touch,often used for any costly marble; properly thebasanitesof the Greeks, a very hard black granite. It obtained the nametouchfrom being used as a test for gold. It was often writtentutchortuch; ‘He built this house of tutch and alabaster’, Harington, tr. Ariosto, xliii. 14; ‘With alabaster, tuch and porphyry adorned’, Drayton, Pol. xvi. 45; ‘Thou art not, Penshurst, built to envious show of touch or marble’, B. Jonson, Forest, B. ii. 2. See Nares. F.pierre de touche, ‘sorte de pierre, ainsi appelée, parce qu’on s’en sert pour éprouver l’or et l’argent en les y frottant’ (Dict. de l’Acad., 1762).
touch-box,a box containing powder for priming a fire-arm; ‘Fire the touch-box’, Return from Parnassus, iv. 2. 8. Seetwitch-box.
tour,a lady’s head-dress or wig. Etherege, Man of Mode, ii. 1 (Medley). F. ‘Un tour de tête,un tour, sorte de petite perruque de femme’ (Hatzfeld).
toure, towre,to see, to look (Cant). Totowre, to see, Harman, Caveat, p. 84;toure out, Brome, Jovial Crew, ii. 1 (Patrico).
toward,in preparation, near at hand. Mids. Night’s D. iii. 1. 81; Tam. Shrew, i. 1. 68;towards, Romeo, i. 5. 124;towardness, docility, Bacon, Essay 19.
towker,a ‘tucker’, a fuller of cloth. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 14, § 4. ME.towkere, ‘fullo’ (Voc. 629. 2),towker, P. Plowman, A. Prol. 100. See Dict. M. and S. (s.v. Tokker).
town-top,Fletcher, Nightwalker, i. 3 (Nurse). Seeparish-top.
to-wry,to hide, conceal; ‘Your sighs you fetch from far, And all to-wry your woe’, Sir T. Wyatt, The Lover’s Case cannot be hidden, 26 (ed. Bell, p. 95). ME.wrye, to cover (Chaucer, C. T.E.887), OE.wrēon, to cover;wrigen, pp.
toy,a trifle, a trifling ornament. Twelfth Nt. iii. 3. 44; ‘Any toys for your head’, Winter’s Tale, iv. 4. 326; Bacon, Essay 19; a trifling matter, something of no value, Othello, i. 3. 270; an idle fancy, whim, King John, i. 1. 232; Richard III, i. 1. 60; Two Noble Kinsmen, v. 4. 79; Chapman, Bussy D’Ambois, i (Beaupré).
to-year,this year. Webster, Duch. of Malfi, ii. 1 (Duchess);to-yere, id., Appius and Virginia, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, iv. 118. In gen. prov. use in England and Ireland (EDD.). ME.to-yere, this year (Chaucer, C. T.D.168).
trace,the straps by which a vehicle is drawn, traces. Golding, Metam. ii. 109; fol. 16, back (1603); ‘Trace, horse harnesse,trays’, Palsgrave. ME.trayce, horsys harneys, ‘trahale’ (Prompt.). F.traits, pl. oftrait, ‘the cord or chain that runs between the horses’ (Cotgr.).Tracesis therefore a double plural. See Dict.
trace,to follow up a track; to traverse, to move forward. Sackville, Mirror for Mag., Induction, st. 27; Morte Arthur, leaf 232. 18, bk. x, ch. 30; Milton, Comus, 427;trast, pt. t., Spenser, F. Q. v. 8. 37. In use in Ireland in the sense of tracking an animal, see EDD. (s.v. Trace, vb.11).
tract,to track, follow up, Spenser, F. Q. vi. 7. 3, 17; Greene, Orl. Fur. i. 1. 101.
tract:phr.tracte of tyme, duration of time, Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 22, § 3;to tract the time, to prolong the time, Mirror for Mag., Gloucester, st. 25. Hencetracting, protraction, prolongation, ‘In the tractynge of tyme’, Latimer, Serm. (ed. Arber, 53). F. ‘par traict de temps, in tract of time’ (Cotgr.).
trade,track of footsteps, trodden path. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 6. 39; ‘A common trade to passe through Priam’s house’, Surrey, tr. Aeneid, ii. 593. In north Yorks. the word is in prov. use, meaning a constant passage backwards and forwards, used of men and animals: ‘A lot of rabbits here, by the trade they make’, see EDD. (s.v. Trade, 1).
traditive,traditional. Dryden, Hind and Panther, ii. 196.
traduction,transmission. Dryden, On Mrs. A. Killigrew, 23.Verbal traduction, verbal translation, Cowley, Pref. to Pindaric Odes (beginning). F.traduction, a translation, L.traductio, a transferring, transmission.
