K
ka,forquo’(quoth,quotha); ‘Enamoured ka? mary sir say that againe’, Udall, Roister Doister, i. 2 (Merygreek); Peele, Old Wives Tale (ed. Dyce, 455); Penry, Mar-Prelate’s Epitome, 21 (EDD.). In prov. use in Durham, Cumberland, Suffolk (EDD.). Also,ko, ‘I feare him not, Ko she’, Roister Doister, iii. 3.
kaa me, kaa thee,i.e. do me a good turn, and I will do thee the same. Eastward Ho, ii. 1 (or3) (Quicksilver); Massinger, City Madam, ii. 1 (Goldwire). So in Scotland they say ‘Kae me and I’ll kae thee’, in Northumberland ‘Kaa me, kaa thee’, or, ‘Kaa mee an aa’ll kaa thee’; ‘Ka me and I’ll ka thee,Serva me, servabo te’, Coles, Dict. (1679). See Nares. Cp. the phr. ‘Claw me, claw thee’ used in the same sense.
kad,to caw. Chapman, All Fools, iii. 1 (Valerio).
kails, keils,nine-pins; ‘A game called nine-pins, or keils’, B. Jonson, Chloridia (Antimasque). Du.kegel, a pin, kail.
kam,crooked, awry. Coriolanus, iii. 1. 304. Welshcam, crooked; Irishcam(Dinneen). Seekim-kam.
karl hemp,the male hemp. Tusser, Husbandry, § 15. 24; also calledchurl hemp, Fitzherbert, Husb., § 146. 28. Seecarl.
karne,a ‘kern’, a foot-soldier. Stanyhurst, tr. of Virgil, Aeneid ii, 8. Irishceatharnach, a foot-soldier, deriv. ofceatharn, a band of fighting men (Dinneen). Seeketeryng.
katexoken,forkat’exochēn, super-eminently. Massinger, Guardian, iii. 1. 7. Gk. κατ’ ἐξοχήν, by way of eminence.
keak, keke,to cackle as a goose; ‘The silver Gander keaking cried’, Phaer, Aeneid viii, 655; ‘Theves . . . had stolne Jupiter, had a gouse not a kekede’, Ascham, Toxoph. (ed. Arber, 130). Cp.Kek, kek!, the cry of the goose and duck, in Chaucer, Parl. Foules, 499.
kecksies,hemlocks, ‘kexes’. Hen. V, v. 2. 52 (printedkecksyes). See Dict. (s.v. Kex).
keech,a lump of congealed fat. Hen. VIII, i. 1. 55. Infig.use, ‘I wonder that such a Keech can . . . Take up the Rayes o’ th’ beneficiall Sun’, Hen. VIII, i. 1. 55; ‘Did not goodwife Keech the Butcher’s wife come in?’, 2 Hen. IV, ii. 1. 101. ‘Keech’ for a lump of chandler’s fat is in common prov. use in Warwickshire, the west Midlands, and Somerset (EDD.).
keel,to cool, to cool by skimming or otherwise. L. L. L. v. 2. 930; speltkele, Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 246, back;keele, Palsgrave. In prov. use in Scotland and in the north of England, see EDD. (s.v. Keel, vb.31). ME.kelyn, to make cold, to wax cold (Prompt. EETS. 252, see note, no. 1184); OE.cēlan, deriv. ofcōl, cool.
keep cut;Seecut(3).
keep,heed, care. Phr.take thou no keep, Drayton, Pastorals, Ecl. iv; Ballad of Dowsabel, l. 85; Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 40. ME.tak keep, take heed (Chaucer, C. T.D.431).
keight,caught. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 2. 30; v. 6. 39.
keiser,emperor. Fletcher, Mad Lover, ii. 1 (Memnon);kesar, Spenser, Tears of the Muses, 570;keysar, Peele, Sir Clyomon, ed. Dyce, p. 498. Du.keyser(Hexham); cp. G.Kaiser; L.Caesar.
keke;seekeak.
kell,the fatty membrane investing the intestines, the caul. Beaumont and Fl., Philaster, v. 4. 35; a cocoon, an enveloping web, B. Jonson, Sad Shepherd, ii. 2 (Alken); Drayton, Pol. iii. 120; the film formed by gossamer-threads on the grass, Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 54; Turbervile Hunting, 76. Cp. ‘kell’ in prov. use, meaning the caul, a cap of network, a film on the eye, &c. (EDD.). ME.kelle, ‘reticulum’ (Prompt. EETS. 246, see note, no. 1149).
kell,a kiln. Tusser, Husbandry, § 57. 51. A Suffolk form, see EDD. (s.v. Kiln, sb.1). Cp.kill.
