Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)

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First published 1983 (DOST Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Plite, Plyt(e, n.¹ Also: pleyt; (plicht). [ME. plyt(e (14th c.), plit(e (14–15th c.), AF. plit(e for ONF. *pleit, OF. ploit fold (whence Pliten.² and Plait n.), also manner of being (13th c. in Godef.): cf. also Plicht n.²]Chiefly in the phr. in (gud, bad etc., also sik) plite.

1. The state or condition (of a material, also a nonmaterial, thing) .(a) 1397 Douglas Chart. 37.
Al thingis at the officeris … ressayvis … in the saide castel thai sal ger deliuir in als gude plite as thai ressayve thaym in or ellis the valw 1440 Acts II. 55/2.
Al thingis twicheyng the said materies and clames … remanand and cessand in the menetyme … in sik termes and plite as thai stand in now 1459 Aberd. B. Rec. MS. V. i. 361 (9 Apr.).
Vphaldand the said tenement as in sic like plite as it is now in c1460 Alex. (Taym.) (ed.) 506.
His hair was quhyte … Weill polist in gude plyte(b) c1420 Wynt. ix. 1104 (E2).
Grace For to … haid his land In als gude pleyt as he it fand

2. (A person or animal's) physical condition or state; (one's) state of mind or circumstances; a plight. b. A sorry or pitiful condition.(1) c1420 Wynt. v. 1742 (W) (see Ply n. 2 (2)).
Plyte c1460 Alex. (Taym.) (ed.) 1093.
That quhoweuer him list in quhat maner & plyte He salbe seruit at hs awin appetyte 1461 Liber Plusc. 387.
Scho was … Off princis cummyng and in to peirles plyte 1501 Doug. Pal. Hon. 932.
I standand bundin in ane sorie plite Bydand thair grace Id. Æn. vi. Prol. 37.
Virgil doith discrive … And now … we haue on hand Eftir thar deth in quhat plyte saulis sal stand(b) 15.. Clar. v. 909.
Sex coursouris in gud plicht [: quhyte](2) a1568 Bann. MS. 226 b/13.
For febill plyt ȝit cuth I nyt hir neuirb. a1500 Henr. Orph. 201 (Ch. & M.).
Quhen that he saw his sone Orpheus In sik a plyte it changit all his chere 1492 Myll Spect. 291/2.
My far ladye quhat do ȝe heir in this plyte?