cockshut time,twilight. Richard III, v. 3. 70. The twilight, or dim light in which woodcocks could most easily be caught incockshuts. Acockshut, orcockshoot, was a broadway or glade in a wood, through which woodcocks might dart orshoot, and in which they might be caught with nets; see EDD. ‘A finecock-shootevening’, Middleton, The Widow, iii. 1. 6; cp. Arden of Feversham, iii. 2. 47.
cocksure,absolutely secure. Skelton, Why Come ye nat to Court, 279; Conflict of Conscience, iii. 3. 1 (in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vi. 67); with absolute security, 1 Hen. IV, ii. 1. 94.
cocoloch;seecockloche.
cocted,boiled. Middleton, Game at Chess, v. 3. 15. L.coctus, pp. ofcoquere, to cook.
cod,a bag, Lyly, Mydas, iv. 2 (Corin); a civet-bag, musk-bag, B. Jonson, Epigrams, xix; Fletcher, Woman’s Prize, i. 2 (Livia). OE.codd, a bag.
coddle,to parboil, to stew; ‘To codle,coctillo’, Coles, Dict. 1679; ‘I’ll have you coddled’ (alluding to ‘Prince Pippin’), Beaumont and Fl., Philaster, v. 4. 31. See Dict. In prov. use in various parts of England, see EDD. (s.v. Coddle, vb.31).
codes!, coads-nigs!, cuds me!,ejaculations of surprise, no doubt orig. profane.Codes! Codes!, Beaumont and Fl., Maid’s Tragedy, i. 2 (Diagoras).Coads-nigs!,Middleton, Trick to Catch, ii. 1 (Freedom);Cuds me, ib. (Lucre).
cod’s-head,a stupid fellow, a blockhead. Dekker, Honest Wh., Pt. II, v. 2 (Cat. Bountinall). In prov. use in Derbysh. (EDD.).
coffin,pie-crust, raised crust of a pie. B. Jonson, Staple of News, ii. 1 (Pennyboy sen.); Titus And. v. 2. 189. So in prov. use in Lincolnsh. and Hertfordsh., see EDD. (s.v. Coffin, 5).
coft(e,pp.bought. Mirror for Magistrates, Clarence, st. 49; Dalrymple, Leslie’s Hist. Scotland (NED.). M. Dutchcoft(e, pret., andgecoft(mod.gecocht), pp. ofcopen, to buy (Verdam); cp. G.kaufen.
cog,to cheat, deceive, Much Ado, v. 1. 95; to employ feigned flattery, to fawn. Merry Wives, iii. 3. 76; Richard III, i. 3. 48. Still in use in Sussex, see EDD. (s.v. Cog, vb.42).
cogge,a kind of ship; chiefly, a ship for transport. Morte Arthur, leaf 82, back, 30; bk. v, c. 3;cogg, a cock-boat, Fairfax, tr. of Tasso, xiv. 58. OF.cogue(Godefroy).
coggle,to coggle in, to flatter continually. Jacob and Esau, ii. 3 (Mido). Seecog.
cohobation,a process in alchemy; a repeated distillation. B. Jonson, Alchem. ii. 1 (Face). See NED.
coil, coyle,to beat, thrash; ‘I shall coil them’, Jacob and Esau, v. 4 (near the end); Roister Doister, iii. 3, l. 7 from end; ‘I coyle ones kote, I beate hym,je bastonne,’ Palsgrave. Hencecoiling, a beating, Udall, tr. Apoph., Socrates, § 15. ‘Coil’ has still this meaning in Northumberland, see EDD. (s.v. Coil, vb.3).
Cointree,Coventry.Cointree blue, Drayton, Pastorals, Ecl. 4; Ballad of Dowsabel, l. 63.
†coistered;‘There were those at that time who, to try the strength of a man’s back and his arm, would be coister’d’, Marston, Malcontent, v. 1. 10. Meaning unknown.
coistril,used as a term of contempt, a low varlet; speltcoystrillTwelfth Nt. i. 3. 43; B. Jonson, Every Man in Hum. iv. 2. 137 (Downright). Cp.coistrel, in use in the north country in the sense of a raw, inexperienced lad (EDD.); ‘A coistrel,adolescentulus’, Coles Dict. 1679.
cokes,a simpleton, dupe. B. Jonson, Barth. Fair, i. 1 (Quarlous); Devil an Ass, ii. 1 (Pug); speltcox, Beaumont and Fl., Wit at sev. Weapons, iii. 1 (Oldcraft).
cokes,to coax. Puttenham, E. Poesie, bk. i, c. 8; p. 36.
colberteen,a kind of open lace, like network. Congreve, Way of the World, v. 1 (Lady Wishfort); Swift, Cadenus and Vanessa, 418. Named from ‘Colbert, Superintendent of the French King’s Manufactures’ (Fop’s Dict. 1690). See NED.
colcarrier, colecarier,a coal-carrier, a low dependant, cringing sycophant; lit. one who will carry coals for another. Golding, tr. of Ovid, The Epistle, p. 2, l. 86. Seecoals.