traicte,to treat. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 15, § 1. F.traicter, to treat (Cotgr.).
train,to draw on, allure, entice. Com. Errors, iii. 2. 45;train on, 1 Hen. IV, v. 2. 21. Norm. F.trainer, ‘attirer, entrainer, séduire’ (Moisy).
trains,artifices, stratagems. Macbeth, iv. 3. 118; Spenser, F. Q. i. 3. 24; Milton, P. L. xi. 624; Sams. Ag. 533, 932; Comus, 151. ME.trayne, or disseyte, ‘fraus’ (Prompt. EETS. 488). OF.traine, ‘trahison’ (Godefroy); cp. F. ‘traine, a plot, practice, device’ (Cotgr.).
tralineate,to deviate, degenerate. Dryden, Wife of Bath, 396. Suggested by Ital.tralignare, to degenerate (Dante).
tralucent,transparent, allowing light to shine through. B. Jonson, Masque of Hymen, prose description at the end, § 6. The same astranslucent, Milton, Comus, 861. L.tralucere,translucere, to shine through.
tramels,nets for confining the hair, net-work. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 2. 15; Greene, Looking Glasse, ii. 1. 426 (Remilia); p. 122, col. 2. F.tramail, a net (Cotgr.); Ital.tramaglio, a drag-net (Fanfani), Med. L.tremaculum,tremaclum(Ducange).
trampler,a lawyer. Middleton, A Trick to Catch, i. 4 (Witgood).
trangame,a thing of no value (Cant); ‘But go, thou trangame, and carry back those trangames which thou hast stolen’, Wycherley, Plain Dealer, iii (Widow).
translate,to transform. Mids. Night’s D. iii. 1. 122; B. Jonson, Every Man in Hum. ii. 4 (Brain-worm).
translater,a jocose or slang term for a cobbler who made worn boots wearable by judicious patching, and mending; ‘Jeffrey the translater’, A Knack to know a Knave (Cobbler), in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vi. 566. For many examples of the use of this word for a ‘cobbler’, see EDD. (s.v. Translate, 1).
transmew,to transmute, change. Spenser, F. Q. i. 7. 35; ii. 3. 37. ME.transmuwen(Chaucer, Tr. and Cr. iv. 467). F.transmuër, to change (Cotgr.). L.transmutare. See EDD.
transmogrify,to transform. Shadwell, Squire of Alsatia, iii. 1 (Belfond Senior). A playful variant oftransmodify, by association with the termination -(mo)graphy. In gen. prov. and colloquial use in all English-speaking countries (EDD.).
transversaries,the cross-pieces of a cross-staff, which was an old instrument for taking altitudes and measuring angles. Dekker, Wh. of Babylon (1 King); Works, ii. 233.
trash,(hunting term), to check (a dog) that is too fast by attaching a weight to its neck; ‘This poor trash of Venice, whom I trash For his quick hunting’, Othello, ii. 1. 132; ‘Who t’advance, and who To trash for over-topping’, Tempest, i. 2. 81; Fletcher, Bonduca, i. 1 Caratach). See Nares. In Cumberland the wordtrashmeans a cord used in checking dogs, see EDD. (s.v. Trash, sb.31).
trash,to tramp after, to pace along. Puritan Widow, iv. 1. 37. In prov. use in Lakeland, see EDD. (s.v. Trash, vb.11).
trattle,to prattle, tattle. Bale, Kynge Johan (Camd. Soc.), p. 73; Skelton, Against the Scottes, 2. Hence,trattler, a prattler, ‘A tratler is worse than a thief’, Ray, Proverbs (ed. 1678, 357). A Scotch word, see EDD. (s.v. Trattle, vb.).
travant,a halberdier in attendance on the Emperor in Germany. Chapman, Alphonsus, iii (Alph.). G.Trabant, a satellite, halberdier: cp. Norw.drabant, one of the body-guard of Solomon (1 Kings ix. 22), Magyardarabant. See Kluge’s Etym. Germ. Dict., and NED. (s.v. Drabant).
travers(e,a movable screen, a sliding door. Marston’s Masque at Ashby Castle, MS. (Nares); Webster, White Devil (Flamineo), ed. Dyce, p. 45; spelttraves, Skelton, Bowge of Courte, 58. ME.travers: ‘We will that our said son be in his chamber . . . the travers drawn anon upon eight of the clock’ (Letters and Ordinances, 1473, in Nares); so in Chaucer: ‘Men drinken and the travers drawe anon’ (C. T.E.1817); alsotravas, ‘transversum’ (Prompt. EETS. 489, see note, no. 2387). The word exists in prov. use in Scotland, see EDD. (s.v. Traverse, 2).
