A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 2001 (DOST Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1420, 1499-1515, 1629
[0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0]
Spensar, -er(e, n. Also: -are, -eyr, spencere, spens, spence. [ME and e.m.E. spense(r (Cursor M.), spencer (c1400), OF despensier (c1131 in Larousse), AF espenser (Godefroy); Spens n.1] One who is in charge of the provisions in a household, the person in charge of the ‘spens’ (Spens n.1 a).(a) c1420 Wynt. ii 1041.
Lemman to that god wes he And spensare [C. spensar] alsua c1420 Wynt. vi 1985.
The spensere [C. spenseyr] A laffe hym gawe till hys supere c1420 Wynt. viii 3035.
Schyre Hw the Spensare [C. Spencere] a1500 Henr. Fab. 293.
The spenser [H. spensar, Bann. spens] come with keyis in his hand, Oppinnit the dure, and thame [sc. the mice] at denner fand c1515 Asloan MS I 325/12.
Ganymydes son of King Priame of Troy maid spenser to Jubiter(b) a1500 Henr. Fab. 293 (Bann.) (see (a) above). 1629 Lowther's Jrnl. 41.
The Scottish dialect … Spence, boor in a country house
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Spensar n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 15 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/spensar>
