D
dabbing down,hanging down like wet clothes, in a dabbled state. Phaer, tr. of Aeneid, vi. 359.
dade,to walk with tottering steps, to toddle, like an infant learning to walk. Drayton, Pol. i. 295; xiv. 289. Still in use in Leicestersh. and Warwicksh. (EDD.).
dædale,ingenious, skilful. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 1. 2; also, variously adorned (cp. daedala tellus, Lucret. i. 7), id., iv. 10. 45. L.daedalus, Gk. δαίδαλος, skilful.
daff,to put off, put aside. A variant ofdoff, to do off, put off. 1 Hen. IV, iv. 1. 96; and elsewhere in Shakespeare.
daff,a simpleton; a coward; ‘(The Bishop of Llandaff) answers, Thedaffeis here, but thelandis gone’, Harrison, Descr. England, bk. ii, ch. ii (ed. Furnivall, 58). In prov. use in both senses in Yorks. (EDD.). ME.daf: ‘I sal been halde a daf, a cokenay’ (Chaucer, C. T.A.4208).
daffysh,foolish. Morte Arthur, leaf 205. 10; bk. ix, c. 13. In prov. use in Derbysh., Warwicksh., and W. Midlands in the sense of sheepish (EDD.).
dag,a small pistol; ‘This gun? a dag?’, Beaumont and Fl., Love’s Cure, ii. 2 (Lucio); Arden of Fev. iii. 6. 9; ‘Pistolet, a pistolet, a dag, or little pistol’, Cotgrave.
Dagonet,a foolish young knight. Davenant, The Wits, ii. 1 (Ginet). Sir Dagonet was a foolish knight in the court of Arthur; see 2 Hen. IV, iii. 2. 300: ‘Sir Dagonet in Arthur’s show’.
dagswain, daggeswane,a rough coverlet. Skelton, Magnyfycence, 2195. ME.daggeswayn, ‘lodex’ (Prompt. EETS., see note, no. 528).
dain,disdain; hence, ignominy; ‘A deepe daine’, Lyly, Sappho, v. 1; ‘dennes of daine’, Mirror for Mag., Cordila, st. 31. Cp. F.dain, dainty, fine, curious (Cotgr.). (The word in England seems to have developed a subst. meaning of ‘squeamishness’, ‘stand-offishness’.)
dain,to disdain. Greene, Alphonsus, i. Prol. (Venus); iii. (Medea).
dalliance,hesitation, delay. 1 Hen. VI, v. 2. 5; Virgin-Martyr, iv. 1 (Sapritius). See Dict. (s.v. Dally).
damassin,damson. Bacon, Essay 46. F.damaisine, ‘a Damascene, or damson plumb’ (Cotgr.).
damnify,to injure. Spenser, F. Q. i. 11. 52; ii. 6. 3. Common in this sense in East Anglia and America (EDD.).
damps,dumps, fits of melancholy. Rowley, All’s Lost, iii. 1. 118.
dandiprat,a small coin worth 3 halfpence, first coined by Henry VII (of unknown origin). Middleton, Blurt, Mr. Constable, ii. 1 (Hippolito). Also, a dwarf, page; applied to Cupid (!) in Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, i. p. 41 (ed. Arber); as also in Shirley, Arcadia, i. 3 (Dametas).
danger:phr.to be in(orwithin)one’s danger, to be in one’s debt, or under an obligation, or in one’s power, Massinger, Fatal Dowry, i. 2 (Charalois); cp. Merch. Venice, iv. 1. 180; King John, iv. 8. 84. In ME.in daunger, within a person’s jurisdiction, under his control, at his disposal (Chaucer). OF.dangier, the absolute authority of a feudal lord (Godefroy), Romanic typedomniarium, deriv. of L.dominus(Hatzfeld). See Trench, Select Glossary.
Dansk,Danish. Webster, White Devil (Giovanni), ed. Dyce, p. 13. Also used to mean Denmark, Drayton, Polyolb. bk. xi. Dan.Dansk, Danish.
dant,a worthless, talkative woman. Skelton, El. Rummyng, 515. Du.dante, ordantelorie, ‘a base babling woman’;danten, ‘to bable’ (Hexham).
dappard,dapper. Triumphs of Love and Fortune, iv. 1 (Lentulo); in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vi. 198.
daps,pl. habits, ways, peculiarities. Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, iv. 447. See EDD. (s.v. Dap, sb. 11).
darby,money. (Cant.) ‘The ready, the darby’, Shadwell, Squire of Alsatia, i. 1 (Shamwell). Prob. with reference toDarby, a money-lender; see below.
Darby’s bands,supposed to have orig. meant a very strict bond exacted by some usurer of that name; see NED. (Later it meant fetters.) ‘If all be too little, both goods and lands, I know not what will please you, except Darby’s bands’, Marriage of Wit and Science (licensed in 1569-70), in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, ii. 362; Gascoigne, Steel Glas, 787 (ed. 1576).
dare,to terrify, paralyse with fear. Beaumont and Fl., Maid’s Tragedy, iv. 1 (Evadne);to dare larks, to daze them in order to catch them, Hen. VIII, iii. 2. 282; ‘Never hobby so dared a lark’, Burton, Anat. Mel. (ed. 1896, iii. 390). In prov. use in various parts of England, see EDD. (s.v. Dare, vb.23).
dare,to injure, hurt. Chapman, tr. Iliad, xi. 406; Tusser, Husbandry, 8. In prov. use in the north of England and E. Anglia, see EDD. (s.v. Dare, vb.3). OE.derian, to hurt, deriv. ofdaru, hurt.
darkling,in the dark. Mids. Night’s D. ii. 2. 86; King Lear, i. 4. 237.
darkmans,a cant term for night. Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Trapdoor); Brome, Jovial Crew, ii. 1 (Patrico).
