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: 1400-1535, 1588-1600
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Languo(u)r(e, n. Also: langueur, languere. [ME. (15th c.) and e.m.E. languo(u)r(e, OF. languor, F. langueur, L. languor.] Sickness, illness, also, a disease; distress, care, misery; longing. = Langour(e n. 14.. Acts I. 389/2.
Gif four sisteris be mot wyth a bref of richt, may ilkane haiff assonȝhe of mawdelyt and ilkane of languor ? Na, nan bot ane in languor the quhilk knychtis … beris wytnes … at thai haiff … hir body in languore sene c1420 Wynt. v. 2818.
Petyre … Apperyd to this empriowre That gretly menyd hys languore [v.rr. langour(e] c1420 Ib. 2835 (W).
Remeid Off ony languere c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace i. 270.
For dreid thar of in gret languor he grew c1500-c1512 Dunb. xlvii. 28 (B).
My bredir all That in this lyfe hes lordschip small, Lat languour not in ws imprent c1500-c1512 Ib. lxix. 9.
My hairt for languor dois forloir, For laik of symmer with his flouris c1520-c1535 Nisbet Matth. ix. 35.
Euiry languour 1588 King Catechism App. 30.
O maist sueit breade … Mak me hail from al langueur c1600 Montg. Suppl. ix. 13.
Ȝour lust & languore I lament a1598 Ferg. Prov. MS. No. 1105.
Out of sight out of languorplur. 1588 King Catechism App. 26.
He … healed our languors by his sores
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"Languor n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/languoure>
