A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1963 (DOST Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1420, 1490-1602
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Inutile, -il(l, -yle, a. [late ME. inutyle (1484), -utile (a 1533), -utill (1649), L. inūtilis.] Useless. — c1420 Wynt. ii. 702.
Thai that duelt in to that yle Wnhonest was and inutyle 1490 Irland Mir. fol. 343 b.
Be new eleccioun couth neuir be chosin ane sa inutill … as ane of thire barnis 1526 Acts II. 312/1.
Drawin his grace to thair invtile gydschip and evill wais 1549 Complaynte of Scotland 123/11.
I laubyr … to neureis lasche and inutil idil men c1590 Fowler II. 148/24.
The first is maist excellent, … bot the thrid is invtill and wnprofitabill 1587-99 Hume i. 120.
The tung inutile … Of Zacharie that was dum 1602 Colville Parænese Ep. 11.
The church … may iustly, vhenas any of hir members becum incorrigibill, sned tham of as inutill
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"Inutile adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 13 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/inutile>
