mazard,to knock on the head, kill; ‘If I had not been a spirit, I had been mazarded’, B. Jonson, Love Restored (Robin Goodfellow).
mazard,to knock on the head, kill; ‘If I had not been a spirit, I had been mazarded’, B. Jonson, Love Restored (Robin Goodfellow).
meach;seemich.
meacock,an effeminate person, a coward; ‘A meacock wretch’, Tam. Shrew, ii. 1. 315; speltmecocke, ‘As stout as a stockefish, as meeke as a mecocke’, Appius and Virginia (NED.).
mean,in music, the tenor or middle part, Two Gent. i. 2. 95. In use in Warwicksh. as late as 1850, see EDD. (s.v. Mean, sb.11). Cp. It.mezzano, ‘a mean or countertenor in musick’, Florio. ME.mene, of songe, ‘Introcentus’ (Prompt. EETS.), also, ‘AMeyne, intercentus’ (Cath. Angl.).
mean,to lament, ‘moan’. Mids. Night’s D. v. 1. 331. A north-country word for uttering a moaning sound, see EDD. (s.v. Mean, vb.21). ME.mene, to bemoan (Cursor M. 18255). OE.mǣnan, to lament.
meane,mien, look. Spenser, F. Q. vi. 9. 11. Probably an aphetic form ofdemean, see NED. (s.v. Mien).
mease,a mess, portion of food. Greene, Looking Glasse, ii. 2 (570); p. 124, col. 2; a group of four, ‘A mease of men,quatuor’, Levins, Manip.Measeis a Yorks. form ofmess, see EDD. (s.v. Mess, sb.1). ME.mese, ‘ferculum’ (Cath. Angl.);meesof mete, ‘ferculum’ (Prompt. EETS. 286). F.més, ‘a messe or service of meat’ (Cotgr.). Seemess.
meath,‘mead’; a sweet drink made with honey. Drayton, Pol. iv. 112; B. Jonson, Devil an Ass, i. 1 (Sat.); Milton, P. L. v. 345. ‘Meath’, a drink made with honey, is in prov. use in Cheshire, Pembroke, Somerset, and Devon, see EDD. (s.v. Mead, sb.2).
meaze,the ‘form’ of a hare. Return from Parnassus, ii. 5 (Amoretto). Seemuse.
mechal,adulterous. Only in Heywood, Eng. Traveller, iii. 1 (O. Ger.); Rape of Lucrece, iv. 3 (Sextus). Gk. μοιχός, an adulterer.
mecocke;seemeacock.
meddle, medle,to mingle, mix. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 1. 61; Shep. Kal., April, 68. OF.medler,mesler(F.mêler), to mix.
meech;seemich.
†meered;‘He being the meered question’, Ant. and Cl. iii. 13. 10. Formation and sense doubtful; Schmidt explains: he being the only cause and subject of the war.
meet,to be even with; ‘I have heard of your tricks . . . I may live To meet thee’, Fletcher, Hon. Man’s Fortune, iii. 3 (Montague); id., Rule a Wife, v. 3 (Leon). Also,to meet with; ‘I’ll meet with you anon for interrupting me so’, Marlowe, Faust, x; ‘I shall find time to meet with them’, Englishmen for any Money, iii. 2 (Pisaro), in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, x. 513. See Nares.
meg,a guinea. (Cant.) Shadwell, Squire of Alsatia, i. 1 (Hackum). See NED.
meg-holly, by the,a mild oath. Heywood, 1 Edw. IV (Hobs); vol. i, p. 40.
meint, meynt,mingled. Spenser, Shep. Kal., July, 81;ment, F. Q. v. 5. 12; vi. 6. 25. ‘Ment’ is obsolescent in the north country, see EDD. (s.v. Ment, pp.). ME.meynt, pp. ofmengen(Lydgate, Storie of Thebes, 1260). OE.mengan, to mix. See Dict. M. and S.
meiny, meinie,a body of retainers. King Lear, ii. 4. 35; the common herd, Coriolanus, iii. 1. 65. Of freq. occurrence in north-country ballad literature for a company of followers, also, a crowd, throng, multitude, see EDD. (s.v. Menyie). ME.meynè, a household, family (Wyclif, Acts iii. 25). OF.maisnée, ‘famille’ (La Curne), see Ducange (s.v. Maisnada). A deriv. of L.mansio(an abode). Seemenial.
mell,to meddle, to have to do with. All’s Well, iv. 3. 257; Spenser, F. Q. v. 9. 1; v. 12. 35. In common prov. use in Scotland, also in Yorks. and Lanc., see EDD. (s.v. Mell, vb.21. to mingle, 2. to meddle). ME.melle, to mix (Hampole, Ps. ix. 9). OF.meller,mesler(F.mêler).
mell,honey. Gascoigne, Works, i. 102; Herrick, Hesperides, Pray and Prosper, 4. L.mel.
melocotone,a peach grafted on a quince. Bacon, Essay 46; melicotton, B. Jonson, Barth. Fair, i. 1 (Winwife). Span.melocoton, Med. L.melum cotoneum, Gk. μῆλον Κυδώνιον, ‘Cydonian apple’ (NED.). Seemalakatoon.
melotte,a garment of skins, worn by monks. Skelton, Colyn Cloute, 866. L.melota(Vulgate); Gk. μηλωτή, a sheepskin; also, a skin of any animal (Heb. xi. 37). See Prompt. EETS. 191 (and Latin Glossary, p. 819).
menial,a servant of the household; ‘The great Housekeeper of the World . . . will never leave any of his menials without the bread of sufficiency’, Bp. Hall, Balm Gilead, xii. § 4;mayneal, Morte Arthur, leaf 215, back, 35; bk. x, c. 11. Seemeiny.
ment;seemeint.
merce,to ‘amerce’, to fine. Wilkins, Miseries of inforst Marriage, i (Sir Wil. Scarborow; l. 12 from end).
merchant,a fellow, a chap. 1 Hen. VI, ii. 3. 57; Romeo, ii. 4. 153; Latimer, Serm., 115 (Nares). Phr.to play the merchant with, to get the better of, to cheat, Rowley, Woman never Vext, iv. 1. 51.
mercify,to pity. Spenser, F. Q. vi. 7. 32.
mercurial finger,the little finger. B. Jonson, Alchem. i. 1 (Subtle). In chiromancy the little finger was assigned to Mercury.
merds,fæces, excrement. B. Jonson, Alchem. ii. 1 (Surly). L.merda.