darnex carpet,a Dornick carpet. Fletcher, Noble Gentleman, v. 1 (Jaques). ‘Dornick’ is the Flemish name of Tournay.
darraigne battle,to set the battle in array. Heywood, Sallust’s Jugurtha, 20; Spenser, F. Q. i. 4. 40; 3 Hen. VI, ii. 2. 72; ‘To darraine a triple warre’, Spenser, F. Q. ii. 2. 26. ME.darreyne the bataille, to fight out the battle, to bring it to a decisive issue (Chaucer, C. T.A.1631). ‘Darraigne’ is really a law-term, Anglo-F.darreiner,dereiner, to answer an accusation, to exculpate oneself (Rough List); Med. L.disrationare(Ducange).
darreine,brazen; ‘The Darreine Tower’, Heywood, Golden Age, A. iv (Neptune); vol. iii, p. 55; (4 Beldam), p. 61; also called ‘the tower of Darreine’ (4 lines higher). The reference is to the brazen tower in which Danae was enclosed. F.d’arain, of brass (Cotgr.). (‘Darrain’ occurs nine times in Caxton, Hist. of Troye, with reference to the same story; the phrasetour of darrainis on leaf 62.)
dart, Irish,a dart frequently carried by an Irish running footman. Middleton, A Fair Quarrel, iv. 4 (Chough).
daunt,to bring into subjection, subdue, tame; ‘It daunts whole kingdoms and cities’, Burton, Anat. Mel. i. 2 (NED.); to daze, stupefy, Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 18. In prov. use in the sense of ‘to tame’, also, in E. Anglia, ‘to stun, knock down’ (EDD.). ME.daunten, to tame (P. Plowman, B. xv. 393. Anglo-F.daunter(Bozon). See Dict.
daunted down,beaten down, subdued. Gascoigne, Grief of Joy, Third Song, st. 18.
daw,a (supposed) foolish bird;fig.a foolish person. 1 Hen. VI, ii. 4. 18; Coriolanus, iv. 5. 48. So used in Lincoln, see EDD. (s.v. Daw, sb.12).
daw,to frighten, subdue. B. Jonson, Devil an Ass, iv. 1 (Wit.). Seeadaw.
daw,to arouse, awaken. Drayton, Pol. vi. 112. So used in the north country, see EDD. (s.v. Daw, vb. 2); a trans. use of ME.dawen,dawyn, ‘auroro’ (Prompt.), OE.dagian, to become day.
daw up,to cheer up, revive. Greene, James IV, v. 1 (Lady A.). See above.
day-bed,a couch, sofa. Twelfth Nt. ii. 5. 54; Fletcher, Rule a Wife, i. 6 (Estifania); iii. 1 (Margarita).
dayesman, daysman,a judge, an umpire.Bible, Job ix. 33; Spenser, F. Q. ii. 8. 28; ‘Daysman,arbitre’, Palsgrave; New Custom, i. 2, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, iii. 14.
dead pay,pay continued to a dead soldier, taken by dishonest officers for themselves. Middleton, Anything for a Quiet Life, ii. 1 (Knavesby).
deane,‘din’, noise. Golding, Metam. xii. 316 (L.fremitu); fol. 147 (1603). ‘Dean’ is an E. Anglian word (EDD.). ME.dene, noise (P. Plowman), a dialect form ofdyne(ib.), OE.dyne.
deane,a strong, offensive smell; ‘The breath of Lions hath a very strong deane and stinking smell’, Holland, Pliny, bk. xi, ch. 53. In prov. use in Wilts., see EDD. (s.v. Dain). OE. *déan, corresponding to Icel.daunn, a smell, esp. a bad smell.
deare,harm; seedere.
dearne, dearnful, dearnly;seedern, dernful, dernly.
debate,to combat, fight. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 1. 6; Lucrece, 1421. F.debatre, ‘to debate, contend’, (Cotgr.).
debel,to conquer in war, defeat. Milton, P. R. iv. 605; Warner, Albion’s England, bk. ii, ch. 8, st. 53. L.delellare(Virgil).
debenter,a voucher given in the Exchequer certifying to the recipient the sum due to him, a ‘debenture’. Edwards, Damon and Pithias, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, iv. 77. See Dict.
deboshed,debased, corrupted, ‘debauched’. Temp. iii. 2. 29; King Lear, i. 4. 263; vilified, All’s Well, v. 3. 208; deboshtly, licentiously, Heywood, Dialogue 4 (Works, vi. 173); ‘Desbaucher, to debosh’, Cotgrave. In use in Scotland (EDD.).
decard,to ‘discard’, throw away a card, in a card-game; ‘Can you decard?’, Machin, Dumb Knight, iv (Phylocles).
decimo sexto,a term applied to a small book, in which each leaf is one-sixteenth of the whole sheet of paper; hence,fig., a diminutive person or thing; ‘My dancing braggart in decimo sexto’, B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels, i. 1. (Mercury); ‘One bound up in decimo sexto’, Massinger, Maid of Honour, ii. 2 (Sylli). See Stanford.
deck,a pack of cards. 3 Hen. VI, v. i. 44; Peele, Edw. I (ed. Dyce, p. 339); ‘Pride deales the Deck, whilst Chance doth choose the Card’, Barnfield, Sheph. Content, viii (NED.). See Nares. In prov. use in various parts of England, also in Ireland and America (EDD.).
decline,to turn aside, to swerve.Bible, Ps. cxix. 157; to turn a person aside from, to divert, Beaumont and Fl., Valentinian, iii. 1; Massinger, Maid of Honour, i. 1 (Roberto); to undervalue, disparage, depreciate, Shirley, Cardinal, ii. 1 (Alphonso); id., Brothers, i. 1; to subdue, ‘How to decline their wives and curb their manners’, Beaumont and Fl., Rule a Wife, ii. 4 (Estifania).
