A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1951 (DOST Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1375-1599
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Dere, Deir(e, v.1 Also: deare. [ME. dere, early derien, OE. derian.] tr. To harm, hurt, injure. (Chiefly in poetry.)(a) 1375 Barb. iii. 520.
Wemen that can wet Thair chekys, quhen thaim list, with teris, The quhethir weill oft thaim na thing deris a1400 Legends of the Saints xix. 562.
Hym nocht deryt that brynnynge a1400 Ib. xxix. 290.
That the feynd sal haf na powere … the sawle to dere ?1438 Alex. i. 1448.
Pirrus hes sene how Gaudifere Sa stoutly can his fais dere 1456 Hay I. 85/5.
Thinkand that nane may dere him, quhat perile that ever he be in c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace viii. 873.
We wald gyff ransoun, To pass your way, and der no mayr the toun a1508 Kennedy Pass. Christ 719.
Thir cruell panis our hertis full fell deris c1500-c1512 Dunb. lx. 74.
Thy danger ay me deris 1513 Doug. v. xii. (heading).
Of the fyre sloknyng, quhilk the navy derys(b) a1500 Bk. Chess 1808.
Thai suld aye cast quhat micht the cite deire 1513 Doug. ii. iv. 546.
For he the haly hors … With violent strake presumyt for to deir c1550 Rolland Court of Venus ii. 921.
For weill I wait ȝe com not vs to deir 1560 Id. Seven Sages 10560.
With help of God na danger sall ȝow deir 1573 Satirical Poems xl. 355.
Thay sall not haue the power ȝow to deir a1578 Pitsc. I. 252/2.
The king gart schot ane cannon at hir [a ship] … bot I hard say it deirit hir nocht and did her lytill skaith 1587-99 Hume Epistle 316.
Vpright men thereby are nathing deirit c1590 Fowler I. 88/70.
This is that most ws deare 1596 Highland P. I. 167/8.
Gef … thair haill forces … wald cum in Lorne, … ȝeit culd theye not deir McCouill for he wes abel to resist
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"Dere v.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/dere_v_1>
