enpesshe,to hinder. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 238. 6; 329. 19. Seeempeach.
enrace,to introduce into a race of living beings. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 5. 52; vi. 10. 25; Hymn of Beauty, 114.
ens,being, entity. B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of Humour, Induct. (Asper). Med. L. (in philosophy)ens, entity, a neuter pres. pt. formed fr. L.esse, to be.
enseam,to cleanse (a hawk) of superfluous fat; ‘Ensemer, to inseam, unfatten’, Cotgrave; ‘Clene ensaymed’, Skelton, Ware the Hauke, 79. OF.esseimer, ‘retirer lesaim(la graisse)’, see Moisy (s.v. Ensaimer), deriv. ofsaimfat, Med. L.sagīmen, ‘adeps’ (Ducange).
enseam,to contain together, include. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 11. 35; to introduce to company, Chapman, Bussy D’Ambois, i. 1 (Monsieur). See NED. (s.v. Enseam, vb.4).
enseamed,marked with grease; ‘In the ranke sweat of an enseamed bed’, Hamlet, iii. 4. 92. F.enseimer(nowensimer), to grease (Hatzfeld). [Schmidt connects this word with ‘enseam’, to cleanse a hawk; see above.]
enseignement,teaching, showing. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 2, § last. F.enseignement(Cotgr.).
ensigns,insignia, marks of honour. Bacon, Essay 29, § 12.
ensnarl,to entangle. Spenser, F. Q. v. 9. 9. A north Yorks. word (EDD.). ME.snarlyn, ‘illaqueo’ (Prompt. EETS. 460).
entail, entayl,to carve, cut into. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 3. 27; ii. 6. 29;entayle, ornamental work cut on gold, id., ii. 7. 4.
enterdeal,negotiation. Spenser, F. Q. v. 8. 21; Mother Hubberd’s Tale, 785.
entermete,to concern oneself, occupy oneself, meddle with. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 154, back, 13. ME.entremeten, refl. to meddle with (Chaucer, Tr. and Cr. i. 1026). Anglo-F.s’entremettre, to occupy oneself (Gower).
enterprize,to receive, entertain as a host. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 2. 14; In this sense peculiar to Spenser.
entertain,to take into one’s service; Gent. Ver. ii. 4. 105; Richard III, i. 2. 258; to keep in one’s service, Fuller, Pisgah, iii. 2; to give reception to, Com. Errors, iii. 1. 120; the reception of a guest, Spenser, Mother Hubberd’s Tale, 1085; F. Q. v. 9. 37; Pericles, i. 1. 119.
entertake,to receive, entertain. Only in Spenser, F. Q. v. 9. 35.
entire.Used of friendswhollydevoted to one another; ‘My most sincere and entire friend’, Coryat, Crudities, Ep. Ded.; ‘Your entire loving brother’, Bacon, Essays, Ep. Ded. [cp. F.ami entier]. From the notion of intimacy was developed the sense: inward, internal, ‘Their hearts and parts entire’, Spenser, F. Q. iv. 8. 23 and 48; iii. 1. 47; iii. 7. 16.
entradas,receipts, revenues. Massinger, Guardian, v. 4 (Severino). Span.entrada, revenue.
entraile,to twist, entwine, interlace. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 3. 27; iii. 6. 44; Shep. Kal., Aug. 30; Prothalamion, 25; a coil, F. Q. i. 1. 16. Cp. F.traille(treille), lattice-work (Cotgr.).
entreat,to treat, use. Richard II, iii. 1. 37; Fletcher, Rule a Wife, iii. 4 (Perez); Spenser, F. Q. i. 10. 7; ‘He entreated Abram well’,Bible, Gen. xii. 16; ‘Despytfully entreated’, Tyndale, Luke xviii. 32. OF.entraiter, to treat, use (Godefroy).
entreglancing,interchange of glances. Gascoigne, Flowers, ed. Hazlitt, i. 46.
entries,places through which deer have recently passed. B. Jonson, Sad Shepherd, i. 2 (John).
entwite,to rebuke, reproach, reprove, to ‘twit’. Udall, tr. of Apoph., Augustus, § 1; Roister Doister, ii. 3 (song); p. 36. Altered form of ME.atwiten, to reproach, twit, OE.æt-witan.
enure,to put into operation, to ‘inure’, carry out, practise. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 2. 29; v. 9. 39.
envy,to feel a grudge against; to begrudge; to treat grudgingly; to have grudging feelings. Milton, P. L. iv. 317; King John, iii. 4. 73; Peele, Tale of Troy, ed. Dyce, p. 551. The stress is often on the latter syllable.
envy,to injure, disgrace, calumniate. Fletcher, Pilgrim, ii. 1 (Juletta); Shirley, Traitor, iii. 3 (Duke).
envỳ,to emulate, ‘vie’ with. Spenser, F. Q. i. 2. 17; iii. 1. 13. F.envier(au jeu), to vie (Cotgr.), L.invitare, to invite, challenge.
ephemerides,properly, tables showing the positions of the heavenly bodies (or some of them) for every day of a period, esp. at noon. But used vaguely for an almanac or calendar that noted some of these things. B. Jonson, Alchem. iv. 4 (Surly); Bp. Hall, Sat. ii. 7. 6; Bacon, Adv. of Learning, i. 1, § 3. Gk. ἐφημερίς, a diary.
