G
gabel,tribute, tax. Massinger, Emp. of the East, i. 2 (Pulcheria). OF.gabelle, Late L.gabella; cp. Med. L.gabulum, tribute (Ducange). A word of Arabic origin, see Dozy, Glossaire, pp. 74, 75, and Modern Language Review, July, 1912 (note by A. L. Mayhew on ‘Gavelkind’).
gable,a ‘cable’, rope. Chapman, tr. of Odyssey, v. 333; ix. 211; x. 165; xii. 47, 577. See NED.
gaffle,a steel lever for bonding the cross-bow. Drayton, Muses’ Elysium, Nymphal vi, 67; Complete Gunner, iii. 15. 12 (NED.). Du.gaffel, a fork.
gage,a quart-pot. (Cant.) Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, iii. 3 (Higgen); Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Song); ‘A gage of bowse, whiche is a quart-pot of drinke’, Harman, Caveat, p. 34. Forgauge, i.e. a measure.
gag-tooth,a projecting or prominent tooth. Return from Parnassus, l. 2 (Ingenieso); hence,gag-toothed, Chapman, Gent. Usher, i. 1 (Vincentio);gagge-toothed, Lyly, Euphues, p. 116.
gain,near, straight, direct; said of a way; ‘They told me it was agaynerway, and a fayrer way’, Latimer, 3 Sermon before King, ed. Arber, p. 101 (top). In gen. prov. use in Scotland, and in England in the north country, Midlands, and E. Anglia, EDD. (s.v. Gain, adj. 1). ME.geyn, ryȝht forth, ‘directus’ (Prompt.); Icel.gegn.
gaingiving,a misgiving. Hamlet, v. 2. 226. The prefixgain-has the sense of opposition. OE.gegn, see NED.
†gain-legged(?); ‘I’ll short that gain-legg’d Longshank by the top’, Peele, Edward I (ed. Dyce, i. 103). Possibly, nimble, active-legged. Cp. EDD. (sv. Gain, adj. 5).
galage,a wooden shoe, or shoe with a wooden sole; ‘A Galage, a shoe:solea,sandalium’, Levins, Manip.; ‘Galage, a startuppe or clownish shoe’, Glosse to Spenser’s Shep. Kal., Feb., 244; ‘Shoe called a gallage or patten whyche hath nothynge but lachettes’, Hulcet. ME.galeggeorgaloch, ‘crepita’ (Prompt. EETS., see note no. 837); Anglo-F.galoche. See Dict. (s.v. Galoche).
gald,to gall; pt. t.galded, Gascoigne, Works, i. 422; pp.galded, Eden, First three Books on America, p. 386. A false form; from the pp.
galley-foist,a state barge, esp. of the Lord Mayor of London. Beaumont and Fl., Knt. of the B. Pestle, v. 2 (end); B. Jonson, Silent Woman, iv. 2. Seefoist.
galliard,lively, brisk, gay. Shadwell, Humorist, ii (Works, ed. 1720, i. 172);galyarde, Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. ii, ch. 3, § 1. ME.gaillard(Chaucer, C. T.A.4367); F.gaillard, gay.
galliard,a quick and lively dance in triple time. Twelfth Nt. i. 3. 137; Bacon, Essay 32.
galliard,a quick and lively dance in triple time. Twelfth Nt. i. 3. 137; Bacon, Essay 32.
galliardise,gaiety. Sir T. Browne, Rel. Med., Pt. II, § 11. F.gaillardise(Cotgr.).
gallimaufry,a medley. Winter’s Tale, iv. 4. 335; used as a term of contempt, Dekker, Shoemakers’ Holiday, ii. 3 (Eyre); speltgallymalfreye, Robinson, tr. of More’s Utopia, p. 64. F.galimafrée, a dish made by hashing up remnants of food; a hodge-podge; OF.calimafree(Hatzfeld).
galyarde;seegalliard.
gamashes,leggings or gaiters to protect from mud and wet. Middleton, Father Hubberd’s Tales (Dedication); Marston, What you will, ii. 1 (Laverdure). In common prov. use in the north country (EDD.). Norm. F.gamaches, ‘grandes guêtres en toile, montant jusqu’au dessus du genou’ (Moisy); Prov.garramacho(garamacho), ‘houseau’ (Mistral); Languedoc dial.garamachos,galamachos,gamachos, ‘guêtres de pêcheurs’ (Boucoiran).
gambawd,a gambol, a frisk. Skelton, Ware the Hauke, 65.To fett gambaudes, to fetch gambols, to gambol, frisk about, Udall, tr. of Apophthegmes, Aristippus, § 45. F. ‘gambade, a gambol, tumbling trick’ (Cotgr.).
gambone,a gammon of bacon; ‘a gambone of bakon’, Skelton, El. Rummyng, 327. ME.gambon, a ham (Boke St. Albans, fol. f2, back); OF. (Picard)gambon(F.jambon), leg; for related words see Moisy (s.v. Gambe).
gambrel,a stick placed by butchers between the shoulders of a newly killed sheep, to keep the carcass open. Chapman. Mons. d’Olive, iii (near the end). In gen. prov. use, see EDD. (s.v. Gambrel, sb.11).
gambrill,the hock of an animal. Holland, Pliny, i. 225. Cp.gammerel, ‘a hock’, a Devon and Somerset word, see EDD. (s.v. Gambrel, sb.12).
gamning,gaming. Ascham, Toxophilus, p. 51. So alsogamnes, games, id., p. 52. From OE.gamen, a game.
gan,the mouth. (Cant.) Harman, Caveat, p. 82; Brome, Jovial Crew, ii (Mort’s song).
ganch, gaunch,to let one fall on sharp stakes (orig. on a sharp hook), there to remain till death. Dryden, Don Sebastian, iii. 2 (Mufti). Hencegaunshing, this kind of punishment; Howell, Foreign Travell, Appendix, p. 85. F.gancher: ‘Ganché, (a person) let fall (as in a strappado) on sharp stakes pointed with iron, and thereon languishing until he die’ (Cotgr.); Ital. ‘ganciare, to sharpen at the point’ (Florio).
