(2). A rude, ill-bred person; used half humorously (I. xxi. 35). Cf. Tennyson, "In Memoriam," cx. :-
"The churl in spirit, up or down
Note the tendency of an aristocracy to make a word of social inferiority pass into a moral inferiority.
Cincture.] (IV. xvi. 22.) Combust.] (III. xx. 26.)
Belt, girdle. Lat. cingo, surround. Lat. comburo, burn. Astrological term.
A planet was said to be combust, or in combustion, when not more than 8 degrees from the sun.
Conclave.] (II. xxxiii. 2.) Lat. cum, with, and clavis, a key. A secret room, especially the room at Rome in which the Cardinals meet for the election of the Pope. Hence it was used for any meeting of Cardinals, and then for any close assembly.
Corslet.] (VI. v. 3.) A little cuirass; armour to protect the body. Lat. corpus. For termination, cf. bracelet, anklet, frontlet, varlet.
Couch.] From French coucher, to lay down. (II. xxxiii. 24.) It was also the technical word for placing the spear in a horizontal position for a charge. (I. xiv. 10; III. xxii. 35.)
Cowl.] A monk's head-dress. Lat. cucullus.
Cresset.] (II. xviii. 17, xix. 8.) "An antique chandelier "-S. A lantern: a beacon-light.-"Lay of Last Minstrel," III. xxvi. 8.
Cf. Fr. creuset, sort of lamp; cruise of oil.
Crosier.] (II. xxxi. 8.) Fr. croix. A bishop's staff in the form of a shepherd's crook. So the Fr. crosse, a curved stick, used in the game La Crosse.
Croupe.] (V. ii. 14.) Fr. croupe, the buttocks of a horse: over which passes our "crupper." In the French Dictionary it gives " gagner la croupe du cheval de son ennemi, l'approcher par derrière."
Darkling.] (II. xxviii. 15.) Being in the dark. Cf. Milton's "Par. Lost," iii. 39: "The wakeful bird
Sings darkling, and in shadiest covert hid
Tunes her nocturnal note."
Used of Milton's blindness, Thomson's "Winter," 536.
Dean.] (IV. xii. 17.) Still used in the North for a little valley. Cf. Tenterden.
Deas.] (I. xiii. 5.) More commonly dais: a raised part of the floor of a hall, on which was the high table; or, the high table itself. Prov. deis, from Lat. disc-us, quoit, quoit-shaped table.
Dight.] (I. vi. 2.) Past participle of a verb" dight" (A.-S. diht-an), which signifies establish, prepare; very often, deck, array. Cf. Milton's "Il Penseroso," 159:
"Storied windows richly dight, Casting a dim religious light."
It here means ordained, doomed = bedight.
Dint.] (I. xxiii. 12.) A blow, stroke, or its impress; force. Akin to din.
IV. iv. 23.) Simply a house. Lat. domus; not,
as sometimes (e.g. IV. xvi. 2), a church; much less, a cupola.
Don.] (V. vi. 33.) Put on, lit. do on, contrasted with doff. Cf. "dup" do up. Shakespeare's "Hamlet," IV. v. :
"Then up he rose, and donned his clothes,
And dupped the chamber door."
And "dout" do out, extinguish.-Id. ib. I. iv. 37 (according to one reading):
Doth all the noble substance often dout."
Donjon.] Vide note, I. i. 4.
Dower.] Vide note, II. iii. 17.
Dub.] (VI. xii. 11.) To make a knight by striking with the blade of a sword. Derivation A.-S. dubban; to strike.
Eke.] (III. xix. 4.) And, also, in addition. Ger. auch ; Cf. verb to eke out, to add to, increase.
Elfin.] (III. frequently.) Adjective from elf, fairy.
Elf.] A.-S. clf. Fairy; but in VI. xxxviii. 1, it almost=oaf, fool. Embrazure.] (VI. xi. 4.) An opening in a wall or parapet; gene- rally used like a loophole for firing through.
Facets.] (IV. xi. 18.) Little faces, as the facets of a diamond. In architecture, flat projections between the flutings of columns.
Falchion.] A sword; properly, a crooked sword, scimitar. Lat. falx, reaping-hook.
Fay.] (a.) =fairy. Fr. fée; Lat. fata (VI. iii. 39, xvii. 12). (b.) faith. Fr. foi; Lat. fides (I. xxii. 23, xxvii. 1).
Featly.] (VI. viii. 29.) Cleverly, neatly. Cf. Shakespeare's "Tem- pest," I. ii., in Ariel's song. (From feat, Fr. fait, Lat. factum, a deed worthy the name.)
Feud.] (a) Connected with our foe, fiend. Germ. feind, enemy; fehde, war. A deadly quarrel, not between nations, but between families and small tribes.