Ephesian,a boon companion. 2 Hen. IV, ii. 2. 164. A cant term; used like ‘Corinthian’ in 1 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 13.
epiky,reasonableness, equity; ‘Such an epiky and moderacion’, Latimer, 5 Sermon bef. King (ed. Arber, p. 143). Gk. ἐπιείκεια, reasonableness; from ἐπιείκής, fitting, equitable.
epiphoneme,an exclamatory sentence, used to sum up a discourse. Puttenham, Art of Eng. Poesie, bk. ii, c. 12 (ed. Arber, p. 125); Heywood, Dialogue 2 (Mary), vol. vi, p. 123. Gk. ἐπιφώνημα.
epitasis,the part of a play wherein the plot thickens. B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of Humour, iii. 2 (end). Gk. ἐπίτασις.
epitrite,in prosody, a foot consisting of three long syllables and a short one. B. Jonson, Staple of News, iv. 1 (P. Can.). Gk. ἐπίτριτος.
equal(l,fair, equitable, just, impartial.Bible, 1539, Psalm xvii. 2; Fletcher, Span. Curate, iii. 3 (Bartolus); iv. 4. 15;equally, justly, id., iv. 5 (Diego).
equipage,equipment; retinue. Sh., Sonnet 32; Spenser, Shep. Kal., Oct., 114. F.equipage, ‘equipage, good armour; store of necessaries;Equipage d’un navire, her Marriners and Souldiers’ (Cotgr.). See NED. (s.v. Equip). Seeesquip.
erased,in heraldry; said of an animal’s head, with a jagged edge below, as if torn violently from the body. Also used humorously of an ear, Butler, Hud. iii. 3. 214.
eremite,one dwelling in the desert; ‘This glorious eremite’, Milton, P. R. i. 8 (used with allusion to the original meaning of the Greek word). Eccles. Gk. ἐρημίτης, one who has retired into the desert from religious motives, a hermit, deriv. of ἔρημος, wilderness (Matt. iii. 1).
erie, ery,every. Tusser, Husbandry, § 18. 17; § 57. 11. Also several times in Turbervile’s Poems. A contracted form, likee’erforever.
eringo, eryngo,the candied root of the sea-holly, used as a sweetmeat, and regarded as an aphrodisiac. Merry Wives, v. 5. 23. Ital.eringio, sea-holly (Florio), L.eryngion, Gk. ἠρύγγιον, dimin. of ἤρυγγος, sea-holly.
erne,an eagle. Golding, Metam. vi. 517; fol. 74 (1603). A Scottish literary word (EDD.). OE.earn(Matt. xxiv. 28).
errant:phr.an errant knight, a knight-errant. Spenser, F. Q. i. 4. 38; i. 10. 10. Anglo-F.errer, to travel, to march (Ch. Rol. 3340), O. Prov.edrar(errar), Med. L.iterare, ‘iter facere’ (Ducange).
errant,‘arrant’. Chapman, Byron’s Tragedy, v. 1 (Byron); ‘Sir Kenelm Digby was an errant mountebank’, Evelyn, Diary (Nov. 7, 1651). See NED. (s.v. Errant, 7).
errour,wandering, roving. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 5. 7.
erst,once upon a time, formerly. Hen. V, v. ii. 48; Ferrex and Porrex, i. 2. 5; previously, Spenser, F. Q. i. 8. 18. ME.erst(Chaucer, C. T.A.776), OE.ǣrest, superl. ofǣr, soon.
esbatement,amusement. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 160. 15; Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 3, § 10. Anglo-F.esbatement, diversion (Gower). F.esbatement, ‘divertissement’ (Rabelais), OF.esbatre, ‘se divertir’ (Bartsch).
escape,a wilful error; a great fault. Lyly, Euphues (ed. Arber, p. 150); Othello, i. 3. 197.
escot,to pay a reckoning for, to maintain; ‘How are they escoted’, Hamlet, ii. 2. 362. OF.escoter, ‘payer l’écot’ (Didot), Anglo-F.escot, payment, reckoning at a tavern (Gower);escot(payment) occurs in the Statutes of the Realm, i. 221 (13th cent.), see Rough List. See Ducange (s.v. Scot, Scottum).Escot(payment) is the same word as ‘scot’ or ‘shot’, in prov. use for payment of a tavern reckoning (EDD.).
escuage,lit. shield-service; personal service in the field for 40 days in the year; later, a money payment in lieu of it, also called ‘scutage’. Bacon, Hen. VII, ed. Lumby, p. 148. Anglo-F.escuage, Med. L.scutagium, deriv. of L.scutum, a shield (Ducange).
escudero,a squire. B. Jonson, Devil an Ass, iv. 1 (Wit.). Span.escudéro, an esquire, a servant that waits on a lady (Stevens), deriv. ofescúdo, a shield, L.scutum.
esguard,a tribunal existing among the Knights of St. John, to settle differences between members of the order. Beaumont and Fl., Knight of Malta, v. 2 (Valetta). OF.esgard, ‘tribunal des chevaliers de Malte’. Med. L.esgardium: ‘De vassallo delinquente in Dominum, Dominus potest de ce quod tenet ab ipso, ipsum per Exguardium dissaisire (Id est, judicio parium suerum interveniente)’, quotation from Statutes (Ducange). O. Prov.esgart, ‘regard, décision, jugement; condamnation pécuniaire; égard, considération’;esgardar, ‘regarder, considérer; décider, juger’ (Levy).
esloin, esloyne,to remove to a distance. Spenser, F. Q. i. 4. 20. F.esloigner(Cotgr.).
esmayed,dismayed. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 308. 6; 329, back, 9. Anglo-F.s’esmaier, to be dismayed (Gower).
esmayle,enamel. Puttenham, Eng. Poesie, bk. iii, c. 19; p. 242. F.esmail‘enammel’ (Cotgr.).
espial,the action of espying or spying. Bp. Hall, Contempl. O. T. xix. 9 (NED.); a company of spies, Elyot, Governour, iii. 6. 236;espials, spies, Bacon, Essay, 48; 1 Hen. VI, iv. 3. 6; Hamlet, iii. 1. 32. See NED.
esquip,to equip.Esquippe, Baret, Alvearie;esquipping, Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, i. 577. F.esquiper(equiper), to equip, arm, store with necessary furniture (Cotgr.). Seeequipage.
essoyne,excuse, Spenser, F. Q. i. 4. 20. ME.essoyne, excuse for non-appearance in a law-court (Chaucer, C. T.I.164). Anglo-F.essoigne(essoyne), excuse, a legal term (Rough List), see Ducange (s.v. Sunnis). Med. L.essoniare, ‘excusationem proponere’ (Ducange), of Teutonic origin, cp. Goth.sunjôn, ‘excusare’ (2 Cor. xii. 19).
estate,rank, dignity; ‘He poisons him in the garden for his estate’, Hamlet, iii. 2. 273; Macbeth, i. 4. 37;estates, men of rank, nobles, Heywood, Rape of Lucrece, i. 1 (Tarquin). F.estat, office, dignity, rank, degree which a man hath (Cotgr.). See Bible Word-Book.
