A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1513, 1616-1641
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Bilge, Bylge, n. [Of obscure origin: perhaps a variant of bulge. App. not recorded in Eng. use before the late 17th c.]
1. The lower part of a ship's hull; a hollow part resembling this. 1513 Doug. ii. i. 11.
Of choys men … , thai tuke A gret numbyr, and hyd in bylgis dern Within that best, in mony huge cavern 1513 Ib. v. iv. 78.
The mychty karvell … Down swakand fludis vndir hyr brayd bilge of aik 1513 Ib. x. iv. 138.
Schippys … With stelyt stevynnys and bowand bylge of tre
2. The belly of a barrel. 1616 Rec. Convention of Royal Burghs III. 32.
The heicht and gritnes of the bilge of the saidis barrells 1641 Acts V. 417/2.
The bilge, girthe, the wydnes of the heid and deepnes of the chine [of barrels]
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"Bilge n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 13 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/bilge>
