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: 1456-1629
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Bakbitare, -biter, n. Also: bakbytar(e, -byter, -byttar, -bytter. [ME. bakkebytere, bacbiter, bacbitare (c 1225); f. Bakbite v.; cf. Bitare.] A backbiter, slanderer, calumniator.1456 Hay II. 40/30 (outrageus in word and sclanderous bakbytare). c1460 Wisdom of Solomon 770 (a bakbytar may be lyknit till a neddyr). c1500-c1512 Dunb. xxvi. 50 (bakbyttaris of sindry racis). 1533 Gau 17/30 (al bakbiters and lears). a1570-86 J. Maitland Maitland Folio MS lxxxviii. 35 (bakbyttarris will blaspheme ȝou). a1570-86 Ib. cv. 13 (bakbyttaris and blasphemaris). 1629 Misc. Spald. C. V. 224 (to tak ordour with all flytters and bakbytters).
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"Bakbitare n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 15 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/bakbitare>
