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: 1507-1538, 1591-1667
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Rosting, Roisting, vbl. n. Also: -yn, -in, -en. [ME and e.m.E. rostinge (1398); Rost v.] 1. The action of roasting, in various senses of Rost v. a1508 Kennedy Pass. Christ 584.
He … Sufferit mair pane … Than Sanct Laurence in tyme of his roisting a1538 Abell 69a.
He fand ane wiche turnand the kingis ymage of wax. … the king … continualie swet be the forsaid rostin and incantatioun 1591 Criminal Trials I ii 246.
Meaning the pictour of walx, dewysit for roisting
b. attrib. and comb.See also Rosting-irne.(1) 1530 Balmerino and L. Chart. ii 33.
Ane rostyn spreik 1637 Edinburgh Testaments LVIII 191b.
Ane littell rosting speit 1641 Ib. LX 14b.
Ane rosting brander 1651 Buccleuch Mun. II 291.
Rosten(2) 1667 Galloway P. 15 April.
Three dossen rosting fowls
2. The action of heating metal ore in the process of refining. 1594 Haigh Mining P. xvi.
[He] sall leirne … thame [sc. apprentices] the airtis following … the wesching rosting and melting of iron and copper vre
b. Attrib. with hous.Cf. Rost kill. 1609 Hilderstoun Silver Mines I 168b.
Four loadis of coillis to the rosting hous
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"Rosting vbl. n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 13 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/rosting_vbl_n>