estivation:phr.place of estivation, a summer-house. Bacon, Essay 45, § 5. Deriv. of L.aestivus, pertaining to summer.
estres,apartments, dwellings, quarters; the inner rooms in a house, divisions in a garden, &c.; speltestures[printed by Caxtoneftures]. Morte Arthur, leaf 392, back, 3; bk. xix, ch. 8. ME.estres(Chaucer), Anglo-F.estre, habitation, dwelling (Gower);estres, inward parts of a house (Rough List); OF.estre, ‘domuncula, aedificium’, see Ducange (s.v.Estra).
estridge,an ostrich, 1 Hen. IV, iv. 1. 98; Ant. and Cl. iii. 13. 197; speltestrich, Fletcher, Love’s Pilgrimage, ii. 2 (Incubo); Lyly, Euphues (ed. Arber, 124). ME.estrich(Voc. 585, 22). O. Prov.estrutz, ‘autruche’ (Levy).
eten, ettin,a giant; ‘Giants and ettins’, Beaumont and Fl., Knight of the B. Pestle, i. 2 (or3) (Wife). ME.ȝeten(Gen. and Ex. 545), OE.eoten, a giant, cp. Icel.jötunn.
Etesian,(properly) the epithet of certain winds, blowing from the NE. for about forty days annually in summer; ‘Etesian winds’, Holland, tr. of Pliny, bk. xvi, c. 25 (end); ‘Etesian gales’, Dryden, Albion, Act i (Iris). L.etesius; Gk. ἐτήσιος, annual, from ἔτος, year.
ethe;seeeath.
eugh,yew; ‘The Eugh, obedient to the bender’s will’, Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 9; Bacon, Essay 46. ME.ew(Chaucer, C. T.A.2923), OE.īw.
eure,destiny, fate, luck. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 235, back, 8; spelture, Skelton, Colin Clout, 1003;to be ured, to be invested with, as by the decree of fate, Skelton, Magnyfycence, 6;ewre, to render happy, Palsgrave. Henceeurous,ewrous, lucky, Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 227. 30; lf. 228. 19. ME.ure, fate, good luck (Barbour’s Bruce). OF.eür, ‘sort, bonheur’ (Bartsch), O. Prov.aür,agur, destiny, Romanic typeagurium, L.augurium, augury, omen. Seeure,male-uryd,misured.
evelong,oblong. Golding, Metam. viii. 551, fol. 101 (1603). ME.evelong, ‘oblongus’ (Trevisa, tr. Higden, i. 405). Cp. Icel.aflangr, oblong, Dan.aflang; L.oblongus.
event,to cool, by exposing to the air; ‘To event the heat’, Mirror for Mag., Clyfford, st. 8; to find vent, ‘Whence that scalding sigh evented’, B. Jonson, Case is Altered, v. 3 (Angelo). F.esventer, to fan or winnow;s’esventer, to take vent or wind (Cotgr.).
ever among,continually, Spenser, Shep. Kal., Dec, 12.
evertuate,reflex., to endeavour. Howell, Foreign Travell, sect. xvi, p. 72; ‘I have evirtuated myself’, Howell, Famil. Letters, vol. ii, let. 61 (end). Anglo-F.s’esvertuer, to exert oneself, endeavour (Gower).
evesing,the eaves of the thatch of a house; ‘A dropping evesing’, Schole-house of Women, 912; in Hazlitt, Early Pop. Poetry, iv. 140. ME.evesynge(P. Plowman, C. xx. 193), deriv. ofevese, the edge of the roof of a building, the ‘eaves’, OE.efes(Ps. ci. 8). Seeeasing.
evet,an eft, a newt. Lyly, Euphues, p. 315. See EDD. for prov. forms. OE.efeta. Seeewftes.
evicke,a wild goat. Chapman, tr. of Iliad, iv. 122 (rendering of αἲξ ἄγριος). See NED. (s.v. Eveck).
ewftes,efts. Spenser, F. Q. v. 10. 23. Seeevet.
exacuate,to sharpen, whet, provoke. B. Jonson, Magn. Lady, iii. 3 (Compass).
Exaltation of the Holy Cross,the Feast observed on Sept. 14. Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 37. 16.
exampless,forexample-less, without an example, unparalleled. B. Jonson, Sejanus, ii. 4 (Silius).
Excalibur,the name of King Arthur’s sword. B. Jonson, Ev. Man in Hum. iii. 1 (Bobadil); ‘The try’d Excalibour’, Drayton, Pol. iv (Nares).
excheat,‘escheat’, profit, lit. that which is fallen to one. Spenser, F. Q. i. 5. 25; iii. 8. 16. Anglo-F.eschete,eschaëte(Rough List), Med. L.escaeta, deriv. from Romanic typeescadére(F.echoir), Med. L.excadere, ‘jure haereditario obvenire; in aliquem cadere, ei obvenire’ (Ducange).
exercise,an act of preaching, discourse; a discussion of a passage of Scripture. Richard III, iii. 2. 112; iii. 7. 64; Middleton, Mayor of Queenborough, v. 1 (Oliver).
exhale,to hale forth, drag out. B. Jonson, Poetaster, iii. 1 (Crispinus); cp. Hen. V, ii. 1. 66.
exhibition,allowance, fixed payment. King Lear, i. 2. 25; Othello, i. 3. 238; London Prodigal, i. 1. 10. Med. L.exhibitio, ‘praebitio’;exhibere, ‘praebere alimenta et ad vitam necessaria’ (Ducange). See Prompt. EETS. 161, and Rönsch, Vulgata, 312. Hence the term ‘exhibition’ in the University of Oxford for annual payments made by a College to deserving students.
exigent,state of pressing need, emergency, decisive moment. Julius Caesar, v. 1. 19; Ant. and Cl. iv. 12. 63; extremity, end, 1 Hen. VI, ii. 5. 9; phr.to take an exigent, to come to an end, A Merry Knack to know a Knave, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vi. 546;exigents, straits, Marlowe, Edw. II, ii. 5 (Warwick).
exigent,an urgent command;a writ of exigentwas one commanding the sheriff to summon the defendant to appear, and to deliver himself up on pain of outlawry. Butler, Hud. i. 1. 370; iii. 1. 1036. Anglo-F.exigende, L.exigenda, fromexigere, to exact. See Cowell, Interpreter (s.v.).