traverse,to examine thoroughly. Heywood, Rape of Lucrece, ii. 3 (Tarquin).
tray-trace, trey-trace,perhaps (liketray-trip) the name of a game at dice. Trey-trip andtrey-trace, Appius and Virginia, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, iv. 118.
tray-trip,an old game at dice, in whichtray(three) was a successful throw. Twelfth Nt. ii. 5. 207; B. Jonson, Alchem. v. 2 (Subtle); spelttra-trip, Beaumont and Fl., Scornful Lady, ii. 1 (Roger);tre-trip, Mayne, City Match, ii. 4 (Aurelia); ‘Lett’s goe to dice a while, To passage, trei-trippe, hazard, or mum-chance’, Machivell’s Dogge, 1617, 4to, sign. B; see Nares. Seetrey.
treachetour,a traitor, deceiver. Spenser, F. Q. vi. 8. 7. A contaminated form; due to ME.trechour(a traitor) and ME.tregetour(a juggler). The latter word is found in Chaucer, Hous of Fame, 1277, and C. T.F.1143, see alsotregetowre, ‘mimus, pantomimus, prestigiator, joculator’ (Prompt. EETS. 489). Anglo-F.tregettour, juggler (Bozon), deriv. of OF.tresgeter, Med. L.transjectare, to throw across, to juggle.
treachour,a traitor, Spenser, F. Q. i. 9. 32; ii. 1. 12; ii. 4. 27;treacher, King Lear, i. 2. 133; Beaumont and Fl., Bloody Brother, iii. 1 (Otto); Chapman, Byron’s Tragedy, v. 1 (Byron). ME.trechour(Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 197). OF.trecheör(Bartsch), Romanic typetrecatórem, cp. Med. L.tricator, ‘deceptor’ (Ducange).
treague,a truce. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 2. 33. Ital. and Span.tregua, Mod. L.tregua, see Ducange (s.v. Treva); of Germ. origin, cp. OHG.triuwa, truth, a solemn promise (Schade).
treason,a surrender. North, tr. Plutarch, Coriolanus, § 17 (in Shaks. Plut. p. 31). OF.traïson, Med. L.traditio, ‘cessio, concessio’ (Ducange).
treen,pl. oftree. Sackville, Mirror for Mag., Induction, st. 1. ME.treon, trees (Laȝamon, 1835, 25978).
treen,wooden, made of wood. Spenser, F. Q. i. 2. 39; i. 7. 26; Chapman, Byron’s Conspiracy, ii (near end); ‘Treene dishes be homely’, Tusser, Husbandry, 175. In prov. use:treen-plates, wooden trenchers, in E. Anglia (EDD.). ME.treen, wooden (Prompt. EETS. 495).
trench,to cut. Two Gent. iii. 2. 7; Macb. iii. 4. 27. F. ‘trencher, to cut, carve, slice, hew’ (Cotgr.).
trenchand,cutting, sharp. Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 17. Fortrenchant; from F.trencher, to cut.
trenchmore,a lively and boisterous country-dance. Beaumont and Fl., Pilgrim, iv. 3 (Master); Island Princess, v. 3 (2 Townsman); London Prodigal, i. 2. 38; Selden’s Table Talk (s.v. King of England). See Nares.
trendle,a wheel, a hoop. Udall, tr. Apoph., Socrates, § 72; ‘A cracknel or cake made like a Trendell’, Nomenclator (Nares). In prov. use, see EDD. (s.v. Trindle, 1, 2). ME.trendyl, ‘troclea’ (Prompt. 490). OE.trendel, a wheel (Sweet), seetrindill.
trendle,to roll; ‘Like a trendlyng ball’, Gascoigne, Fruites of Warre, st. 44 (Works, i. 158). In prov. use, see EDD. (s.v. Trindle, 8). Seetrindill.
trepidation,a swaying motion: the libration of the earth. Milton, P. L. iii. 483.
trest;seetrist.
tretably,properly, correctly. Marston, What you Will, iii. 2 (Pedant). OF.traitable, tractable.
trey, tray,three; at cards or dice. L. L. L. v. 2. 232. Anglo-F.treis, L.tres, three.
treygobet,the name of a game at dice. Lit. ‘three (and) go better’. The Interlude of Youth, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, ii. 34.
trick(e,neat, tidy, elegant. Tusser, Husbandry, § 15. 35; Ascham, Toxophilus, 6 (Nares); Udall, tr. Apoph., Socrates, § 73; neatly, skilfully, Peele, Arr. of Paris, i. 1 (Faunus).
