A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1983 (DOST Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1575-1640, 1699
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Ocular, -er, a. Also: occular, -our. [e.m.E. ocullare (1597), ocular(e, occular, -er, L. ocūlaris, F. oculaire.] Performed by or addressed to the eye, ocular (inspection, also demonstration). — c1575 Balfour Pract. 382.
The lordis of counsal, be ocular inspectioun, may decern … ony letter … or uther writ to be false 1612 Criminal Trials III. 239.
He is past sevintene yeiris of aige … as is manifest nocht onlie be ocular inspectioun bot [etc.] 1618 Ib. 455.
Occulour 1622 Ib. 516.
Oculer 1631 Justiciary Cases I. 166.
Quhilk be occulour inspectioun is mair nor evident to all that luikis thairupoun that he is lamet … of his said leg 1632 Aberd. Council Lett. I. 359.
Occular a1633 Hope Major Pract. II. 127. 1699 Fountainhall Decis. II. 53.
She having vitiate the compt-books by ocular inspection … by tearing out leafs thereof — 1640 Dundonald Par. Rec. 467.
Let the maister … point out the faults and learn them by ocular demonstratioun in his own practeise before them
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"Ocular adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 13 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/ocular>