gandermooner,one who practised gallantry during the gander-moon, or month when his wife was lying in. Middleton, Fair Quarrel, iv. 4 (Meg’s song). ‘Gander-moon’ is still used in Cheshire, meaning the month of the wife’s confinement, see EDD. (s.v. Gander, (6)).
ganza,a goose. In The Man in the Moon, by Bp. Godwin, a man is said to have been drawn to the moon byGanza’s. The name was borrowed from Holland’s Pliny, bk. x, c. 22 (vol. i. 281a), where Holland has: ‘The Geese there . . . be calledGanzæ.’ But the L. text hasGantæ. Hence the pl.ganzas, Butler, Hudibras, ii. 3. 782.
gar,to cause, to make; ‘I’ll gar take’, I will make you take, B. Jonson, Sad Sheph. ii. 1 (Maud.); ‘Ays gar’ (forI’s’gar), I shall make, Greene, James IV, Induction (Bohan). In gen. prov. use in Scotland and the north of England (EDD.). ME.gar(Cursor M. 4870); Icel.ger(v)a.
garb,a wheat-sheaf. Drayton, Pol. xiii. 370. Norm. F.garbe(F.gerbe), see Moisy, p. 533.
garboil,a tumult, disturbance, brawl. Ant. and Cl. i. 3. 61; ii. 2. 67; Shirley, Young Admiral, iii. 2. 1. F.garbouil, ‘a garboil, hurliburly’ (Cotgr.). Ital.garbuglio, a garboile;garbugliare, to garboile, to turmoile (Florio).
gardage, guardage,keeping, guardianship. Othello, i. 2. 70; Fletcher, Thierry, v. 1 (Vitry).
garded, guarded,trimmed, provided with an ornamental border or trimming. Merch. of Venice, ii. 2. 164; Hen. VIII, Prol. 16.
garden-bull,a bull baited at Paris Garden, on the Bankside, London. Middleton, The Changeling, ii. 1 (De F.).
gardes,the dew-claws of a deer or boar; ‘Gardes [of a boar], which are his hinder clawes or dewclawes’, Turbervile, Hunting, c. 52; p. 154;gards[of a deer], id., c. 37; p. 100. F.gardes: ‘les gardes d’un sanglier, the deaw-claws, or hinder claws of a wild Boar’ (Cotgr.).
gardeviance,orig. a safe or cupboard for viands, usually, a travelling trunk or wallet; ‘Bagge or gardeviaunce to put meat in,reticulum’, Huloet; ‘a gardeviance of usquebagh’, Sir B. Boyle, Diary (NED.); a little casket, Udall, tr. Apoph., Alexander, § 52. F.garde-r, to keep, +viande(s, viands.
garet,a watch-tower. Morte Arthur, leaf 100, back, 6; bk. vi, c. 11. ME.garyt, ‘specula’ (Prompt. EETS. 187). OF.garite(F.guérite); see Cotgrave on both forms, and Estienne, Précellence, 358. See Dict. (s.v. Garret).
gargarism,a gargle; humorously, a physician. Webster, White Devil (Flamineo), ed. Dyce, p. 16. Gk. γαργαρίζειν, to gargle.
gargell-face,a face like a ‘gargoyle’, or grotesquely carved spout; ‘Before that entry grim, with gargell-face’, Phaer, Aeneid vi, 556 (without any Latin equivalent). See Dict. (s.v. Gargoyle).
garing,staring, horrid; ‘With fifty garing heads’, Phaer, tr. of Virgil, bk. vi, l. 576 (Latin text). Seegaure.
garnysshe,to supply (a castle) with defensive force and provisions. Morte Arthur, leaf 18. 32, bk. i, c. 1; lf. 26. 8, bk. i, c. 11. F. ‘garnir, to garnish, provide, supply’ (Cotgr.).
garran, garron,a small Irish or Scotch horse. Spenser, View of Ireland, Globe ed., p. 619, col. 2. Irishgearran, a horse, a gelding (Dinneen).
gaskins,a kind of hose or breeches. Dekker, Gentle Craft (Wks., ed. 1873, i. 18); Beaumont and Fl., Knt. Burning Pestle, ii. 2 (Wife); ‘Gascoigne breeches, or Venetian hosen,greguéscos’, Minsheu, Span. Dict.; ‘Gascoyne bride, one who wears breeches’, Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 2 (Sir Guy). ‘Gaskins’ is a Lincolnsh. word for gaiters (EDD.).
gast,to frighten. King Lear, ii. 2. 57; ‘I gasted hym,Je lui baillay belle paour’, Palsgrave. ME.gasten: ‘To gaste crowen from his corn’ (P. Plowman, A. vii. 129).
gaster,to frighten, Giffard, Dial. Witches (Nares); Beaumont and Fl., Wit at Several Weapons, ii. 4 (near end). A north-country and Essex word (EDD.).
gate,a way, path, road. Gascoigne, Voyage to Holland (ed. Hazlitt), i. 385; Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 13. In common use in the north country down to Lincolnsh., see EDD. (s.v. Gate, sb.21); cp. ‘Irongate’, the name of the busiest thoroughfare in Derby. ME.gate, or way, ‘via’ (Prompt. EETS. 188). Icel.gata.
gate,to walk; ‘Three stages . . . Neere the seacost gating’, Stanyhurst, Aeneid i, 191. Cp. Worcestersh. phr.to go gaiting, to go about for pleasure, see EDD. (s.v. Gate, vb.221).
gate-vein,the principal vein; applied metaphorically to the chief course of trade. Bacon, Henry VII, ed. Lumby, p. 146; Bacon, Essay 19. Seevena porta.
gather-bag;‘Gather-bag, the bag or skinne, inclosing a young red Deere in the Hyndes belly’, Bullokar (1616); ‘TheGather-baggeor mugwet of a yong Harte when it is in the Hyndes bellie’, Turbervile, Hunting, c. 15; p. 39.
gauderie,finery. Hall, Satires, iii. 1. 64; Bacon, Essay 29, § 12.
gauding,festivity; hence, jesting, foolery. Udall, Roister Doister, iii. 4. 1.
gaunt,a gannet; ‘The gaglynge gaunte’, Skelton, Phyllyp Sparowe, 447. ‘Gaunt’ is the Lincolnsh. word for the great crested grebe (EDD.). ME.gante(Prompt. EETS.); OE.ganot.