Cold-harbour, Cole-arbour,an old building in Dowgate Ward. Westward Ho, iv. 2 (Justinians); B. Jonson, Sil. Woman, ii. 3 (Morose); Middleton, A Trick to Catch, ii. 1 (Lucre). For an account of the great house called Cold Harbrough, see Stow’s Survey, Dowgate Ward (ed. Thoms, 88. 89).
cole, coal,money. (Cant.) Shadwell, Squire of Alsatia, i. 1 (Shamwell).To post the cole, to pay the money. See NED. (s.v. Cole, sb.3).
coleharth,a coal-hearth, or place where a fire has been made; ‘An Harte passeth by somecoleharthes. . . the hote sent of the fire smoothreth the houndes’, Turbervile, Hunting, c. 40; pp. 114-15.
coleprophet;seecol-prophet.
coles:in phr.precious coles, a kind of minced oath. Gascoigne, Steel Glas (ed. Arber, 80); Return from Parnassus (ed. Arber, 50). See NED. (s.v. Precious).
colestaff;seecowl-staff.
colice,a strong broth, a ‘cullis’. Lyly, Campaspe, iii. 5 (Apelles). F. ‘coulis, a cullis or broth of boyled meat strained’ (Cotgr.).
coll,to embrace. Middleton, The Witch, i. 2 (Hecate); Spenser, F. Q. iii. 2. 34; an embrace, Middleton, The Witch, i. 2. Still in use in Dorset and Somerset, see EDD. (s.v. Coll, vb.1). OF.coler(La Curne), deriv. ofcol(F.cou), neck.
colle-pixie,a goblin, mischievous sprite. Udall, tr. of Apoph., Diogenes, § 99. Forcolt-pixy, a sprite in the form of a colt, which neighs and misleads horses in bogs, a word known in Hants. and Dorset, the Dorset form iscole-pexy, see EDD. (s.v. Colt-pixy).
collet,the part of a ring in which the stone is set. C. Tourneur, Revengers’ Tragedy, i. 1 (Duchess); in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, x. 18. Cp. F.collet, a collar (Cotgr.).
collocavit,used grotesquely to denote some kitchen utensil. Udall, Roister Doister, iv. 7 (Merygreek). There seems to be an allusion tocollock,q.v.
collock,a large pail; ‘Collock, an old word for a Pail’, Phillips, Coles, 1677. A north-country word (EDD.). ME.colok, ‘canterus’ (Voc. 771. 30).
collogue,to deal flatteringly with any one; ‘Trainer sa parole, to collogue, to flatter, fawn on’, Cotgrave; to feign agreement, Marston and Webster, Malcontent, v. 2; to have a private understanding with, ‘They collogued together’, Wood, Life (ed. 1772, p. 172). In prov. use in many parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland in three senses: (1) to talk confidentially, (2) to flatter, to wheedle, (3) to plot together for mischief (EDD.). Cp. L.colloq-incolloquium, with change tocollogueunder the influence ofdialogue,duologue, &c.
collow,to make black or dirty with coal-dust or soot; Middleton, Family of Love, iii. 3. 2; ‘Poisler, to collow, smut, begryme’, Cotgrave; ‘I colowe, I make blake with a cole’, Palsgrave. A Cheshire word, see EDD. (s.v. Colley, vb. 6). ME.colwen, cp.colwyd, ‘carbonatus’ (Prompt. EETS. 91). Cp.colly.
colly,to blacken. B. Jonson, Poetaster, iv. 3; Mids. Night’s D. i. 1. 145; ‘to colly,denigro’, Coles, Dict. 1679. In prov. use in various parts of England, see EDD. (s.v. Colley, vb. 6). Seecollow.
colon,the largest human intestine.To satisfy colon, to satisfy one’s hunger, Massinger, Unnat. Combat, i. 1 (Belgarde);to pacify colon, id., Picture, ii. 1 (Hilario).
colour,a pretence, appearance of right. Two Gent. iv. 2. 3; Wint. Tale, iv. 4. 566;colours, ensigns, standards, 1 Hen. VI, iii. 3. 31;to fear no colours, to fear no flags, no enemy, Twelfth Nt. i. 5. 6.
colour de roy,bright tawny. Marston, Antonio, Pt. II, i. 2 (Balurdo). F. ‘couleur de roy, was in old time, Purple; but now is the bright Tawny, which we also tearm Colour de Roy’ (Cotgr.).
colpheg,to buffet or cuff, Edwards, Damon and Pithias, Anc. Eng. Drama, i. 85, col. 1; in Dodsley (ed. 1780, i. 209). See NED. (s.v. Colaphize).
colprophet,a sorcerer, fortune-teller. Mirror for Magistrates, Glendour, st. 31 and st. 34; speltcoleprophet, J. Heywood, Prov. and Epigr. (ed. 1867, p. 17).
colstaff, colestaff;seecowl-staff.
colt,to befool, to ‘take in’, 1 Hen. IV, ii. 2. 39; Beaumont and Fl., Wit without Money, iii. 2. Fromcolt(a young horse), used humorously for a young or inexperienced person, one easily taken in. Cp. the prov. use of ‘to colt’, meaning to make a newcomer pay his footing, see EDD. (s.v. Colt, vb.112).
comand,coming. B. Jonson, Sad Sheph. ii. 1 (Maud.). A northern form.
come off,to pay money, pay a debt. Massinger, Unnat. Combat, iv. 2 (1 Court.); B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, i. 1 (end); Merry Wives, iv. 3. 12.
com’esta,how is it? how goes it with you? Massinger, Virgin Martyr, ii. 3 (Spungius). Span.cómo está?, how is it?
