A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1990 (DOST Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1567-1580, 1666-1691
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(Rapsody,) Rapsodie, -sidie, n. [e.m.E. rapsodie (1574), -sody, -sidie (Shakesp.), rhapsodie (1542), -sody, L. rhapsōdia, F. rap-, rhapsodie (1582 in Godef.).] a. A rigmarole or confused medley. b. A literary collection consisting of disconnected pieces, a miscellany. —a. 1580 Hay in Cath. Tr. (S.T.S.) 34/15.
The doctreine … is na other thing bot … ane rapsodie of awld condamned heresies 1666 Glasgow Chart. II 87.
A confused rapsidie of informall compts 1691 Arbuthnott Kirk S. 8 April.
[The minutes were] a rapsodie of confusion —b. a1568 Bannatyne MS 1a heading.
Ane most godlie, mirrie and lustie rapsodie maide be sundrie learned Scots poets and written be George Bannatyne
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"Rapsody n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 15 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/rapsody>