exoster,a hanging-bridge, used by men besieging a city; ‘Exosters, Sambukes, Catapults’, Peacham, Comp. Gentleman, c. 9. L.exostra, Gk. ἐξώστρα, a bridgethrust outfrom the besiegers’ tower against the walls of the besieged place; deriv. of ὠθέειν, to thrust.
expend,to weigh, examine, consider. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. iii, c. 9, § 1; c. 29, § 3. L.expendere, to weigh out.
expert,to experience. Spenser, Shep. Kal., Nov., 186.
expire,to breathe out. Spenser, F. Q. i. 11. 45; iv. 1. 54; to fulfil a term, i. 7. 9; to fly forth from a cannon, Dryden, Annus Mirabilis, st. 188.
expiscate,to ‘fish out’, i.e. to find out by inquiry. Chapman, tr. of Iliad, x. 181. L.expiscari, to fish out; deriv. ofpiscis, a fish.
explete,to complete, to satisfy; ‘To explete the act’, Speed, Hist. ix. 21, § 71; ‘Nothing under an Infinite can expleat the immortall minde of man’, Fuller, Pisgah, iv. 7. 123. L.explere, to fill out.
exploit,success; ‘His ambassadours hadde made no better exployte’, Berners, tr. Froissart, ii. 91. 272. ME.espleit, success (Gower, C. A.V.3924), Anglo-F.exploit,espleit,esplait, speed, success (Rough List).
exploit,to accomplish, achieve; ‘Iexployt, I applye or avaunce myself to forther a busynesse’, Palsgrave; ‘They departed withoutexploytingetheir message’, Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, ch. 26, § 8; ‘To exploit some warlike service’, Holland, tr. Ammianus (Nares).
express,to press out, squeeze out. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 11. 42.
expulse,to expel. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. ii, c. 5, § 5; Bacon, Adv. of Learning, bk. ii, c. 17, § 9. L.expulsare, freq. ofexpellere, to expel.
extend(a legal t. t.), to seize upon lands, in execution of a writ. Massinger, New Way to Pay, v. 1 (Overreach); to seize upon land, Ant. and Cl. i. 2. 105. See Cowell, Interpreter (s.v.).
extent(a legal t. t.); ‘A writ or commission to the Sheriff for the valuing of lands or tenements; also, the Act of the Sheriff or other Commissioner upon this writ’, Cowell, Interpreter; Butler, Hud. iii. 1. 1035; Massinger, City Madam, v. 2 (Luke); As You Like It, iii. 1. 17.
extinct,to extinguish. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. iii, c. 2 (end); henceextincted, pp., Othello, ii. 1. 81.
extirp,to extirpate. Spenser, F. Q. i. 10. 25. L.extirpare,exstirpare, deriv. ofstirps, the stem of a tree.
extort,extorted. Spenser, F. Q. v. 2. 5; v. 10. 25.
extraught,extracted. 3 Hen. VI, ii. 2. 142. Cp.distraughtfordistract,distracted.
extreate,extraction, origin. Spenser, F. Q. v. 10. 1. ME.estrete, extraction, origin (Gower, C. A. i. 1344), OF.estraite, birth, origin (Assizes de Jer., ch. 134); see Bartsch (Glossary).
extree,axle-tree. Golding, Metam. ii. 297; fol. 19, back (1603). In prov. use, see EDD. (s.v. Ax, sb.1), ME.ex-tre(Prompt. EETS. 145).
eyas,a young hawk taken from the nest for the purpose of training;eyas hauke, a young untrained hawk, Spenser, F. Q. i. 11. 34;eyas-musket(used jocularly of a sprightly child), Merry Wives, iii. 3. 22; ‘An aerie of children little eyases’, Hamlet, ii. 2. 355. F.niais(Fauconnerie), ‘qui n’a pas encore quitté le nid’ (Hatzfeld), L.nidacem, deriv. ofnidus, a nest, cp. Ital.nidiace, ‘taken out of the nest, a simpleton’ (Florio). Seeniaise.
eye,a brood; esp. of pheasants; ‘An Eye of Pheasaunts’, Spenser, Shep. Kal., April, 118 (E. K. Gloss.); ‘An Eye of tame pheasants Or partridges’, Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, ii. 1 (Prigg); Worlidge, Dict. Rust. 252; Coles, Lat. Dict. (1677). In prov. use in various parts of England, see EDD. (s.v. Eye, sb.2); also in the formnye(nie,ni), see EDD. OF.ni, ‘nid’ (La Curne).
eyre,to ‘ear’, to plough. Drayton, Robert Duke of Normandy, st. 5. Seeearth.
eysel;seeeisel.
F
faces about,the same as ‘right-about face’, i.e. turn round the other way. B. Jonson, Ev. Man in Hum. iii. 1. 14; Beaumont and Fl., Knt. of the B. Pestle, v. 2 (Ralph); Scornful Lady, v. 2 (Y. Loveless).
fackins.The forms here given are distortions offay(faith), frequent in trivial quasi-oaths.By my fackins, B. Jonson, Every Man, i. 3;By my feckins, Heywood, 1 Edw. I, iii. 1;By my facks, Middleton, Quiet Life, ii. 2;By my feck, Webster, Cure for Cuckold, iv. 3. Cp.I’ faikins, in truth, verily, used in Scotland, Lakeland, and Lancashire (EDD.). Seefay(1).
fact,evil deed, crime. Meas. for M. iv. 2. 141; v. 439; Wint. Tale, iii. 2. 86; Macb. iii. 6. 10;in the fact, in the act, 2 Hen. VI, ii. 1. 173.
fadge,to fit, suit, agree; ‘Let men avoid what fadgeth not with their stomachs’, Robertson, Phras. 708; ‘How ill his shape with inward forme doth fadge’, Marston, Scourge of Villanie, i. 1. 172; to succeed, to turn out well, ‘How will this fadge?’, Twelfth Nt. ii. 2. 34; to get on well, to thrive, ‘Let him that cannot fadge in one course fall to another’, Cotgrave (s.v. Mouldre). In prov. use in various parts of England, meaning to fit, suit; to make things fit; to succeed, thrive, see EDD. (s.v. Fadge, vb.3).