commandador,a lieutenant; compared to a common sergeant. B. Jonson, Volpone, iv. 1 (Sir Pol.). Span.comendador, ‘a commander, lieutenant’ (Minsheu). The Span. vb.comendarorig. meant ‘to commend’.
commandments, ten,ten fingers, or two fists; jocularly. 2 Hen. VI, i. 3. 145; Udall, tr. of Apoph., Socrates, § 63. [‘Be busy with the ten commandments’, Longfellow, Span. Student, iii. 2 (Cruzado).] Cp. Span.los diez mandamiéntos, the ten commandments; ironically, the ten fingers (Stevens).
commedle,to commix, mingle. Webster, White Devil (Flamineo), ed. Dyce, p. 25.
commence,to take the full degree of Master or Doctor in any faculty at a University;to commence doctor, to take a doctor’s degree, Massinger, Emp. of the East, ii. 1 (Chrysapius); Duke of Milan, iv. 1 (Graccho).
commencement,the great public ceremony, esp. at Cambridge, when degrees are conferred at the end of the academical year. Brewer, Lingua, iv. 2 (Common Sense); ‘In Oxford this solemnitie is called an Act, but in Cambridge they use the French word Commensement’, Harrison, Descr. England, bk. ii, ch. 3 (ed. Furnivall, 75).
commodity,wares, merchandise; esp. a parcel of goods sold on credit by a usurer to a needy person, who immediately raised some cash by reselling them at a lower price, often to the usurer himself; ‘He’s in for a commodity of brown paper and old ginger’, Measure for M. iv. 3. 5; advantage, profit, ‘I will turn diseases to commodity’, 2 Hen. IV, i. 2 (end); Bacon, Essay 41, § 1.
communicate,to share in, partake of; ‘Thousands that communicate our loss’, B. Jonson, Sejanus, iii. 1 (Tib.).
communication,conversation, talk.Bible, Luke xxiv. 17; Eph. iv. 29; this rendering of the Gk. λόγος is due to Tyndal, ‘communicacion’; ‘(Cardinal Morton), gentill in communication’, More, Utopia (ed. Arber, 36).
companiable,sociable, companionable. Bacon, Henry VII, ed. Lumby, p. 217. ME.companyable, ‘socialis’ (Prompt.). A deriv. of OF.compain, orig. nom. ofcompagnon; Anglo-F.cumpainz(Ch. Rol. 285).
companion,used as term of contempt, a fellow. Com. of Errors, iv. 4. 64; 2 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 102. Cp. the use ofkumpân(OF.compain) in the MLG. poem Reinke de Vos, 1984 (ed. Bartsch, p. 293).
compass,to obtain, win (an object). Two Gent. ii. 4. 214; Pericles, i. 2. 24; Spenser, F. Q. i. 4. 28.
compass,range, arc described by an arrow. Ford, Witch of Edmonton, ii. 2 (Somerton); Ascham, Toxophilus (ed. Arber, 145).
complement,that which goes to ‘complete’ the character of a gentleman in regard to external appearance or demeanour. Hen. V, ii. 2. 134; B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of Humour, i. 1 (Carlo).
complimentary,a master of defence, who published works upon the compliments and ceremonies of duelling. B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels, v. 2 (Crites).
compromit,to submit, esp. to submit to a compromise. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. iii, c. 4, § 2. F.compromettre, to put unto compromise (Cotgr.).
compter,a ‘counter’, for children to play with. Conflict of Conscience, iv. 5 (Conscience); in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vi. 108.
comptible,liable to give an ‘account’ of, sensitive to. Twelfth Nt. i. 5. 186.
comrogue,a fellow-rogue. Massinger, City Madam, iv. 1. 10; B. Jonson, Masque of Augurs (Groom). A jocular word; forcomrade. Alsocomrague, Webster, Appius, iv. 2 (1 Soldier); Heywood and Brome, Lancashire Witches, 1634 (sig. K., Dyce).
con:phr.to con thanks, to acknowledge thanks, to be grateful. All’s Well, iv. 3. 174; Timon, iv. 3. 428. See NED. (s.v. Con, vb.14).
con.,short forcontra, against; ‘Now for the con’, Beaumont and Fl., Nice Valour, iii. 2 (Lapet). Cp. the phraseproandcon.
concavite,concave or hollow sphere of the sky; ‘Where is become that azureconcavite?’ (riming withinfinite), Mirror for Mag., Robert of Normandy, st. 113.
conceit,what is conceived in the mind, conception, idea. Othello, iii. 3. 115; Merch. Venice, iii. 4. 2; faculty of conceiving, mental capacity, As You Like It, v. 2. 60; imagination, fancy, 2 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 263; used of articles of fanciful design, Mids. Night’s D. i. 1. 33.
conceited,full of imagination or fancy; ‘The conceited painter’, Lucrece, 1371; disposed to playful fancy, Webster, Devil’s Law-case, ii. 3 (Ariosto); B. Jonson, Every Man in Humour, iii. 2. 29; curiously designed, Chapman, Homer, Iliad ix, 85;conceitedly, ingeniously, Middleton, Mayor of Queenboro’, iii. 3 (Vortigern).
conceive,to understand, to take the meaning of (a person); ‘Nay, conceive me, conceive me, sweet Coz’, Merry Wives, i. 1. 250; Spenser, State Ireland (Works, Globe ed. 666).
