A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1400, 1460-1610
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Adversité, Adversitie, n. (Usually aduers-.) Also: adversyte, -cite, -sitee, -sytee; adversitye, adwerssatie. [ME. adversité (c 1225), -itee, and adversitie (1340), OF. adversité, L. adversitāt-, adversitas.]
1. Adversity, misfortune.a1400 Legends of the Saints i. 5 (for aduersite). Hay I. 85/27 (to sustene all adversitee). c1460 Thewis Wysmen 203 (patient in aduersytee). 1513 Doug. i. vii. 61 (releif eftir aduersite); ix. 65 (hard aduersite). c1552 Lynd. Mon. 1936 (in adversitye). 1560 Rolland Seven Sages 25/24 (greit aduersitie). a1578 Pitsc. I. 278/22 (gret aduersiteis). 1610 7th Rep. Hist. MSS. 723/1 (the smallest thorter or aduersite).
2. Opposition. 1481 Peebles B. Rec. 189.
Qwhyll the werray possesour … be peissabyll in his possession, but pley or aduersite
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"Adversité n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/adversite>