mere, mear,a boundary, limit; speltmeare. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 9. 46; Drayton, Pol. xix. 405. Hence,meer-stone, Bacon, Essay 56, § 1. In gen. prov. use, see EDD. (s.v. Mear). ME.mere(Prompt, EETS. 286). OE.ge)mǣre, boundary.
mere, mear,to mark out by means of ‘meres’; ‘The Latine name Which mear’d her rule with Africa’, Spenser, Ruines Rome, xxii;to mear on, to abut upon, border upon, Stanyhurst, tr. Aeneid, iii. 520.
mere,absolute, complete, unqualified, Merry Wives, iv. 5. 64; wholly, completely, All’s Well, iii. 5. 58; Fletcher, Mad Lover, iii. 4. 9;merely, absolutely, entirely, Temp. i. 1. 21; Hamlet, i. 2. 137.
meridian,a period of repose at noon; ‘Ye, a meridian to lul him by daylight’, Mirror for Mag., Cobham, st. 30. Monastic L.meridiana, ‘somnus meridianus’ (Ducange). Cp. Ital.meriggiána, ‘midday; a pleasant shady place to feed, to rest, or sleep, and recreate in at noon, or in the heat of the day’ (Florio).
mermaid,a cant term for a courtesan. Massinger, Old Law, iv. 1 (Agatha).
merrygall, merrygald,a gall or sore produced by chafing; ‘Heales a merrygald’, Turbervile, Hunting, p. 139; ‘Merry-gals and raw places’, Holland, tr. of Pliny, bk. xxi, c. 18; vol. ii. 101.
mesel,a foul person; used as a term of abuse; speltmessel, London Prodigal, ii. 4. 74; iv. 1. 78. In Devon and Somerset,meazleis used as a term of abuse, meaning a filthy creature. ME.mesel, a leper (Wyclif, Matt. x. 8). OF.mesel‘lépreux’ (Didot); O. Prov.mezel, ‘lépreux’,mezelia, ‘lèpre’ (Levy).
mesprise,contempt, scorn. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 7. 39. F.mespris, ‘contempt, neglect’ (Cotgr.), deriv. ofmespriser, to fail to appreciate. F.mépris.
mesprize,mistake. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 12. 19. Anglo-F.mesprise, error, offence (Gower, Mirour, 1548). F.méprise, cp.mesprendre, to mistake (Cotgr.).
mess,a group of four persons or things; ‘Where are your mess of sons to back you now?’, 3 Hen. VI, i. 4. 73; L. L. L. iv. 3. 207; ‘There lacks a fourth thing to make up the mess’, Latimer, Serm. v; ‘A mess of most eminent men, Nicolaus Lyra . . . Hieronymus de Sanctâ Fide . . . Ludovicus Carettus . . . Emmanuel Tremellius’, Fuller, A Pisgah Sight, Pt. ii, bk. 5; Peele, Edw. I (ed. Dyce, 393); Heywood, Witches of Lanc. i. 1 (Shakstone), in Wks. iv. 173. A ‘mess’ at the Inns of Court still consists of four. See Trench, Select Glossary. See EDD. (s.v. Mess, sb.14). F.més, ‘a messe or service of meat’ (Cotgr ). Med. L.missus(Ducange). Seemease.
messe:phr.by the messe, by the mass, used in oaths and asseverations. Skelton, Magnyfycence, 2201; ‘By the Mes’, Hen. V, iii. 2. 122; also,messby itself, ‘Mess! I’d rather kiss these Gentlewomen’, Congreve, Love for Love, iii. 3 (Ben). This asseveration is still in prov. use in various forms in the north country:By th’ mass(Lanc.);By th’ mess(Westm.);Amess, Mess(Cumb.), see EDD. (s.v. Mass, sb.13). F.messe, the mass, the Eucharist.
messling;seemastlin.
met,measure. Skelton, El. Rummyng, 333. A north-country word for a measure, gen. a bushel, see EDD. (s.v. Mete). ME.mette, ‘mensura’ (Cath. Angl.). OE.ge)met, ‘mensura, modius, satum’ (B. T.).
mete,to measure;met, pt. t., Chapman, tr. of Iliad, iii. 327;mete, pp. Tourneur, Revenger’s Tragedy, ii. 1. ME.meten(Wyclif, Matt. vii. 2). OE.metan.
metely,moderately; ‘Metely good’, Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. iii, c. 16. OE.ge)met ice.
metereza,mistress. Middleton, More Dissemblers, v. 1 (Sinquapace);metreza, Marston, Malcontent, i. 1 (Malevole). Neither French nor Italian, but a mixture of the two (Nares). An alteration of F.maîtresse, with an Italian termination.
metoposcopy,divination by observing the forehead. B. Jonson, Alchem. i. 1 (Subtle). Gk. μέτωπο-ν, forehead; σκοπεῖν, to observe.
meuse;seemuse.
meve,to move; ‘I meve or styrre from a place,je meuve’, Palsgrave; Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 2, § 7;meeve, Damon and Pithias (Nares);mieve, Spenser, F. Q. iv. 12. 26. ‘Meve’ is an E. Anglian form (EDD.). ME.mevyn, ‘amoveo’ (Prompt.). OF.moev-(meuv-), stressed stem ofmovoir, to move.
mew,to moult. Beaumont and Fl., Thierry, ii. 2 (Martell); Wildgoose Chase, i. 1 (La Castre). F.muer; L.mutare, to change.
mew,a coop for hawks; ‘Mewe for haukes,meue’, Palsgrave; a place of confinement, Spenser, F. Q. i. 5. 20; ii. 5. 27 and 7. 19. F.mue, a hawk’s mue or coop;mue, a change, the mewing of a hawk (Cotgr.), fr.muer, ‘to change, to mew’ (ib.); L.mutare. Our word ‘mews’, for a range of stabling, is derived from theMewsby Charing Cross, the name of the place for the King’s horses, orig. the place for the king’s falcons and the royal falconer. See Stow’s Survey of London (ed. Thoms, 167).
mew:in phr.knights of the mew, knights of the cat-call; the least select among an audience at a theatre. Marston, What you Will, Induction (Doricus).
mich,to skulk, to lurk stealthily. Heywood, A Woman Killed (ed. 1874, ii. 113), speltmeach, Beaumont and Fl., Honest Man’s Fortune, v. 2. 11; hencemicher, a truant, 1 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 450; a skulker, Beaumont and Fl., Scornful Lady, ii. 2 (Yo. Loveless); speltmeecher, Bonduca, i. 2 (Petillius). ‘Mitch’ and ‘meech’ are in common prov. use (EDD.). ME.mychyn, or stelyn prively smale thyngys, ‘surripio, furtulo’ (Prompt. EETS. 301). Of Ger. origin, see Schade, Altdeutsches Wörterbuch (s.v. mûhhan). See NED. (s.v. Miche).
