A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1963 (DOST Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1400, 1475-1513, 1569-1639
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Half, adv. Also: halfe, halff. [ME. half, OE. half-, healf- in composition with adj. or pple., as healfcwic, healfslǽpende.] To the extent of half; in part, partly.(1) a1400 Legends of the Saints xxiv. 214 (ȝouland as half brawne wod). c1500-c1512 Dunb. lxxxi. 1 (halff sleiping). 1513 Doug. iii. iv. 70 (the pray half etyn). 1513 Ib. iv. xii. 87 ([Dido] gan enbrays half ded hir systir). 1569-73 Bann. Memor. 64 (ane half rostit hand). 1639 Baillie I. 206 (he is hanged, and quartered half-quick).(2) a1500 Henr. III. 103/40 (half so weill). c1578 Reid Swire 100 (he was not half sae stout).(3) a1500 Henr. Fab. 1017 (Half out of lyfe, … he lay). c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace x. 128 (halff in wraith). 1596 Dalr. II. 353/10 (halfe by his mynd).
