A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1983 (DOST Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1528-1632
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0]
Ociositie, -é, Otiosity, n. [e.m.E. ociosyte (Caxton), -itee (1532–3), thereafter appar. unrecorded in Eng. until the 19th c., MF. ociosit, occiosité (15th c. in Godef.), f. OF. occiose, L. ōtiōs-us at leisure.] Idleness, indolence. — 1528 Lynd. Dreme 121.
[I] purposit … Me to defende frome ociositie 1533 Bell. Livy I. 46/32.
That his pepill … suld nocht haue occasioun to lust … be ociosite & sleuth c1550 Rolland Court of Venus Prol. 237.
Thocht the corps ly in ociositie, ȝit than the thocht can neuer idill be 1584-9 Maxwall Commonpl. Bk. 9b.
Thairfoir … flie ocositie 1632 Lithgow Trav. 172.
A towne … of small importance, in regard of … trafficke … want of strangers being one let, and vitious otiosity the other stop
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Ociositie n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 19 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/ociositie>
