A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2001 (DOST Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1531-1669
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Sinkand, Sinking, ppl. adj. Also: synkand. [Sink v. Cf. e.m.E. sinking (1585).] Sinking.
1. Sinkand sand, mire, quicksand, bog. Also in fig. context. 1531 Bell. Boece I xxvii.
Nocht far fra Sulway ar mony sinkand sandis 1535 Stewart 47343.
Thair schippis … drevin vpoun the land, Quhair tha war ebbit on ane sinkand sandfig. 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1894) 225.
My short legs could not step over this lair, or sinking mire; and therefore my Lord Jesus will bear me through
2. Of paper: Soft and absorbent, allowing ink to ‘run’ or spread. 1575 Edinburgh Testaments III 319b.
Sex quaris of sinkand paper 1622-6 Bisset I 125/8.
That everie clerk to the signet, cause writ thair billis … nocht on synkand paper 1663 Lauderdale P. I 148.
Your letter … is of so sinking paper that it is worse than the first 1669 Argyll-Lauderdale Lett. 99.
I was afraid you should (not) read my scribbling on this sinking paper
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"Sinkand ppl. adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 17 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/sinkand>