tricker,a trigger. Butler, Hud. i. 3. 528; Farquhar, Recruiting Officer, i. 1. Du.trekker, a trigger, a puller;trekken, to draw, pull. See Dict.
trickment,heraldic emblazonry; ‘Here’s a new tomb, new trickments too’, Beaumont and Fl., Knt. of Malta, iv. 2 (Norandine); ‘No tomb shall hold thee But these two arms, no trickments but my tears’, Mad Lover, v. 4 (Calis).
tricotee,a kind of dance; ‘A monkey dancing his tricotee’, Lady Alimony, i. 2 (Trillo). OF.tricotee, an involuntary dance by one compelled by blows (Godefroy); cp.tricote, a cudgel;Tricot, ‘bâton gros et court. Il n’est d’usage que dans le discours familier:Il lui donna du tricot’ (Dict. de l’Acad., 1762). Of Germ. origin, see Schado (s.v. Stric). See Nares.
trig,a term of abuse. B. Jonson, Alchem. iv. 4 (Kastril).
trigon.The zodiacal signs were combined intriplicities, or four sets of three; each of these formed a trigon. There are four such: (1) thefierytrigon, Aries, Leo, Sagittarius; (2) theearthytrigon, Taurus, Virgo, Capricornus; (3) theairytrigon, Gemini, Libra, Aquarius; (4) thewaterytrigon, Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces, according to the four elements, fire, earth, air, water. ‘The fiery trigon’, 2 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 288; ‘His musics, his trigon’, B. Jonson, Volpone, i. 1 (Nano); Butler, Hud. ii. 3. 905. Gk. τρίγωνον, a triangle.
trill,to roll as a ball. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 27, § 7; to trickle as a tear, Spenser, F. Q. ii. 12. 78; Sir T. Wyatt, Comparison of Love to a Stream, 2; to twirl, ‘I tryll a whirlygig rounde aboute,Je pirouette’, Palsgrave. In prov. use in sense of to trundle a hoop, also, to twirl (EDD.). ME.tryllyn, ‘volvo’ (Prompt. EETS. 502).
trillibub,a trifle, an expression for something trifling. Massinger, Old Law, iii. 2 (Simonides); Shirley, Hyde Park, iii. 2 (Fairfield); a cheap food, like tripe, B. Jonson, Barth. Fair, i. 1 (Quarlous). See Nares. Cp. the prov. words for entrails, tripe,trollibobs,trullibubs,trollibags, gen. used in phr.tripe and trollibobs(EDD., s.v. Trollibobs). Seetrullibub.
trim,neat, elegant, nice, fine; mostly used with irony; ‘The flowers are sweet, their colours fresh and trim’, Venus and Ad. 1079; ‘Trim gallants’, L. L. L. v. 2. 363; ‘These trim vanities’, Hen. VIII, i. 3. 37; ornamental dress, Ant. and Cl. iv. 4. 22; ‘Proud-pied April, dressed in all his trim’, Sonnet 98; phr.in her trim, in speaking of ships, the state of being fully prepared for sailing, ‘Where we in all her trim freshly beheld our royal ship’, Tempest, v. 236; Com. Errors, iv. 1. 90.
trim-tram,a trifle, a worthless speech or thing. Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, ii. 114. [‘They thought you as great a nincompoop as your squire—trim-tram, like master, like man’, Smollett, Sir L. Greaves, xiii.] A reduplicative term used in Scotland, expressive of ridicule or contempt (EDDA.).
trindill;‘That they take away and destroy all shrines, tables, candlesticks, trindills, or rolls of wax’, King’s Injunctions, ann. 1547, in Fuller’s Church History.
trindle-tail.Fletcher speaks of a cur with ‘a trindle tail’, i.e. a tail curled round, Love’s Cure, iii. 3. 17; Honest Man’s Fortune, v. 3. 18; spelttrundle-tail, a dog with a curled tail, King Lear, iii. 6. 73;trendle-tail, B. Jonson, Barth. Fair, ii. 1 (Ursula). Seetrendle.
trine,a combination of three things (viz. youth, wit, and courage), Mirror for Mag., Cromwell, st. 26.
trine,an aspect in which one planet was at an angle of 120 degrees from another. Dryden, Annus Mirab. 292; ‘A trine aspect’, Beaumont and Fl., Bloody Brother, iv. 2 (Norbret). Hence, as vb., to conjoin in a trine, Dryden, Palamon, iii. 389. Seetriplicity.
trine,to be hanged (Cant). Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, iii. 3 (Higgen); Harman, Caveat, p. 31;trine me, hang me, Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Trapdoor).