gaunt,thin, slender; ‘She was gaunte agayne’ [after childbirth], Latimer, 5 Sermon before King (ed. Arber, p. 154); ‘They who . . . desire to be gant and slender . . . ought to forbear drinking at meales’, Holland, tr. Pliny, ii. 152. ‘Gant’ is in prov. use for slim, slender; in Suffolk they speak of horses looking ‘gant’; so in Kent, of a greyhound that is thin in the flanks (EDD.). ME.gawnt, or lene (Prompt.).
gaure,to stare, gaze. Skelton, Magnyfycence, 2275. ME.gauren(Chaucer, Tr. and Cr. ii. 1108 (1157).
gaurish,staring, showy, garish. Ascham, Scholemaster, p. 54.
gaurish,staring, showy, garish. Ascham, Scholemaster, p. 54.
gavel,a quantity of corn, cut and ready to be made into a sheaf.Gavel-heap, said of wheat that is reaped but not bound, Chapman, tr. of Iliad, xxi. 328. An E. Anglian word, see EDD. (s.v. Gavel, sb.2). Norm. F.gavelle, ‘javelle’ (Moisy), Med. L.gavella(Ducange).
gaw;seegow.
gawring-stock,a gazing-stock, a spectacle. Mirror for Mag., Yorke, st. 21. Seegaure.
gazet, gazette,a Venetian coin of small value. B. Jonson, Volpone, ii. 2 (Peregrine); Massinger, Maid of Honour iii. 1 (Jacomo). Ital. ‘gazzetta, a kind of small coyn in Venice, not worth a farthing of ours’ (Florio). See Dict.
†geances.Only in B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, ii. 4 (Hilts). A rustic pronunciation ofchances? Nares supposes thatgeances=jaunces. Seejaunce.
gear, geer, gere,dress, apparel. L. L. L. v. 2. 304. (ME.gere, equipment, Chaucer, C. T.A.4016). Also, wealth, property, B. Jonson, Sad Sheph. ii. 1; talk, in depreciatory sense, ‘stuff’, Selden, Table Talk (ed. Arber, 20); an affair, business, Tr. and Cr. i. 1. 6; Romeo, ii. 4. 107; Middleton, A Chaste Maid, i. 1 (Yellow). ‘Gear’ is very common in prov. use in various senses; see EDD. (s.v.): 1, apparel; 9 and 10, goods, property; 15, trash, rubbish; 16, affair, business. See Dict.
geason,scantily produced; rare, scarce, uncommon; ‘Ixine is a rare herb and geason to be seen’, Holland, Pliny, ii. 98; Spenser, F. Q. vi. 4. 37. ME.gesen(P. Plowman, B. xiii. 271). OE.gǣsne, barren, unproductive. An Essex word (EDD.).
geats;‘The female, which are called Geats, and the buckes Goates’, Turbervile, Hunting, ch. 47; p. 146. ME.geet, pl. she-goats (Trevisa’s Higden, i. 311). OE.gǣt, nom. pl. ofgāt, a she-goat.
gee and ree;‘He expostulates with his Oxen very understandingly, and speaks Gee and Ree better than English’, Earle, Microcosm, (ed. Arber, 49). Cp. EDD. (s.v. Gee,int.): ‘Some or other of the crook horses invariably crossed him on the road . . . owing to two words of the driver, namely “gee” and “ree”,’ Bray’s Desc., Tamar and Tavy. Two words of command to an animal driven;Gee, directs it to go forward, to move faster,Ree, to turn to the right.
gelt,a lunatic; ‘Like a ghastly Gelt whose wits are reaved’, Spenser, F. Q. iv. 7. 21. Irishgealt(geilt), a madman (Dinneen).
gelu,‘jelly’. Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, iii. 265.
gemonies,steps on the Aventine Hill (Rome) whence the bodies of state criminals were flung down, and afterwards dragged into the Tiber (scalae Gemoniae). Massinger, Roman Actor, i. 1 (Lamia); B. Jonson, Sejanus, iv. 5 (Lepidus).
genethliac,relating to nativities; hence, one who calculates nativities, an astrologer. Butler, Hudibras, ii. 3. 689. Gk. γενεθλιακός, belonging to birth; from γενέθλη, birth.
Geneva print.In the Merry Devil, ii. 1. 64, the Host says to the half-drunken smith, ‘I see by thy eyes thou hast been reading little Geneva print’, i.e. literally, type such as is in the Geneva Bible; but, allusively, it means, ‘you have been drinkinggeneva’, i.e.gin.
geniture,horoscope, the plan of a nativity, Burton, Anat. Mel. i. 1; that which is generated, offspring, Holland, Plutarch’s Morals, 1345. L.genitura, a begetting; seed of generation (Pliny); that which is generated (Tertullian).
gennet-moyl,a kind of apple that ripens early; ‘Trees grafted on a gennet-moyl or cider-stock’, Worlidge, Dict. Rust., 1681. p. 121;genet-moyle, Butler, Elephant in the Moon, 116. See EDD. (s.v. jennet).
gent,noble, high-born; valiant and courteous. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 11. 17; (of women) graceful, elegant, F. Q. i. 9. 27; (of the body) shapely, slender, Greene, Desc. of the Shepherd, 62 (ed. Dyce, p. 305). OF.gent, well-born.
gentee,genteel, elegant. Butler, Hudibras, ii. 1. 747. F.gentil(lsilent).
gentry-cove,a nobleman or gentleman. (Cant.) B. Jonson, Gipsies Metamorphosed (Patrico); ‘A gentry cofes ken, a gentleman’s house’, Harman, Caveat, p. 83.