†miching malicho(meaning quite uncertain), Hamlet, iii. 2. 148. Textual variants are:myching Mallico,munching Mallico,miching mallecho.
migniard,tender, delicate. B. Jonson. Devil an Ass, i. 2 (Fitz.). F.mignard, ‘migniard, pretty, quaint; dainty, delicate’ (Cotgr.).
migniardise,delicate attention. B. Jonson, Staple of News, iii. 1 (Picklock). F.mignardise, ‘quaintnesse . . . smooth or fair speech, kind usage’ (Cotgr.).
mill,to steal or rob (Cant). Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Song); see Harman, Caveat, p. 67.
mime,a mimic, jester, pantomimist. B. Jonson, Epigrams, bk. i, cxxix; Randolph, Muses’ Looking-glass, i. 4 (Satire). Gk. μῖμος.
mince,to walk affectedly or primly. Merry Wives, v. 1. 9;mincing,Bible, Isa. iii. 16;minsen, pres. pl., Drayton, Pastorals, vii. 14. Also, to perform mincingly, to parade, King Lear, iv. 6. 122. F.mincer, to mince, to cut into small pieces (Cotgr.).
minchen,a nun. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. iii, c. 18, § 3. ‘Mincheon lane, so called of . . . theMinchuns, or nuns of St. Helen’s’, Stow, Survey of London (ed. Thoms, p. 50). OE.mynecenu, f. ofmunuc, a monk.
mind,to mean, intend. Mids. Night’s D. v. 113; 3 Hen. VI, iv. 1. 8, 64, 106, 140; Evelyn, Diary (May 21, 1645). In common prov. use, see EDD. (s.v. Mind, vb. 7).
ming,to mingle, mix. Surrey, Description of Spring, 11; in Tottel’s Misc., p. 4. In prov. use, see EDD. (s.v. Ming, vb.2). ME.mynge, to mix (Wyclif, Rev. xviii. 6); OE.mengan.
minge,to mention. Hall. Satires, IV. ii. 80 (Davies). In prov. use, see EDD. (s.v. Ming, vb.1). ME.mynge(Pearl, 855); OE.myn(e)gian.
minikin,a playful or endearing term for a female. Glapthorne, Hollander, ii (NED.). A Shropshire word for a delicate affected girl, see EDD. (sv. Minikin, 3). Du.minneken(Hexham).
minikin,small, delicate; ‘One blast of thy minikin mouth’, King Lear, iii. 6. 45. Cp. the Somerset phr. ‘Her was a poor little minnikin thing’ (EDD.).
minikin string,the thin string of gut used for the treble of the lute or viol, Ascham, Tox. 28. Hence, phr.to tickle the minikin, to play on the treble string, Middleton, Family of Love, i. 3 (Gerardine); aminikin-tickler, a fiddler, Marston, What you Will, v. 1 (Albano).
minim,a note, a part of a song or lay. Spenser, F. Q. vi. 10. 28.
miniments,‘muniments’, valuable belongings. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 8. 6.
minion,a darling, a favourite, esp. in a contemptuous sense, a mistress, a paramour. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 2. 37; ‘A minion wyfe’, a neat, pretty wife, Roister Doister (ed. Arber, 86); the name of a small kind of ordnance, Whitelocke, Memorials (ed. 1853, i. 273); Marlowe, 2 Tamburlaine, iii. 3. 6. F.mignon, ‘a minion, favourite, wanton, darling; also, minion, dainty, neat’ (Cotgr.).
minth,the plant called mint. Peele, Arr. of Paris, i. 1 (Flora). Gk. μίνθα.
mint-man,one skilled in coinage. Bacon, Essay 20, § 7.
minx,a pert girl, hussy. Congreve, Love for L., ii. 1; a wanton woman, Dryden, Limberham, i. 1; ‘Magalda, a trull or minxe’, Florio;Mistress Minx, Marlowe, Dr. Faustus, ii. 2 (Faustus).
minx,a pet dog. Udall, tr. Apoph., Diogenes, § 140.
mirador,gallery to gaze from, balcony. Dryden, Conquest of Granada, I. i. 1 (Abdelmelech). Span.mirador, a balcony (Stevens). See Stanford.
mischief,misfortune, disaster. Merry Wives, iv. 2. 76; Much Ado, i. 3. 13.
misconster,to misconstrue. Shirley, Love in a Maze, ii. 1. 8. Seeconster.
miscreaunce,misbelief, false belief. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 8. 51; Shep. Kal., May, 91. F.mescreance(Cotgr.).
misdeem,to judge amiss of, to think evil of. Spenser, F. Q. i. 7. 49; iii. 10. 29; Milton, P. R. i. 424; to judge amiss, id., P. L. ix. 301.
misken,a ‘mixen’, a manure-heap. Fletcher, Nightwalker, iii. 1 (Toby). A west-midland pronunc. ofmixen(EDD.).
miskin,a little bagpipe. Drayton, Pastorals, ii. 5. A dimin. (through Dutch?) of OF.muse, a bagpipe, cp. F.musette, a little bagpipe (Cotgr.).
misprise,to mistake; ‘Misprise me not’, B. Jonson, Case is Altered, iii. 3 (Maximilian). Seemesprize.
mister:in phr.what mister wight, Spenser, F. Q. i. 9. 23; iii. 7. 14, i.e. a man of what ‘mister’ (occupation), or, a man of what class, what kind of a man. The idiom occurs as an archaism in Spenser, borrowed from Chaucer, ‘But telleth me what mister men ye been’ (C. T.A.1710). So we find,what mister thing, what kind of thing, Beaumont and Fl., Little French Lawyer, ii. 3. 19;such myster saying, such a kind of saying, Shep. Kal., Sept., 103.Mister(ormester) is very common in ME. in the sense of office, employment, business. OF.mestier(F.métier); Med. L.misterium, forministerium(Ducange).
mister,to be necessary or needful; ‘As for my name, it mistreth not to tell’, Spenser, F. Q. iii. 7. 51. Frommister, need, necessity, want; cp. Scottish proverb, ‘Mister maks man o’ craft’, Ray’s Proverbs (ed. Bohn, 250); Ferguson, Proverbs (ed. 1641, p. 24). See EDD. (s.v. Mister, vb. 1 and 3). ME.mistere, need (Cursor M. 3247); OF. (Norman)mestier, ‘besoin, nécessité’ (Moisy). The same word asmister,above.