kemb,to comb. B. Jonson, Catiline, Act i, chorus, 31; Marlowe, tr. of Ovid’s Elegies, i. 7 (last line). In prov. use in Scotland, and in Yorks. and Lanc. (EDD.). ME.kembe, to comb (Chaucer, C. T.A.2142); OE.cemban;camb, a comb.
kemlin,a large tub used in bread-making, salting meat, &c. Coles, Dict. (s.v. Kimnel);kemelin, Levins, Manip. A north-country word (EDD.). ME.kymlyn, ‘or kelare’ (Prompt. EETS.), also,kemelyn(Chaucer, C. T.A.3548). Seekimnel.
kempe, kemp,a warrior, champion. Morte Arthur, leaf 112. 31; bk. vii, c. 8. OE.cempa; Med. L.campio(Ducange), fromcampus, field of battle; ME.kemp(e, a warrior, soldier (Wars Alex. 2216, 5499); OE.cempa, ‘miles’ (Matt. viii. 9, Rushworth MS.). See Schade (s.v. Camphjo).
ken,a house (Cant); ‘A boor’s ken’, Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, v. 1 (Ferret). Hence alsolibkinorlib ken,stalling ken. Seebouzing-ken.
ken(n,to discern. Milton, P. L. i. 59; v. 265; xi. 396; 2 Hen. VI, iii. 2. 101; range of vision, P. L. xi. 379; power or exercise of vision, Dryden, Annus Mirabilis, st. 111; hence,kenning, range of sight, the distance visible at sea, Chapman, Caesar and Pompey, v. 1 (Septimius); Kyd, Soliman, v. 2. 69.
kennet,a small dog for hunting. Pl.kenettys, Boke of St. Albans, fol. F iv, back;kennets, Return from Parnassus, ii. 5 (Amoretts; the whole passage is copied from the former). Anglo-F.kenette(Bozon), dimin. ofkien(= F.chien).
Kent:phr.Kent or Christendom. B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, ii. 1 (Turfe); ‘Sith the Saxon King, Never was Woolfe seene, many nor some, Nor in all Kent, nor in Christendome’ (i.e. nowhere), Spenser, Shep. Kal., Sept., 153; the Glosse has: ‘It was wont to be an olde proverbe and common phrase. The original whereof was, for that most part of England in the reigne of King Ethelbert was christened, Kent onely except, which remayned long after in mysbeliefe and unchristened: so that Kent was counted no part of Christendome.’ Ray in his English Proverbs accepts this explanation (ed. Bohn, p. 206). According to Fuller’s opinion, ‘Neither in Kent nor Christendom’ meant, neither in Kent, which was first converted to Christendom, nor in any other part of our English Christendom (i.e. nowhere in England). Also,in Kent and Christendom(i.e. everywhere); ‘I am here in Kent and Christendom, Among the Muses, where I read and rhyme’, Wyatt, The Courtier’s Life (ed. Bell, 218).
Kentish long-tails,a nickname applied to the natives of Kent. Ray’s English Proverbs (ed. Bohn, p. 207). The story of the origin of the nickname is told by Fuller in his Worthies, Kent, underKentish Long-tailes. See NED. (s.v. Long-tail, 2). Not only Kentish men but Englishmen in general were called ‘caudatiper contumeliam’ by their French neighbours, see Ducange (s.v. Caudatus); cp. ‘ces Engloyscouez’ (Chans. Norm.) in Moisy (s.v. Cue, p. 250).
kersen;seecursen.
kerve,to carve as a sculptor; ‘Enstructed in painting or kervinge’, Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 8, § 1. ME.kerve(Chaucer, Tr. and Cr. ii. 325). OE.ceorfan.
kest,pt. t.cast. Spenser, F. Q. vi. 12. 15; Phaer, tr. of Aeneid, i. 45; plotted, considered, id. i. 30. In gen. prov. use in the north country, see EDD. (s.v. Cast, 2 (7)).
keteryng,a ‘cateran’, a Highland or Irish marauder; ‘A Scottishe keteryng’, Skelton, ed. Dyce, ii. 75; l. 218; ‘Irish keterynges’, ib., Against the Scottes, 83. See NED. (s.v. Cateran). Seekarne.
ketler,an inexperienced gamester, a novice at gambling; Bunglers and ketlers’ [at gambling], Middleton, Black Book (ed. Dyce, v. 543).
ketling,inexperienced; ‘Like an old cunning bowler to fetch in a youngketlinggamester’, Middleton, Father Hubberd’s Tales (ed. Dyce, v. 589). See NED. (s.v. Kitling, B).
key,a quay. Dryden, Annus Mirab. st. 231; Middleton, Women beware, i. 3. 17.
kibbo,a cudgel. Otway, Cheats of Scapin, iii. 1 (Scapin, in a Lancs. dialect). In Ray (ed. 1691. MS. Add.) ‘kibbo’ is given as a Cheshire word (EDD.).