George,a half-crown, bearing the image of St. George. Shadwell, Squire of Alsatia, ii. 1 (Belfond Senior).
gere;seegear.
gere, gear, geer,a sudden fit of passion, transient fancy. North, Plutarch (ed. 1676, p. 140); Holland, Am. Marcell. xxxi. 12. 421. ME.gere(Chaucer, C. T.A.1531).
gery,capricious, fitful; ‘His seconde hawke waxid gery’, Skelton, Ware the Hawke, 66. ME.gery(Chaucer, C. T.A.1536).
gery,capricious, fitful; ‘His seconde hawke waxid gery’, Skelton, Ware the Hawke, 66. ME.gery(Chaucer, C. T.A.1536).
german,a brother. Spenser, F. Q. i. 5. 13; ii. 8. 46; cp. Othello, i. 1. 114. L.germanus, having the same father and mother.
gern,a snarl, a ‘grin’. Marston, Antonio, Pt. I, iii. 2 (Balurdo);gerne, to grin, id., The Fawn, iv. 1 (Zuccone); Spenser, F. Q. v. 12. 15. ‘Girn’ is in gen. prov. use in Scotland and in various parts of England (EDD.). ME.gyrn, to grin (Barbour’s Bruce, iv. 322; xiii. 157).
†gernative,grinning (?). Middleton, A Trick to Catch, iv. 5 (Dampit).
gerr,to jar, to be discordant. Udall, tr. of Apoph., Diogenes, § 17.
gesse,pl. guests. Lyly, Euphues, 305; speltguesse, Gage, West Indies, xiv. 90;guess, Middleton, Phoenix, i. 4. 6. See NED. (s.v. Guest).
gesseron,a ‘jazerant’, a light coat of armour. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, ch. 17, § 7. OF.jazeran(jesseran), a light coat of armour, see Didot (s.v. Jaseran); orig. an adj., as inosberc jazerenc(Ch. Rol. 1604), O. Prov.jazeren, ‘de mailles’ (Levy). Dozy (s.v. Jacerina) says that the supposition that the word means ‘Algerian’ is unfounded.
gest,pl.gests, the various stages of a journey, esp. of a royal progress; ‘In Jacob’s gests Succoth succeeds . . . to Peniel’, Fuller, Pisgah, v. 3. 147; ‘The King’s gests’, L’Estrange, Charles I, 126.Gest, the time allotted for a halt, Winter’s Tale, i. 2. 41. A later form ofgist,q.v.
gest(e,story, narrative. Spenser, F. Q. i. 10. 15; exploit, Mother Hubberd’s Tale, 978. ME.geste, romance, tale; pl. histories, occurrences (Chaucer). Anglo-F.geste, L. (res)gesta, a thing performed.
gets,pl. the jesses of a hawk; ‘Her gets, her jesses and her bells’, Heywood, A Woman killed, i. 3 (Sir Charles). Bothgetsandjessare plural forms of OF. and Prov.get(F.jet), ‘a cast, a throw’, cp. F.jeter, to throw. The formjessesis a double plural.
giambeux,armour for the legs. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 6. 29. ME.jambeux(Chaucer, C. T.B.2065). Deriv. of F.jambe, the leg (Cotgr.).
gib,a familiar name for a cat. Hamlet, iii. 4. 190. Also,Gib-cat, ‘I am as melancholy as a gib-cat’, 1 Hen. IV, i. 2. 83. Hence,Your Gibship, Beaumont and Fl., Scornful Lady, v. 1. ‘Gib’ and ‘Gib-cat’ are in prov. use in the north, and down to Hereford, in the sense of a male cat, gen. one that has been castrated (EDD.).
gibbed cat,gen. taken to mean a castrated cat. Rowley, A Match at Midnight, ii. 1 (Jarvis).
gibbridge,unintelligible talk, idle talk. Drayton, Pol. xii. 227; ‘Bagois, gibridge, strange talk, idle tattle’, Cotgrave. A Yorksh. pronunciation ofgibberish(EDD.).
Giberalter,? a Gibraltar monkey, an ape, Merry Devil, i. 2. 14. See NED.
gig(with hardg), to produce another like itself, but smaller. Only used metaphorically, and derived from ME.gigge, a whipping-top. See NED., which has: ‘The verb seems to denote the action of some kind ofgig, or whipping-top of peculiar construction, having inside it a smallergigof the same shape, which was thrown out by the effect of rapid rotation.’ Hence, ‘The first [lampoon] produces, still, a second jig [i.e. lampoon]; You whip them out, like schoolboys [i.e. as schoolboys do], till they gig’; Dryden, Prologue to Amphitryon, 20, 21.
giggots,slices, small pieces. Chapman, tr. of Iliad, i. 452; ii. 372; speltgiggets, Fletcher, Double Marriage, iii. 2 (Boatswain). F.gigot, a leg of mutton. See NED.
giglet, giglot,a wanton. Meas. for M. v. 352; B. Jonson, Sejanus, v. 4 (Sej.), where it is applied to Fortune; Middleton, Family of Love, i. 2 (Gudgeon). In prov. use in various parts of England and Scotland (EDD.). ME.gygelot, ‘agagula’ (Prompt. EETS. 191). Cp. F.gigolette, ‘grisette, faubourienne courant les bals publics’ (Delesalle).
gilder,a ‘guilder’, an old Dutch coin. Comedy of Errors, i. 1. 8. Du.gulden, ‘a guilder’ (Sewel); withnnot pronounced, it sounds likegilderto an English ear. See Dict. (s.v. Guilder).
gill,a wench, servant-maid. Butler, Hudibras, ii. 2. 709; ‘A gill or gill-flirt,gaultiere,ricalde’, Sherwood. A pet name for Gillian or Juliana.
gilt,a jocose term for money. Middleton, A Mad World, ii. 2 (Follywit); Family of Love, v. 3 (Dryfat).
gilt-head,a name given to various fishes. Webster, Devil’s Law-case, i. 1 (Romelio); Hakluyt, Voy. iii. 520, l. 7. Applied to fishes marked on the head with golden spots or lines; such as the bonito, the dorado or dolphin, and the golden wrasse.
gim,smart, spruce. Vanbrugh, The Confederacy, i. 3 (Mrs. Amlet). In prov. use in Lancashire and E. Anglia, see EDD. (s.v. Jim, adj.).
gimcrack,an affected or worthless person, a fop. Fletcher, Loyal Subject, iv. 2 (Theodore). Also, a fanciful notion, Massinger, Duke of Milan, iv. 3 (Graccho).