trinket(trinquet),the highest sail of a ship. Hakluyt, Voyages, iii. 411; ‘Trinquetis properly the top or top-gallant on any mast, the highest sail of a ship’, Blount, Gloss. (ed. 1674). F.trinquet(Cotgr.), Span. and Port.trinquete, deriv. oftrinca, a rope for lashing fast; of Germ. origin, cp. G.strick; see Reinhardstöttner, Portuguese Gram. (1878), § 31, and Schade (s.v. Strickan).
trinket,a porringer; esp. one made with a handle, like a teacup, as it is to be hung upon a pin. Tusser, Husbandry, § 17. 3.
trinket(trenket),a shoemaker’s knife; ‘Trenket, an instrument for a cordwayner,batton a torner(soulies)’, Palsgrave [also spelttrynket]. ME.trenket(Voc. 562. 3);trenkett, ‘ansorium’ (Cath. Angl.);trenkette(Prompt. 490, see note, no. 2395). Cp. F.tranchet: ‘A shoomakers round cutting knife:tranchet de cordouanier’ (Sherwood).
triplicity,a combination of three zodiacal signs in the form of an equilateral triangle; ‘And how the signs in theirtriplicities, By sympathizing in their trine consents’, &c., Drayton, Man in the Moon, 458. Seetrigon.
trist, trest,the station where a hunter was placed to watch the game.At the trest, Morte Arthur, leaf 382, back, 14; bk. xviii, c. 21;at the tryst, Master of Game, ch. 16 (end). ME.triste, an appointed station in hunting (Chaucer, Tr. and Cr. ii. 1534),tryster(Gawain),tristre(Anc. R.). OF.triste,tristre(Godefroy). See Dict. (s.v. Tryst).
trisulke,three-forked, triple. Heywood, Golden Age, A. iii (Saturn); vol. iii, p. 43; Brazen Age (Hercules), p. 250; a trident, three-forked spear, Heywood, Dialogue 4 (Timon); vol. vi, p. 160. L.trisulcus, three-forked (Virgil).
troad, trode,track of footsteps, beaten path. Spenser, F. Q. vi. 10. 5; Shep. Kal., July, 14; Gascoigne, ed. Hazlitt, ii. 325. ‘Trod’, meaning a beaten track, a foot-path, is a north-country word down to Lincoln (EDD.).
troll, troul, trowl,to roll; ‘To troll the tongue’, Milton, P. L. xi. 620; to circulate or pass round, as a vessel of liquor at a carouse, ‘Troul the bowl’, Beaumont and Fl., Knight of the B. Pestle, ii. 5 (Merrythought); Dekker, Shoemakers’ Holiday, v. 4 (Song); to sing a tune in succession, ‘Troll the catch’, Tempest, iii. 2. 126; Beaumont and Fl., Philaster, v. 3 (Dion). In prov. use in various parts of England in the sense of to roll, to circulate, see EDD. (s.v. Troll, vb.1). ME.trollyn, ‘volvo’ (Prompt.).
troll-my-dames,the name of a game; ‘A fellow, sir, that I have known to go about with troll-my-dames’, Wint. Tale, iv. 3. 92 (Autolycus). Also calledpigeon-holes; alsonine-holes(described by Strutt). The game was played with a board, at one end of which were a number of arches, like pigeon-holes, into which small balls were to be bowled; see Nares. The wordtroll-my-damesis a corruption of the French name for the gameTrou-Madame; see Cotgrave.
tromp,to deceive. B. Jonson, New Inn, i. 1 (Host). F.tromper. Cp. EDD. (s.v. Trump, vb.3).
trossers,tight drawers. Beaumont and Fl., Coxcomb, ii. 3 (Maria); Hen. V, iii. 7. 57 (so most modern edds.). Seestrossers.
trot,an old woman. Tam. Shrew, i. 2. 80; used of a man, Meas. for M. iii. 2. 54; Gammer Gurton, ii. 8; Warner, Albion, ii. p. 47 (Nares). In prov. use (EDD.). Anglo-F.trote: ‘la viele trote’ (Gower, Mirour, 17900).
trouchman;seetruchman.
troul, trowl;seetroll.
trow,to think, believe, suppose; ‘I trow not’,Bible, Luke xvii. 9; 2 Hen. VI, ii. 4. 38; v. 1. 85.I trow, added to questions expressive of contemptuous or indignant surprise; ‘Who’s there, I trow?’, Merry Wives, i. 4. 140; ii. 1. 64; alsotrowalone; ‘What is the matter, trow?’, Cymbeline, i. 6. 47. In prov. use in the north country (EDD.). ME.trowen(Chaucer, C. T.A.691), OE.trūwian, to believe confidently, to trust in a person or thing (Sweet).
trowses,close-fitting drawers; ‘Four wild Irish in trowses’, Ford, Perkin Warbeck, iii. 1 (Stage-direction); B. Jonson, Staple of News, i. 1 (Pennyboy Junior); hence,trowzed, clad in ‘trowses’, ‘Poor trowz’d Irish’, Drayton, Pol. xxii. 1577. F.trousses, the breeches of a page (Littré); cp. O. Irishtruibhas, close-fitting breeches and stockings (O’Curry, Introd., p. 384); Irishtriubhas(Dinneen). See Dict. (s.v. Trousers).