kid,a faggot, small bundle of sticks; ‘Kydde, a fagotte’, Palsgrave; Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 5. 29. In prov. use in various parts of England from the north country to Essex, see EDD. (s.v. Kid, sb.21). ME.kydd, ‘fascis’ (Prompt. EETS. 247).
kid,a roebuck in its first year. Speltkyde, Book of St. Albans, fol. E 4; Turbervile, Hunting, c. 45; p. 143.
kid,notorious; ‘The colonel was a cuckold, or a kid pirate’, Farquhar, Sir Harry Wildair, i. 1 (Fireball). ME.kid, renowned, famous, illustrious (Wars Alex., see Gl. Index);kyd, known (Chaucer, C. T.E.1943), pp. ofkythe, to make known (C. T.F.748). OE.cȳðan.
kie, kye,cows. B. Jonson, Sad Sheph. ii. 1 (Lorel). In gen. prov. use in the north for the plural of ‘cow’ (EDD.). OE.cȳ, pl. ofcū, cow.
kiff,forkith, relationship, standing in relationship, Middleton, A Chaste Maid, iv. 1 (Tim); Tusser, Husbandry, § 10. 30.
kill,a kiln.Bible, Jer. xliii. 9; Nahum, iii. 14 (ed. 1611). A common prov. form in many parts of England—the north country, Essex, and Somerset, see EDD. (s.v. Kiln, sb.1). Hencekill-hole, Merry Wives, iv. 2. 59 (ed. 1623). Cp.kell(2).
kill-cow,a murderous fellow, butcher; a great fighter. Fletcher, Lover’s Progress, iii. 3 (Malfort); perhaps with reference to the story of Guy of Warwick. See Nares.
kimbo,resembling arms set a-kimbo, Dryden, tr. of Virgil; Pastorals, iii. 67;on kimbow, Wycherley, Plain Dealer, ii (Novel).
kim-kam,crooked, perverse. Stanyhurst, tr. of Virgil, Aeneid ii, 44. Cp. the Shropshire saying, ‘Let’s a none o’ your kim-kam ways’ (EDD.). Seekam.
kimnel,a tub used for brewing, kneading, or salting meat. Beaumont and Fl., Coxcomb, iv. 7 (Alexander); ‘Akimnel, cadus salsamentarius’, Coles, Dict., 1679; ‘kymnell,quevette’, Palsgrave. ME.kymnelle, ‘amula’ (Cath. Angl.).
kinchin mort,a very young female child (Cant). Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Trapdoor).Kinchinis perhaps a corrupt form of G.kindchen, little child. Seemort(2).
kinderkind,kilderkin, small barrel. Peele, Edw. I (ed. Dyce, p. 383). Du.kindekin, ‘the eighth part of a vat’ (Kilian). See NED. (s.v. Kilderkin), and Dict.
kindle,to give birth to young, bring forth. As You Like It, iii. 2. 358; ‘I kyndyll, as a she-hare or cony dothe’, Palsgrave. Very common in prov. use (EDD.). ME.hyndlyn, or brynge forthe yonge kyndelyngys, ‘feto’ (Prompt.).
kindless,unnatural. Hamlet, ii. 2. 609; Poole, David (ed. Dyce, p. 466).
Kirsome,Christian; ‘As I’m true Kirsome woman’, Beaumont and Fl., Coxcomb, iv. 7. 5. Seecursen.
kite,a term of detestation. Fletcher, Wit without Money, i. 1. 16; iii. 4. 16; Hen. V, ii. 1. 80; King Lear, i. 4. 284; Ant. and Cl. iii. 13. 89; Udall, Roister Doister (ed. Arber, 83).
kiss the post,to be shut out of a house in consequence of arriving too late (there being nothing else to kiss but the doorpost); ‘Make haste, thou art best, for fear thou kiss the post’, Heywood, 1 Edw. IV (Hobs), vol. i, p. 47.
kix,a ‘kex’, dried-up stalk; a term of abuse. Beaumont and Fl., Coxcomb, i. 2 (Mercury).
knacker,a harness-maker. Tusser, Husbandry, § 58. 5. In Lancashireknackeris a term for a tanner (EDD.).
knap,a knave, a rogue. Speltknappe, Gascoigne, Supposes, ii. 1 (Dulipo); Udall, Roister Doister, iii. 3. 80. ‘A regular knap’, ‘a deead knap’ are Yorkshire expressions for a cunning knave, see EDD. (s.v. Knap, sb.21).
knap,a small hill, a mound, knoll. Bacon, Essay 45; a hill-top, Golding, Metam. xi. 339 (L. ‘vertice’). In prov. use in Scotland, and in various parts of England (EDD.). OE.cnæpp, top, hill-top (Luke iv. 29).