mistery,occupation, profession. Spenser, Mother Hubberd, 221. ME.misterye(Chaucer, C. T.I.890); Med. L.misterium, ‘officium’ (Ducange). Seemister.
mistress,the small bowl, or jack, in the game of bowls. Middleton, No Wit like a Woman’s, ii. 3 (Mis. Low.); cp. ‘His bias was towards my mistress’, Shirley, Witty Fair One, ii. 2 (Brains); cp. A Woman never vext, iv. 1 (Lambskin).
misured,ill-omened, fatal; ‘O foule mysuryd ground, Whereon he gat his finall dedely wounde’, Skelton, Dethe of Erle of Northumberland, 118. Cp. OF.meseur, ‘malheur’ (Godefroy);meseurus, ‘malheureux’ (Chron. des ducs de Normandie, in Didot). Seeeure.
mite,a small coin of very small value; used in negative phrases for a thing of little worth; ‘The price falleth not one mite’, More’s Utopia (ed. Arber, 42). Hencemiting: ‘Nat worthe a mytyng’, not worth a mite, Skelton, Poems against Garnesche, iii. 115. ME.myte: ‘Noght worth a myte’ (Chaucer, C. T.A.1558). See Dict.
mithridate,a compound regarded as an antidote against all poisons. Fletcher, Valentinian, v. 2 (Val.); Massinger, Maid of Honour, iv. 4 (Adorni). Named from Mithridates, king of Pontus, who was said to have been proof against poison owing to his constant use of antidotes. See Stanford.
miting,a diminutive creature; freq. used as a term of endearment or contempt, Skelton, El. Rummyng, 224. ME.mytyng(Towneley Myst. xii. 477).
mixt,to mix; ‘I myxte, or myngell’, Palsgrave; pres. pt.,mixting, Elyot, Governour, bk. i, ch. 13, § 4. Hencemixt, a mixture; ‘A mixt of both’, Puttenham, Eng. Poesie, bk. ii, ch. 9 (ed. Arber, 97). From the L. pp.mixtus.
mo, moe,orig. used as adv.; ‘Gent’lest fair, mourne, mourne no moe’ (mourn no more), Fletcher, Q. Corinth, iii. 2 (Song);the moe, the majority, the greater part, Puttenham, Eng. Poesie, i. 15 (ed. Arber, 48);mo, more in number, ‘mo tymes’, Caxton, Reynard (ed. Arber, 7); ‘Infinite moe . . . He there beheld’, Spenser, F. Q. ii. 7. 63. ME.mo, adj., more in number, adv., any longer (Chaucer); OE.mā; Goth.mais, more (adv.). See Wright’s OE. Gram. § 252.
mobble, moble,to muffle up one’s head or face; also, withup; ‘Mobledqueen’, Hamlet, ii. 2. 524;mobble up, Shirley, Gent. of Venice, v. 3 (Florelli). A Warw. and Shropsh. word, see EDD. (s.v. Moble).
mobile,mob; ‘The mobile’, Dryden, Pref. to Don Sebastian, § 2; id., i. 1 (near the end); iv. 2 (end). Common from ab. 1676 to 1700; shortened tomobb,c.1688. It represents the L.mobile vulgus, the inconstant crowd. See Dict. (s.v. Mob), and Stanford.
mockado,a kind of cloth much used for clothing; ‘Who would not thinke it a ridiculous thing to see a Lady in her milke-house with a velvet gowne, and at a bridall in her cassock of mockado’, Puttenham, Eng. Poesie (ed. Arber, 290); Ford, Lady’s Trial, ii. 1 (Guzman); Lodge, Wit’s Miserie, 14. A quasi-Spanish form from F.moucade, ‘the stuffe moccadoe’ (Cotgr.). Of Arab. origin, see NED. (s.v. Mohair), and Thomas,Essais(s.v. Camoiard).
moder, modere,to moderate, restrain. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 6, back, 18; Sir T. More, Works, p. 882, col. 2. OF.moderer.
modern,ordinary, commonplace, common; in a depreciatory sense. As You Like It, ii. 7. 156; Macbeth, iv. 3. 170. The only Shakespearian sense; peculiarly Elizabethan.
moe;seemo.
moil, moyle,a ‘mule’. Ford, Fancies, ii. 2; More’s Utopia (ed. Lumby, 51); Beaumont and Fl., Scornful Lady, ii. 1 (Welford). Common in Devon and Cornwall, see EDD. (s.v. Moyle).
moil, moyle,a kind of slipper or shoe; ‘Moyles of velvet to save thy shooes of lether’, J. Heywood, Prov. and Epigr. (ed. 1867, 214); ‘Moiles, a kind of high-soled shoes, worn in ancient times by Kings and great Persons’, Phillips; speltmule, ‘He had ane pair of mules on his feit’, Spalding, Troubles of Charles I (NED.). F.mules, ‘moyles, pantofles, high slippers’ (Cotgr.). Cp. Du.muylen, pantoffles (Hexham). Med. L.mula, ‘crepida’ (Ducange).
moil, moyle,to wet; to soil, make dirty. Turbervile, Hunting, 33; to defile, Spenser, Hymn Heavenly Love, 220; to toil, work hard, drudge, Bacon, Essay, Plantations; to weary, fatigue, harass, Stanyhurst, tr. Aeneid, i (ed. Arber, 27). In common prov. use in many senses, to plaster with mud, to soil, defile, to work hard, to worry, see EDD. (s.v. Moil, vb.). F.mouiller(Cotgr.).
mold,a ‘mole’, spot, blemish. Spenser, F. Q. vi. 12. 7. Seemould.
mollipuff;seemullipuff.
mome,a blockhead. Com. Errors, iii. 1. 32; Spenser, F. Q. vi. 7. 49; Levins, Manipulus; Drayton, Skeltoniad, p. 1373; Mirror for Mag. 466; Dekker, Gull’s Horne-bk. 5; Heywood, Rape of Lucrece, i. 2. 5. Dialect of Genevamome, ‘sot, nigaud’; cp. F. (argot)mome, ‘garçon’ (Sainéan, p. 206).
†Momtanish(?); ‘And this your momtanish inhumanytye’, Sir T. More, ii. 4. 162. Dr. H. Bradley conjecturesMoritanish(i.e. Moorish).
moniment,memorial, anything by which a thing may be remembered. Spenser, F. Q. i. 5. 38; ii. 10. 56; used of dints on a shield, F. Q. ii. 12. 80; of an inscription stamped on coin, F. Q. ii. 7. 5. L.monimentum, deriv. ofmonere, to remind.
