A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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About this entry:
First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1456, 1513-1533, 1584-1596
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Bakbite, v. Also: bakbyte, -byit, -bit; p.t. backbate; p.p. bakbyttyn, -bytyne, -bitine. [ME. back-, bacbite (13th c.); f. Bak n.1 or adv. and Bite v.] tr. To backbite, slander, calumniate. Also absol.a1400 Legends of the Saints iv. 174 (forthinkand that I haf thé bakbytyne fellonly). c1420 Wynt. vii. Prol. 10 (bakbyttyn to be wyth byttyrnes). 1456 Hay I. 30/15 (Romaynes will bakbyte behynd bakkis). 1513 Doug. iii. Prol. 23 (is it Virgill quham thame list bakbyte?); II. 906/14 (quhen thai bakbyte). 1533 Gau 90/15 (thai quhilk bakbitis or leis apone ony man). a1585 Arbuthnot Maitland Quarto MS xxxv. 70 (thocht thay wemen bakbyit). 1596 Dalr. I. 255/29 (mony backbate the Roman Kirk).