knap,to knock, rap, strike smartly; to sound or toll a bell. Udall, Roister Doister, iii. 3. 80; also, to knock together, Bacon, Sylva, § 133.
knare, knar,a knot or protuberance on a tree; ‘Woods with knots and knares deformed’, Dryden, Palamon, iii. 536; speltgnarre, Cockeram’s Dict. (1623). See EDD. (s.v. Gnarr, sb.11). Cp. ME.knarry, gnarled (Chaucer, C. T.A.1977). Low G.knarre; Du.knar; see NED.
kned,pp.kneaded. Middleton, No Wit like a Woman’s, i. 1 (Savourwit). In prov. use in the north, and in E. Anglia, see EDD. (s.v. Knead, 3).
knee-timber,crooked timber, used in shipbuilding. Bacon, Essay 13.
knight of the post,a notorious perjurer; one who gets his living by giving false evidence. Brome, Joviall Crew (Works, 1873, iii. 366); Marlowe, tr. of Ovid’s Elegies, i. 10. 37; Otway, Soldier’s Fortune, i. 1 (Courtine). [Cp. Pope, Prologue to the Satires of Horace, 365, ‘Knight of the post corrupt, or of the Shire.’] See Nares.
Knight’s Ward,one of the four prison-divisions or ‘sides’. There were usually but three such divisions, the Master’s side, the Twopenny Ward, and the Hole; Seecounter(3). When there were four, the Knight’s Ward came second. In Eastward Ho, v. 1 (or2), Wolf says ‘the knight will i’ the Knight’s Ward’, meaning that he was too humble to go into the Master’s side. AlsoKnight-side, ‘Neither lie on the Knight-side, nor in the Twopenny Ward’, Webster, Appius, iii. 4 (Corbulo). And see Westward Ho, iii. 2 (Monopoly).
knill, knyll,to sound as a bell, ring. Morte Arthur, leaf 428*, back, 6; bk. xxi, c. 10; OE.cnyllan, to strike, ring a bell (B. T. Suppl.).
knitting-cup,a cup of wine drunk by the company immediately after a wedding. B. Jonson, Magn. Lady, iv. 1 (Compass).
knokylbonyarde,a contemptible fellow. Skelton, Magnyfycence, 485. Dyce’s note gives two other examples. Deriv. ofknucklebone.
knot,a flower-bed. Lyly, Euphues, p. 37; Campaspe, iii. 4 (Apelles); Tusser. Husb. § 22. 22. In prov. use in Somerset, Dorset, and Devon, also in the west Midlands, see EDD. (s.v. Knot, sb.113).
knot,the red-breasted sandpiper; ‘The knot that called was Canutus’ bird of old’, Drayton, Pol. xxv. 341; ‘Knotts, i,Canuti aves, ut opinor’, Camden, Brit. (ed. 1607, 408). Dan.knot, sandpiper (Larsen). In the north of Ireland the name for the ringed plover, see EDD. (s.v. Knot, sb.2).
knot-grass,a plant with small pale-pink flowers,Polygonum aviculare. An infusion of it was supposed to stunt one’s growth. Mids. Night’s D. iii. 2. 329; Beaumont and Fl., Knt. of the B. Pestle, ii. 2 (Wife).
knowledge,to acknowledge; ‘I knowlege my folly’, Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 12, § 3; ‘My flight from prison I knowledge’, Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, ii. 150.
knub,a small bump. Golding, Metam. viii. 808; fol. 105 (1603); ‘knubbe,callum’, Levins, Manip. Low G.knubbe, a knob, lump; see NED.
knurre,a round knotty projection on a tree; ‘A knurre,bruscum, gibbus’, Levins, Manip.; hence,knurred(knurd), knotted, rugged, Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, i. 302. ‘Knurr’ is in common prov. use in the north country (EDD.).
ko;seeka.
korke,to adorn, render illustrious; ‘Duke Lionell, that all this lyne [family of the White Rose] doth korke’, Mirror for Mag., Clarence, st. 6. Fromcorke, the name of a purple dye, mentioned in Statutes of the Realm, Act 1 Richard III. c. 8, § 3, as a dye-stuff; see NED. (s.v. Cork, sb.2).
kost,pt. t.kissed. Phaer, tr. of Aeneid, i. 256. Cp. OE.coss, a kiss.
kreking,early dawn; ‘In the first krekyng of the day’ (F.au point du jour), Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 18. 1. Du. ‘het kriecken ofte aenbreken van den dagh, the creeke or the breaking of the day’ (Hexham). Cp. the Scottish phrase ‘creek of day’, day-break (EDD.). Norm. F.crique du jour(Moisy).
