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: 1456-1586
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Carnal(e, Carnail(l, a. Also: carnall. [Late ME. carnall, L. carnālis. See also Carnell a.] Carnal, fleshly, in various applications.Carnal daill or dele, knawledging, etc.: see the nouns.(1) 1456 Hay I. 20/35 (the carnall will of humanitee); 1456 Ib. II. 87/5 (outrageous carnale appetitis). 1478 Charter (Reg. H.) No. 471 (carnale affectyone quhilk we haf tyll hym). a1500 Henr. Fab. 50 (carnall and foull delyte); a1500 Id. III. 148/63 (fra carnal cryme that clene is). a1499 Contemplacioun of Synnaris 342 (our carnale lust). 1513 Doug. iv. Prol. 4 (byrnyng, carnail, hait delyte). 1532 Glasgow Protocols Abstracts IV. 51 (carnall affection and luff to his gwdson). 1562-3 Winȝet I. 86/25 (carnal and gros iugement). a1570-86 Maitland Maitland Folio MS c. 14 (in carnall lust to ly).(2) 1456 Hay I. 130/4 (he has ath naturale, and carnale till his fader). a1500 Buke of the Sevyne Sagis 668 (that was his carnale fader). c1490 Irland Asl. MS. I. 6/22 (the gret luf that the synnar has to his carnall frendis). 1542 Reg. Privy S. II. 709/1 (dochter carnale to Stene Talliefeir). 1563 Misc. Wodrow Soc. 251 (ane carnall fatherhead).(3) c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace xi. 1348 (carnaill fud). a1499 Contemplacioun of Synnaris 1422 (this carnale lyf). c1490 Irland Asl. MS. I. 48/6 (carnale & wardly thingis). c1500-c1512 Dunb. lxxxv. 39 (vnseyne with carnale eyne). c1568 Lauder Minor P. i. 303 (no carnall creature).
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"Carnal adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 17 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/carnale>