Monmouth cap,a flat round cap formerly worn by soldiers and sailors, Hen. V, iv. 7. 104; Eastward Ho, iv. 1 (or2) (Touchstone). Also,monmouth, Heywood, Rape of Lucrece, iii. 5 (last Song).
monomachy,single combat. Heywood, Golden Age, A. iii (Enceladus); vol. iii, p. 50. Gk. μονομαχία; deriv. of μονομάχος, fighting alone.
monster,a prodigy, wonder, divine omen. Phaer, Aeneid ii, 680 (L.mirabile monstrum); id., iii. 26.
montant(a fencing term), an upright blow or thrust. Merry Wives, ii. 3. 27;montanto, B. Jonson, Every Man in Hum. iv. 7 (Bobadil). F.montant(Cotgr.).
month:phr.to have a month’s mind, to have an inclination, a fancy, a liking. Lyly, Euphues (Arber, 464); ‘Tu es bien engrand de trotter, Thou hast a moneths mind to be gone’, Cotgrave; Pepys, Diary, May 20, 1660. In prov. use in many parts of England, see EDD. (s.v. Month, sb.13 (b)).
monthly,madly; after the manner of a lunatic. Only in Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 2 (Moll).
moodeles, modeless,unmeasured, vast, huge; Mirror for Mag., Morindus, st. 17. Frequent in Greene (NED.). Frommode, measure, size, manner, &c.
moon,a fit of frenzy; ‘I know ’twas but some peevish Moone in him’, C. Tourneur, Revenger’s Tragedy, ii (Duke).
mooncalf,a false conception, imperfect foetus; hence, monstrosity. Tempest, ii. 2. 111; Chapman, Bussy D’Ambois, iv. 1 (Bussy); Drayton, The Mooncalf. Cp. G.mondkalb, ‘ungestalte Missgeburt’ (Weigand).
moonling,a mooncalf, silly fellow. B. Jonson, Devil an Ass, i. 3 (Wit.).
mooting-night,a night at the Inns of Court, when imaginary cases at law are discussed by the students. Cartwright, The Ordinary, iii. 5 (Song, verse 2). See Dict. (s.v. Moot).
mooting-time,the moulting season. Drayton, Pol. xxv. 120. In prov. use, see EDD. (s.v. Mout). ME.mowtyn, as fowlys, ‘deplumeo’ (Prompt.); cp. Du.muyten, ‘to mue as hawkes doe’ (Hexham); Low G.muten(G.mausen), to moult (Berghaus); L.mutare.
mop,a grimace, Temp. iv. 1. 47; to make grimaces, King Lear, iv. 1. 64; ‘To moppe, maw,movere labia’, Levins, Manip.
moppe(see quot.); ‘I called her (the young lady) Moppe . . . Understanding by this word, a litle prety Lady, or tender young thing. For so we call litle fishes that be not come to full growth, as whiting moppes, gurnard moppes’, Puttenham, Eng. Poesie (ed. Arber, 229). Cp. ME.moppe, ‘pupa’ (Prompt. EETS. 292).
moppet,a term of endearment applied to a child or a young girl, Massinger, Guardian, iv. 2 (end); The Spectator, no. 277. See above.
more,the root of a tree or plant; a plant. Spenser, F. Q. vii. 7. 10. A west-country word from Worc. to Cornwall, see EDD. (s.v. More). ME.more, root (Chaucer, Tr. and Cr. v. 25). OE.more,moru, an edible root, a carrot, parsnip (B. T.), cp. G.möhre, a carrot.
morelle,a dark-coloured horse. Skelton, ed. Dyce, i. 15, l. 11; i. 24, l. 17. ME.morel, hors (Prompt. EETS. 293). Norm. F.morel,cheval morel, ‘cheval noir’ (Moisy). F.morel,moreau,cheval moreau,a black horse (Cotgr.).
morfound,a disease in horses, sheep, &c., due to taking a chill. Speltmorfounde, Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 100. Palsgrave has: ‘I morfonde, as a horse dothe that waxeth styffe by taking of a sodayne colde.’ F.se morfondre, to take cold (Cotgr.).
Morglay,the name of the sword belonging to Sir Bevis, Drayton, Polyolbion, ii. 332; used allusively for a sword, Beaumont and Fl., Honest Man’s Fortune, i. 1 (Longueville); Stanyhurst, Aeneid, ii (Arber, 60); Cleaveland’s Poems (Nares). We may perhaps compareclaymore(glaymore), see NED.
Morian,of the Moorish race, pertaining to the Moors; a Moor;the Moryans land, Great Bible, 1539, Ps. lxviii. 31 (rendering of ‘Aethiopia’ in Vulgate);the Morians londe, Coverdale (1535), ib.; cp. Luther’s rendering,Mohrenland, land of the Moors. See Bible Word-Book. OF.Morien(NED.). SeeMurrian.
morigeration,deference, obsequiousness. Bacon, Adv. of Learning, i. 3. 10; Howell, Foreign Travell, sect. V, p. 29. L.morigeratio, compliance.
morisco,a morris-dance. Fletcher, Wildgoose Chase, v. 2. 7. Also, a morris-dancer, 2 Hen. VI, iii. 1. 365. Properly, a Moorish dance; see Stanford. Span.morisco, a man descended from Moors or converted from them (Stevens). Seemorris-pike.
mornifle;‘Mornyfle, a maner of play,mornifle’, Palsgrave. F.mornifle, a trick at cards (Cotgr.); ‘réunion de quatre cartes semblables’ (Hatzfeld).Morniflealso meant a cuff, a blow: ‘donner mornifle, c’est-à-dire un soufflet’ (Oudin, 1640); see Sainéan, L’Argot ancien, p. 206. Seemournival.
morphew,a disease of the skin; ‘Morféa, the morphew in some womens faces’, Florio; ‘Morfewe, a sickenesse’, Palsgrave. Hence,morphewed, afflicted with the disease, Webster, Duchess of Malfi, ii. 1 (Bosola). ME.morfu, ‘morphea’ (Prompt.). Med. L.morfea, ‘cutis foedacio maculosa’ (Sin. Bart.).
morpion,a kind of louse. Butler, Hud. iii. 1. 437. F.morpion, a crab-louse (Cotgr.); cp. Rabelais, II. xxvii; deriv. ofmordre+pion, ‘ce pou ayant infesté surtout les anciens corps d’infanterie’ (Hatzfeld).
morris-pike,a form of pike supposed to be of Moorish origin, Com. Errors, iv. 3. 28;morispike, Ascham, Toxophilus (ed. Arber, 67). Seemorisco.