gimmal,in pl.gimmals,gimols, joints, links, connecting parts of machinery, Gosson, Trump. War, F 5 (NED.). Hencegimmaled, made with gimmals or joints, ‘The jymold (gimmaled) bitt’, Hen. V, iv. 2. 49; speltgymould, made with links (applied to mailed armour), K. Edw. III, i. 2. 29. ME.gymew,gymowe, ‘gemella’ (Prompt. EETS. 191, see note no. 877). OF.gemel(F.gemeau), L.gemellus, twin. Seejimmal-ring.
gimmors,links in machinery, esp. for transmitting motion as in clockwork. 1 Hen. VI, i. 2. 41. ‘Gimmer’ (‘jimmer’) is a name for a hinge in the north country and in E. Anglia, see EDD. (s.v. Jimmer, sb.1).
gin,to begin. Macbeth, i. 2. 25; Peele, Tale of Troy (ed. Dyce, p. 556);gan sort to this, began to grow to this, grew to this; Peele (as above).
gin,a contrivance, ‘engine’. Surrey, tr. of Aeneid ii, 1. 298. See Dict. (s.v. Gin, 2).
ging,a company of people. Merry Wives, iv. 2. 3; B. Jonson, Alchemist, v. 1 (Lovewit); New Inn, i. 1 (Lovel). In prov. use, cp. the Leicester saying, ‘The wull ging on ’em’ (i.e. the whole lot of them), see EDD. (s.v. Gang, 12). ME.ging(e, a company, a following, retinue (Wars Alex., freq., see Glossarial Index); OE.genge, a following (Chron.A.D.1070).
ginglymus,a joint. Middleton, A Fair Quarrel, iv. 2 (Surgeon). L.ginglymus; Gk. γίγγλυμος, a joint (as of the elbow).
†ginimony.Only in following passage, ‘Here is ginimony likewise burned and pulverised, to be mingled with the juice of lemons, &c.’, Westward Ho, i. 1 (Birdlime). Something used as a cosmetic.
ginniting,a ‘jenneting’, an early apple. Bacon, Essay 46, § 1. See Dict. (s.v. Jenneting).
gird,to strike, smite, pierce; ‘When some sodain stitch girds me in the side’, Bp. Hall, Medit. i, § 92; Palsgrave;girt, pp. smitten, ‘Through girt’, Kyd, Span. Tragedy, iv. 4. 112;to gird forward, to rush forward, Gosson, School of Abuse (ed. Arber, 58). ME.gird, to strike, pierce (Wars Alex. 1219); to rush (id. 1243); see Glossarial Index. See NED. (s.v. Gird, vb.2).
girdle;‘Would my girdle may break if I do’, Match at Midnight, i. 1 (Tim); ‘I pray God my girdle break’, 1 Hen. IV, iii. 3. 171. The girdle was used to keep up the breeches; seebreechgirdlein NED. It also usually had the wearer’s purse hung at it, which would be lost if the girdle broke.
girdle-stead,place for the girdle, i.e. the waist. Chapman, tr. of Iliad, v. 538; Beaumont and Fl., Faithful Friends, iii. 2 (Flavia).
girl,a roebuck in its second year. Turbervile, Hunting, c. 45; p. 143. ME.gerle, Book of St. Albans, fol. E 4, back.
girn,a ‘grin’, a grim smile. Davenant, The Wits, iv (near the end). Seegern.
girt,to gird, surround with a girdle. 1 Hen. VI, iii. 1. 171; 2 Hen. VI, i. 1. 65.
girt,pp.ofgird,q.v.
gist,pl.gists, the stopping-places or stages in a monarch’s progress; ‘Gists or Gests of the Queen’s Progress, i.e. a Bill or Writing that contains the Names of the Towns or Houses where she intends to lie upon the Way’, Phillips, Dict. (ed. 1706). OF.giste(F.gîte), resting- or stopping-place. Seegest.
gite,used by Peele for splendour, magnificence, Tale of Troy (ed. Dyce, p. 558, col. 1); David and Bathsheba (p. 473, col. 2). Fairfax uses the wordgitefor some kind of apparel, ‘Phœbus . . . dond a gite in deepest purple dide’, tr. of Tasso, xiii. 54. 245. ME.gyte, a shirt or mantle (?) (Chaucer, C. T.A.3954); OF.guite(Godefroy).
giusts,‘justs’, tournaments. Spenser, Shep. Kal., Oct., 39.
give on,to advance; ‘And eager flames give on’, Dryden, Annus Mirabilis, st. 280; ‘The enemy gives on, by fury led’, Dryden, Indian Emperor, ii. 3; ‘Where he gives on’, Waller, Instructions to a Painter, 213.
given,pp.with an adverb, affected, disposed, inclined; ‘cardinally given’, Meas. for M. ii. 1. 81; ‘lewdly given’, 1 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 469; virtuously given’, id., iii. 3. 16; ‘well given’, 3 Hen. VI, iii. 1. 72; ‘cannibally given’, Coriolanus, iv. 5. 200.
glade:phr.to go to glade, to set; said of the sun. Puttenham, Eng. Poesie, bk. ii, c. 11, p. 116; ‘The sunne was gone to glade’, Udall, tr. of Erasmus, Paraphr. on Matt. viii. 18. The phrase is cited as in use in Ireland; see EDD. (s.v. Glade). ME. ‘þe sonne ȝede to glade’ (Trevisa, tr. Higden, v. 189). Cp. Norw. dial.glada, to go down, to set (of the sun); see Aasen.
glaire, glayre,the white of an egg; any viscid or slimy substance. Skelton, El. Rummyng, 25. Henceglaired, smeared, Marston, Sat. iii. 32. ME.gleyre, ‘glarea’ (Prompt. EETS. 193); OF.glaire, the white of an egg (Hatzfeld). Seeglere.
glaster,to bawl. Douglas, Aeneis, viii, Prol. 47. ‘To glaister’ occurs in Scottish poetry, meaning to bawl or bark, also, to babble, to talk indistinctly (EDD.).
glastynge,barking like a dog, howling. Morte Arthur, leaf 251. 24; bk. x, c. 53. Forglatising, cp. OF.glatisant, pres. pt. ofglatir, to cry aloud, howl (Ch. Rol. 3527).