kursin,to christen. B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, i. 2. 2. ‘Kursin’,’Kirsen’ are common forms of ‘christen’ in the north, see EDD. (s.v. Christen).
kydst,in Spenser, Shep. Kal., Dec, 92, written incorrectly in the sense of ‘knewest’. ME.kithen(pt. s.kidde), means ‘to make known’. Seekid(notorious).
kyrie,short for ‘kyrie eleison’ (κύριε ἐλέησον),Lord, have mercy upon us; the earliest and simplest form of Litany. Used humorously for a scolding, causing an outcry; ‘But he should have such a kyrie ere he went to bed’, Jack Juggler, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, ii. 138; ‘This kyrie sad solfing’ (translatingTalia iactanti, Aeneid i, 102), Stanyhurst (ed. Arber, p. 21);kyry, Skelton, Colyn Cloute, 755.
kyrsin,Christian. B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, ii (Clay). Seecursen.
L
laced mutton,a strumpet. Two Gent. i. 1. 102; B. Jonson, Neptune’s Triumph (Boy). See NED. Seemutton.
lachesse,negligence. Caxton, Hist. of Troye, leaf 74, back, 18. ME.lachesse(Chaucer, C. T.I.720), OF.lachesse,laschesse, deriv. oflasche, slack. L.laxus, lax.
lack,to want.What do y’ lack?what will you buy; the constant cry of the shopkeepers. B. Jonson, Magnetic Lady, Induction, l. 1; Barth. Fair, ii. 1 (Leatherhead).
lackey,to accompany, like a lackey or foot-boy. Massinger, Virgin Martyr, i. 1 (Harpax). Usedfig.‘A thousand liveried angels lackey her’, Milton, Comus, 455. See Dict.
lad,led;pt. t.oflead. Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 4; iv. 8. 2. A Lanc. form, see EDD. (s.v. Lead, 1 (1)).
ladron,a thief, robber. Shirley, The Brothers, v. 3 (Pedro). Span.ladron, a thief; L.latro, a robber.
lady,the calcareous substance in the stomach of a lobster, serving for the trituration of its food; fancifully supposed to resemble the outline of a seated female figure; ‘What lady? the lady in the lobster?’ Shirley, Witty Fair One, iii. 4 (Aimwell).
Lady of the Lake,a personage in Arthurian romance; hence, a fairy, nymph; ‘This bevie of Ladies bright . . . all Ladyes of the lake behight’, Spenser, Shep. Kal., April, 120. Humorously, a woman of light behaviour. Massinger, New Way to Pay, ii. 1 (Marrall).
lag,slow, tardy, habitually late. Richard III, ii. 1. 91; a laggard, Dryden, To Mr. Lee, 43;lag-end, latter part, fag-end, 1 Hen. IV, v. 1. 24. See EDD. (s.v. Lag, adj., 1).
lag-goose,a personification of laziness, Tusser, Husbandry, § 85. 4. In Norfolk ‘lag-goose’ is in prov. use for the wild grey goose, see EDD. (s.v. Lag, sb.9).
lag-goose,a personification of laziness, Tusser, Husbandry, § 85. 4. In Norfolk ‘lag-goose’ is in prov. use for the wild grey goose, see EDD. (s.v. Lag, sb.9).
lag:in phr.lag of duds, ‘buck’ or ‘wash’ of clothes, Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, v. 1 (Higgen).
lag,to carry off, to steal. Tusser, Husbandry, § 20. 15.
laire;seeleer.
lam,to beat soundly, to thrash, flog.Lamming, a thrashing, Beaumont and Fl., King and no King, v. 3 (Bacurius); Honest Man’s Fortune, v. 2 (Laverdine); ‘Gaulée, a cudgelling, basting, lamming’, Cotgrave;lambed, pp. beaten, Dekker, Shoemakers’ Holiday, v. 2 (Firk). In gen. prov. and colloq. use (EDD.). Cp. Icel.lemja(pret.lamði), lit. to lame.
lamback,to beat severely. Rare Triumphs of Love, iv. 1 (Lentulo), in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vi. 204; Munday, Death E. Huntington, v. 1 (Brand), in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, viii. 305.