concent,harmony, concord. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 12. 5; (consent), Hen. V, i. 2. 181. L.concentus, a singing together.
concinnitie,harmony, congruity, propriety. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 20, § last but one. L.concinnitas.
conclusions, to try,to try experiments, or an experiment. Hamlet, iii. 4. 195; Massinger, Duke of Milan, iv. 1 (near end).
concrew,to grow together. Only in Spenser, F. Q. iv. 7. 40. Cp. F.concrû, pp. ofconcroítre.
cond,taught. Only in Drayton, Pol. xii. 206. See NED. (s.v. Con, vb.15).
condiscend,forcondescent, acquiescence, agreement, consent; lit. condescension. Kyd, Span. Tragedy, iii. 14. 17.
condition,provision, stipulation; = on condition that, Tr. and Cr. i. 2. 78; Massinger, Old Law, ii. 1 (Simonides); Shirley, Young Admiral, iii. 2 (Fabio); mental disposition, temper, character, Merch. Ven. i. 2. 143; Hen. V, v. 1. 83.
condog,to concur, ‘Concurre?condogge?’, Lyly, Gallathea, i. 1 (Raffe); ‘To agree,concurre,cohere,condog’; Cockeram’s Dict. (1642), second part. A whimsical alteration ofconcur, made by substitutingdogforcur. The usual tale about this word is wholly without foundation; see NED.
conduct,conductor. Richard II, iv. 157; Romeo, iii. 1. 129; v. 3. 116.
conduction,guidance, leadership. North, tr. of Plutarch, Coriolanus, § 21 (in Shak. Plut., p. 40, n. 7); Robinson, tr. of Utopia, bk. ii; ed. Arber, p. 138. L.conductio; fromconducere, to conduct.
coney,a rabbit. In compounds:Cony-burrow, a rabbit-warren, Dekker, Honest Wh., Pt. II, iii. 1 (Orlando), speltconey borough, B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, iii. 1 (Medlay);coney-catch, to cheat, dupe, Merry Wives, i. 1. 128; Humour out of Breath, iv. 3 (Hortensio);conie-catcher, a cheat, Sir Thos. More, i. 4. 205;coney-garth, a rabbit-warren, Palsgrave; speltcony gat, Peele, Works (ed. Dyce, p. 579);conyger, Horman, Vulgaria (NED.);conygree, Turbervile, Venerie, 184. For etymology of these ‘coney’ words see NED.
confine,to send beyond the confines, to banish. Webster, Appius, v. 3 (Virginius). Dyce gives five more examples, all from Heywood. And see Dyce’s Webster, p. 375.
confins,inhabitants of adjacent regions. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 20, § 12. L.confines, pl., neighbours.
confluent,affluent, abounding in. Chapman, tr. of Homer, Iliad ix, 157. In this sense found only here.
congee,a bow; orig. at taking one’s leave. Dryden, Prol. to The Loyal Brother, 25; Marlowe, Edward II, v. 4; to take ceremonious leave, ‘I have congied with the Duke’, All’s Well, iv. 3. 103. OF.congie, leave of absence, dismission. See Dict.
conglobate,gathered as into a globe, compressed. Dryden, Death of Lord Hastings, 35.
congrue,fitting, suitable; ‘Congrue Latine’, Latin that can be parsed, Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 15, § 1. F.congru(Littré); L.congruus, agreeing, suitable.
congrue,to agree, accord. Hen. V, i. 2. 182 (Qu.); Hamlet, iv. 3. 66 (Qq.). L.congruere.
conjure,to call upon solemnly, to adjure. Two Gent. ii. 7. 2; Hamlet, iv. 3. 67; to influence by incantation, or the adjuring of spirits, Timon, i. 1. 7; to swear together, to conspire, Milton, P. L. ii. 693; Spenser, F. Q. v. 10. 26.
consilliadory,pl. councillors. City Nightcap, i. 1 (Abstemia); iii. 1 (Lorenzo). Ital.consigliatori, pl.; fromconsiglio, council.
consort,a ‘concert’ of musical instruments. Webster, Devil’s Law-case, 1. 23 from the end; Northward Ho, ii. 1; Beaumont and Fl., King and No King, v. 2 (Lygones).
conster,to construe; a common spelling in old editions of Shakespeare, &c.
consumedly,excessively; ‘I believe they talked of me; for they laughed consumedly’, Farquhar, Beaux Stratagem, iii. 1 (Scrub); consumedly in love’, id., iii. 2 (Scrub).
conteck,strife, discord. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 1. 64; Shep. Kal., May, 163; Sept., 86. ME.contek, strife (Chaucer, C. T.A.2003,B.4122). Anglo-F.contec, ‘débat, querelle’ (Moisy); contention (Gower, Mirour, 4647). See Dict. M. and S.
continent,one of the concentric ‘spheres’ in the Ptolemaic system of astronomy; each hollow crystal sphere carried with it one of the seven planets that revolved round the earth, each planet being attached to the concave surface of its own sphere. ‘As true . . . as doth that orbed continent [that spherical solar shell retain] the fire That severs day from night’ [i.e. the sun], Twelfth Nt. v. 1. 278; ‘Nor doth the moon no nourishment exhale From her moist continent to higher orbs’ (i.e. from her own sphere to the spheres beyond), Milton, P. L. v. 422; ‘All subject under Luna’s continent’, Greene, Friar Bacon, iii. 2 (1148); scene 9. 62 (W.); p. 167, col. 2 (D); ‘Luna, . . . trembling upon her concave continent’, iv. 1 (1543); scene 11. 15 (W.); p. 172, col. 1 (D.). Cp. ‘Judging the concave circle of the sun To hold the rest in his circumference’, Greene, Friar Bacon, iii. 3 (1122); scene 9. 36 (W.); p. 167, col. 1 (D.).