decrew,to decrease. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 6. 18. OF.decreu, F.décrû, pp. ofdecrestre(décroître), to decrease.
decus,a crown-piece. Shadwell, Squire of Alsatia, ii. 1 (Belfond Senior). A slang term; from the L. wordsdecus et tutamen, engraved upon the rim.
deduce,to deduct. B. Jonson, Magn. Lady, ii. 1 (Sir Moth). L.deducere, to lead away, withdraw.
deduct,to reduce. Massinger, Old Law, iii. 1 (Gnotho). See NED.
deduction,a leading forth of a colony. Chapman, tr. of Odyssey, vi. 455; used as a synonym for ‘dismission’ (i.e. dismissal), id., xix. 423, 427. L.deductio, a leading forth of a colony, deriv. ofdeducere, to lead forth, conduct a colony to a place.
deduit,diversion, enjoyment, pleasure.Deduytes, pleasures, Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 27. 18. ME.deduit, pleasure (Chaucer, C. T.A.2177), OF.deduit(Bartsch),deduyt(Rabelais), Med. L.deductus, ‘animi oblectatio’ (Ducange).
defail,to defeat, cause to fail. Machin, Dumb Knight, i (Epire); in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, x. 128. Only found here in this sense.
defalcate,curtailed. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. ii, c. 10, § 1. Med. L.defalcare, ‘deducere, subtrahere’ (Ducange).
defalk,to cut off, deduct; ‘I defalke, I demynysshe, I cutte awaye’, Palsgrave. See above.
defame,dishonour. Lyly, Euphues (ed. Arber, p. 316); Fletcher, Prophetess, i. 1 (Aurelia).
defeature,defeat, ruin. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 6. 17; disfigurement, Com. Errors, ii. 1. 98; ii. 5. 299.
defend,to forbid. Much Ado, ii. 1. 98; Marl., Massacre at Paris ii. 5 (Navarre); Milton, P. L. xi. 86; Spenser, F. Q. v. 8. 19. F.défendre, to forbid.
define,to decide, settle. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 3. 3.
deform,unsightly, ugly. Milton, P. L. ii. 706. Lat.deformis, unsightly.
defoul, defoil,to dishonour. Morte Arthur, leaf 39. 1; bk. ii, c. 1; lf. 71. 28; bk. iv, c. 18. F.defouler, to tread or trample on (Cotgr.); associated in meaning with the E. adj.foul.
defy,to reject, disdain, despise. Merch. Ven. iii. 5. 75; Hamlet, v. 2. 230. OF.desfier, O. Prov.desfiar,desfizar‘désavouer, répudier’ (Levy). Med. L.diffidare(Ducange). See NED. (s.v. Defy, vb.15).
de gambo,a ‘viol-de-gambo’. Beaumont and Fl., The Chances, iv. 2 (Antonio). Seeviol-de-gamboys.
degender,to degenerate. Spenser, F. Q. v. 1. 2; Hymn of Heavenly Love, 94.
degree,a step, stair; round of a ladder. Jul. Caesar, ii. 1. 26; Massinger, Roman Actor, iii. 2. 21. F.degré, ‘a stair, step, greese’ (Cotgr.).
dehort,to dissuade. Lyly, Euphues, ed. Arber, p. 106; Davenant, The Wits, iv. 1 (Thwack). L.dehortari.
delate,to accuse. B. Jonson, Volpone, ii. 3 (Mosca).Delated, fully or expressly stated (or conveyed), Hamlet, i. 2. 38. Med. L.delatare, to indict, accuse (Ducange).
delay,to temper, assuage, quench. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 9. 30; iii. 12. 42; Prothalamion, 3; to dilute, ‘She can drink a cup of wine not delayed with water’, Davenport, City Nightcap, 1 (Dorothea); in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, xiii. 114. OF. (Norm.)desleier, to unbind, soften by steeping, Romanic typedisligare, to unbend; see NED.
delewine, deal-wine,an unidentified wine; supposed to have been a Rhenish wine. B. Jonson, Mercury Vindicated (Mercury’s second speech); Shirley, Lady of Pleasure, v. 1; where Sir T. Bornwell says—‘Wheredealandbackrag[Bacharach] and whatstrange wine else’, &c.
delibate,to taste, to taste a little of. Marmion, The Antiquary, iii. 1 (Duke). L.delibare, to taste slightly.
delice,delight, pleasure. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 5. 28; iv. 10. 6. F.délices, pl, L.deliciae, delights.
delirement,a crazy fancy, delusion. Heywood, Silver Age, A. ii (Amphitrio); vol. iii, p. 107; id., Dialogue 4; vol. vi, p. 179. F.délirement; L.deliramentum, madness.
deliver,active, nimble, agile. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 12, § last; ‘Delyver of ones Gunnes as they that prove mastryes,souple. Delyver redy quicke to do anythyng,agile,delivré’, Palsgrave. ME.deliver, quick, active (Chaucer, C. T.A.84). OF.delivre,deslivre, prompt, alert, O. Prov.deliure, ‘libre, délivré; alerte; non chargé; en parlant d’une bête’; see Levy. Med. L.deliberare, ‘liberare, redimere’ (Ducange).
dell,a virgin, a wench. (Cant.) Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, ii. 1 (Prigg). See Harman, Caveat, p. 75.
deluvye,the deluge. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 273, back, 30. L.diluvium, the deluge (Vulgate).
demain,demesne, domain. Dryden, On Mrs. A. Killigrew, 103;demeanes, pl., Romeo, iii. 5. 182 (1592). ME.demayn, a possession (Trevisa), see NED. (s.v. Demesne, 3); OF.demeine, Med. L. ‘dominicumquod ad dominum spectat’ (Ducange). Seepayne mayne.