Lamia,a fabulous monster supposed to have the body of a woman, and to suck the blood of children. Burton, Anat. Mel. iii. 2; a witch, sorceress, ‘Where’s the lamia That tears my entrails?’, Massinger, Virgin Martyr, iv. 1. L.lamia, a witch supposed to suck children’s blood. In the Vulgate, Isaiah xxxiv. 14, the Heb.Lîlîth, ‘the night-hag’, is renderedlamia. Gk. Λάμια, a fabulous monster.
lampas,a disease incident to horses, consisting in a swelling of the fleshy lining of the roof of the mouth behind the front teeth. Described in Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 81; Tam. Shrew, iii. 2. 52. F.lampas(Cotgr.).
lamping,shining brightly. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 3. 1. Cp. Ital.lampante, bright, shining (Florio).
lance-knight,a mercenary foot-soldier, esp. one armed with a lance or pike. B. Jonson, Every Man in Hum., ii. 4 (Brainworm). Palsgrave has: ‘Lansknyght, lancequenet.’ G.lanz-knecht, lance-knight, a perverted form oflands-knecht= land’s knight (see Weigand, s.v. Land). See Dict. (s.v. Lansquenet).
lancepesade,a non-commissioned officer of the lowest grade, a lance-corporal. Massinger, Maid of Honour, iii. 1;lance-presade, Cleaveland, Poems (Nares);lanceprisado, Fletcher, Thierry, ii. 2 (Martell). The term was orig. applied to a trooper who having broken his lance (lancia spezzata) on the enemy was entertained as a volunteer assistant to a captain of foot, receiving his pay as a trooper until he could remount himself (Grose). See Estienne, Précellence (ed. 1896, p. 353) for account ofLance-spessade. See Stanford, and Nares.
lanch, launch,to cut, lance, pierce. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 2. 37; Heywood, Eng. Traveller, ii. 1 (Clown). OF. (Picard)lancher(F.lancier). In W. Somerset they will ask for ‘a lanch to lanch the cow’, see EDD. (s.v. Lance, sb.11). See Dict. (s.v. Launch).
†land-damn,to rate severely (?). Winter’s Tale, ii. 1. 143. The word in Shakespeare is of doubtful authenticity. The alleged survival of the word in dialects, with the sense ‘to abuse with rancour’, appears to be imperfectly authenticated. For ingenious conjectures see Nares.
landlouper,a runner about the land, a vagabond. Bacon, Henry VII, p. 105; speltland-loper; Howell, Forraine Travell, p. 67 (Arber). Du.landt-looper, ‘a vagabond, or a rogue that runnes up and downe the countrie’ (Hexham).
langdebiefe,wild bugloss. Tusser, Husbandry, § 39. 16;langdebeef, Lyte, tr. of Dodoens, bk. v, c. 15. OF.lange de beof, ‘ox tunge’, ‘lingua bovis’, ‘buglossa’ (Alphita, 24).
langer,to loiter about; ‘Wandryng and langerynge’, Morte Arthur, leaf 185. 20; bk. ix, c. 20. See Dict. (s.v. Linger).
langued,lit. tongued; in heraldry, represented with a tongue of a specified tincture or colour. Butler, Hud. i. 2. 259. Cp. F.langué, ‘langued, a term of Blazon’ (Cotgr.).
lannard,a ‘lanner’, a species of falcon. Middleton, Span. Gipsy, iv. 3 (Fernando); ‘Lanarde, a hauke, lanier’, Palsgrave. In prov. use in Cornwall for the peregrine falcon (EDD.). See Dict. (s.v. Lanner).
†lansket,a shutter, a panel of a door, or a lattice; ‘I peep’d in At a loose lansket’, Fletcher, Woman’s Prize, ii. 6 (Jaques). Only found here (NED.).
lantedo, lanteero;‘Your lantedoes nor your lanteeroes’, Middleton, Blurt, Mr. Constable, iv. 3 (Blurt). Seeadelantado.
lanterloo,the old name of the card game now calledloo. Etherege, She Would if She Could, v. 1 (Sentry). SpeltLanterlu, and used as a name, Wycherley, Country Wife, v. 3 (near the end). See Stanford.
lap,a cant term for non-intoxicating drink. Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Song); ‘lap, butter-milke or whey’, Harman, Caveat, p. 83.
lapise, lappise,to yelp. Turbervile, Hunting, c. 29, p. 76; id., c. 33, p. 86; ‘lappyse or whymper’, id., c. 39, p. 108. F.glappir,glappissement, (Cotgr.).
lapwing,said to cry out at a distance from her nest, in order to draw the searchers away from it. B. Jonson, Sejanus, v. 10 (Arruntius); and see Massinger, Old Law, iv. 2 (Simonides); Lyly, Alexander, ii. 2 (Alexander). Very common.
lare,a pasture. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 8. 29. A pseudo-archaic use oflair, the place where cattle lie, see EDD. (s.v. Lair, sb.12, § 3).
lare,to fatten. So explained by Dyce, Beaumont and Fl., Wildgoose Chase, iii. 1 (Rosalura).