contrive,to wear out, to spend; ‘Three ages, such as mortall men contrive’, Spenser, F. Q. ii. 9. 48; Tam. Shrew, i. 2. L.contrivi, pt. t. ofconterere, to wear away; cp. ‘totum hunc contrivi diem’, Terence, Hec. 5. 3. 17. Not the same word as mod. E.contrive. See Nares.
conundrum,a whim, crotchet, conceit. B. Jonson, The Fox, v. 7 (Volpone).
convent,to convene, summon together, summon. Coriolanus, ii. 2. 59; Spenser, F. Q. vii. 7. 17.
convert,to cause to return, to bring back; ‘Or if I stray he doth convert, And bring my minde in frame’, Herbert, Temple, Ps. xxiii; to turn aside from (intrans.), ‘When thou from youth convertest’, Sh. Sonn. xi.
convertite,a professed convert to a religious faith, Marlowe, Jew of Malta, i. 2 (Barabas); a person converted to a better course of action, King John, v. 1. 19.
convey,a cant term for to steal. Merry Wives, i. 3. 52; Richard II, v. 317. Henceconveyance, trickery, artifice, 3 Hen. VI, iii. 3. 160.
convince,to overcome, overpower; ‘I will with wine and wassal so convince’, Macbeth, i. 7. 64; Spenser, F. Q. iii. 2. 21; to prove a person to be guilty, ‘Which of you convinceth mee of sinne?’Bible, John viii. 46; Tr. and Cr. ii. 2. 129; Webster, Appius and Virg. v. 3; Mirror for Mag., Glocester. st. 43; to refute in argument, ‘It sufficeth to convince atheism, but not to inform religion’, Bacon, Adv. Learning, ii. 681.
convive,one who feasts with others, a table-companion. Beaumont, Psyche, x. 211; to feast together, Tr. and Cr. iv. 5. 272. F.convive, a guest; L.conviva, one who lives or feasts with others.
cony;seeconey.
cooling card,a winning card in a card-game, that dashes the hopes of the adversary. 1 Hen. VI, v. 3. 84; Beaumont and Fl., Faithful Friends, ii. 2 (Flavia).
copartiment,a compartment, panel. Webster, Devil’s Law-case, i. 2 (last line). Ital.compartimento, a partition.
copatain hat,a high-crowned hat (?). Tam. Shrew, v. 1. 69; ‘A copetain hatte made on a Flemmishe blocke’, Gascoigne, Works, i. 375. Prob. the same ascopintank,copentank, a high-crowned hat in the form of a sugar-loaf; ‘A high cop-tank hat,’ North, tr. of Plutarch, M. Antonius, § 30. See NED. (s.v. Copintank).
cope,a purchase, bargain. Greene, Friar Bacon, i. 3 (351); scene 3. 5 (W.); p. 157, col. 1 (D.). Cp. ‘cope’, a prov. word meaning to exchange, barter, heard in the north country and E. Anglia, see EDD. (s.v. Cope, vb.21). Dutchkoop, a sale, a buying. See Dict. (s.v. Cope, 3).
copel,a small pot made of bone-ash, used for melting gold or silver. Sir T. Browne, Urn-burial, ch. iii, § 18. Speltcoppell, Bacon, Sylva, § 799. F.coupelle, ‘a Coppell, the little Ashen pot or vessel wherein Goldsmiths melt or fine their Metals’ (Cotgr.); see Estienne, Précellence, 142 (Lexique-Index, 400).Coupelleis a deriv. ofcoupe, a cup. Med. L.cuppa(Ducange). See NED. (s.v. Cupel).
copeman,a chapman. B. Jonson, Volpone, iii. 5 (Vol.). Seecope.
copemate, copesmate,a person with whom one ‘copes’ or contends, an adversary. Golding, Metam. xii (ed. 1593, 279); Chapman, All Fools, ii (Valerio); a companion, comrade, Greene, Upstart Courtier (ed. 1871, 4), usedfig.Lucrece, 925;female copesmate, mistress, paramour, B. Jonson, Every Man, iv. 10 (Knowell).
coppe,the top, summit. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 202. 18; lf. 232, back, 26. Hencecopped, peaked, Pericles, i. 1. 101; ‘High-copt hats’, Gascoigne, Steel Glas, 1163. ME. cop: ‘the cop of the hill’ (Wyclif, Luke iv. 29). OEcopp.
copy,abundance, copiousness. B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of Humour, ii. 1 Carlo); Magn. Lady, ii. 1 (Placentia). L.copia.
copy,copyhold, tenure of land ‘by copy’, i.e. according to the ‘copy’ of the manorial court-roll, usedfig.Macbeth, iii. 2. 38.
coracine,a kind of fish like a perch, found in the Nile. Middleton, Game at Chess, v. 3. 10. L.coracinus, Gk. κορακῖνος, from κόραξ, a raven, from its black colour.
