Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1963 (DOST Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Hope, Hoip, Houp, n.¹ Also: hop, hoep; hoipe, hoyp; houpe, howp(e; hoop. [ME. hope, late OE. hopa, earlier tó-hopa.]

1. Hope, expectation or prospect of something desired. Common in the phr. gude (also grete) hope. In various constructions and contexts.(1) a1400 Leg. S. xxvi. 579.
Oyl rycht clere … for seknes sere Gaf hop & but c1420 Wynt. iv. 1588.
Sa Rome … Respyre in-to gud hope began Ib. vi. 1850.
Makbeth-Fynlayk … mwrthrysvde hys awyne eme Be hope that he had in a dreme c1420 Ratis R. 593.
Set al thi gud hop … In lypnyne of the haly gaist 1513 Doug. i. iv. 102.
Betwix gude hope and dreid in dowt thai stude 1588 King Cat. 59.
Be hop it [sc. the soul] gettis ane neirer gripe of the guidnes of God(b) 1513 Doug. xii. Prol. 207.
[Lovers,] Sum leuis in hoip Ib. ii. 78.
Now stad In bettir hoip, … beys glaid 1563-1570 Buch. Wr. 30.
Greit hoip mellit with ambitioun inflamit his hart for the Kingis deceis a1578 Pitsc. I. 16/29.
In him lay the onlie hoipe and restitutioun of the commonisvealth 1599 Acts IV. 410/1.
Some provisioun … to disapoint thame of those thair vnlauchfull hoipis 1619 Garden Elphinstoun 1220.
Oft the wretche convick a hoip hes had(c) a1568 Scott xv. 3.
Art thow nocht wantoun, haill, & in gud howp? a1585 Maitl. Q. 259/1.
Quhen houp & hap … and health bene hiest a1585 Montg. Maitl. Q. lxxiii.
I flow from houp to feir c1590 Fowler II. 14/21.
Manye things cums to passe contrair the houp … of man(2) c1400 Troy-bk. ii. 784.
Of hys lyf all hope away Frome hym excluded was for ay ?1438 Alex. II. 2466.
For hope that I haue of my lufe 1516 Fife Sheriff Ct. 59.
Thar summondis … ar … under hope of concord continuit to the last day of Merche c1552 Lynd. Mon. 6008.
Thare salbe gowlyng and gretyng, But hope of ony confortyng(b) 1520 Fife Sheriff Ct. 187.
In hoyp of concord 1520 Grant Chart. 65.
The tyme at the said Agnes beis handfast, in hoip of mariage 1562-3 Winȝet I. 113/9.
All this wes done … in hoip of the resurrectioun a1578 Pitsc. I. 22/33.
The gouernour … haid guide hoip of better to follow 1622 Highland P. III. 314.
Otheris lymmaris … may be encourageit vpoun the … hoip of impvntie to offend 1641 Aberd. B. Rec. III. 124.
In hoip of the tounes good cariage(c) 1496–7 Acta Conc. II. 58.
In houp of concord a1570-86 Arbuthnot Maitl. F. xxx. 145.
Off hewinlie joy our houp it [sc. conscience] makkis sure 1591 Edinb. B. Rec. IV. 49.
Thai remitt unto him that falt in howpe of amendement 1638 Lundie Poems 36.
Of me thy houps hade bein but small, The roring river thocht me so his pray(d) 1665-76 Lauder Jrnl. 13.
They feed themselfes … up with the hoop of the victory(3) a1500 Henr. Fab. 125.
Quha has this stane sal haf gud hoip to speid c1500-c1512 Dunb. xl. 29.
Be than to mend thay had gud howp c1550 Lynd. Test. Meldrum 248.
My hoip to Thé is till ascend 1567 Sempill Sat. P. iv. 2.
Henrie Stewart … in houpe … to ring Within this realme c1590 Fowler I. 222/13.
Al my hap and houpe … Is for to serve and love 1596 Dalr. II. 437/24.
Gret hope dalie tha had to win the toune c 1614 Melrose P. 601.
Thair was no hoip for the rebelles to eshape be land 1663 Banff Ann. II. 172.
[Schoolboys to he examined] of thair hoeps to he ane schollar(4) 1375 Barb. ii. 89.
I haiff gret hop he sall be king a1400 Leg. S. xvi. 144.
Ful oft scho kysit Cristis fet, In hope that scho syne mycht bete a1500 Henr. Fab. 1254.
In hope this present lyfe suld euer lest 1563-1570 Buch. Wr. 30.
Thay wer in hoip that scho sould mary Johnne Hamiltoun a1585 Maitl. Q. xxxix. 97.
Sum houpe is ȝit that my seruice sall speid(5) 1456 Hay II. 38/12.
Faith, gude hope, and charitee 1571 Bann. Trans. 179.
Fayth, houpe, and charitie 1577 Edinb. Test. V. 195.
Ane vnfallibill faith & houpe 1588 Cath. Tr. 208/26.
The theologicall vertuis, that is faith, hop, and cheritie 1595 Melville Chart. 139.
Be the wirking of his Holie Spreit in me trew fayth and lywelie hoip(6) personif. c1420 Ratis R. 568.
Hop, the tother syster Ib. 573.
Gud hop left newer hire frend at the last c1500-c1512 Dunb. xlii. 41.
Gude Houp rownit in my eir 1530 Lynd. Test. Pap. 561.
Had nocht bene hope bair hym sic companye He had bene stranglit be malancolye

2. transf. A person, etc., in whom hopes are centred; a source of hope. c1420 Wynt. i. 1566.
Venus … sulde be Thare hope. thare hape, and thare awowe Ib. i. xiii h (W).
How mony landis ar in Europe, And quha foundit first Rome our hope c1450-2 Howlat 735.
Mary the myld … our hope and our helpe, quhen that harme alis! c1475 Wall. x. 569.
My hop, my heill, thow [sc. Graem] was in maist honour 1513 Doug. ii. v. 60.
O Troiane hope [sc. Hector], maist ferm defens in fyght a1568 Bann. MS. 231 a/5.
Scho is my verry harte; I am hir howp and heill 1596 Dalr. II. 239/3.
Our Quene … was hoipe of al joy … til our cuntriemen 1681 Burnet in Lauderdale P. 103.
I fynd Lord Lorne on of the most hops I ever knew of his years

3. Expectation unaccompanied by desire; belief, supposition. a1400 Leg. S. xxi. 193.
Gret hope had he, That his modir in the se Was drownyt 1535 Stewart 563.
Freindlie affectioun causit thame to greit, In hoip agane that tha sould neuir meit