Feud (b) and Feudal.] Der. (1) Gothic, fee, reward (a physi- cian's fee) and odh, property; or (2) Lat. fideicommissum (through the Spanish). A feud was land held on condition of performing certain duties. Feudal, belonging to such feud. So we speak of the Feudal System, the tenure of land for military service. Some connect with feud (a).
Fitful.] (III. xxvi. 22.) Intermittent. Cf. Shakespeare's "Mac- beth," "Life's fitful fever."
Following.] Cf. note, V. vi. 22.
Forayers, foray.] Cf. note, I. xx. 4. Fosse.] (I. xvii. 6.) Moat. Lat. fossa.
Frontlet.] (1.) (VI. iii. 14.) A band worn on the forehead. Cf. Deut. vi. (V. xx. 12.) (2.) Term used in architecture, meaning ornaments at the top.
Galliard.] Fr. gaillard. Adj. gay, saucy. Subs. (1) A gay young man. (2) (V. xxii. 32). A lively dance. Cf. Shakespeare's "Henry V.," I. ii. 252:
"And bids you be advised there's nought in France, That can be with a nimble galliard won."
And "Twelfth Night," I. iii. 128:
"Sir Toby. What is thy excellence in a galliard, knight? Sir Andrew. Faith, I can cut a caper.
Sir Toby. Why dost not thou go to a church in a galliard, and come home in a coranto?"
Gammon.] (III. iii. 7.) Ham. Fr. jambon, from jambe, a leg. Garish.] (Apparently from A.-S. word gearwian, to dress). Magnifi- cent, showy, glaring.-Shakespeare, "Romeo and Juliet," III. ii. : "The garish sun." And Milton's "Il Penseroso," 138: "Day's garish eye.” Ghast.] (IV. xxi. 20.) The commoner form of the word is ghastly. Glee.] (I. iv. 5.) From A.-S. gligg=music. Hence, the gaiety of a feast, and thence, mirth. It is not connected with glad, as might be at first supposed.
Gorget.] (V. ii. 23.) A piece of armour for defending throat or neck. Fr. gorge, throat.
Gossamer.] (II. xiv. 16.) A fine filmy substance, like cobwebs, which floats in the air in calm, clear weather, especially in autumn. Cf. Tennyson," In Memoriam," xi. 7 :-
"All the silvery gossamers
That twinkle into green and gold."
Derivation, God-summer. Germ. sommer-fäden, Marien-fäden, from the legend that the gossamer is the remnant of Our Lady's winding- sheet, which fell away in fragments as she was taken up to heaven. It is this divine origin which is indicated by the first syllable of the Eng- lish word. Keightley ("Fairy Mythology," p. 513) derives it from gorse and samite.
Gouts, blood-gouts.] (VI. v. 7.) Fr. goutte; Lat. gutta, a drop. Cf." Macbeth," II. i. 46:
"And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood." "Gramercy!"] (I. xxv. 1; III. xxii. 19.) Fr. grand merci, many
Guerdon.] (VI. xxxvi. 11.) A reward, requital, recompense; either in good or bad sense. From same root as re-ward, re-gard, French. Gules.] (IV. vi. 10.) Heraldic term for red; bright red. Fr. gueules, from the colour of the gullet, throat; Lat. gula.
Hagbut.] (V. iii. 8.) Also spelt hackbut. A musket. Hackbuteer. "Lay of Last Minstrel," III. xxi. 12. French, arquebuse, from German, hakenbüchse. Haken, hook, and büchse, a fire-arm.
Halbert.] (I. viii. 2; V. iii. 7.) Germ. hellebarde; Fr., hallebarde. A spear with an axe at the end of it. Some derive from Germ. helm, handle (cf. helm, handle of ship's rudder), and barte, an axe. There is an Old Germ. form, helmbarte. The halbert is now only used by the town- officers in Scotland, who attend a magistrate, and who may be compared with the English javelin-men.
Hale.] (II. xi. 18.) Drag. Cf. St. Luke, xii. 58, "hale thee to the judge." Cf. haul, hale-yard.
Harry.] (I. xix. 7.) 1. Same as harrow; devastate, ravage; espe- cially used of plundering lands. Cf. "Lay of Last Minstrel," IV. xxiv. 13. "Harried the lands of Richard Musgrave." It is also found in a very curious though not uncommon expression, which may be seen in Spenser's "Faerie Queene," I. x. 40, where he speaks of Our Lord as "He that harrowed hell:" and in Lyndsay's "Three Estates," i. 306, and frequently (ed. Chalmers), "Christ who harried hell," and in Percy's "Reliques." To harrow a field is to tear up the soil.
