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.
Viator, n. [e.m.E. vyatour (1504), viator (1655) a traveller, L. viātor a traveller; an officer whose duty was to summon persons before the magistrate.] a. A traveller. b. An officer sent to carry out the orders of another. Only in Bell. Livy. —a. 1490 Irland Mir. III 107/19.
[The ressonable creaturis that ar viatores & pilgrymis in this pur waurld 1664 Pitcairn Spiritual Sacrifice 193.]
Only he whose wisdom is an unsearchable depth, can assigne to every man a politique and civil competency sutable not only to his condition and rank … but also to his condition as he is a pilgrime and viator, and as he is on his journey home-wards —b. 1533 Bell. Livy I 229/25.
The tribune commandit ilk man to departe except sa mony as wald gif thare votis for confirmatioun of the said law. Mony of the young nobillis wald gif na place, nor yit obey to the viator [L. viatori]