fading,the name of a dance; ‘Fading is a fine jig’, Beaumont and Fl., Knight B. Pestle, iv. 5 (end). ‘With a fading’ was the refrain of a popular song of an indecent character, Winter’s Tale, iv. 4. 195.
fagary,a vagary, freak. Middleton, Roaring Girl, iv. 2 (Goshawk); Lady Alimony, ii. 1 (1 Boy). Seefegary.
fagioli,French beans. B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels, ii. 1 (Mercury). Ital.fagioli, ‘french peason, kidney beanes’ (Florio), Late L.phaseolus(Pliny), earlier L.phaselus(Virgil), Gk. φάσηλος, a kidney-bean.
fail, fayl,to deceive. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 5. 11; iii. 11. 46. F.faillir, to deceive (Cotgr.).
fain,to rejoice. Spenser, F. Q. v. 12. 36. Hencefayning, gladsome, wistful, Hymn of Love, 216. OE.fægnian, to rejoice.
fair,fairness, beauty. Greene, Looking Glasse, i. 1. 81 (Rasni); Death of E. of Huntingdon, ii. 1 (Salisbury); iii. 4 (Leicester); in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, viii. 255, 282.
fairy money,money given by fairies, which turned to dry leaves if talked about; ‘Such borrowed wealth, like Fairy-money . . . will be but Leaves and Dust when it comes to use’, Locke, Human Und. I, iv. (NED.); Beaumont and Fl., Honest Man’s Fortune, v. 1 (Montague). See Davies.
faitour,an impostor, cheat, a lying vagabond. Spenser, Shep. Kal., May, 39;faytor, F. Q. i. 12. 35; 2 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 173. See Notes to Piers Plowman, p. 166. The word means a sham, a maker-up of a character. OF.faitour,faiteör, Romanic typefactitorem.
fa la,a snatch of song; ‘The fiddle, and thefa las’, Fletcher, Mons. Thomas, iv. 2 (Launcelot). From the notes in the upper part of the gamut—fa-sol-la-si. Hence,fa la la, as a refrain of a song.
fall,the blast blown on a horn at the death of the deer. Gascoigne, Art of Venerie, ed. Hazlitt, ii. 315. Seemort.
fall,a collar falling flat round the neck. B. Jonson, Alchem. ii. 1 (Surly);falls, pl., Middleton, Your Five Gallants, i. 1 (2 Fellow).
fall,autumn; ‘The hole yere is deuided into iiii. partes, spring-time, somer, faule of the leafe, and winter’, Ascham, Toxophilus, p. 48; Dryden, tr. Juvenal, Sat. x. In prov. use in various parts of England, very common in America (EDD.).
fall,to let fall, Temp. ii. 1. 296; Richard III, v. 3. 135; to happen, Mids. Night’s D. v. 1. 188.
falling bands;seeband.
false:phr.to false a blow, to make a feint, Spenser, F. Q. i. 9. 46; ii. 5. 9. Cp. Cymbeline, ii. 3. 74.
falser,a deceiver. Spenser, Shep. Kal., Dec.; Epilogue, 6.
falx,a term in wrestling; a grip round the small of the back. Drayton, Pol. i. 244; Carew, Cornwall, 76. F.faux du corps(Sherwood, s.v. Wast). See NED. (s.v. Faulx).
famble,hand. (Cant.) Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, ii. 1 (Higgen); Harman, Caveat, p. 87. Icel.fálma, the hand; cp. Swed.famle, to grope; cognate with OE.folm, a hand.
famble,a ring. (Cant.) Shadwell, Squire of Alsatia, ii. 1 (Belfond Senior). So called because worn on the hand. See above.
famelic,exciting hunger, appetizing. B. Jonson, Barth. Fair, iii. 1 (Busy). L.famelicus, hungry; fromfames, hunger.
Familist,one of the sect called the Family of Love. Middleton, Anything for a Quiet Life, ii. 1 (Knavesby). See Dyce’s introduction to the Family of Love, by the same dramatist.
fang,to take, seize, seize upon. Timon, iv. 3. 23; speltvang(Southern), London Prodigal, iii. 3. 5;fanged, pp., Northward Ho, i. 2. 6. OE.fōn, to take; pp.gefangen.
fanterie,infantry; ‘Cavallery [cavalry] and Fanterie’, Holland, tr. of Pliny, bk. vi, c. 20; vol. i, p. 128 g;Fanteries, foot-soldiers, Gascoigne, Fruites of Warre, st. 152. OF.fanterie(Roquefort); Ital. ‘fantería, infantry;fante, a boy, a foot soldier’ (Florio); short forinfante, an infant. Cp. ME.faunt, child (P. Plowman, B. xvi. 101), whence surname ‘Fauntleroy’.
fap,drunk. Merry Wives, i. 1. 183.
farandine,a kind of cloth, made partly of silk and partly of wool. Speltfarrendon, Wycherley, Love in a Wood, iii. 1 (Lucy);ferrandine, a gown of this material, id. v. 2 (Mrs. Joyner). Said to be from F.Ferrand, the name of the inventor (c.1630). See NED.
farce,to stuff, fill out; ‘Farce thy lean ribs’, B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of Humour, v. 4 (Carlo); ‘The farced title’ (i.e. stuffed, tumid), Hen. V, iv. 1. 280; ‘Wit larded with malice, and malice farced with wit’, Tr. and Cr. v. 1. 64. See Dict. (s.v. Farce).
farcion, farcyon,the farcy, a disease in horses, akin to glanders. Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 93. F.farcin; see Hatzfeld. Seefashions.
fardle,to furl a sail. Golding, Metam. xi. 483; fol. 138 (1603). F.fardeler, to truss or pack up (Cotgr.). See NED. (s.v. Fardel).
fare,course; track of a hare. Spenser, F. Q. v. 10. 16; Fletcher, Faithful Shepherdess, iv. 2. 18. OE.fær, course; fromfaran, to go.
far-fet,fetched from afar. Milton, P. R. ii. 401. Things ‘far-fet’ were proverbially said to be good (or fit) for ladies; ‘Farre fet and deere bought is good for Ladyes’, Lyly, Euphues (ed. Arber, 93). See The Malcontent, v. 2 (Mendoza); B. Jonson, Sil. Woman, 1 Prologue; Cynthia’s Revels, iv. 1 (Argurion).