mort(a hunting term). The note sounded on a horn at the death of the deer, Winter’s Tale, i. 2. 118; ‘He that bloweth the Mort before the fall of the Buck’, Greene, Card of Fancie (Nares).
mort(Cant), a girl or woman. B. Jonson, Gypsies Met. 65; a female vagabond, harlot, Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, ii. 1 (Higgen). Later, writtenmott(mot), London slang for a woman of the town, see NED.
mortar:in phr.to fly to Rome with a mortar on one’s head, app. a legendary achievement of some wizard; Middleton, Span. Gipsy, ii. 2 (Soto); Fletcher, Fair Maid of the Inn, v. 2 (Clown); Kemp, Nine Daies Wonder, Ep. Ded. (NED.). F.mortier, ‘a morter to bray things in’ (Cotgr.).
mortmal, mormal,an inflamed sore, esp. on the leg; ‘The old mortmal on his shin’, B. Jonson, Sad Shepherd, ii. 2 (Maudlin); ‘Mormall, a sore,loup’, Palsgrave. ME.mormale, ‘malum mortuum’ (Prompt.). OF.mortmal; cp. Med. L.malum mortuum, ‘morbi genus pedum et tibiarum’ (Ducange). Seemarmoll.
mort-pays,the taking of the King’s pay by a captain in service for men who were dead or discharged; ‘The severe punishing of mort-pays’, Bacon, Hist. Henry VII (ed. Lumby, 93). Seedead pay.
most an end,generally, usually; continually. Massinger, A Very Woman, iii. 1 (Merchant).Honest(addressingGreatheart): ‘Knew him! I was a great companion of his; I was with him most an end’; Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress, Pt. II. In common prov. use from Yorks. to E. Anglia, see EDD. (s.v. Most, 7, 2a).
mot, motte,a word, saying, motto, proverb. Rape of Lucrece, 830; ‘To gull him with a motte’, B. Jonson, Every Man in Hum. iv. 2 (E. Knowell). F.mot, a word.
mote,a note of a horn or bugle. Morte Arthur, leaf 112. 20 (bk. vii, ch. 8); ‘Mote, blaste of a horne’, Palsgrave;mot, Chevy Chace, 16;mott, Turbervile, Hunting, 86. ME.mooteof an horne, blowyng (Prompt. EETS. 294, see note, no. 1431). F.mot, ‘the note winded by an huntsman on his horn’ (Cotgr.).
mote,a pleading in a law-court. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 14, § 7. OE.mōtian, to address a meeting, to discuss, ‘moot a question’ (B. T.). See Dict. (s.v. Moot).
mote,may, must; ‘I mote dye’, Morte Arthur, leaf 34. 9; bk. i, c. 20; ‘Nowmoteye understand’, Spenser, F. Q. vi. 8. 46. ME.mot,moot, pres. (I or he) may, must;moten,mote, pl.;moste, pt. t. OE.mōt, (I, he) may;mōst, 2 sing.;mōton, pl.;mōste, pt. t.
mother,a young girl. Fletcher, Maid in the Mill, iii. 2 (Franio). Seemauther.
mother, the,hysteria. Dekker, Honest Wh., Pt. I, ii. 1 (Bellafront); King Lear, ii. 4. 56.
mothering,the custom of visiting one’s mother, and giving and receiving of presents of food, &c., on Mid-Lent Sunday; ‘Thou go’st a-mothering’, Herrick, To Dianeme, A Ceremonie in Gloucester. See EDD. (s.v. Mothering) for accounts of the customs connected with ‘Mothering Sunday’ (Mid-Lent Sunday) in various parts of England from Yorks. to Devon.
moting,mooting; i.e. discussion, debate. Skelton, Colyn Cloute, 1075. ME.motyng, or pletynge, ‘placitatio’ (Prompt. EETS. 294). Seemote(a pleading).
motion,a puppet-show. Winter’s Tale, iv. 3. 103; a puppet, Two Gent. ii. 1. 100; B. Jonson, Barthol. Fair, v. 3. 3.
mott,measured; pt. t. ofmete(q.v.). Spenser, Colin Clout, 365. See NED. (s.v. Mete, vb.1).
motte;seemot.
mouch,to act by stealth; to idle and loaf about, Webster, Sir T. Wyatt (Clown), ed. Dyce, p. 193. SeeMoochin NED. and EDD. The word is in gen. prov. use in the British Isles and in Australia.
mouchatoes,moustaches. Lady Alimony, ii. 5 (Juliffe). Seemutchado.
mought,a moth; ‘Mought that eates clothes,ver de drap’, Palsgrave. Hencemoughte-eaten, ‘Olde and moughte-eaten lawes’, More’s Utopia (ed. Lumby, 53). ME.mouȝte(Wyclif, Matt. vi. 19);moghte, ‘tinea’ (Cath. Angl.); OE.mohða.
mought,pt. t.might. Bacon, Essays (very common, see Abbott’s ed., Index); Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 42. ME.maht, 2 pr. s.;mahte, pt. t. ofmæi, (I, he) may; OE.meaht, 2 pr. s.;meahte, pt. t. ofmæg, (I, he) may, can.
mould,a ‘mole’, a spot on the skin, birthmark. Gascoigne, Supposes, v. 5 (Cleander);mold, Spenser, F. Q. vi. 12. 7. See Dict. (s.v. Mould, 3).
mouldwarp,the mole, ‘talpa’;moldwarp, 1 Hen. IV, iii. 1. 148; Spenser, Colin Clout, 763. In gen. prov. use in the north country, Midlands, and Suffolk, see EDD. (s.v. Mouldywarp). ME.moldewarpe, ‘talpa’ (Cath. Angl.); cp. Dan.muldvarp, Norw. dial.moldvarp(Aasen), G.maulwurf.
mount cent, mount saint,a game at cards resembling piquet; probably the same ascent(q.v.), Machin, Dumb Knight, iv (Queen). Prob. frommount, i.e. amount, andcent, one hundred. See NED.
mountenance,amount of space, distance. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 8. 18; iii. 11. 20; v. 6. 36. ME.mowntenawnce(Prompt.);montenance, amount (Cursor M. 29166).
mournival,a set of four aces, kings, queens, or knaves in one hand. Cotton Gamester, 68; hence, a set of four (things or persons), B. Jonson, Staple of News, iv. 1 (Mirth);murnival, Greene’s Tu Quoque, in Ancient Eng. Drama, ii. 551. Seemornifle.
mouse,a term of endearment. Hamlet, iii. 4. 183; Middleton, Roaring Girl, ii. 1 (Openwork).
