A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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About this entry:
First published 1971 (DOST Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1676
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Nabb, n. [Common in the mod. dial. as knab(b, nab, and cf. mod. Eng. (19th c.) nob id.; of obscure origin.] A person of importance or prestige. —1676 Inverness Tailors Min. Bk. MS. 10 Oct.
The said John Baillie … [thinking it beyond his capacity] for himself alone to setle the affairs of the trades, … therefore resolved … that the most discreet and sound nabbs of the freemen should join with him in council
