A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 2000 (DOST Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1682-1695
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1]
(Schereman,) Shear(e)man, n. Also: sheer-. [ME and e.m.E. sermon (a1275), scherman (1279), shereman (1379); Scher(e v.] One who ‘shears’, or clips off, superfluous nap from woollen cloth; a shearman. = S(c)herar n. 1. — 1682 New Mills Manuf. 21.
John Home to goe presently to the west of Ingland and there procure us 2 shear-men [etc.]. … The shear-mens wages from 6 s. to 7 s. 6 d. sterling per week 1683 Ib. 59.
Sheermen 1687 Ib. 139, etc.
Ane inventarie of all the sheirs, boards or other materiall that the shearmen [etc.] … have in ther custodie 1695 Kirkcudbr. Sheriff Ct. Deeds II 819 (13 Sept.).
[John Blearre] sheareman [in Dalbetie]
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Schereman n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 13 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/schereman>