glaver,to flatter, wheedle. B. Jonson, Poetaster, iii. 1 (Tucca); Drayton, Pol. xxviii. 198. ‘To glaver’ is in prov. use in the north country down to Shropsh. and Bedfordsh., meaning ‘to flatter, wheedle, talk endearingly to’, see EDD. (s.v. Glaver, vb.12). ME.glavir, chattering (Wars Alex. 5504).
glaymy,sticky, slimy. Skelton, Ag. Garnesche, iii. 168. ME.gleymy(Trevisa), see NED. (s.v. Gleimy);gleyme, ‘gluten’,gleymows, ‘limosus’ (Prompt. 192, 193).
glaze,to make to shine like glass. B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels, iii. 2. Hence,Glaze-worm, a glow-worm, Lyly, Euphues, 91. An E. Anglian word (EDD.). ME.glasyn, ‘vitrio’ (Prompt. EETS).
glaze,to stare, gaze intently. Jul. Caes. i. 3. 21. Still in use in Devon and Cornwall (EDD.). Cp. G. dial. (Alsace)gläse, ‘stieren, scharf u. feurig sehen, sauer sehen’ (Martin-Lienhart).
glaziers,eyes; a cant term. Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Trapdoor), Harman, Caveat, p. 82; ‘Toure out [look out] with your glaziers’, Brome, Jovial Crew, ii. 1 (Patrico).
glee:in phr.gold and glee; ‘Not for gold nor glee will I abyde By you’, Spenser, F. Q. i. 9. 32. Perhapsgleein this phr. refers to the bright colour of gold; see NED.
gleeke,a game at cards, played by three persons. B. Jonson, Devil an Ass, v. 2; a set of three court cards of the same rank in one hand (NED.); hence, a set of three, B. Jonson, Staple of News, iv. 1 (Mirth). OF.glic(ghelicque). Probably adopted fr. Du.gelyk, ‘like’ (Sewel); cp. G.gleich.
gleering,casting sly, cunning glances; ‘That glering Foxe’, Tyndale, on Matt. vi. 19 (Works, ed. 1572, p. 231); ‘Such a gleering eye’, Return from Parnassus, iv. 2 (Furor).
glent,glowing, bright; ‘Her eyen glent’, Skelton, Magnyfycence, 993.
glent,a slip, a fall. Skelton, Magnyfycence, 1687.
glere,the white of an egg; a similar slimy substance; ‘This slimy glere’, Mirror for Mag., Morindus, st. 1 and st. 15. Seeglaire.
glib,to geld. Winter’s Tale, ii. 1. 149; Shirley, St. Patrick, v. 1 (2 Soldier). Seelib.
glibbery,slippery, smooth, soft. B. Jonson, Poetaster, v. 1 (Crispinus); Randolph, Muses’ Looking-glass, ii. 4 (Aneleutherus). A Suffolk word, see EDD. (s.v. Glib, adj. 1 (4)), Du.glibberig, slippery (Sewel).
glidder,to cover with a smooth glaze. B. Jonson, Devil an Ass, iv. 1 (Wit). In use in Devon and Cornwall (EDD.).
glimpse, glimse,to shine faintly, to glimmer. Surrey, The Forsaken Lover, 5, in Tottel’s Misc., p. 23; to appear faintly, Drayton, Barons’ Wars, bk. v, st. 45; to dawn; P. Fletcher, Purple Island, bk. xii, st. 46. Cp. the Devon expression for twilight, ‘The dimmet or glimpse of the evening’ (EDD.).
glint,slippery; ‘The stones be full glint’, Skelton, Garl. of Laurell, 572. Cp. Swed. dial.glinta, to slip on ice (Rietz).
gloat, glote,to look askance, to look furtively. Gascoigne, Complaint of Philomene (ed. Arber, p. 96); Beaumont and Fl., Mad Lover, ii. 2 (Chilax); Chapman, tr. of Odyssey, xii. 150. See NED.
glode,pt. t., glided. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 4. 23. ME.glood, glided, went quickly (Chaucer, C. T.B.2094); OE.glād, pt. t. ofglīdan.
glomming,‘glumming’, sullenness. Udall, Roister Doister, i. 1 (end); ‘I glome, I loke under the browes or make a louryng countenance’, Palsgrave.
glooming,gloomy, dark, dismal. Romeo, v. 3. 305.
glore,to glow, to shine; ‘The gloring light’, Return from Parnassus, i. 1 (p. 8). Norw. dial.glora, to shine, to sparkle (Aasen); also Swed. dial. (Rietz).
glorious,vainglorious, boastful. Bacon, Essay 34 (near end); Beaumont and Fl., Thierry, ii. 1 (Thierry). L.gloriosus, vainglorious.
glory,to glorify, to honour, to adorn, Greene, Orl. Fur. i. 1. 16; ‘The troop that gloried Venus at her wedding-day’, Greene and Lodge, Looking Glasse, i. 1. 108.
glote;seegloat.
gnarl,to snarl. 2 Hen. VI, iii. 1. 192; to grumble, complain, ‘Gnarling sorrow hath less power to bite’, Richard II, i. 3. 292. Cp. north Lincoln dialect, ‘She’s alust a gnarlin’ at me aboot sumthing’ (EDD.).
gnarre,to snarl, growl. Spenser, F. Q. i. 5. 34. In prov. use (EDD.).Gnarrenis found in many Low German dialects, see Dähnert and the Bremen Wtb. (EDD.).
gnast,to gnash the teeth. Morte Arthur, leaf 103, back, 16; bk. vi, c. 15; ‘I gnaste with the tethe’, Palsgrave. ME.gnastyn, ‘fremo, strideo’ (Prompt. EETS. 207, see note, no. 946).
gnathonical,resembling Gnatho, a parasite or sycophant in Terence. Greene, Orl. Fur. i. 1. 317 (Orgalio, p. 93, col. 1).
gnoff, gnuff,a churl, boor, lout; ‘The chubbyshe gnof’, Drant, tr. of Horace, Sat. i. 1;gnuffe, Turbervile, A Mirror of the Fall of Pride, st. 5. ME.gnof, a churl (Chaucer, C. T.A.3188). Cp. Low G.gnuffig,knuffig, rough, coarse, unmannerly (Koolman). So NED.