demean(e,behaviour, demeanour; ‘Another Damsell . . . modest of demayne’, Spenser, F. Q. ii. 9. 40; treatment (of others), id. vi. 6. 18. See Dict. (s.v. Demean (1)).
demeans,means of subsistence. Massinger, Picture, i. 1. 22.
demerit,merit; in a good sense. Coriolanus, i. 1. 276; Othello, i. 2. 2; Shirley, Humorous Courtier, ii. 2 (Duchess).
demi-culverin,a kind of cannon, with a bore of about 4 inches. B. Jonson, Every Man in Hum., iii. 1 (Bobadil).
demi-footcloth,a demi-housing, or short housing; seefootcloth.Webster, White Devil (Brachiano), ed. Dyce, p. 22.
demiss,humble, abject. Spenser, Hymn of Heavenly Love, 135. L.demissus.
democcuana,not explained; perhaps, a kind of mixed drink; seestiponie.Etherege, Love in a Tub, v. 4 (Sir Frederick).
Demogorgon,the name of one of the Spirits of the Abyss. Milton, P. L. ii. 965; Spenser, F. Q. iv. 2. 47; co-ruler with Beelzebub, in Marlowe Faustus, iii. 18; the patron of alchemists, Howell, Instructions for Forraine Travell (Arber’s ed., p. 81). Demogorgon is an important character in Shelley’s Prometheus Unbound. Late L.Demogorgon, (1) the name of a terrible deity invoked in magic rites, (2) the primordial God of ancient mythology. Probably a corruption of Gk. δημιουργός, the Maker of the World, the Fabricator, in the Neo-Platonic philosophy opp. to κτίστης, the Creator. By popular etymology this δημιουργός was associated with the Greek words δαίμων, a demon, and Γοργώ, the Gorgon, i.e. the Grim One (γοργός). See Stanford, and NED.
dempt,pt. t.‘deemed’, adjudged. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 7. 55; Shep. Kal., Aug., 137.
demulce,to mollify. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 20, § 1. L.demulcere, to stroke down.
denay,to deny. Greene, Alphonsus, iii (Medea); ed. Dyce, 237; denial, Twelfth Nt. ii. 4. 127. Norm. F.deneier, ‘refuser, rejeter’ (Moisy), L.denegare.
denier,a French coin, the twelfth of a sou. 1 Hen. IV, iii. 3. 91; Richard III, i. 2. 252. OF.denier, L.denarius. Thedenariuswas a Roman silver coin of the value of ten ‘asses’ (about eightpence of modern English money). When our accounts were kept in Latin, the termdenariuswas used for our ‘penny’, and abbreviatedd.; hence thedin our£. s. d.
depaint,to depict. Sackville, Induction, st. 58; B. Googe, Popish Kingdom, bk. i, fol. 10, l. 5. ME.depeynten(NED.).
depart,to separate; formerly in the Marriage Service, but altered at the Savoy Conference into ‘till death us do part’, Spenser, F. Q. ii. 10. 14. ME.departe, to separate (Chaucer, C. T.A.1134).
depart,departure. Two Gent. v. 4. 96; Spenser, F. Q. iii. 7. 20. F.départ, departure.
dependence,a quarrel or affair of honour ‘depending’, or awaiting settlement, according to the laws of the duello. B. Jonson, Devil an Ass, iv. 1 (Fitz.); Fletcher, Love’s Pilgrimage, v. 5 (Sanchio).Masters of Dependencies, needy bravoes, who undertook to regulate duels between the inexperienced, Massinger, Maid of Honour, i. 1 (Bertoldo); Fletcher, Elder Brother, v. 1.
deprave,erroneously used fordeprive. Peele, Sir Clyomon, ed. Dyce, pp. 499, 511; Burton, Anat. Mel. i. 2. See NED.
deprehend,to detect, perceive. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 10, § last but 4; Bacon, Sylva, § 98. L.deprehendere, to seize.
Derby’s bands;seeDarby’s bands.
dere,to harm. Barclay, Mirror Good Manners (NED.); Palsgrave; speltdeare, Phaer, tr. Aeneid, iii. 139; to annoy, trouble, grieve. Caxton, Reynard (ed. Arber, 106); harm, hurt, Spenser, F. Q. i. 7. 48. ME.deren, to harm, injure (Chaucer, Tr. and Cr. i. 651); to grieve (Cursor M. 7377); OE.derian, to injure, annoy (Sweet). Seedare.
dern,dark, solitary, wild. Pericles, iii, Prol. 15; King Lear, iii. 7. 63; dark, dire; ‘Queene Elizabeth died, a dearne day to England’, Leigh, Drumme Devot. 35 (NED.); ‘Dearne,dirus’, Levins, Manipulus. In prov. use in the north country in the sense of dark, obscure, secret; also, dreary, solitary, see EDD. (s.v. Dern, adj.11 and 2). OE. (Anglian)derne, (WS.)dyrne,dierne, secret, dark (BT. Suppl. s.v. Dirne).
dernful,dreary, Spenser, Mourning Muse, 90.dernly, dearnly,mournfully, Spenser, F. Q. ii. 1. 85; sternly, id., iii. 1. 14; iii. 12. 34.
dernful,dreary, Spenser, Mourning Muse, 90.
dernly, dearnly,mournfully, Spenser, F. Q. ii. 1. 85; sternly, id., iii. 1. 14; iii. 12. 34.
derrick,a hangman; hanging; the gallows; ‘Derrick must be his host’, Puritan Widow, iv. 1. 11; ‘Deric . . . is with us abusively used for a Hangman because one of that name was not long since a famed executioner at Tiburn’, Blount, Glossogr.; ‘I would there were a Derick to hang up him’, Dekker, Seven Deadly Sins (ed. Arber, 17). Du.Dierryk,Diederik, Theoderic.
