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: 1400, 1499-1626
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Deth(e, Deith(e, Death(e, n. Also: deyth, deitht, deaythe. [ME. deth(e, deeþ, deþ, OE. déaþ. See also Daith(e, and cf. Dede n.2] Death.(a) c1400 Troy-bk. ii. 1032 (the felloun deth of Achilles). c1400 Ib. 1428 (gylty to deth). a1500 Lancelot of the Laik 958 (deth or other lat). c1500-c1512 Dunb. G. Targe 208 (woundit to the deth). c1500-c1512 Ib. vii. 39 (dethe or schame). 1513 Doug. ii. ii. 81 (quhy tary I my deth?). 1531 Bell. Boece I. 10 (herand the deth of his fader). 1562-3 Winȝet I. 95/2 (to condemne thame to the dethe).1580 Protocol Book of J. Robertsone 2 b (knawand the deth certane). 1596 Dalr. II. 292/16 (a dethe verie violent). 1614 Criminal Trials III. 294 (to the dethe).(b) a1500 Lancelot of the Laik 1019 (of thi lyue and thi deith). 1513 Doug. ii. ix. 120 (quhat deith ȝe pleis). 1513 Ib. iv. i. 48 (the pyt of deith). 1531 Bell. Boece I. 242 (fechtand to the deith). 1531 Ib. II. 408 (prevenit be untimus deith). 1534 Rec. Earld. Orkney 218 (in the articall of deyth). c1552 Lynd. Mon. 1933 (deith, hounger, darth). c1552 Ib. 2838 (of deith the schowris). 1567 Satirical Poems iii. 183 (feill deithis dartis). 1574 Edinburgh Testaments iii. 139 (na thing mair sicker nor the deith). a1570-86 Maitland Folio MS cxix. 17 (think deithe is at the dure). 1596 Dalr. I. 157/8 (eftir the deith of his bruther). 1626 Garden Worthies 24 (preserv'd him from a present deith).(c) c1568 Lauder Minor P. i. 678 (suffer maist cruell death). c1568 Ib. iii. 82 (to death persewit). 1576 Douglas Corr. 221 (the trewe cawse of his deathe). a1585 Maitland Quarto MS lxxx. 4 (lyfe or death to find). 1624 Brechin Testaments IV. 175 (efter my deaythe).
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"Deth n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 18 Apr 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/dethe>