Troy-novant,orNew Troy,London. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 10. 46; Peele, Descensus Astraeae, l. 18 from end; id., A Farewell, &c., l. 4; ‘Geoffrey of Monmouth . . . reporteth that Brute lineally descended from the demi-god Aeneas . . . about the year of the world 2855, and 1108 before the nativity of Christ, built this city (London) near unto the river now called Thames, and named it Troynovant or Trenovant’, Stow’s Survey (ed. Thoms, 1). London was the capital of the British tribe, theTrinobantes, one of its ancient names beingAugusta Trinobantum, whence the Anglo-F.Troynovant; but by popular etymologyTroynovantwas connected with theTroia nova(new Troy) of Geoffrey of Monmouth and Nennius.
truage,tribute. Morte Arthur, leaf 35, back, 4; bk. i, c. 23. ME.truage(Rob. Glouc.). OF.truage,treuaige,treutage, ‘vectigal, tributum’, deriv. oftrue,treü,trehu, ‘tributum’, see Ducange (s.v. Truagium). OF.treüis the same word as L.tributum; cp. O. Prov.traüt,trabut, ‘tribut’ (Levy). See Dict. M. and S. (s.v. Trewage).
truchman,an interpreter. B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels, v. 2 (Crites); tr. of Horace, Art of Poetry, III (= L.interpete); Holland. Pliny, Nat. Hist., bk. vii, ch. 24; Hakluyt, Voyages, ii. 152; Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid (ed. Arber, 82);trucheman, Puttenham, Eng. Poes. (ed. Arber, 278);trouchman, Three Lords and Three Ladies; in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vi. 463. See Nares. F.trucheman(Cotgr.), O. Prov.trocheman, Span.trujaman(Stevens), Arab.tarjumân(Dozy, 351). See Stanford (s.v. Dragoman).
truckle-bed,a bed which could be wheeled under a larger one, Hall, Satires, ii, sat. 6; ‘troccle-bed’, Statutes Trinity Coll., Oxford (ann. 1556). An Oxford University word. L.trochlea, wheel of a pulley. Gk. τροχιλία, a pulley. See Dict.
true,honest.Bible, Gen. xlii. 11; Much Ado, iii. 3. 54; L. L. L. iv. 3. 187; ‘The thieves have bound the true men’, 1 Hen. IV, ii. 2. 98; ‘Rich preys make true men thieves’, Venus and Ad. 724. See Wright’s Bible Word-Book.
true-penny,honest fellow; used familiarly. Hamlet, i. 5. 150; Fletcher, Loyal Subject, i. 3 (Putskie).
trug,a trull, concubine. Arden of Fev. i. 500; Middleton, Your Five Gallants, i. 1 (Primero). See Nares.
trullibub,a slut. Dekker, Shoemakers’ Holiday, ii. 3 (Eyre). Seetrillibub.
trump,a game at cards, similar to our whist. Fletcher, Lover’s Progress, iii. 2 (Lancelot); Peele, Old Wives’ Tale (Clunch).
truncheon,the lower part of the shaft of a broken lance. Dryden, Palamon, iii. 612; ‘Truncheons of shivered lances’, id., tr. of Aeneid, xi. 16. ME.tronchoun, broken shaft of a spear (Chaucer, C. T.A.2615); Anglo-F.trunçun: ‘Sa hanste est fraite, n’en ad que un trunçun’ (Ch. Rol. 1352).
trundle-bed,a low bed for a servant that ran on castors, drawn out at night from beneath a higher bed; a synonym oftruckle-bed.Shirley, Witty Fair One, iii. 1 (Brains). In prov. use (EDD.).
trundle-tail;seetrindle-tail.
trundling-cheat,in cant language, a cart. B. Jonson, New Inn, iii. 1 (Pierce). Seecheat(2).