farlies,strange things, wonders. Drayton, Pol. x. 170. ‘Ferlies’ (or ‘fairlies’) is in common use in Scotland for ‘sights, show things to be seen, lions’, see EDD. (sv. Ferly, 4). ME.ferly, strange, wonderful; also, a wonder (Barbour’s Bruce), OE.fǣrlic, sudden, unexpected.
fashions,orfashion,the ‘farcy’, a disease of the skin in horses, Tam. Shrew, iii. 2. 53; Dekker, O. Fortunatus, ii. 2 (Andelocia). Seefarcion.
fast and loose,a cheating game with a leather strap, which is made up in intricate folds and laid edgewise on a table; the novice thrusts a skewer into it, thinking to hold it fast thereby, but the trickster takes hold of both ends and draws it away. Fletcher, Loyal Subject, ii. 1 (Theodore); City Nightcap, iv. 1 (Dorothea).
faste,faced, having faces; ‘Some faste Like loathly toades’, Spenser, F. Q. ii. 11. 12.
fastidious,distasteful, displeasing. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 9, § 1; disdainful, B. Jonson, New Inn, Ode (at the end), l. 7.
fatch,a ‘vetch’; ‘A fatch for Love!’, Turbervile, The Penitent Lover, last stanza; Udall, tr. of Apoph., Cicero, § 1 (note on the wordCicero). See EDD. (s.v. Fatch).
fault,a misfortune. Pericles, iv. 2. 79; Massinger, Bondman, v. 1 (Leosthenes).
faun,forfawn,an act of fawning upon; a cringing. Phineas Fletcher, An Apology for the Premises, st. 4; B. Jonson, Poetaster, iv. 4 (Tucca).
fausen,a kind of eel (?). Chapman, tr. of Iliad, xxi. 190. In Kentfazen-eelis in use for a large brown eel; see EDD. (s.v. Fazen).
fautie,‘faulty’. Tusser, Husbandry, § 99. 2. The ordinary pronunciation in Scotland, and many parts of England, see EDD. (s.v. Faulty). F.fautif.
fautor,an adherent, partisan; speltfaultor, Mirror for Mag., Worcester, xx; a protector, patron, Chapman, tr. of Iliad, i. 441; xi. 325. F.fauteur, ‘a fauter, favourer, protector’ (Cotgr.); L.fautor, a favourer, patron.
fautress,a patroness. Chapman, tr. Iliad, xxiii. 670.
Favell,a personification of flattery; ‘The fyrste was Favell, full of flatery, Wyth fables false that well coude fayne a tale’, Skelton, Bowge of Courte, 134; ‘Favell hath a goodly grace In eloquence’, Wyatt, The Courtier’s Life (ed. Bell, 216). ME.Fauel: ‘Bothe Fals and Fauel and fykeltonge Lyere’ (P. Plowman, C. iii. 6); see Notes, pp. 42, 43. Hoccleve, in his De Regimine Principum (ed. Wright, pp. 106, 111), fully describesfavelleor flattery, and says, ‘In wrong praising is all his craft and arte’. Seecurry-favell.
fawting,favourable. Mirror for Mag., Irenglas, st. 21 (ed. 1575). Seefautor.
fay,faith. Spenser, F. Q. v. S. 19; phr.by my fay, by my faith, Romeo, i. 5. 128. ME.fey, faith (Chaucer, C. T.A.1126); Anglo-F.fei(F.foi). Seefackins.
fay,to clear away filth, to clean out a ditch or pond. Burton, Anat. Mel. i. 2. 4: Holland, tr. Livy, xxi. 37 (ed. 1609, 414); speltfie, Tusser, Husbandry, § 20. 21. In common prov. use in the north country and in E. Anglia: in the former ‘fey’ is the usual form, in the latter ‘fie’, see EDD. (s.v. Fay, vb.1). Icel.fǣgja, to cleanse, polish.
fayles,a variety of backgammon, played with three dice. B. Jonson, Every Man in Hum. iii. 8. 104. Described in Gifford’s note; so called because a particular throw caused the adversaryto fail. See NED. (where there is cited from Ludus Anglicorum (c.A.D.1330) ‘Est et alius ludus qui vocatur Faylys’). See Nares.
feague,to settle one’s business, to take one in hand, to dispose of. Etherege, She Would if she Could, iii. 3 (Sir Oliver); also (Sir Joslin’s Song); iv. 2 (Sir Oliver). Speltfegue, Wycherley, Love in a Wood, i. 1 (end). Cp. G.fegen, to sweep, to clean, to furbish; also, to chastise, rebuke; Du.vegen. See NED.
feague,to whip. Otway, Soldier’s Fortune, v. 5 (Beaugard). Probably the same word as above. See EDD. (s.v. Feag).
feak,a dangling curl of hair. Marston, Sat. i. 38. See NED.
feants,forfiantsorfyaunts; seefiants.Turbervile, Hunting, c. 37; p. 98.
fear,an object of terror. Hamlet, iii. 3. 25; Milton, P. L. ix. 285; to terrify, Tam. Shrew, i. 2. 221; 1 Hen. VI, v. 2. 2. ‘To fear’ is used in this sense in Scotland and in various parts of England (EDD.).
feat,made, fashioned. Shirley, Witty Fair One, iii. 2 (Sir N. Treadle); clever, dexterous, Cymb. v. 5. 88; graceful, ‘She speaks feat English’, Fletcher, Night-walker, iii. 6; neat, becoming, Temp. ii. 1. 273; to make a person elegant, Cymb. i. 1. 49. ‘Feat’ is in gen. prov. use in the sense of suitable, also, dexterous, adroit, smart (EDD.). F.fait, made;fait pour, made for, suitable for.
featuously,elegantly, Drayton, Pastorals, Ecl. iv, Ballad of Dowsabel, 24;feateously, dexterously, nimbly, Spenser, Prothal. 27. ME.fetysly, exquisitely;fetys, well-made, handsome, graceful (Chaucer). OF.fetis,feitis; L.facticius.
feature,fashion, make, form. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 2. 44; ‘The grim Feature’ (used of Satan), Milton, P. L. x. 279.
feaze;seefeeze.