2. A later sense is worry, annoy. Cf. Tennyson's "Guinevere," 244: "Thou, their fool, set on to plague
And play upon and harry me."
It comes from A.-S. hergian, to ravage as an army (Germ. heer, army). There is also a Norman verb harer, to provoke; and Fr. harasser, which would seem to be of the same family.
Hosen.] (I. viii. 14.) An old form of the plural of hose, a covering for the legs, corresponding to stockings. Cf. hosier.
Jeopardy.] Danger. Scotch, jeopard, a battle. Curious deriva- tions:-1. Fr., jeu perdu, a lost game. 2. Fr., jeu parti, divided or even game; jocus partitus; Chaucer spells it jeupartie. 3. Germ., gefahr, danger.
Jerkin.] (I. viii. 14.) A short coat or jacket. Languedoc word, hergaon, overcoat.
Ken.] (I. xxiv. 13.) Know. (Germ. kennen.) A Scotch word.
Kirtle.] (A.-S., cyrtel; Lat., curt-us; Fr., court; Eng., curt.) An upper garment, mantle, worn by women. (V. iv. 34.) "Lay of Last Minstrel," II. xxvi. 2, VI. iv. 7. In Percy's "Reliques," the word "kyrtell" is used for a man's nether garment; in his Glossary he gives the two words' separately-kirtle for a woman's, and kyrtell for a man's, garment. In a note, also, he quotes from an old author, "He sent for the kyrtle of Holy Hugh the Abbot there."
Leaguer.] (VI. i. 9.) Subs. The camp of the assailants in a siege, whence a besieged town was said to be beleaguered. Of Dutch origin. Leaguer is connected with layer, lair. The army lies before the town;
as in the word siege, it sits. An old writer, Sir J. Smythe ("Certain Discourse," 1590, fol. 2), says :-"They will not vouchsafe in their speeches or writings to use our termes belonging to matters of warre, but doo call a campe by the Dutch name of legar: nor will not afford to say that such a towne or such a fort is besieged, but that it is belegar'd." Cf. Germ. belägerung, siege. Shakespeare, "All's Well," III. vi. :- "We will bind and hoodwink him so that he shall suppose no other but that he is carried into the leaguer of the adversaries, when we bring him to our tents." And A. Wood, "Annals Univ. Ox." (anno 1646) :- "They shot into the leaguer at Hedington Hill."
Leash.] Vide note I. vii. 13.
Lee.] (V. xii. 45.) A plain, untilled land. It is more usually spelt lea. Cf. Gray's "Elegy," 2:-"The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea." Derivations :-Ley, A.-S. fallow; Leag, A.-S. pasture. In Scotch, lea is used as an adj. not plowed, used for pasture only. Cf. Ramsay's "Poems," i. 60 (quoted in Jamieson's "Scotch Dictionary ") :—
"Plenty shall cultivate ilk scawp and moor,
Now lea and bare, because thy landlord's poor."
L'envoy.] Vide the last note.
Levin.] (I. xxiii. 12.) Lightning. A.-S., lige=flame of light; vide quotation from Chaucer, note, I. xxiii. 12. Still used in Scotch. Cf. "Lay of Last Minstrel," IV. xviii. 10:-" Bore the levin-darting guns." Liege.] Fr. lige, Lat. ligo, bind. Bound by a feudal tenure: thus subjects are called liegemen; the lord of liegemen, a liege-lord; and later, a sovereign, a liege (III. xxi. 15).
Fr. enlumineur, Lat. illuminator. A painter. A wooden fork, to hold a lighted match, or (Deriv., lint and stock.) Cf. Shakespeare,
Limner.] (VI. v. 20.) Linstock.] (I. ix. 8.) fuse, for firing cannon. "Henry V., III.," Chorus, 33:
"And the nimble gunner
With linstock now the devilish cannon touches."
List.] (a.) Firstly, the edge of cloth, or flannel; then, a catalogue of names; then, a line forming the extremity of a field of combat. Hence lists (plural)=long enclosed space in which tournaments were fought. (I. xii. 8.)
(b.) Verb, contracted from listen.-(L'Envoy, 4.)
(c.) Verb, wish (from German lüsten.) (VI. xiii. 23; I. viii. 6.) Cf. St. John iii. 8, "the wind bloweth where it listeth"; Macaulay's 66 Armada," ‚”“Attend all ye who list to hear our noble England's praise." It is connected with the verb lust, which is, however, a stronger word, though not always used in a bad sense. Cf. Psalms xxxiv. 12 (Prayer- book version), "What man is he that lusteth to live ?" Another meaning is a leaning, i.e., the ship has a list to starboard.
Listed.] (I. xii. 13.) Derived from list (a.) Cf. "Lay of Last Min- strel," V. xxvii. 1: " listed plain."
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