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.
Plesand, n.1 Also: pleis-, pleyss- and -ande. [? Plesand ppl. a. But see note to Plesand(i)s, which may also apply to some of the following instances, others being explicable as pseudo-sing. forms of Plesand(i)s.]
1. The disposition to please; courtesy. = Plesance n.1 2.c1420 Wynt. vii. 2182 (C).
Na her my wil is noucht to wryte Bot pleyssande [R. plesans] generale and delyte c1475 Wall. viii. 1724.
The gud weillfair, plesande [1570 plesance] and worthines … He kythyt apon me
2. A woman of agreeable appearance (? and character). Cf. Plesandn.2 c1500-c1512 Dunb. Tua Mar. W. 158.
The plesand [M. pleisand] said, I protest, the treuth gif I schaw [etc.] a1568 Bann. MS. 226 a/43.
I … Pray to that plesand Of petie and pes