feeze.The threat ‘I’ll feeze you’ seems to have given rise to the sense. To ‘do for’, ‘settle the business of’, also, to beat, flog. Beaumont and Fl., Coxcomb, i. 6 (Ricardo);veeze, Massinger, Emperor East, iv. 2 (Countryman);pheese, Tam. Shrew, Induct, i. 1. ‘To fease’ is in prov. use in Scotland and in various parts of England—Midlands, E. Anglia, and South Coast, in the sense of to drive away, to put to flight (EDD.). OE.fēsan, to drive away; cp. Norw. dialectföysa(Aasen).
fegary, figary,‘vagary’, freak, whimsical trick. Speltfiguary, Beaumont and Fl., Fair Maid of the Inn, ii. 2 (Clown);fegary, Middleton, Span. Gipsy, i. 5 (Diego). Seefagary.
fegue;seefeague.
felfare,a field-fare. Middleton, Anything for a Quiet Life, i. 1 (L. Beaufort). So in Nottingham and Warwick (EDD.).
fell,a marsh, a fen. Drayton, Pol. iii. 113; see NED. (s.v. Fell, sb.22 b).
fell,gall, rancour. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 11. 2. L.fel, gall.
fell’ff,the ‘felloe’ of a wheel, part of the wheel-rim. Chapman, tr. Iliad, iv. 525. A Yorks. pron. of ‘felloe’ (EDD.). OE.felg.
fellowly,companionable, sympathetic. Temp. v. 1. 64;fellowlie, Tusser, Husbandry, § 10. 55.
felly,cruelly, fiercely. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 6. 50.
felness,fierceness, spite, anger. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 8. 37.
feltred,with wool matted close together; ‘Feltred ram’, Chapman, tr. Iliad, iii. 219; ‘His felter’d locks’, Fairfax, Tasso, iv. 7. See EDD. (s.v. Felter).
feme, feeme,a woman; ‘Take time therefore, thou foolish Feeme’, Turbervile, On the divers Passions of his Love, st. 3 from end. OF.feme(F.femme).
feminitee,womanhood. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 6. 51.
fennel,supposed to be an emblem of flattery; ‘How this smells of fennel’, B. Jonson, Case is Altered, i. 2 (Count F.). See Nares.
fenny,spoiled with damp, mouldy. Tusser, Husbandry, § 35. 44; ‘Fenny, mouldy as fenny cheese’, Worlidge, Ray’s English Words, 1691. In prov. use (EDD.). OE.fynig. Seefinewed.
fensive,‘defensive’, capable of defence. Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, ii. 301; Warner, Albion’s England, bk. i, c. 4 (st. 4 from end).
fere, feere,a companion, mate, spouse. Titus Andron. iv. 1. 89. Often speltpheer,pheere, as in Spenser, Muse of Thestylis, 100. ME.fere(Chaucer). OE.ge-fēra, a companion.
ferk;Seefirk(2).
ferle,a ‘ferule’; a rod, sceptre; ‘The one of knight-hoode bare the ferle’, Mirror for Mag., Mortimer, st. 9.
ferme,a lodging; ‘His sinfull sowle with desperate disdaine Out of her fleshly ferme fled to the place of paine’, Spenser, F. Q. iii. 5. 23.
ferrandine;seefarandine.
ferrary,farriery, the art of working in iron. Chapman, tr. of Iliad, xiv. 141.
ferrour,‘farrier’. Skelton (ed. Dyce, i. 24). OF.ferrier(Godefroy).
ferse,the piece now known as the ‘queen’ in chess. Surrey, To the Lady that scorned, 12, in Tottel’s Misc., p. 21; ‘Fers, The Queen at Chess-play’, Bullokar. ME.fers(Chaucer, Book Duch., 654). OF.fierce, also,fierge(Roman Rose), Med. L.fercia(Ducange). Of Persian origin,ferzên, prop. ‘wise man’, ‘counsellor’, cp. Arab,firzân, queen in chess.
ferula,a flat wooden bat, used by schoolmasters for inflicting pats on the palm of a boy’s hand. North, tr. of Plutarch, J. Caesar, § 41 (in Shak. Plut., p. 96, n. 1); Englished asferule, Hall, Satires, iv. 1. 169. L.ferula.
fescue,a little stick or pin, for pointing out the letters to children learning to read. Hall, Satires, iv. 2. 100; Dryden, Prologue to Cleomenes, 38. Hence, the gnomon of a dial; Puritan Widow, iv. 2. 84. OF.festu(F.fétu), a straw, O. Prov.festuc, for L.festūca, a straw (cp. O. Prov.festuga).
festinately,hastily. L. L. L. iii. 1. 6. Deriv. of L.festinus, hasty.
fet,pt. t.andpp.fetched; ‘David sent, and fet her to his house’,Bible, 2 Sam. xi. 27, Acts xxviii. 13 (ed. 1611); ‘This conclusion is far fet’, Jewel (Wks., ed. Parker Soc. i. 146); ‘Deep-fet groans’, 2 Hen. VI, ii. 4. 33; B. Jonson, Silent Woman, Prol. ‘To fet’ is in gen. prov. use for ‘fetch’ in Lancashire and Midland counties (EDD.) ME.fette, pt. s. offecchen, andfetpp. (Chaucer). OE.fette, pt. s., andfetod, pp. offetian, to fetch (B. T.).
fetch,a trick, stratagem. Tusser, Husbandry, § 64. 2; Hamlet, ii. 1. 38; King Lear, ii. 4. 90. In gen. prov. use in various parts of England, see EDD. (s.v. Fetch, sb.214).
fetch in,to seize upon, apprehend. Ant. and Cl. iv. 1. 14, Massinger, Roman Actor, iv. 1 (Parthenius).
fetuous,well-formed, well-made. Herrick, The Temple, 68;featous(NED.). Seefeatuously.
feutred,featured, fashioned. J. Heywood, The Four Plays, Anc. Brit. Drama, i. 19, col. 1; Hazlitt’s Dodsley, i. 376. The strange spellingfeauteredalso occurs (NED.).