trunk,a tube; a speaking-tube, B. Jonson, Silent Woman, i. 1 (Cler.); a telescope, News from the New World (Printer); a pea-shooter, ‘Wooden pellets out of earthen trunks’, Middleton, Fam. of Love, iii. 3 (Purge); Eastward Ho, ii (Quicksilver); ‘A trunk to shoot in,syringa, tubulus flatu jaculatorius’, Coles, Lat. Dict.; Brome, New Acad. iv. 1. See Dict. (s.v. Trunk, 2).
trunks,trunk-hose, loose hose, often stuffed with hair. B. Jonson, Alchem. iii. 2 (Face); Shirley, Sisters, iii. 1 (Strozzo).
truss,to pack close; to fasten up. 2 Hen. IV, iii. 2. 350; ‘Help to truss me’ (i.e. to tie up the points (strings) of my hose), B. Jonson, Every Man in Hum. i. 3 (Stephen). See Dict.
trusses, a pair of,close-fitting leggings; ‘A pair of trusses’ [for an Irishman], Shirley, Love Tricks, i. 1 (near the end). Seetrowses.
†trutch sword(?); ‘For a trutch sword, my naked knife stuck up’, Beaumont and Fl., Woman-hater, i. 3 (Lazarillo). See Nares.
trye,select, refined; ‘Of silver trye’, Spenser, F. Q. v. 2. 26. F.trié, pp. oftrier, to try, to refine.
tuch;Seetouch(2).
tucket,a particular set of notes on the trumpet used as a signal for a march (Nares). Also,tucket-sonance, Hen. V, iv. 2. 85. Ital. ‘toccatad’un musico, a præludium that cunning musicians use to play, as it were voluntarily before any set lesson’ (Florio).
tuff-taffeta,a kind of silk. Eastward Ho, i. 1 (Gertrude); B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels, iv. 1 (Hedon).
tumbler,a kind of greyhound used for coursing rabbits; ‘A nimble tumbler on a burrowed green’, W. Browne, Brit. Pastorals, ii. 4; B. Jonson, Poetaster, i. 1 (Tucca). A Linc. word, see EDD. (s.v. Tumbler, 3).
tumbrel,a farm-cart used for manure. Marston, Epil. to Pygmalion, 26; Satire iv. 13. In prov. use in various parts of England, see EDD. (s.v. Tumbril, 1). ME.tomerel, a dung-cart (Prompt. EETS. 485,tumerel, 494); F. ‘tombereau, a tumbrel or dung-cart’ (Cotgr.).
tumbrel,a sort of bumboat, unfit for sailing. Fletcher, Woman’s Prize, iii. 2 (Jaques); iii. 4 (Petruchio).
tundish,a funnel; ‘Filling a bottle with a tundish’, Meas. for M. iii. 2. 182. A ‘tun-bowl’ or a ‘tun-dish’ was a kind of wooden funnel, like a small bucket, with hoops round it, and a tube at the bottom, used for pouring liquids into a cask, in use in Northants, see EDD. (s.v. Tun, sb.13 (2)).
tunnel,the shaft of a fire-place, chimney. Webster, Devil’s Law-case, ii. 1 (Crispiano), wherechimneymeans fire-place;tonnell, Spenser, F. Q. ii. 9. 29; ‘Tonnell of a chymney,tuyau’, Palsgrave; see Dict. (s.v. Tunnel);tonnelsusedfig.for nostrils, B. Jonson, Every Man in Hum. i. 3 (Cob).
tup,to cover as a ram. Othello, i. 1. 89; iii. 3. 396.Tup with, to cohabit with, Warner, Alb. England, bk. iv, ch. 20, st. 33. ‘Tup’ is in gen. prov. use for a ram in England and Scotland (EDD.).
turf.‘Turfe of a cap,rebras’, Palsgrave (rebrasmeans a turning up, a tucking upwards or inwards); as vb., to make a turned-up edging for a hat, ‘The steward would have had the velvet-head (of the stag) . . . to turf his hat withal’, Beaumont and Fl., Philaster, iv. 2 (1 Woodman). ME.tyrfe, the rolling back of a sleeve, ‘revolucio’ (Prompt. EETS. 483, see note, no. 2350);tirven, to roll back (Havelok, 603).
turgion,the name of a dance. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 20, § 12. F. ‘tourdion, a turning, or winding about; also, the dance tearmed a round’ (Cotgr.); O. Prov.tordion, ‘sorte de danse’ (Levy). From OF.tordre, to twist. See Croft’s note on the word in the Glossary.