go to pot;seepot.
goawle,gullet; ‘Their throtes haue puffed goawles’ (riming withjoawles, jowls); Golding, Metam. vi. 377 (L. inflataque colla tumescunt). Norm. F.goule(F.gueule), L.gula, the gullet.
gob,a gobbet, piece, morsel. Gascoigne, ed. Hazlitt, i. 79, l. 1. In prov. use (EDD.).
go bet,go quickly, hurry up. Skelton, El. Rummyng, 332.Go bet, lit. go better, i.e. go quicker; hence, used like the modern ‘look sharp’ or ‘hurry up’. Prob. orig. a hunting cry, as in Chaucer, Leg. Good Women, Dido, 288. Once common. ME.bet, better (Chaucer, Tr. and Cr. iii. 714), OE.bet.
go by, Jeronimo,orgo by,i.e. pass on, wait a little. A very common quotation, used in ridicule, from Kyd’s Spanish Tragedy, iii. 12. 31. In the original used by Hieronimo, or Jeronimo, to himself. Finding his application to the king improper at the moment, he says: ‘Hieronimo, beware!go by, go by.’ See Tam. Shrew, Induction, i. 9.
go less,to stake less, in a card game. Fletcher, Woman’s Prize, ii. 6; iv. 4; ‘We’ll have no going less’, Little French Lawyer, iii. 2 (La Writ).
God before,God going before, with God’s assistance. Hen. V, i. 2. 370. SeeGod to fore.
god den,good evening;God you god den, God (give) you good e’en, Puritan Widow, iii. 4. 163;God dig-you-den, L. L. L. iv. 1. 42;God gi’ god-den, Romeo, i. 2. 58;god den, Yorksh. Tragedy, ii. 120. Still in use in Scotland and in many parts of England, see EDD. (s.v. Good-den).
God to fore,God going before, with God’s assistance. Kyd, Cornelia, iii. 2. 69. ME.God to-forn(Chaucer, Tr. and Cr. i. 1049). SeeGod before.
god-phere,a godfather. B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, iv. 2 (Clench). Cp. the Devon ‘godfer’ (= godfather), see EDD. (s.v. Gatfer).
gofe,the quantity of corn or hay laid up in one bay or division of a barn; a ‘goaf’, Tusser, Husbandry, § 56. 20; ‘Goulfe of corne, so moche as may lye bytwene two postes, otherwyse a baye’, Palsgrave. In E. Angliagoaf(gofe,goff) is used for the bay of a barn, and for the corn or hay laid up in the bay, see EDD. (s.v. Goaf, sb.11 and 4). ME.golfof corne, ‘archonium’ (Prompt. EETS. 195, see note, no. 893); Icel.gōlf, a floor, apartment, cp. Dan.gulv, a bay of a barn. Seegove,gulfe.
goggle, gogle,to roll one’s eyes; ‘He gogled his eyesight’, Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, i. 459; to stare, Butler, Hud. ii. 1. 120.
gold,marigold; corn marigold;golds, pl., corn marigold, Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 20. 25;gouldes, id. § 20. 25;gooldes, Spenser, Colin Clout, 341. ME.golde, marigold (Chaucer, C. T.A.1929;goolde, ‘solsequium, elitropium’ (Prompt. EETS. see note, no. 892);golde, the sunflower (Gower, C. A. v. 6780). See Napier’s Old English Glosses, 26. 36 (note). OE.golde, ‘solsequia’ (Voc. 301. 6).
gold-end man,a man who buys odds and ends of gold and silver. B. Jonson, ii. 1 (Dol); Eastward Ho, v. 1 (Gertrude).
goldfinch,a piece of gold, piece of money. (Cant.) Middleton, Blurt, Mr. Constable, iv. 1. 9. [Ainsworth, Rookwood, II, ii (EDD.).]
gold-finder,a jocular term for a cleanser of cesspools. Middleton, Span. Gipsy, ii. 2 (Soto). Cp.gold-digger, a ‘jakesman’, andgold-dust, ordure, Warwickshire words, see EDD. (s.v. Gold, 1 (1 and 2)).
gold-weights,small weights, for weighing small portions of gold. Hence,to the gold-weights(weighed even down to grains, even in small particulars), B. Jonson, New Inn, ii. 2 (Tipto). Seecaract.
golilla,a kind of starched collar. Wycherley, Gent. Dancing-master, iv. 1 (Monsieur); see Stanford. Span.golilla, ‘a little Band worn in Spain, starch’d stiff, and sticking out under the Chin like a Ruff’ (Stevens);gola, the gullet, L.gula.
golls,hands. (Cant.) Beaumont and Fl., Coxcomb, i. 6 (Uberto); Woman-hater, v. 5 (2nd Lady); Tourneur, Revengers’ Tragedy, v. 1 (Vindici). Still in use in Essex (EDD.).
golpol,prob. forgold-poll(cp.goldilocks); a term of endearment for a child. Jacob and Esau, v. 10 (Esau).
gomme,a god-mother; ‘Commere. . . a gomme’, Cotgrave; ‘A scornful Gom’, Middleton, The Widow, i. 2 (Ricardo). ME.gome, ‘a godmoder’ (Cath. Angl. 161).
gong,‘latrina’. Gascoigne, Grief of Joy, 2nd Song, st. 7; ‘Gonge, a draught,ortrait’, Palsgrave; ‘Gonge,forica’, Levins, Manipulus. ME.gonge(Chaucer, C. T.I.885); OE.gong(gang), ‘secessus’ (Ælfric Gl.).
good cheap,cheap. Webster, White Devil (Flamineo), (ed. Dyce, p. 42); Ascham, Scholemaster, p. 125. ME.good chep(e(Chaucer, Tr. and Cr. iii. 641). Cp. F.à bon marché. See Dict. (s.v. Cheap).
good fellow,a thief. (Cant.) Massinger, Guardian, v. 4 (2 Bandit); Middleton, A Trick to catch, ii. 1 (Lucre, Host).