derring do,daring action or feats, desperate courage; ‘A derring doe’, Spenser, Shep. Kal., Oct., 65, and Dec, 43; F. Q. ii. 4. 42. [In imitation of Spenser, Sir. W. Scott has the phrase ‘a deed of derring-do’ (Ivanhoe, ch. 29).] Hence,derring-doer, F. Q. iv. 2. 38. Spenser’s ‘derring doe’ is due to a misunderstanding of a construction in Chaucer’s Tr. and Cr. v. 837, where ‘in dorryng don’ means ‘in daring to do’ (what belongeth to a Knight). See NED.
descovenable,unbefitting. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 15, back, 12. Speltdiscouenable, Game of the Chesse, bk. ii, c. 5 (p. 70 of Axon’s reprint). OF.descovenable.
descrive,to describe. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 3. 25; vi. 12. 21. OF.descrivre. L.describere.
dese,a ‘dais’, a raised table in a hall at which distinguished persons sat at feasts; ‘The hye dese’, Skelton, El. Rummyng, 175. ME.dese(Will. Palerne, 4564),dees(Chaucer, Hous Fame, 1360, 1658). Norm. F.deis(Moisy), Med. L.discus, a table (cp. G.Tisch).
design,to indicate, show. Richard II, i. 1. 203; Spenser, F. Q. v. 7. 8.
despoiled,partially stripped; as in playing at the palm-play. Surrey, Prisoned in Windsor, 13; in Tottel’s Misc., p. 13.
desroy,to ‘disarray’, disorder. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 33. 26;desray, id., lf. 188. 15.
detort,to twist aside, to wrest. Dryden, Pref. to Religio Laici, § 4. L.detort-us, pp. ofde-torquere, to twist aside.
detract,to draw apart, pull asunder. Peele, Sir Clyomon, ed. Dyce, p. 515; to hold back, keep oneself in the background, Greene, James IV, i. 1 (Ateukin).
Deu guin!,a Welsh exclamation; app. forDuw gwyn!, lit. ‘Blessed God’. SeeDu cat-a whee.Beaumont and Fl., Mons. Thomas, iv. 2 (Launcelot).
deuse a vyle,the country. (Cant.) Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Song); ‘dewse a vyle, the countrey’, Harman, Caveat, p. 84. SeeRom-vile.
devant,front of the dress; ‘Perfume my devant’, B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels, v. 2 (Mercury). F.devant, before.
dever,to ‘endeavour’; ‘I dever, I applye my mynde to do a thing’, Palsgrave.
deviceful,full of devices, ingenious, curious. Spenser, F. Q. v. 3. 3; Teares of the Muses, 385.
devoir,duty. Speltdevoyre; Spenser, Shep. Kal., Sept., 227;deuoyr, endeavour; Greene, Alphonsus, Prol. (near the end);dever, Sternhold and Hopkins, Ps. xxii. 26. F.devoir.
devolve,to overturn, overthrow. Webster, Appius, i. 3 (Virginius); Heywood, Rape of Lucrece, v. 4.
devotion,an offering made as an act of worship; a gift given in charity, alms; ‘Then shal the Churche wardens . . . gather the devocion of the people’, Bk. Com. Pr., Communion, 1552 (‘the alms for the poor, and other devotions of the people’, 1662); Middleton, No Wit like a Woman’s, ii. 2 (L. Twilight);devotions, objects of religious worship; ‘I beheld your devotions’,Bible, Acts xvii. 23 (‘the objects of your worship’, R. V.); ‘Dametas . . . swearing by no meane devotions’, Sidney, Arcadia (ed. 1598, p. 282). See Wright’s Bible Word-Book.
devow,to devote. B. Jonson, Magn. Lady, i. 1 (Practice); Holland’s Ammianus Marcellinus (Nares). F.dévouer, to devote.
dewle;Seedole(2).
dewtry,‘datura’; hence, a drug made from the datura or thornapple, a powerful narcotic. Butler, Hudibras, iii. 1. 321; speltdeutroa, Sir T. Herbert, Travels (ed. 1677, p. 337). Marathi,dhutrā; Skt.dhattūra. See Stanford (s.v. Datura).
diacodion,an opiate syrup prepared from poppy-heads. Bulleyn, Dial. against Pestilence (EETS.), p. 51, l. 20; Congreve, Love for Love, iii. 4 (Scandal.). L.diacodion(Pliny).Diais a prefix set before medicinal confections that were devised by the Greeks. Gk. διὰ κωδειῶν (a preparation) made from poppy-heads.
diametral,diametrically opposite. B. Jonson, Magn. Lady, i. 1. 7.
diapasm,a scented powder for sprinkling over the person. B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels, v. 2 (Perfumer). Gk. διάπασμα, from διαπάσσειν, to sprinkle.
diapred,adorned with a ‘diaper’ pattern; ‘And diapred lyke the discolored mead’, Spenser, Epithalamion, 51.
dicacity,raillery, sarcasm. Heywood, Dialogue 4, vol. vi, p. 185. Deriv. of L.dicax, sarcastic.
dich:in phr. ‘Much good dich thy good heart’, Timon, i. 2. 73; ‘Much good do’t thy good heart’, Dekker, Satiro-mastix (Works, i. 204); ‘Much good do’t yee’ (riming with ‘sit yee’), ib., i. 214; ‘Much good do it you’ (vulgarly pronounced and phonetically speltmychgoditio(Salesbury in 1550), quoted by Ellis in his Early English Pronunciation, p. 744, note 2. So it is clear thatdich youstands ford’it you=do it you. See further in Notes on Eng. Etym., pp. 67-9. Cp. phrase in use in Cheshire and Lancashire, ‘Much good deet you’, see EDD. (s.v. Do, subj. mood, § 3).