mouse-hunt,a woman hunter. Romeo iv. 4. 11. This is prob. afig.use ofmouse-hunt, a weasel, ‘The Ferrets and Moushunts of an Index’, Milton (Wks., ed. 1851, iii. 81); speltmusehont, Caxton, Reynard (ed. Arber, 79). ‘Mouse-hunt’ (‘Mouse-hound’) is in prov. use in E. Anglia for the smallest animal of the weasel tribe. See EDD. (s.v. Mouse, 1, (7) and (8)). M. Du.muyshont, ormuushont, a weasel, lit. ‘a mouse-hound’.
mowe,to be able; ‘They shalle not mowe helpe, they shall not be able to help’, Morte Arthur, leaf 61, back, 26; bk. iv, c. 3. ME.mow(e)n, ‘posse’ (Prompt. EETS. 302); see Chaucer (Tr. and Cr. ii. 1594). See Dict. M. and S. (s.v. Mæi).
mowe,to make grimaces; ‘I mow with the mouth, I mock one,Je fays la moue’, Palsgrave; ‘Apes that moe and chatter’, Tempest, ii. 2. 9;mowing, making grimaces, Ascham, Scholemaster (ed. Arber, 54).
mowes,grimaces, ‘Making mowes at me’,Bible(1539), Ps. xxxv. 15; Spenser, F. Q. vi. 7. 49; Cymbeline, i. 6. 41. ME.mow, or scorne, ‘valgia’ (Prompt. EETS. 294). F.moue, a moe, ‘an ill-favoured extension or thrusting out of the lips’ (Cotgr.).
mowles,broken chilblains in the heels. Dunbar, Poems (ed. Small, ii. 128). See EDD. (s.v. Mool), and Jamieson (s.v. Mules). ME.mowle, ‘pernio’ (Cath. Angl.);mowle, sore, ‘pustula, pernio’ (Prompt. EETS. 295, see note, no. 1439). F.mule, ‘a kibe;aller sur mule: Il va sur mule aussi bien que le Pape (an equivocation, applicable to one that hath kibed heels)’; see Cotgrave. Cp. Du.muyle, a kibe (Hexham).
moy,an imaginary name of coin, evolved by Pistol out of his prisoner’s speech; ‘Ayez pitié demoi! Moy shall not serve; I will have forty moys’, &c., Hen. V, iv. 4. 14.
moyle,a variety of apple; ‘Of Moyle, or Mum, or Treacle’s viscous juice’, J. Philips, Cider, bk. i. (Perhaps the word means a hybrid; cp.moyle, a mule.) Seegenet-moyl.
moyle;seemoil.
muccinigo,a small coin formerly current in Venice, worth about 9d.B. Jonson, Volpone, ii. 1; iv. 1; Shirley, Gent. Venice, i. 1 (Cornari). Ital. ‘mocenigo, a coyn in Venice; also the name of a considerable family there’ (Florio). The coin was named from Tommaso Mocenigo, doge of Venice, 1413-23. See NED. (s.v. Moccenigo).
much!,a contemptuous exclamation of denial.Much=much of that!, ironically; i.e. far from it, by no means. 2 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 143; Marston, Malcontent, ii. 2 (Celso),Much wench!i.e. no wench at all, B. Jonson, Every Man in Hum., iv. 6 (Brain-worm).
muck;in Dryden, Hind and Panther, iii. 1188.To run amuck, to run about in a frenzy, is a phrase due to the Malayāmuq, ‘rushing in a state of frenzy to the commission of indiscriminate murder’ (Marsden). Dryden took theainamuckto be the E. indef. article; and reproduced the phrase in the curious form—runs an Indian muck. See Stanford (s.v. Amuck).
muckinder,a handkerchief. B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, iii. 1 (Turfe); Fletcher, Captain, iii. 5 (Fabricio); ‘Mockendar for chyldre,mouchouer’, Palsgrave. In prov. use in many parts of England from the north country to Kent and Dorset in various forms;muckinder,muckender,muckinger,muckenger(EDD.). ME.mokedore, ‘sudarium’ (Voc. 614. 25), O. Prov.mocadour(mod.moucadour), a handkerchief, Span.mocador, F.mouchoir; deriv. ofmoucher, ‘débarrasser des mucosités que sécrète la muqueuse nasale’ (Hatzfeld).
muffler,(1) a wrapper worn by women and covering the face; (2) a cloth for blindfolding a person. Merry Wives, iv. 2. 73; Fletcher, Night-walker, ii. 2 (near the end); 2 Hen. V, iii. 6. 32.
mugwet,the intestines of an animal; ‘The gatherbagge or Mugwet of a yong harte’, Turbervile, Hunting, 39. ‘Mugget’ is in prov. use in Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall for sheep or calf’s intestines; see EDD. See NED. (s.v. Mugget).
mule:phr.to ride upon a mule, to be a great lawyer. B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of Humour, ii. 1 (Carlo);to shoe one’s mule, to help oneself out of the funds trusted to one’s management, History of Francion (Nares).
mule;seemoil(a slipper).
mullar,a ‘muller’, a stone with a flat base, held in the hand and used, in conjunction with a grinding-stone or slab, in grinding painters’ colours. Peacham, Comp. Gentleman, p. 136. F.moulleur, a grinder (Cotgr.); deriv. of OF.moldre, L.molere, to grind.
mullet,the rowel of a spur; a mullet, in heraldry. Shirley, Love in a Maze, i. 1 (Simple). F.molette d’esperon, the rowel of a spur (Cotgr.).
mullets,pincers or tweezers. B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels, v. 2 (Amorphus). F.mollette, ‘a mullet, a nipper, a pincer’ (Cotgr.).
mullipuff, mollipuff,the puff-ball, or fuzz-ball. Shirley, St. Patrick, v. 1 (2 Soldier). See NED. (s.v. Mullipuff), and EDD. (s.v. Mully-puff). ‘Mully’ in Norfolk is used for mouldy, powdery, see EDD. (s.v. Mull, sb.11). Norw. dial.moll, mould (Aasen), Swed.mull(Widegren).
mullwine,mulled wine. Middleton, Phœnix, iv. 3. 9. See Dict. (s.v. Mulled).
mumbudget,a word used to insist upon silence; ‘I cry . . .mum; she criesbudget’, Merry Wives, v. 2. 6; ‘Quoth she,Mum budget’, Butler, Hud. i. 3. 208; ‘Mumbudget, not a word!’, Look about You, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vii. 420.
mumchance,the name of a game, both at dice and at cards. Westward Ho, ii. 2 (with allusion tobones, i.e. dice); B. Jonson, Alchemist, v. 2 (Subtle); Barth. Fair, iv. 1 (Cokes). Played in silence; whence the name.
