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: 1638-1700+
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Skel(l)et, Scelet, n. [e.m.E. skellette (1565), scelet (1603), MF scelette, squelete, F. squelette (1552, a1585 and a1660 in Larousse), f. the Gk.] A skeleton. Also fig. — 1638 Adamson Muses Thr. 92.
Melancholie … causing an atrophie, That we like skellets rather seem to be Than men 1695 Edinb. Surgeons III p. 14.
The key of the case of the skelet which is in the meetting house —fig. 1673 Lauder Notices Affairs I 56.
Their fundamental priviledge of election might become ane fanfara and empty show, … a bare skelet and carcase of a priviledge 1707 Fountainhall in M.P. Brown Suppl. Decis. IV 673.
The Lords thought this decree had not so much as the visage and scelet of a decreet
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"Skelet n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 13 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/skellet>