†fewmand.Only in B. Jonson, Sad Sheph. ii. 1 (Earnie): ‘They [a young badger and a ferret] fewmand all the claithes’. ‘Fewmand’ belongs to the imaginary dialect of the piece; it apparently means ‘to foul’, ‘to soil’.
fewmets,the excrement of a deer. B. Jonson, Sad Sheph., i. 2 (John); Gascoigne, Art of Venerie, ed. Hazlitt, ii. 306; ‘Fumées, the dung or excrements of Deer, called by woodmen, fewmets, or fewmishing’, Cotgrave. Cp. F.fumier, dung, manure, cogn. w. L.fimus, dung, excrement. See NED. (s.v. Fumet).
fewterer,a term of the chase, one who looks after the dogs in the kennel, and lets them loose at the proper time. Beaumont and Fl., Tamer Tamed, ii. 2; Fletcher, Woman’s Prize, ii. 2. Seeyeoman-fewterer.ME.vewter, a keeper of greyhounds (Bk. Curtasye 631, in Babee’s Bk., ed. 1868, p. 320). Anglo-F.veutrier, Med. L.veltrarius(Ducange), deriv. of Romanic typeveltrus, a greyhound. Cp. O. Prov.veltre, It.veltro, for older L.vertragus, a greyhound, a Gaulish word.
feyster,to fester, as a wound. Morte Arthur, leaf 394, back, 31; bk. xix, c. 10.
fiant, fiaunt,a warrant. Spenser, Mother Hub. 1144. L.fiant, in phr.fiant literae patentes, let letters patent be made out; used of a warrant addressed to the Irish Chancery for a grant under the Great Seal (NED.).
fiants,the excrements of certain animals, esp. of the fox or badger, Turbervile, Hunting, c. 76, p. 216;fyaunts, id., c. 66, p. 184. F.fiente, the excrement of certain animals (Cotgr.).
fico,a fig. Gascoigne, Herbes (Wks., ed. 1587, 153); as a type of anything valueless or contemptible, ‘A fico for the phrase’, Merry Wives, i. 3. 33. Ital.fico. See Stanford.
fidge,to keep in continual movement. B. Jonson, Barth. Fair, i. 1 (Cokes); Gammer Gurton’s Needle, i. 4 (Hodge); ‘Remuer, to move, stir, fidge’, Cotgrave. In prov. use in Scotland and in various parts of England (EDD.).
fie;seefay(to clean).
fig of Spain,a contemptuous gesture, consisting in thrusting the thumb between two of the closed fingers. Hen. V, iii. 6. 62; phr.to give the fig, to insult thus, 2 Hen. IV, v. 3. 123. See Nares.
figent,fidgeting restless. Beaumont and Fl., Little French Lawyer, iii. 2 (Vertaigne); Coxcomb, iv. 3 (Nan); Chapman and others, Eastward Ho, iii. 2 (Quicksilver). Deriv. offidge.See Nares.
fig-frail,a basket for holding figs. Middleton, Your Five Gallants, iv. 5 (Bungler). Seefrail.
figging-law,the art of cutting purses and picking pockets. Dekker, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Moll). See NED.
figgum,(perhaps) a juggler’s trick. B. Jonson, Devil an Ass, v. 5 (Sir P. E.).
fights,screens of cloth used during a naval engagement, to conceal and protect a crew. Merry Wives, ii. 2. 142; ‘Bear my fights out bravely’, Fletcher, Valentinian, ii. 2 (Claudia); Dryden, Amboyne, iii. 3 (Song); Heywood, Fair Maid of West, iv (Wks., ed. 1874, ii. 316); Phillips, Dict. 1706.
figo,a fig. Hen. V, iii. 6. 60; iv. 1. 60. Span.figo; L.ficus. Seefico.
filch,a hooked staff, used by thieves. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, ii. 1 (Higgen); also called afilchman, Awdeley, Vagabonds, p. 4.
file,the thread, course, or tenor of a story or argument. Spenser, F. Q. vii. 6. 37. F.fil, a thread, L.filum.
file,to render foul, filthy, or dirty; ‘To file my hands in villain’s blood’, Wilkins, Miseries of inforst Marriage, iii (Scarborow); Macbeth, iii. 1. 65. In prov. use in Scotland and the north of England (EDD.). OE.fȳlan(in compounds), deriv. offūl, foul.
filed,polished with the ‘file’; neatly sculptured; alsofig.of literary work. Tale of Pygmalion, 4; in Tottel’s Misc., p. 131; ‘True-filed lines’, B. Jonson, Pref. Verses to Shakespeare (1623), 68.
fill;fills, pl., the ‘thills’ or shafts of a cart. Tr. and Cr. iii. 2. 48; hencefill-horse, a shaft-horse, Herrick, The Hock-cart, 21; speltphil-horse, Merch. Ven. ii. 2. 100. ‘Fill’ and ‘fill-horse’ are both in prov. use (EDD.). Seethiller.
filograin,‘filigree’. Butler, On P. Nye’s Thanksgiving Beard, l. 13 from end. Ital.filigrana(Fanfani). See Dict. (s.v. Filigree).
fincture,a feint, in fencing. Marston, Scourge of Villainy, Sat. xi. 54. Ital.finctura,fintura(NED.); deriv. of L.fingere, to feign.
fine,end. Much Ado, i. 1. 247; Hamlet, v. 1. 113.
fineness,ingenuity. Tr. and Cr. i. 3. 209; Massinger, Renegado, iv. 1 (Master).
finewed,musty, mouldy. Mirr. for Mag., Lord Hastings, st. 28; speltfenowed, ‘The Scripture . . . is a Panary of holesome foode against fenowed traditions’,Bible, 1611, The Translators to the Reader;vinewed, Baret, Alvearie (s.vv. MouldieandHoarie); Tr. and Cr. ii. 1. 15 (in the Folioswhinid). ‘Vinnewed’ (or ‘Vinnied’), mouldy, is in common prov. use in the south-west of England, see EDD. (s.v. Vinny). Seefenny.
fingle-fangle,a trifle. Butler, Hud. iii. 3. 454.
fire-drake,a fiery dragon; hence, a meteor. Hen. VIII, v. 4. 45; Beaumont and Fl., Knight of the B. Pestle, ii. 2 (or5), near the end. OE.fȳr-draca;fȳr, fire, anddraca, L.draco, Gk. δράκων, a dragon; cp. E.dragon.