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: 1589-1676
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Pistol(l, n.2 Also: pistul; pestole. [e.m.E. pistole (1592), -ol(l, a name formerly applied to certain foreign gold coins; sometimes synonymous with Pistolet n.2; F. pistole the coin (c 1620 in OED.).] — 1589–1600 Skipper's Acc. (Morton) 41 b.
I haue to take ine pestole xvi ryellis half 1589–1600 Ib. 74 a.
ii sengell pestole 1589–1600 Ib. 75 b.
I tak the doubell pestoles for vi frankis xvi s. and tha geueine Bordes bot twa sous 1612 Douglas Corr. 248.
Pistullis 1648 Misc. Maitl. C. II. 460.
Armes and amunition … amounting to the valew of ten thousand pistols 1676 Rec. Convention of Royal Burghs III. 667.
For forraigne peices of gold, viz., the quadrouple Spainish pistoll, wieing fourteen drap, to pas at fourtie tuo punds Scotts; and the half and quarter pistoll propportionallie
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"Pistol n.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 18 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/pistoll_n_2>
