A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2002 (DOST Vol. XI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1549-1578, 1653
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Unequal(l, Onequal, Unegall, adj. [e.m.E. vnegall (1508), vnequall (1535); Egal adj., Equale adj. = Inequall adj.] a. Of persons: Not equal or matched (in some respect, to another). b. Unbalanced, mismatched. c. Unfair, inequitable. d. Unworthy, not equal to the reality. —a. 1549 Complaynte of Scotland 90/17.
Quhou beit thai var onequal baytht in nummer & puissance to ȝour ald enemes —b. 1572 Buch. Detect. (1727) 56.
Quhat was it then that joynit sa unegall lufe, and sa far aganis ressoun? —c. 1573 Reg. Privy C. II 227.
The ministeris … hes bene greittumlie hinderit … throw … the unequall distributioun of rentis quhairupoun thay aucht to have bene sustenit a1578 Pitsc. I 66/6.
Throw his unequall punisching of innocencie and great favour that he buire to the tyrannis and malefactouris —d. 1653 Binning Wks. (1841) 277.
The glory of the … Son of God was the more visibly manifested, that he appeared in so low and unequal a shape
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"Unequal adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/unequall>