corant;seecourant.
coranto,a quick dance. Hen. V, iii. 5. 33; Shirley, Lady of Pleasure, iii. 2 (Kickshaw). Ital.coranto, ‘a kinde of French dance’ (Florio); cp. F.courante, ‘a curranto’ (Cotgr.). Seecourant.
corasive,a sharp remedy, severe reproach. Lyly, Euphues (ed. Arber, p. 154). Seecorsive.
corbe,short forcorbel.Only in Spenser, F. Q. iv. 10. 6.
corbe, courbe,bent, crooked. Spenser, Shep. Kal., Feb., 56. ME.courbe(Gower, C. A. i. 1687). F.courbe, L.curvus.
corbed up,(prob.) controlled, as by a curb, curbed. Marston, Antonio, Pt. II, ii. 1 (Pandulfo).
cordwain,Spanish leather, orig. made at Cordova. Spenser, F. Q. vi. 2. 6; Drayton, Eclogues, iv. 177. Speltcordevan, Fletcher, Faith. Shepherdess, i. 1. 21. Span.cordován, Spanish leather (Stevens).
coresie,vexation, a corroding, gnawing annoyance. Tusser, Husbandry, § 19. 24. In prov. use in Cornwall, see EDD. (s.v. Corrosy). F.corrosif(Cotgr.); for the change of suffix, cp.hasty, the E. representative of F.hastif. Seecorsive.
corned,horned, peaked, pointed; said of shoes. Skelton, Maner of the World, 26; Greene, Description of Chaucer, 13; ed. Dyce, p. 320. Cp. F.corné, horned (Cotgr.).
cornel,a little grain, granule; ‘Bread is of manycornelscompounded’, Conflict of Conscience, iv. 1 (Philologus); in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vi. 83.
cornel,a javelin made of cornel-wood. Used to translate L.cornus, Dryden, tr. Aeneid, xii. 406.
cornelian,the fruit of the cornel-tree. Bacon, Essay 46, § 1.
cornes,pl. kinds of corn; corn. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 8, back, 4; lf. 88. 14.
cornet,a troop of horse; so called from its standard, which was a long horn-shapen pennon. 1 Hen. VI, iv. 3. 25; Kyd, Span. Tragedy, i. 2. 41. F.cornette, ‘a Cornet of Horse; the Ensign of a horse-company’ (Cotgr.).
cornet,a head-dress formerly worn by ladies; ‘Her cornet blacke’, Surrey, Complaint that his Ladie kept her face hidden, 2; in Tottel’s Misc., p. 12. F.cornette, a horned head-dress; dim. ofcorne, a horn.
cornet,some kind of ornament (?); ‘With cornets at their footmen’s breeches’, Butler, Hudibras, iii. 2. 872.
cornuto,a cuckold. Merry Wives, iii. 5. 71. Ital.cornuto, a cuckold; lit. ‘furnished with horns’ (Florio).
coronal,a wreath of flowers, a garland. Fletcher, Faith. Shepherdess, i. 1. 11; Spenser, F. Q. iii. 5. 53.
coronel,a ‘colonel’. Spenser, View of Ireland, Globe ed., p. 656, l. 9;lieutenant-coronel, B. Jonson, Every Man, iii. 5 (Knowell). Span.coronel, Ital.colonello, ‘a Colonel of a Regiment’ (Florio); a deriv. ofcolonna, cp. F.colonnede troupes, a column, a formation of troops narrow laterally and deep from front to rear; see Hatzfeld.
correption,reproof, rebuke. Udall, tr. of Apoph., Philip, § 30: Augustus, § 12. L.correptio; deriv. ofcorripere, to reprove.
corrigidor, corregidor,a Spanish magistrate. Machin, Dumb Knight, v. 1 (Cyprus); Kyd, Span. Tragedy, iii. 13. 58. See Stanford.
corrol,to crimson, to make like ‘coral’; ‘The . . . sunnecorrolshis cheeke’, Herrick, A Nuptial Verse to Mistress E. Lee, 4.
corser,a dealer, esp. a horse-dealer. Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 119. 15; speltcourser, Beaumont and Fl., The Captain, v. 1 (Father). ME.corser, Wyclif, Works (ed. 1880, p. 172);corsowre of horse, ‘mange’ (Prompt. 94), Anglo-F.cossour,A.D.1310, see Riley’s Memorials of London, Pref., p. xxii, Med. L.cociatorem, a broker, factor, dealer, cp.cocio(Ducange). The Ital.cozzone, a horse-courser (Florio), is fromcoctionem, a later form ofcocionem, see Diez, 112.
corsive,forcorrosive; anything that corrodes, grief, distress. B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of Humour, i. 1. 7; Spenser, F. Q. iv. 9. 14; Drayton, Barons’ Wars, iv. 14. Seecoresie.
cortine,a curtain (military term); a plain wall in a fortification; the wall between two bastions, &c. B. Jonson, Staple of News, iv. 1 (P. Can.). F.courtine(cortine), a curtain; and (in fortification) the plainness of the wall between bulwark and bulwark (Cotgr.); in the same sense Ital.cortina(Florio).