good year(s,used as a meaningless expletive in the exclamation, ‘What the good-yere’ (good-year). Merry Wives, i. 4. 129; Much Ado, i. 3. 1; 2 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 64 and 191. Cp. the Northampton expression, ‘What the goodgers be that?’, and the Devon sentence, ‘Our vokes wonder what the goodgers a come o’ me’, see EDD. Low G. (Pomeranian dialect) ‘Wat to ’m goden Jaar?, sagt man, wenn man sich über schlechte Handlungen wundert’ (Dähnert).
goom,a man. Grimald, Prayse of measurekepyng, 17, in Tottel’s Misc., p. 109. ME.gome, a man (Wars Alex., see Glossarial Index); OE.guma.
gords;seegourdes.
gorebelly,a fat paunch; a man having a fat paunch. North, tr. of Plutarch, Coriolanus, § 7 (in Shak. Plut., p. 11, n. 4); hencegorbellied, fat, 1 Hen. IV, ii. 1. 93.
gorreau,the yoke of draught animals. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 246. 1. OF.goherel,gorel,gorreau, a yoke (Godefroy);gorriau, ‘collier de cheval’ (Didot); see Ducange (s.v. Gorgia, 2).
Gospel-tree.‘The boundaries of the township of Wolverhampton are in many points marked out by what are called Gospel-trees, from the custom of having the Gospel read under or near them by the clergyman attending the parochial perambulations’, Shaw, Staffordsh., II, i. 165; ‘Dearest bury me Under that Holy oke or Gospel-tree’, Herrick, Hesperides, To Anthea. See Brand’s Pop. Antiq. (ed. 1877, p. 109).
gossampine,a cotton-like substance, made from theBombax pentandrum. Greene, Looking Glasse, iv. 1 (1377); p. 135, col. 1; Holland, tr. of Pliny, bk. xii, ch. 11. L.gossympinus, a cotton-tree (Pliny).
gossander,the ‘goosander’,Mergus merganser. Drayton, Pol. xxv. 65. With the suffix-andercp.bergander, an old name for the sheldrake, and the ON.önd, pl.ander, a duck (NED.).
gossip,a godparent. Two Gent. iii. 1. 269; Wint. Tale, ii. 3. 41. In prov. use in various parts of England (EDD.). See Dict.
gouland, gowland,a yellow flower; a name given to various kinds ofRanunculus,Caltha, andTrollius. B. Jonson, Pan’s Anniversary (Shepherd, 1. 6). ‘As yalla as a gollan’ is a common Northumberland expression; see EDD. (s.v. Gowlan(d ).
gourdes,false dice, for gaming; ‘What false dise vse they? as dise . . . of a vauntage, flattes, gourdes to chop and change whan they lyste’, Ascham, Toxophilus (ed. Arber, 54); speltgords, Beaumont and Fl., Scornful Lady, iv. 1 (E. Loveless). OF.gourd, ‘fourberie’ (Godefroy).
gove,to ‘goave’; to lay up corn in a ‘goaf’. Tusser, Husbandry, § 57. 10, 23. An E. Anglian word, see EDD. (s.v. Goave). ME.golvyn, ‘arconiso’ (Prompt. EETS. 207). Cp. Dan.gulve, to stack in the bay of a barn. Seegofe.
gow,forgo we, let us go; ‘Gow, wife, gow’, Three Lords and Three Ladies, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vi. 440;gaw, let’s be gone, Triumphs of Love and Fortune, in the same, vi. 183. ‘Gow’ (‘let us go’) is still common in the Lakeland, and in E. Anglia as an invitation to accompany the speaker, see EDD. (s.v. Go, 2 (b)). ME.gowe(P. Plowman, B, Prol. 226).
gowked,stupefied. B. Jonson, Magnetic Lady, iii. 4 (Keep). Cp. ‘gowk’, the north-country word for the cuckoo; appliedfig.to a fool, simpleton, a clumsy, awkward fellow (EDD.). ME.goke, ‘cuculus’ (Cath. Angl.), Icel.gaukr, cp. G.gauch.
gowles,‘gules’, red. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 286. 17. OF.goules(F.gueules). See Dict. (s.v. Gules).
gowndy,(of the eyes) full of sore matter. Skelton, El. Rummyng, 34;gunny, Meriton, Praise Ale, 263; Skinner, Etym. ME.gowndeoff þe eye, ‘albugo’ (Prompt. EETS. 197, see note, no. 905). OE.gund, matter of a sore.
gownest,forgownist, one who is entitled to wear a gown, a lawyer. Warner, Albion’s England, bk. v, ch. 27, st. 53.
grabble,to grope after, to grapple with, to handle roughly. Dryden, Prol. to Disappointment, 60; ‘He . . . keeps a-grabling and a-fumbling’ (i.e. feeling with his hands), Selden, Table-talk (ed. Arber, 99). In prov. use in many parts of England (EDD.). Du.grabbelen, to scramble, or to catch that catch may (Hexham).
Gracious Street,Gracechurch Street. Dekker, Shoemakers’ Holiday, iii. 4 (Hodge); Heywood, Wise Woman of Hogsdon, i. 1 (Y. Chartley); Fair Maid of the Exchange, i. 1 (Shaks. Soc. 29). OriginallyGrass Church, ‘Higher in Grasse Street is the Parish Church of St. Bennet, called Grasse Church, of the herb market there kept’, Stow’s Survey (ed. Thoms, 80).
grail, grayle,the ‘gradual’, an antiphon sung between the Epistle and Gospel; when the deacon was ascending the step of the ambo or reading-desk; ‘He shall syng the grayle’, Skelton, Phyllyp Sparowe, 441. ME.grayle, ‘gradale’ (Prompt.). OF.graël, Eccles. L.gradale,graduale. See Dict. Christ. Antiq. (s.v. Gradual).
grain,the dye made from the Scarlet Grain (Kermes); ‘The Scarlet grain which commeth of the Ilex’, Holland, Pliny, i. 461;to dye in grain, to dye in scarlet grain, also, in any fast or permanent colour, hence,in grain, in permanent colour, Com. Errors, iii. 2. 108; Twelfth Nt. i. 5. 255;grain, permanent colour, ‘All in a robe of darkest grain’, Milton, Il Pens. 33. F.graine, ‘grain wherewith cloth is died in grain’ (Cotgr.). Med. L.grana, ‘bacca cujusdam arboris’ (Ducange).