A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1971 (DOST Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1500-1600
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Malan-, Melancolic, -lik(e, a. Also: -choli(c)k(e. [ME. malencolik (Chaucer), melancolyk, MF. melancolique (14th c.), late L. melancholicus.] a. = Malancolious a. 1. b. = Malancolious a. 2. —a. 1549 Complaynte of Scotland 61/22.
The thrid cardinal vynd … is cald and dry, of ane melancolic natur c1600 Medical Recipes 87.
This signe [sc. the moon] is … of femenine kynd and malancolik complexciounb. 15.. Clariodus iii. 543.
The King, in his melancolike passioun, … in his breist ay wirking … vengeance 15.. Ib. 1552. 15.. Ib. v. 2303.
Melancholike he brunt of pure invy, That Sir Clariodus … did excell c1590 Fowler I. 203/6.
The melancolik accents of my mone 1591 Warrender P. (S.H.S.) II. 159.
To renew the mynd of melancolik persons
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"Melancolic adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 16 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/melancolic>