coscinomancy,divination by means of a sieve. From Gk. κόσκινον, a sieve; and suffix-mancy, as innecro-mancy, &c. Hence the compoundnecro-puro-geo-hydro-cheiro-coscino-mancy. Tomkis, Albumazar, ii. 3 (Alb.), wherepuro-should bepyro-. Sometimes the sieve was suspended by a thread; otherwise, it was used in conjunction with a pair of shears, as described in Brand, Popular Antiq. iii. 351; cp. Butler, Hudibras, ii, 3. 569.
coshering,the right claimed by Irish chiefs of quartering themselves upon their dependants. Davies, Why Ireland (ed. 1747, 169); feasting, Shirley, St. Patrick, v. 1 (2 Soldier); also,coshery, feasting, Stanyhurst tr. Virgil, Aeneid i, 707. Spenser in his State of Ireland mentionscosshirhas one of the customary services claimed by the Irish Lord (ed. Morris. 623). Ir.cóisir, feasting, entertainment (Dinneen). ‘In modern times coshering means simply a friendly visit to a neighbour’s house to have a quiet talk’, Joyce, English as we speak it in Ireland, 240.
cosier;seecozier.
cosset,a pet lamb. Spenser, Shep. Kal., Nov., 42; alsofig.B. Jonson, Barth. Fair, i. 1 (Mrs. Litt.). In prov. use in Glouc., E. Anglia, and Kent, meaning a lamb or colt brought up by hand, also, an indulged child, a pet animal (EDD.).
cost,the rib of a ship. B. Jonson, Staple of News, iii. 1 (Cymbal). L.costa(navium) (Pliny).
cost;seecoast.
costard,the head. Applied jocularly to the head, as being like a very large apple. ME.costard, an apple; lit. a ‘ribbed’ apple; from OF.coste, L.costa, a rib. Hencecostard-mongerorcoster-monger, orig. a seller of apples. See EDD.
coste,to move beside; to keep up with a hunted animal. Morte Arthur, leaf 382, back, 19; bk. xviii, c. 19. Seecoast.
cot, cott,a little boat. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 6. 9. Many places in Ireland derive their names from this ‘cot’; see Joyce. Irish Names of Places, i. 226. Still in use in the north of Ireland, see EDD. (s.v. Cot, sb.4). Irishcoit,coite, a small boat, a skiff (Dinneen), Gael.coit, a kind of canoe used on rivers (Macleod).
cote, coat(in coursing), of one of two dogs running together: to pass by its fellow so as to give the hare a turn (NED.);fig.to pass by, to outstrip. Hamlet, ii. 2. 330; L. L. L. iv. 3. 87; Chapman, Iliad, xxiii. 324;coat, the action of coting, Drayton, Pol. xxiii (ed. 1748, p. 356).
cote,to quote. Udall, Paraph. N.T., Pref. (NED.); Middleton, A Mad World, i.2 (Cour.).
cothurnal,tragic; ‘Cothurnal buskins’, B. Jonson, Poetaster, v. 1 (Tucca). L.cothurnus; Gk. κόθορνος, a high boot. Thecothurnuswas worn by actors of tragedy.
cot-quean,the housewife of a labourer’s hut. Nashe, Almond for Parrat, 5; a coarse, vulgar, scolding woman, B. Jonson, Poetaster, iv. 3 (Jupiter addressing Juno); used contemptuously of a man who acts the housewife, and busies himself unduly in household matters, Romeo, iv. 4. 9; Addison, Spect. (1712) No. 482; speltquot-quean, Beaumont and Fl., Love’s Cure, ii. 2. 6;to play the cotqueane, Heywood, Gunaik. iv. 180 (NED.). Cp. use ofcotandmolly-cotin Cheshire and Yorkshire, see EDD. (s.v. Cot, sb.11).
Cotswold,pronouncedCotsalin Shaks., Fol. 1, Merry Wives, i. 1. 93;a Cotsal man, an athletic man, such as lived in the Cotswold Hills, a district famous for athletic sports, 2 Hen. IV, iii. 2. 23;a Cotsold lion, a humorous expression for a sheep of that country, Udall, Roister Doister (ed. Arber, 70), iv. 6 (Merygreek). ‘As fierce as a lion of Cotswold, i.e. a sheep’, Fuller’s Worthies (Bohn’s Proverbs, 204).
cotton:in phr.this geer(orgear)will cotton, this stuff will come to a good nap, this thing will succeed. Fletcher, Mons. Thomas, iv. 8 (Thomas); Middleton, Inner Temple Masque (Second Antimasque).
couch,to place, arrange, order. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. ii, c. 7, § 6; to cause to cower, Lucrece, 507; to place a lance in rest, 1 Hen. VI, iii. 2. 134.
couch:in phr.to couch a hogshead, to lie down and sleep. (Cant.) Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Song); Harman, Caveat, p. 84.
couchee,an evening court-reception. Dryden, Hind and Panther, i. 516; ‘The King’s Couchée’, Etherege, Man of Mode, iv. 1; the equivalent ofLe Coucher du Roi, or simplyLe Coucher, the reception which preceded the king’s going to bed. Cp. Dict. Acad. Fr. 1786 (s.v. Coucher, s.m.), ‘Il se trouve au lever et au coucher du Roi.’ For the E. form of the word compare ourleveefor F.lever, ‘réception dans la chambre d’un roi au moment où il se lève’ (Hatzfeld).
couch-quail, to play.The same asto couch as a quail; to cower, crouch down; see Thersytes, 20; Skelton, Speke Parrot, 420. Cp. Chaucer’s ‘Thou shalt make him couche as dooth a quaille’ (C. T.E.1206).