Turk.‘A valiant Turk, though not worth tenpence’, Middleton, A Fair Quarrel, iii. 1 (1 Friend);a Turk of tenpence(a term of abuse), Marlowe, Jew of Malta, iv. 4 (Ithamore).
turken,to wrest, distort; ‘It turkeneth all things at pleasure’, Gascoigne. Steel Glass (ed. Arber, 37);turquened, pp., id., Pref. to Poesies; ed. Hazlitt, i. 5.
turkis,the gem turquoise. Milton, Comus, 894. See Dict.
turm,a troop. Milton, P. R. iii. 66. L.turma.
turment,a warlike engine; ‘Turmentes of warre’, Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 8, § 3. OF.torment,tourment(Godefroy). Med. L.tormentum, a machine for hurling missiles (Ducange).
turnbroch,a turnspit.Turnebroche, Tusser, Husbandry, § 80. 2. F.tourne-broche, a turn-spit, a dog used for turning a spit.
Turnbull Street,a street in Clerkenwell noted for thieves and bad characters. Middleton, A Chaste Maid, ii. 2 (2 Promoter). See Nares.
turnpike,a turnstile that revolved on the top of a post, and was furnished with pikes. B. Jonson, Staple of News, iii. 1 (Picklock). Also, a revolving frame of pikes, set in a narrow passage to obstruct an enemy, Shirley, Honoria, i. 2 (Alamode).
turquen;seeturken.
turquet,(perhaps) a puppet dressed as a Turk. Bacon, Essay 37.
turquois,a quiver; ‘Aturquoysthat was full of arowes’, Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 299, back, 3. OF.turquois,turquais, Med. L.turcasia, ‘pharetra’ (Ducange); also Norm. F.tarchais(Wace), F.tarquais (15th cent.). Med. Gk. ταρκάσιον, a quiver; Arab,tarkâsh, of Persian origin, see Dozy, Glossaire, 250. The mod. F. form iscarquois.
tusk,to thrust into or beat bushes, to drive out game; ‘Make them tuske these woodes’, Lyly, Gallathea, iv. 1 (Telusa).
tutch;Seetouch(2).
tutsan, tutsain,all-heal; a species of St. John’s wort;Hypericum Androsaemum; ‘The healing tutsan’, Drayton, Pol. xiii. 204; ‘Of tutsan or parke-leaues’, Lyte, tr. of Dodoens, bk. i, c. 45. It was considered a panacea for wounds. F.tutsan, ‘tutsan, Park-leaves’ (Cotgr.);Toute-saine, ‘Arbrisseau ainsi nommé, parce que ses feuilles, ses racines, sa semence sont fort utiles en Médecine’ (Dict. de l’Acad., 1786).
tutt,a mark; ‘I toucht no tutt’, Gascoigne, Fruites of Warre, st. 94. ‘Tut(t’ is in prov. use in Yorks. for a mark, bound, a stopping place in the game of rounders, see EDD. (s.v. Tut, sb.72).
tutty,a nosegay. T. Campion, Bk. of Airs, i. 20 (Wks., ed. Bullen, p. 62); ‘Tutty or Tuzzimuzzy, an old word for a nosegay’, Phillips, 1706. In common use in the south-west: Hants., Wilts., Dorset, Somerset and Devon (EDD.). See Prompt. EETS., note, no. 2353 on the word ‘Tytetuste’.
twagger,a fat lamb. Peele, Arr. of Paris, i. 1. 9. A Sussex word for a lamb (EDD.).
twankle,to twangle, to play upon a harp; ‘And twancling makes them tune’, Phaer, tr. of Aeneid, vi. 646. Cp.twangling, Tam. Shrew, ii. 159. ‘Twankle’ is a Warw. word (EDD.).
tweak,a prostitute. Middleton, A Fair Quarrel, iv. 4 (Chough).
tweche:phr.to keep tweche, to keep touch, perform a promise. Wever, Lusty Juventus, 1. 7; in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, ii. 47. See EDD. (s.v. Twitch, vb.3).
tweer;seetwire.
twelve:phr.upon twelve, near twelve o’clock; near the dinner-hour; ‘My stomacke is now much upon twelve’, Heywood, Witches of Lancs., i. 1 (Whetstone); vol. iv, p. 175.
twelvepenny-stool gentlemen,gentlemen who were allowed to sit upon a stool upon the stage itself on payment of 12d.Middleton, Roaring Girl, ii. 1 (Mis. T.).
twibill,a double-bladed battle-axe. Spelttwibbil; Stanyhurst. tr. of Aeneid, ii. 490 (L.bipenni, ii. 479). Still in prov. use for a double-headed axe. see EDD. (s.v. Twybill). OE.twibill, a two-edged axe (Sweet). Seetwybill.
twig,to do anything strenuously, to press (forward); ‘And twigging forth apace . . . the Egle flue’, Twyne, tr. of Aeneid, xii. 247. A Yorks. expression, see EDD. (s.v. Twig, vb.16).