A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
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: 1533-1599, 1660-1681
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,0]
Numeratio(u)n, -acioun, n. Also: noumeracioun, nowmeration, nomeratioun. [Late ME. numeracion (15th c.), e.m.E. -ation (1542), L. numerātio, F. numération.] 1. Counting, reckoning, tallying. 1533 Bell. Livy I. 278/32.
The nowmeration [v.r. noumeracioun] of pepill … was endit in this ȝere 1597 Skene Verb. S. s.v. Mese.
The common vse of numeration & telling of herring … is vsed be thousands
2. Counting out (a payment) in ready money; payment in cash. 1563 Protocol Book of J. Drummond 57.
Eftir the numeracioun and telling thairof he deliu[er]it the samyn some 1572 Protocol Book of A. Lawson 20.
The said numeratioun of the sowme foirsaid, reding of the said lettre of tak … wes done at the … said altar 1599 Glasgow Protocols Abstracts XI. 52.
Nomeratioun 1660 Rothesay B. Rec. 290.
Mak reall consignatioun and numeratioun of the last termes payment 1680 Fountainhall Decis. I. 73.
Unless … the father would … prove the numeration of the money 1681 Stair Inst. i. x. § 11.
Even though the writ bear the numeration of the money and do expressly renounce the exception of not numerated money
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Numeration n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/numeratioun>