coul,to trim the feather of an arrow along the top. Ascham, Toxophilus, pp. 128, 129, 131, 133. Cp.cowl, to gather, collect, scrape together, a north-country word, see EDD. (s.v. Cowl, vb.21).
could, coud, couth,pt. t., knew, knew how to. Spenser, F. Q. v. 7. 5; Shep. Kal., Jan., 10. (Common). Seecan.
couleuvre,a snake. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 92. 21; speltcouleure, id., lf. 91, back, 19. F.couleuvre.
countant,accountant; liable to be called upon to give account. Heywood, Rape of Lucrece, i. 1 (Tarquin).
countenance,bearing, demeanour, behaviour; authority, favour, credit; show of politeness. As You Like It, i. 1. 19; Tam. Shrew, i. 1. 234; 1 Hen. IV, i. 2. 33; Udall, Roister Doister, iii. 3 (end). The senses are variable and elusive.
counter,an encounter. Spenser, Tears of the Muses, 207.
counter,a counter-tenor voice. Witch of Edmonton, ii. 1 (3 Clown). See the context.
counter, compter,a prison, chiefly for debtors, attached to a city court; ‘One o’ your city pounds, the counters’, B. Jonson, Every Man, ii. 1 (Downright). The sheriffs of London had each his compter; one was in the Poultry, the other in Wood Street, Cheapside. There were three degrees of rooms for the prisoners: those on the Master’s side (the best), the Twopenny Ward, and the Hole (for the poorest), Middleton, Roaring Girl, iii. 3 (Sir Alexander). Those in the Hole were fed from ‘the basket’; seebasket.Note that, according to Gascoigne, there werethreeCounters, the third being in Bread Street. ‘In Woodstreat, Bredstreat, and in Pultery’, Steel Glas, 791. In Stow’s Survey of London ‘the Compter in the Poultrie’ is mentioned (ed. Thoms, p. 99), and ‘the Compter in Bread Street’ (ib., p. 131).
counterfeit,a likeness, portrait, Merch. Ven. iii. 2. 115; Timon, v. 1. 83. Phr.a pair of counterfeits, used in the sense of vamps, or fore-parts of the upper leather of a shoe, Dekker, Shoemakers’ Holiday, iv. 2 (Firk).
counterfesaunce,counterfeiting, dissimulation. Spencer, F. Q. i. 8. 49; iv. 4. 27. OF.contrefaisance, counterfeiting (Godefroy).
countermure,to wall round, to fence in. Kyd, Span. Tragedy, iii. 7. 16. F.contremurer, Ital. ‘contramurare, to countermure’ (Florio).
counterpoint,a counterpane for a bed. Tam. Shrew, ii. 1. 353. F. ‘contrepoinct, a quilt, counterpoint’ (Cotgr.). See Dict. (s.v. Counterpane).
counterscarf,a ‘counterscarp’, or outer wall or slope of the ditch, which supports the covered way of a fort. Heywood, Four Prentises (Godfrey); vol. ii, p. 242; id. London’s Mirror, fourth Show. F.contrescarpe(Rabelais), Ital.contrascarpa; see Estienne, Préc. 351;scarpa, slope of a wall.
county,a count, as a title, Romeo, i. 3. 105; Merch. Venice, i. 2. 48. (Frequent.)
couped,cut, cut clean off, with a smooth edge (in heraldry). Butler, Hudibras, iii. 3. 214. F.couper, to cut.
coupee,a dance step; the dancer rests on one foot, and passes the other forward or backward, with a sort of salutation. Wycherley, Gent. Dancing-master, iii. 1; Steele, Tender Husband, iii. 1 (Mrs. Clerimont). F.coupé, ‘mouvement par lequel on coupe un espace; (Danse) Pas composé d’un plié avec changement de pied suivi d’un glissé’ (Hatzfeld).
cour,to cover;Pt. t.,courd; Spenser, F. Q. ii. 8. 9. See NED. (s.v. Cover).
courant,a dance with a running or gliding step; a coranto. Etherege, Man of Mode, iv. 1 (Sir Fopling); Steele, Tender Husband, i. 2 (Tipkin). Seecoranto.
courant, corant,an express message; a newspaper. B. Jonson, Magn. Lady, i. 1 (Sir Moth); Underwoods, lxi. 81. F.courant, running, a runner; fromcourir, to run.
coursing,succession in due ‘course’. Only in the following passage: ‘My Ladye Mary and my Ladye Elizabeth . . . by succession and course are inheritours to the crowne. Who yf they shulde mary with straungers, what should ensue God knoweth. But God graunt they never come vntocoursyngnor succedynge.’ Latimer, 1 Sermon bef. King (ed. Arber, p. 30).
courteau;seecurtal.
court holy-water,a proverbial phrase for flattery, and fine words without deeds; ‘Court holy-water in a dry house is better than this rainwater out o’ door’, King Lear, iii. 2. 10; ‘Her unperformed promise was the first court holy-water which she sprinkled amongst the people’, Fuller, Ch. Hist. viii. 1. 6; ‘Court-holy-water,Promissa rei expertia, fumus aulicus’, Coles, 1699; ‘Eau beniste de cour, court holy-water, fair words, flattering speeches’, Cotgrave. See Nares.