Lares,the household gods in Roman religion.Lars, Milton, Christ’s Nativity, Hymn, st. 21; B. Jonson, Poetaster, iv. 2 (Lupus).
lash:phr.in the lash, in the lurch; ‘To run in the lash’, Tusser, Husbandry, § 10. 15; ‘Leave in the lash’, id., § 63. 20; ‘lie in the lash’, Three Ladies of London, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vi. 254; ‘Gave age the whippe, and left me in the lash’, Mirror for Mag., Shore’s Wife, s. 14; Gascoigne, ed. Hazlitt, i. 446. See NED. (s.v. Lash, sb.14).
lash,to move violently; ‘Lashing up his heels’ [of a horse], Dryden, tr. of Ovid, Met. xii. 472; ‘ ’Gainst a rock was lashed in pieces’, Congreve, Mourning Bride, i. 1 (Almeria).
lash out,to squander, waste. Tusser, Husbandry, § 23. 18; More, Richard III (ed. Lumby, p. 67).
latch,to catch. Spenser, Shep. Kal., March, 93; Macbeth, iv. 3. 195; Mids. Night’s D. iii. 2. 36. An E. Anglian word (EDD.). ME.lacchen(P. Plowman). OE.læccan, to seize, catch.
lato,a mixed metal; ‘latten’. B. Jonson, Alchem. ii. 1 (Surly);laton, Morte Arthur, leaf 44, back, 25; bk. ii, c. 11. ME.latoun(Chaucer, C. T.A.699). Norm. F.laton, ‘laiton, alliage de cuivre et de zinc’ (Moisy), Med. L.lato(Ducange). See Dict. (s.v. Latten).
launce,a balance. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 7. 4. L.lanx, a scale.
laund,a ‘lawn’, a glade. 3 Hen. VI, iii. i. 2; Drayton, Pol. xxvi. 69. ME.launde, a grassy clearing, a glade surrounded by trees (Chaucer, C. T.A.1691). Anglo-F.launde, OF.lande; probably of Celtic origin, see W. Stokes, Celtic Dict., p. 239.
launder,one who washes linen. Tusser, Husbandry, § 83. 2. Hencelaundered(landered), thoroughly washed, Butler, Hud. ii. 1. 171. ME.lawndere(Prompt. EETS. 257). See Dict. (s.v. Laundress).
laundring,washing gold in aqua regia to extract metal from it. B. Jonson, Alchem. i. 1 (Face).
lautitious,sumptuous, excellent. Herrick, The Invitation, 3. L.lautitia, magnificence.
lave,used of ears: drooping, hanging down; ‘His lave eares’, Wily Beguiled, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, ix. 304;lave-eared, having long drooping ears, Hall, Satires, ii. 29 (Nares); ‘Lave eared, plaudus’, Levins, Manip. Still in use in the north country (EDD.). ME.lave eres(Wars Alex. 4748).
lave,to droop, said of ears, ‘His ears hang laving’, Hall, Sat. iv. 1. 72. Icel.lafa, to droop.
lavender:phr.to lay in lavender, to pawn; Coles, Dict., 1699; ‘Rather than thou shouldst pawn a rag more, I’ll lay my ladyship in lavender, if I knew where’, Eastward Ho, iv. 279 (Nares);to lie in lavender, to be in pawn, ‘a black suit . . . now lies in lavender’, B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of his Humour, iii. 3. In R. Brathwaite’s Strappado for the Devil is an epigram, ‘Upon a Poet’s Palfrey lying in Lavender for the discharge of his Provender’, p. 154 (Nares).Lavendered, pp. ‘Your lavendered robes’, Massinger, New Way to Pay, v. 1 (Overreach).
laver,drooping, hanging down; ‘this laver lip’, Marston, Sat. v. 97. Seelave.
lavolta,the name of a lively dance, orig. for two people. Hen. V, iii. 3. 33. Ital.la volta, the turn, ‘a French dance so called’ (Florio).
†lavoltetere,one who dances (and teaches) thelavolta. Fletcher, Fair Maid of the Inn, iii. 1 (Host).
law, to give,to allow so much start, about twelve-score yards, to a hunted animal. B. Jonson, Sad Sheph. ii. 2 (near the end); Drayton, Pol. xxiii. 337; ‘She shall have law’, Heywood, Witches of Lancs. ii (Shakstone); vol. iv, p. 199.
lay,law. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 10. 42; esp. religious law, hence, a religion, creed, a faith; ‘ ’Tis Churchmans laie and veritie To live in love and charitie’, Peele, Chron. Edw. I, B 3 (NED.). ME.lay, religion, faith (Chaucer, C. T.B.376). Anglo-F.lei, ‘loi, loi religieuse, religion’ (Chans. Rol. 85).
lay,a ‘lea’, meadow. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 8. 15; adj. fallow, unploughed, ‘Let . . . land lie lay till I return’, Fletcher, Love’s Pilgrimage, iii. 3 (Sanchio). ME.lay, ‘lond not tyllyd’ (Prompt. EETS.);laie, fallow (Gamelyn, 161). See NED. (s.v. Lea, adj.).