dicion,a dominion, kingdom. Udall, tr. of Apoph., Alexander, § 40; Augustus, § 6. L.dicio, dominion, sovereignty.
dickens, the,(in exclamations) the deuce! the devil! Merry Wives, iii. 2. 20; Heywood, 1 Edw. IV (Hobs); vol. 1, p. 40.
dicker,half a score; esp. of hides or skins; ‘A dicker of cow-hides’, Heywood; First Part of King Edw. IV (Hobs), vol. i, p. 39; The Marriage Night, ii. 1 (Latchet); in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, xv. 131. ME.diker(NED.), L.decuria, a set of ten; fromdecem, ten. This Latin word was adopted by the German tribes from ancient times. They had to pay tribute to the Romans partly in skins, reckoned indecuriae(NED.). See Schade (s.v. Decher).
didapper,a diving bird; humorously, a mistress. Shirley, Gent. of Venice, iii 4. 8. Seedivedopper.
Diego,a common name for a Spaniard. B. Jonson, Alchemist, iv. 3 (Face); iv. 4 (Subtle). Allusions are often made to a Spaniard so named who committed an indecency in St. Paul’s Cathedral, as in Middleton, Blurt, Mr. Constable, iv. 3 (Blurt). Span.Diégo, the proper nameJames, gradually corrupted fromJacobus, whenceYágo, thenDiágo, and at lastDiégo(Stevens). James was the patron saint of Spain. SeeDondego.
diery,harmful; ‘With dreadfuldierydent Of wrathful warre’, Mirror for Mag., Guidericus, st. 12; Carassus, st. 26. Seedere.
difficile,difficult. Butler, Hudibras, i. 1. 53; speltdyfficyle, Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 311, back, 14. F.difficile.
diffide in,distrust. Dryden, tr. of Virgil, Aeneid, xi. 636; Congreve, Old Bachelor, v. 1 (Bellmour). L.diffidere.
diffused,dispersed, scattered. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 2. 4; v. 11. 47; confused, disordered, distracted, Merry Wives, iv. 4. 54; Hen. V, v. 2. 61.
diggon,enough. Shirley, Love Tricks, ii. 2 (Jenkin); iii. 5 (Jenkin). In both places the word is used by a Welshman; and in Shirley’s Wedding, iii. 2, Lodam gives, as a specimen of Welsh—diggon a camrag(fordigon o Cymraig), i.e. ‘enough of Welsh.’ Welshdigon, enough.
dight,to prepare. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 5. 24; aspp., arrayed, decked, Shep. Kal., April, 29; prepared, Peele, Sir Clyomon (ed. Dyce, p. 522); framed, Sackville, Induction, st. 55. ‘To dight’ is in prov. use in Scotland and the north of England in the sense of ‘to prepare’, also, ‘to adorn, deck oneself’ (EDD.). ME.dihten, to prepare, array, equip (Chaucer), OE.dihtan, to appoint, order.
digladiation,a fencing contest, hand-to-hand fight;fig.disputation, wrangling. Pattenham, E. Poesie, bk. i, c. 17 (ed. Arber, p. 52). B. Jonson, Discoveries, cxl. Deriv. of L.digladiari, to fight for life and death (Cicero).
dildo,‘a word of obscure origin, occurring in the refrains of ballads,’ NED. In Winter’s Tale, iv. 4. 195.
dill,a sweetheart; a cant term; the same asdell.Middleton, Span. Gipsy, iv. 1 (Sancho).
dilling,a darling, a well-beloved; ‘Vespasian the dilling of his time’, Burton, Anat. Mel. (ed. 1896) iii. 27; the youngest, and therefore the best-beloved child, Drayton, Pol. ii. 115. The word is in common prov. use for the youngest child, also, the least and weakest of a brood or litter (EDD.).
dimble,a dingle, a deep dell. B. Jonson, Sad Shepherd, ii. 2 (Alken); Drayton, Pol. ii. 190. Allied todimple,dingle. Still in use in the Midlands, see EDD.
dint,to strike. Spenser, F. Q. vi. 10. 31; a stroke, blow, id. i. 7. 47.
dipsas,a snake whose bite was said to produce extreme thirst. Milton, P. L. x. 526; Marston, Malcontent, ii. 2. 1. Gk. δίψας, causing thirst; from δίφα, thirst.
dirige,a ‘dirge’. Bacon, Henry VII (ed. Lumby, p. 5). ME.dirige(dyryge) ‘offyce for dedeman’ (Prompt.). L.dirige: this word begins the antiphon, ‘Dirige, Dominus meus, in conspectu tuo vitam meam’, used in the first nocturn at mattins in the Office for the Dead; see Way’s note in Prompt., and Notes to Piers Plowman, C. iv. 467.
dirk,to darken, to obscure; ‘Thy wast bignes . . . dirks the beauty of my blossomes rownd’, Spenser, Shep. Kal., Feb., 134. See EDD. (s.v. Dark, 8). ME.derhyn, or makederk, ‘obscuro, obtenebro’ (Prompt. EETS., 137).
disable,to disparage. As You Like It, iv. 1. 34; Heywood, Eng. Traveller, iv. 1 (Reignald); Fletcher, Island Princess, iv. 3 (Armusia); speltdishable, Spenser, F. Q. ii. 5. 21.
disadventure,misfortune.Dissaventures, pl. Spenser, F. Q. i. 10. 45. ME.disaventure(Chaucer, Tr. and Cr. ii. 415).
disappointed,unequipped, unprepared. Hamlet, i. 5. 77.
disceptation,a discussion, debate. Speltdesceptations, pl.; Heywood, Dialogue 18; vol. vi. p. 248. L.disceptatio(Cicero).
discide,to cut or cleave in twain. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 1. 27. L.discidere, to cut in twain.
