Rogers); ‘two case of jewels’, Webster, White Devil (ed. Dyce, p. 46).
case,to skin. All’s Well, iii. 6. 111; ‘A cased rabbit’, Dryden, Span. Friar, v. 2 (Gomez); Vanbrugh, Provok’d Wife, iv. 1 (Taylor). Still in use in the north and the W. Midlands, see EDD. (s.v. Case, sb.16).
casible,a chasuble. Middleton, A Game at Chess, i. 1 (Blk. Knt.’s Pawn). Med. Lat.casibula(Ducange, s.v. Casula).
caskanet,a word common in the 17th cent., used sometimes in the sense of a necklace set with jewels (orcarcanet), sometimes in the sense of acasket. Webster, Devil’s Law-case, i. 2 (Jolenta); Lingua, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, ix. 426. See NED.
cass,to cashier, dismiss; ‘Malandrin, a cassed soldier’, Cotgrave. The pp. was confused withcast, and so spelt. ‘Pontius, you are cast’, Beaumont and Fl., Valentinian, ii. 3 (Aëcius). F.casser, ‘to break, to casse, casseere, discharge, turn out of service’ (Cotgr.). Prov.casar, ‘casser, briser’ (Levy).
cassan, casson,cheese. (Cant.) Harman, Caveat, p. 83.Casson, Brome, Jovial Crew, ii. 1 (Song). Cp. Du.kaas, a cheese.
cassock,a soldier’s cloak or long coat. All’s Well, iv. 3. 191; B. Jonson, Every Man, ii (near the end). The military use is the original; so F.casaque, Span. and Port.casaca, and Ital.casacca. Cp. MHG.casagân, a horseman’s coat (Schade). Probably of Persian origin (through the Arabic), see NED.
cast,forcassed; seecass.
caster,one who casts dice, in gaming. Thesetteris one whosets, or proposes, the amount of the stake against him. If the setter wants to propose a very high stake, he says—ware the caster!i.e. let him beware. The caster usually saysat all!i.e. I cast against all setters; but he may limit the amount of the stake. Massinger, City Madam, iv. 2 (Tradewell).
caster,a cant term for a cloak. Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Song); Harman, Caveat, p. 82.
casting,anything given to a hawk to cleanse and purge her gorge. Massinger, Picture, iv. 1 (Ubaldo).
casting-bottle,a bottle for sprinkling perfumes. B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels, i. 1 (Cupid); Fletcher, Woman’s Prize, v. 1 (Livia). So alsocasting-glass, B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of Humour, iv. 4 (Macilente).
castrel,a kestrel, a base kind of hawk. Fletcher, The Pilgrim, i. 1 (Alphonso); Ford, Lady’s Trial, iv. 2 (Futelli). F.cercerelle, a kestrel (Cotgr.).
cat,in military phrase; a lofty work used in fortifications and sieges. B. Jonson, Staple of News, iv. 1 (P. Canter); Shirley, Honoria, i. 2. This military work was also called acavalier,q.v. See NED. (s.v. Cat, sb.16 b).
Cataian,aCathaian, an inhabitant of Cathay; hence a thief, a scoundrel; because the Chinese were thought to be clever thieves, Merry Wives, ii. 1. 148; Dekker, Honest Wh., Pt. II, iv. 1 (Matheo). See Nares.
cataphract,a horse-soldier, protected (as well as his horse) with a coat-of-mail. Milton, Samson, 1619. Gk. κατάφρακτος, one completely protected.
catasta,a jocose term for the stocks. Butler, Hudibras, ii. 1. 259. L.catasta, a stage on which slaves were exposed for sale; Med. L.catasta, an engine of torture (Ducange).
catastrophe,conclusion; (humorously) the posteriors. L. L. L. iv. 1. 77; (2) 2 Hen. IV, ii. 1. 66; Merry Devil, ii. 1. 10.
†Catazaner,only in Shirley, Ball, v. 1 (Freshwater). Perhaps a misprint forCatayaner=Cataian,q.v.
cater,a caterer, purveyor, buyer of provisions. Massinger, City Madam, ii. 1 (Luke); Sir T. Wyatt, Sat. i. 26. ME.catour(Gamelyn, 321), for Anglo-F.acatour, a buyer. See Dict.
cater-tray,lit. ‘four-three’; alluding to the four and three on opposite faces of a die. Hencestop-cater-tray, the name of a false or loaded die. Chapman, Mons. d’Olive, iv. 1 (Dique). Seequatre.
Catherine pear,a small and early variety of pear. Suckling, Ballad on Wedding.Catherine-pear-coloured, of a light red colour, used of a lady’s complexion, Westward Ho, ii. 3 (Birdlime). [Cp. Crabbe, Tales of the Hall, ‘ ’Twas not the lighter red, that partly streaks The Catherine pear that brighten’d o’er her cheeks’ (x. 599).]
catlings,catgut strings for a violin. Tr. and Cr. iii. 3. 306.
catso,a rogue, a scamp. B. Jonson, Every Man out of Humour, ii. 1 (Carlo); also as interj., ‘Cat-so! let us drink’, Motteux, Rabelais, v. 8 (NED.). Ital.cazzo, an interjection of admiration, as some women cry suddenly (Florio);cazzo, ‘membrum virile’.
catstick,a stick or bat used in playing tip-cat or trap-ball. Massinger, Maid of Honour, ii. 2 (Page); Middleton, Women beware Women, i. 2 (Ward).
catzerie,roguery. Only in Marlowe, Jew of Malta, iv. 5. 12.
cauled,having or adorned with a caul or close-fitting cap; ‘My cauled countenance’, Three Ladies of London, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vi. 327. ME., P. Plowman, C. xvii. 351.
causen,to give reasons. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 9. 26. Med. L.causare. (Ducange).
cautel(e,wariness, caution. Elyot, Governour, i. 4; a crafty device, trickery, Hamlet, i. 3. 15. OF.cautele, L.cautela(in Roman Law) precaution. Anglo-F.cautele, deceit (Rough List).
cautelous,cautious, wary. B. Jonson, Devil an Ass, i. 3 (Wit.); Spenser, View of Ireland (Globe ed. 619); crafty, wily, Coriolanus, iv. 1. 33.
cavalier(o.Marlowe, 2 Tamburlaine, ii. 4. 83; iii. 2. 81. Span.cavalléro, ‘in Fortification, a Cavalier, or Mount, which is an Elevation of Earth with a platform for Canon on it, to overlook other Works’ (Stevens, 1706); cp. Ital.cavagliére a cavállo(Florio). F.cavalier, ‘se dit d’une pièce de fortification de terre fort élevée, & où l’on met du canon’ (Dict. de l’Acad., ed. 1762).
cavallerie,an order of chivalry; ‘The knighthood and cavallerie of Rome’, Holland, Pliny, ii. 460; the collective name for horse-soldiers, Bacon, Hen. VII, 74; Massinger, Maid of Honour, ii. 3 (Gonzaga). F.cavallerie, ‘horsemanship; horsemen’ (Cotgr.).
cavell,a mean fellow. Skelton, Magnyfycence, 2217; Lyndesay, Satyre, 2863. See Jamieson.