lay,a wager. 2 Hen. VI, v. 2. 27; Othello, ii. 3. 330; Cymb. i. 4. 159. In prov. use in Yorks., Midlands, and E. Anglia, see EDD. (s.v. Lay, sb.120).
lay,to beset with traps; ‘All the country is laid for me’, 2 Hen. VI, iv. 1. 4; Middleton, A Chaste Maid, iv. 1 (near end); iv. 2 (Tim); A Trick to Catch, i. 2. 3.
lay:phr.to lay in(ora)water, to make nugatory, to bring to a standstill, Lyly, Euphues, p. 34; Mydas, iv. 4 (Martius); Gosson, School of Abuse, p. 21. See NED. (s.v. Lay, vb.125).
lay,to lie; ‘Nature will lay buried a great Time, and yet revive’, Bacon, Essay 38. For exx. of this intrans. use see NED. (s.v. Lie, vb.143), and EDD. (s.v. Lie, 16).
layne,to conceal. Morte Arthur, leaf 399, back, 13; bk. xx, c. 1. In prov. use in Scotland and the north of England, see EDD. (s.v. Lane). ME.laynen, to conceal (P. Plowman, C. iii. 18). Icel.leyna, cognate with G.leugnen, to deny. See NED. (s.v. Lain).
laystall,a place where refuse is thrown aside. Spenser, F. Q. i. 5. 53;leystall, Drayton, Moses, bk. i. 115. See Nares. A Kentish word, see EDD. (s.v. Lay, vb. 2 (9a)).
laystow,a ‘laystall’. Stanyhurst, tr. Aeneid, iii. 628; ‘In comparison of this present, the ancient gardens were but dunghils and laistowes’, Harrison, Desc. Engl., bk. ii, ch. 20 (ed. Furnivall, 325); ‘Smythfeelde was . . . a layestowe of all order of fylth’, Fabyan Chron. vii. 226 (NED.). A north-country word, see EDD. (s.v. Lay, 2 (12)).
layte,lightning. Morte Arthur, leaf 353, back, 30; bk. xvii, c. 11. ME.leit, ‘fulgor’ (Wyclif, Matt. xxiv. 27). OE.lēget, alsolīgyt(Matt. xxiv. 27).
laze,to be lazy, to be listless. Greene, Alphonsus, i. Prol. (Melpomene); Never too Late (ed. Dyce, 301). In prov. use (EDD.).
leach,a dish consisting of sliced meat, eggs, fruit, and spices in jelly; ‘Leche made of flesshe, gelee’, Palsgrave; ‘Caudels, Iellies, leach’, Dekker, If this be not a good Play (Shackle-soul), Works, iii. 285. F.lèche, ‘tranche très mince’ (Hatzfeld). See NED.
lead:phr.to lead apes in hell, the fancied consequence of dying an old maid, Lyly, Euphues (ed. Arber, 87); Taming Shrew, ii. 1. 34; Much Ado, ii. 1. 42; ‘Mammola, an old wench . . . one that will lead apes in Hell’, Florio.
lead,a pot, cauldron, kettle. Tusser, Husbandry, § 56. 14; ‘Brewyng ledys’, pl., Bury Wills (ed. Camden Soc., p. 101). See EDD. (s.v. Lead, sb.16 and 7). In Lanc. ‘lead’ is used for a dyeing-vat; in the north country furnace-vessels, of whatever metal made, are so called, from having been usually made of that metal.
leaden dart.Cupid’sleadendart caused dislike; hisgoldenone incited to love, Massinger, Virgin-Martyr, i. 1 (Antoninus); Roman Actor, iii. 2 (Iphis). From Ovid, Met. i. 470.
leading-staff,a staff or truncheon borne by a commanding officer. Farquhar, Constant Couple, i. 1 (Smuggler); i. 2 (Parly).
leak,leaky. Speltleke, Spenser, F. Q. i. 5. 35;leake, id., vi. 8. 24. OE.hlece.
leally,truly, verily. Speltlelely, Otway, Soldier’s Fortune, v. 1 (Sylvia); loyally, ‘He sall leallie and trewlie use and exerce his office’, Skene, Difficil Words (1681). Anglo-F.leal, loyal (Rough List), O. Prov.leal(Levy).
lear;seelere.
leare,a cheek;learys, cheeks, Morte Arthur, leaf 186. 4; bk. ix, ch. 21; speltlyers, Stanyhurst, tr. Aeneid, i. 471. OE.hlēor, cheek, face. Seeleer.
lease,a pasture. Tusser, Husbandry, § 33. 49;lees, Fitzherbert, Husb., § 148. 18; ‘In pastures and leases’, Lyte, tr. of Dodoens, bk. i, ch. 63 (The Place).