disclose,to hatch. Hamlet, v. 1. 310; Massinger, Maid of Honour, i. 2 (Camiòla); the act of disclosing, the incubation, Hamlet, iii. 1. 175.
discoloured,of various colours, variegated. B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels, v. 2 (Crites); v. 3 (Cupid); Beaumont, Masque of the Inner Temple, l. 10; Chapman, tr. of Iliad, xvi. 160. L.discolor, of different colours.
discommodity,a disadvantage. Bacon, Essay 33.
discourse,faculty of reasoning, logical power; ‘discourse and reason’ (i.e. logic and reason), Massinger, Unnat. Combat, ii. 1 (Malef. jun.); ‘Discourse of reason’, reasoning faculty, Hamlet, i. 2. 150.
discourse,course of combat, mode of fighting. Beaumont and Fl., King and No King, ii. 1 (Gob.); Spenser, F. Q. vi. 8. 14. L.discursus, a running to and fro.
discretion,disjunction, separation of parts, dissolution. Butler, Hudibras, ii. 1. 204. L.discretio(Vulgate, Heb. v. 14 = διάκρισις).
discure,to discover. Skelton, Bowge of Courte, 18. ME.discure, to discover (Chaucer, Bk. Duch. 549).
discuss,to shake off. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 1. 48; to disperse, scatter; Lyly, Woman in the Moon, ii. 1. 21. ME.discusse, to drive away (Chaucer, Boethius); see NED. L.discutere(pp.discussus), to drive away.
disease,discomfort, inconvenience. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 5. 19; v. 7. 26. ME.disese, inconvenience, distress (Chaucer); ‘A greet diseese’ (Wyclif, Luke xxi. 23). Anglo-F.desaise, trouble (Gower).
disease,to trouble, inconvenience; ‘Why diseasest thou the master’, Tyndal, Mark v. 35; Spenser, F. Q. vi. 3. 32; Middleton, The Witch, iv. 2 (Isabella); to disturb, Chapman tr. Iliad, x. 45. See Trench, Sel. Gl.
disembogue,trans., to empty out. Dryden, Hind and Panther, ii. 562; to drive out, eject; Massinger, Maid of Honour, ii. 2 (Page). Also in formdisimboque, Hakluyt, Voyages, i. 104. Span.desembocar, to come out of the mouth of a river.
disentrail,to draw forth from the entrails or inward parts. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 3. 28; iv. 6. 18.
disgest,to digest. Coriolanus, i. 1. 154; Ant. and Cl. ii. 2. 179 (in old edd.). In general prov. use in the British Isles (EDD.).
dishable;seedisable.
disheir,to deprive of an heir. Dryden, Hind and Panther, iii. 705.
disinteressed,disinterested. Dryden, Religio Laici, 335. Seeinteressed.
disleal,disloyal. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 5. 5. See Dict. (s.v. Leal).
dislike(only in the 3rd pers.), to displease, annoy; ‘Ile do’t, but it dislikes me’, Othello, ii. 3. 49; Middleton, Women beware, iii. 1 (Leantio).
disloignd,distant, remote. Spencer, F. Q. iv. 10. 24. OF.desloignier, to remove to a distance. O. Prov.deslonhar, ‘éloigner, écarter’ (Levy).
dismay,to terrify; ‘I dismaye, I put a person in fere or drede,je desmayeandje esmaye’, Palsgrave; Spenser, F. Q. i. 4. 4; to defeat by a sudden onslaught, id. v. 2. 8; vi. 10. 13. See Dict.
dismayd,dis-made, mis-made, ill-formed. F. Q. ii. 11. 11.
disme,a dime, a tithe, tenth. Tr. and Cr. ii. 2. 19. OF.disme, a tenth; see Ducange (s.v. Decimae). L.decima, a tenth part.
dispace,to range, to move or walk about. Spenser, Virgil’s Gnat, 295; Muiopotmos, 250. Cp. Ital.spaziare, to walk about (Fanfani).
disparage,inequality of rank in marriage; Spenser, F. Q. iv. 8. 50. ME.disparage(Chaucer, C. T.E.908). Norm. F.desparager, mésallier;desparagement, mésalliance, union inégale (Moisy).
disparent,unequal, odd; with reference to the number five. ‘A disparent pentacle’, i.e. a pentacle with an odd number of angles, Hero and Leander, iii. 123; ‘The odd disparent number’, i.e. the odd number of five, id. v. 323.
disparkle,to scatter abroad, disperse (trans.andintr.); ‘Esparpiller, to scatter, disperse, disparkle’, Cotgrave; ‘It disparcleth the mist’, Holland, Pliny, ii. 45; ‘Not suffering his radiations to disparcle abrode’ Stubbes, Anat. Abuses (ed. Furnivall, 78); see Nares. An altered form of the earlierdisparple, see NED. Seesparkle.
disparple, disperple,to scatter abroad, disperse. Chapman, tr. Odyssey, x. 473;dispurple, Heywood, Silver Age, iii (Wks. iii. 144). ME.disparple(Wyclif, Mark xiv. 27); see Dict. M. and S. OF.desparpelier; for etym. from *parpalio, a Romanic form of L.papilio, a butterfly (as in Ital.parpaglione, O. Prov.parpalho); see NED.
dispense,liberal expenditure. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 12. 42; v. 11. 45.
dispergement,‘disparagement’, indignity. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. ii, c. 12, § 6.
display,to discover, get sight of, descry. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 12. 76; Chapman, tr. of Iliad, xi. 74; xvii. 90; xxii. 280. See NED. (s.v. Display, vb. 9).
disple,to subject to the ‘discipline’ of the scourge, to scourge; ‘Bitter Penance with an yron whip Was wont him once to disple every day’, Spenser, F. Q. i. 10. 27. In monastic Latindisciplina= (1) a penitential whipping, (2) the instrument of punishment itself; see Ducange (s.v.).
