A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1951 (DOST Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1535-1609, 1681
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Fester, n.1 Also: festur, faister, phister. [ME. fester (a 1300), festre, festure, OF. festre, L. fistula.] A festering sore. Lit. and fig. 1535 Stewart 29508.
Moir horribill … No canker, fester, gut or ȝit grandgore 1568 Pref. Lyndesay 8.
Be quhome he hes discouerit thair cankerit curruptioun & auld festur 1604-9 Grahame Anat. Hum. 27.
Why should not such hulcerous phisters be bard and tented & rogry striped naked 1681 Colvil Whig's Suppl. i. 36.
Courtiers covering cankered faisters With curled periwiggs and plaisters
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"Fester n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 13 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/fester_n_1>