mumchance,one who has nothing to say, a ‘dummy’. Plautus made English (Nares). In prov. use in many parts of England, esp. in the west country, for a stupid, silent, stolid person.
mummia, mummy,a preparation used in medicine, chiefly from the substance with which Egyptian mummies were preserved. Webster, White Devil (beginning, Gasparo), ed. Dyce, p. 5; id. (Isabella), p. 15; Beaumont and Fl., iii. 1 (Galoshio). See Dict. (s.v. Mummy), and Stanford (s.v. Mummia).
mump,to overreach, to cheat; ‘Mump your proud players’, Buckingham, The Rehearsal, ii. 2 (Bayes); ‘Mump’d of his snip’ (i.e. cheated of his portion), Wycherley, Love in a Wood, i. 2 (Ranger); Gent. Dancing-master, iv. 1 (Mrs. Caution). In prov. use in the west country, see EDD. (s.v. Mump, vb.110). Du.mompen, ‘to mump, cheat’ (Sewel).
mump,to make grimaces, to screw up the mouth. Otway, Venice Preserved, ii. 1 (Pierre); D’Urfey, Pills, vi. 198; a grimace, ‘Monnoye de singe, moes, mumps’, Cotgrave. ‘To mump’ is used in Northamptonsh. in the sense of drawing in the lips, screwing up the mouth with a smile: ‘She mumps up her mouth, she knows something’, see EDD. (s.v. Mump, vb.14).
mumpsimus.[In allusion to the story of an illiterate English priest, who when corrected for reading ‘quod in oremumpsimus’ in the Mass, replied ‘I will not change my oldmumpsimusfor your newsumpsimus’ (NED.).] One who obstinately adheres to old ways in spite of the clearest evidence that they are wrong, an old fogey, Underhill in Narr. Reform. (Camden Soc., 141); Gascoigne, Supposes, i. 3 (Dulipo). See Nares.
mundungo,bad-smelling tobacco; ‘A mundungo monopolist’, Lady Alimony, ii. 2 (1 Boy);snuff-mundungus, Butler, Hud. iii. 2. 1006. A jocular use of Span.mondongo, ‘hogs puddings’ (Stevens).
munify,to fortify. Drayton, Barons’ Wars, ii. 34; hence,munificence, defence, Spenser, F. Q. ii. 10. 15 (ed. 1596).
munite,to fortify. Florio, tr. Montaigne, bk. i, c. 47; Bacon, Essay 3 (ed. Abbott, p. 10).
munpins,mouth-pegs, the teeth; a ludicrous form.Munpynnys, Skelton, The Douty Duke of Albany, 292. ‘Mun’ for mouth is in prov. use in the north, and in slang use generally, see EDD. (s.v. Mun, sb.11). Norw. dial.munn, the mouth (Aasen).
muraill,a wall; walls of a city. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 201, back, 14. F.muraille.
murderer, murdering-piece,a cannon or mortar, discharging stones or grape-shot. Hamlet, iv. 5. 95; Fletcher, Woman’s Prize, i. 3 (Jaques); Double Marriage, iv. 2. 6.
mure,a wall. 2 Hen. IV, iv. 4. 119; Heywood, If you know not Me (Queen), vol. i, p. 338; to shut up, 2 Hen. IV, iv. 4. 119;mured up, Spenser, F. Q. vi. 12. 34. L.murus, a wall.
murleon,a merlin, a small hawk; ‘A cast [couple] of murleons’, Damon and Pithias, Ancient Brit. Drama, i. 88, col. 2. ME.merlioun, Chaucer (Parl. Foules, 339). F.esmerillon(Cotgr.).
murnival;seemournival.
murr,a violent catarrh, a severe cold in the head. Chapman, Mons. d’Olive, ii. 1 (Philip);murres, pl., Sir T. Elyot, Castel of Helthe, fol. 3, back; ‘Murre,gravedo’, Levins, Manipulus. See Nares.
Murrian,a Mauritanian, a Moor. Lyly, Euphues (ed. Arber, 315). SeeMorian.
murrion,a ‘morion’, a steel cap. Beaumont and Fl., Philaster, v. 4 (Captain). Also jocularly, a nightcap; speltmurrain, id., Scornful Lady, iv. 1 (Abigail). Span.morrion(Stevens). See Stanford (s.v. Morrion), and Dict. (s.v. Morion).
muscadine,a kind of wine with a musk-like perfume. Massinger, City Madam, ii. 1. 12. See Dict. (s.v. Muscadel).
Muscovy glass,a kind of talc. B. Jonson, Prol. to Devil is an Ass, 17; Marston (Malcontent), i. 3 (Passarello).
muse,to wonder, marvel. Coriolanus, iii. 2. 7; Macbeth, iii. 4. 85; hence,muses, musings, thoughts, cogitations, Lyly, Euphues (ed. Arber, 94); Englishman for my Money, iii. 2 (Harvey); in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, x. 509. OF.muser, ‘regarder comme un sot’ (Bartsch), cp. Ital.musare, ‘to muse, to gape, to hould ones muzle or snout in the aire’ (Florio); Prov.muzar, ‘regarder bouche béante’;mus, ‘figure, visage’ (Levy).
muse,a gap in a thicket or fence through which a hare or other beast of sport is wont to pass; ‘Take a hare without a muse, and a knave without an excuse’, Howell, Eng. Prov. 12; ‘The wild muse of a bore’ (boar), Chapman, tr. Iliad, xi. 368; Heywood, Witches of Lancs. i. 1 (Bantam). The word is in prov. use in many parts of England from the north country to Sussex, writtenmuse,meuse,moose,muce, see EDD. (s.v. Meuse). F. dial. (Bas-Maine)mus, ‘muce, passage étroit à travers des broussailles pour les lièvres, les lapins, &c.’ (Dottin); see Littré (s.v. Musse). Seemeaze.
muske-million,the musk-melon. Drayton, Pol. xx. 54; Tusser, Husbandry, § 40. 8.
musquet,a hawk of a very small size. Dryden, Hind and Panther, iii. 119; ‘Musket, a lytell hauke,mouchet’, Palsgrave. Ital.mosquetto, ‘a musket-hawke’ (Florio).
muss,a scramble among boys, for trivial objects. Ant. and Cl. iii. 13. 91; B. Jonson, Barthol. Fair, iv. 1 (Cokes). ‘Muss’ means a confusion, scramble, in Warwickshire, see EDD. (s.v. Muss, sb.11 and 2).