dispose,disposal; disposition. Two Gent. ii. 7. 86; Tr. and Cr. ii. 3. 174; Othello, i. 3. 403.
disposed,inclined to merriment; in a merry mood. L. L. L. ii. 1. 250; Beaumont and Fl., Wit without Money, v. 4 (Lady H.); Custom of the Country, i. 1. 9.
dispunct,impolite, discourteous, the reverse of punctilious; ‘Let’s be retrograde.Amorphus.Stay. That were dispunct to the ladies’, B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels, v. 2.
disqueat,to disquiet, trouble. Warner, Albion’s England, bk. i, c. 5, st. 39. Seequeat.
disseat,to unseat. Macbeth, v. 3. 21; Two Noble Kinsmen, v. 4. 85.
disseise,to dispossess. Spenser, F. Q. i. 11. 20; vii. 7. 48. Anglo-F.disseisir(Rough List). A compound of OF.seisir(saisir), to put into possession, Frankish L.sacire; of Germanic origin—satjan(OHG.sazjan), to set, place; see NED. (s.v. Seize). Cp. Ital.sagire, to put in full and quiet possession, namely of lands (Florio).
dissident,differing, different. Robinson, tr. of More’s Utopia, pp. 66, 130. L.dissidens, differing, disagreeing.
dissite,situated apart, remote. Chapman, tr. Odyssey, vii. 270. L.dissitus, situated part.
dissolve,to solve; ‘Dissolve this doubtful riddle’, Massinger, Duke of Milan, iv. 3 (Sforza);Bible, Daniel v. 16. [‘Thou hadst not between death and birth Dissolved the riddle of the earth’, Tennyson, Two Voices, 170.]
distance,disagreement, estrangement. Macbeth, iii. 1. 115; ‘Distances between his lady and him’, Pepys, Diary, Sept. 11, 1666. ME.destance, difference (Gower, C. A. iii. 611). Anglo-F.destance, dispute, disagreement (Gower, Mirour, 4957). Seestaunce.
distaste,to have no taste for, to dislike, King Lear, i. 3. 14; to offend the taste, Othello, iii. 3. 327.
distempered,not temperate. Drayton, Pol. i. 4; disturbed in temper, humour, King John, iv. 3. 21; disordered physically, Sonnet, 153; mentally disordered, Milton, P. L. iv. 807; Massinger, Duke of Milan, i. 1. 18.
distract,torn or drawn asunder; torn to pieces. Sh., Lover’s Complaint, 231; perplexed by having the thoughts drawn in different directions, Milton, Samson Ag. 1556; deranged in mind, Julius C., iv. 3. 155; Butler, Hudibras, i. 1. 212. L.distractus, drawn asunder, distracted.
distreyn,to vex, distress. Sackville, Induction, st. 14; Surrey, The Lover comforteth himself, 2; in Tottel’s Misc., p. 14. F.destreindre, ‘to straine, presse, vexe extremely’ (Cotgr.); L.distringere, to draw asunder.
disyellow,to free from jaundice. Warner, Albion’s England; bk. ii, ch. 10, st. 13.
dit, ditt,a poetical composition, a ditty. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 6. 13. See NED.
ditch-constable,a term of contempt. Middleton, A Mad World, v. 2 (Follywit).
dite,to winnow corn. Chapman, tr. of Iliad, v. 498. Hencediter, one who ‘dites’, id., v. 499. In common use in this sense in Scotland and the north of England, see EDD. (s.v. Dight, 6).
diurnal,a journal, newspaper. Butler, Hudibras, i. 2. 268; Tatler, no. 204, § 4. L.diurnalis, daily; fromdies, day.
divedopper,a small diving water-fowl. Drayton, Man in the Moon, 188. Seedidapper.
diverse,to turn aside; ‘The Redcrosse Knight diverst’, Spenser, F. Q. ii. 3. 62. Only found here in this sense.
diversivolent,of variable will, changeable. Webster, White Devil (Lawyer), ed. Dyce, p. 20; (Flamineo), p. 25. A word coined by Webster.
diversory,a place to which one turns in by the way. Chapman, tr. Odyssey, xiv. 538. L.diversorium, an inn, freq. in Vulgate, cp. Luke ii. 7; xxii. 11.
divine,to render divine, to canonize. Spenser, Daphn., 214; Ruins of Time, 611; Drayton, Pol. xxiv. 191.
divulst,torn apart. Marston, Antonio, Pt. I, i. 1. 4. L.diuulsus, pp. ofdiuellere, to pluck asunder.
dizen,to put flax on a distaff; ‘I dysyn a dystaffe, I put the flaxe upon it to spynne’, Palsgrave; to dress, attire, ‘bedizen’; ‘Come, Doll, Doll, dizen me’, Beaumont and Fl., M. Thomas, iv. 6. 3. In common use in the north country in the sense of ‘to dress showily’ (EDD.). See Dict. (s.v. Distaff).
dizling,(perhaps) making dizzy, confusing; ‘His torch with dizling smoke Was dim’, Golding, Metam. x. 6 (L. ‘Fax . . . lacrymoso stridula fumo’).
dizzard, dizard,a blockhead, foolish fellow. Brewer, Lingua, iii. 1 (end). A Yorkshire word; cp. ‘dizzy’, used in the north country in the sense of ‘foolish, stupid, half-witted’; OE.dysig(Matt. vi. 26, ‘stultus’).
do,to cause; ‘The villany . . . Which some hath put to shame, and many done be dead’, Spenser, F. Q. v. 4. 29; phr.I cannot do withal, I cannot help it, Middleton, A Chaste Maid, ii. 1 (Sir Oliver); ‘I could not do withal’ Merch. Ven. iii. 4. 72. ME.doon,do, to cause (Chaucer, freq.).