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: 1399-1456, 1515-1586
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Cubit, Cubeit, n. Also: cubite, -yt. [ME. cubite (14th c.), -ete, OF. cubite, L. cubitum.] A cubit. a1400 Legends of the Saints xix. 30.
Twelf cubitis he had of hicht c1420 Wynt. i. 649.
The pigmaveis … That has bot cubytys twa of hycht 1456 Hay I. 37/26.
It had the wallis of hicht of fifty cubitis c1515 Asloan MS I. 167/28.
The land of Pigmei that … ar nocht bot a cubit lang 1531 Bell. Boece I. 81.
Ane round hous … xxiv cubitis of hecht, and xii cubitis of breid c1552 Lynd. Mon. 1377.
Ane richt cubeit … Off misour now, mycht be ane ell a1586 Maitland Ho. Seytoun 35.
I haue sein fyve scoir torris of tymber, … ilk ane twa cubite of hicht a1578 Pitsc. I. 392/21.
He gart prepair ane gallous for him of fyftie cubittis height
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"Cubit n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/cubit>
