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

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First published 2001 (DOST Vol. X).
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Thousand(e, Thowsand(e, num. Also: thoussand, thouseande, thowsaunde, thovyssand, thowsant, thewsand, thusand, thwsand, thusant, thosand(e, thosant, thouson, towsand. [ME and e.m.E. þusent (c1175), þusennd (Orm), þusend, þusund, þousunt (all Layamon), þousend (c1290), thusand (Cursor M.), thousand (Rolle), OE þúsend, ON þúsuna.]

1. Thousand, the cardinal number. a. noun or quasi-noun. Also pl. b. adj. or attrib. use of noun.a. 1375 Barb. i 523.
Then slayn wes mony thowsand 1375 Barb. viii 209.
Schyr Aymer … Gadryt sua gret chewalry That he mycht be thre thowsand ner Armyt 1375 Barb. xi 106 (C).
Of thai war thre thousand … Till mak the front of the battale 1385 Red Bk. Menteith II 262.
The yher of hour Lorde a thowsand thre hundyr fourscor and fyve ?1438 Alex. i 2510.
Ane thousand sall haue invy Richt at his douchty cheualry 1412 Melville Chart. 19.
Thwsand 1417 Reg. Episc. Aberd. I 216.
Thousande c1420 Wynt. v 1447.
Fere leware he had alway A man off his to sauff wnslayne Than off hys fays to sla … a thowsand 1439–40 Reg. Episc. Aberd. I 240.
Thowsande 1456 Hay I 144/13.
Gif the king of Fraunce had left to the provest of Paris a thousand ȝerely, till his wagis a1500 Gol. & Gaw. 197.
Folk, to feght gif you nedis, With thretty thousand tald 1481 Fam. Rose 146.
Thosand 1499 Fam. Rose 171.
Thosande 1503 Treas. Acc. II 236.
For xx^m powderingis to the samyn … and cost … ilk thousand iij s. 1520 Thanes of Cawdor 137.
Thovyssand c1552 Lynd. Mon. 3561.
Quhare mony one thousand loste thare lyfe 1557 Facs. Nat. MSS III xl.
Thowsaunde 1695 Lanark B. Rec. 257.
For winning a thousand stones, being a long thousand, for asler to Clydsholme bridge(b) 1512 Wigtown B. Ct. 9b.
The ȝere of God a towsand v hundyrd xii ȝeris(c) 1605 Edinb. Test. XL 314b.
Four thousand feit at iij li. the thouson … tuelf hundretht greit feit at x s. the hundrethtpl. ?1438 Alex. i 2593.
With that baith hunders and thousandis War about Betys 1513 Doug. i vii 130.
Amyd the thousandis egyrly feghtis sche c1530-40 Stewart in Bann. MS 94a/14.
Ȝit he in riches multeplis That he levis thowsandis to his air c1552 Lynd. Mon. 3983.
Thousandis deit, for falt of fude 1556 Lauder Off. Kings 94.
The kyng had in his handis The rewle of hunders and thousandis 1560 Rolland Seven S. 5225.
Thair is gold ten thousand of thousandis Within the wallis hid of the same cietie 1611-57 Mure Early Misc. P. xiv 12.
By turning the dyce, Metamorphos'd his thowsandsb. a1400 Leg. S. i 40.
And Petir broucht to Cristis fay Thre thowsand men on Witsonday ?1438 Alex. i 226.
His winnyng suld be worth this day Ane houndreth thousand pund 14.. Acts I 305/2.
Of a thousand haddockis or quhytingis … a peny a1500 Lanc. 976.
Fourty thousand armyt men a1499 Contempl. Sinn. 1238 (Asl.).
Of thousand milȝeoun ȝeris the slyding 1490 Irland Mir. III 29/7.
The bodely nature of … Adam discendit be multiplicacioun and is and sal be deuidit in mony thousand porciounis 1498 Montgomery Mem. 53.
Twa thoussand merk to be pait be the falȝear of ony of the forsaid parteis 1528 Lynd. Dreme 302.
Quhare mony ane thousand Comoun peple laye flichtrand in the fyre 1534 Acta Conc. & Sess. MS VI 119b.
xiiij^m fische hukis & xvj thousand lynis 1545 Douglas Corr. 154.
Fourte thowsant crownis in mony 1561 Q. Kennedy Compendious Ressonyng (ed.) 173/19.
As towart the cerimoniis or oratiouns set furth be the kirk to decoir the laudable sacrifice of the mes, the laittest is ane thousand ȝeir and mair [sc. old] 1622 Aberd. Council Lett. I 201.
Ten thousand stane of woll quhilk is all wroght and labored heir 1628 Justiciary Cases I 93.
Thouseande(b) 1633 Maxwell Mem. 439.
Ther is grantit a taxatioun of sex^c thewsand pundis to his maiestie(c) 1561–3 Edinb. Old Acc. I 381.
For ane thosant planscheour naill [26 s. 8 d.](d) 1682 E. Loth. Antiq. Soc. II 26.
Ther was present at the funerall tuo thusant hors at least

2. (Of) the thousand, per thousand. 1482 Edinb. Chart. 169.
Of the thousand irne ij s. 1612 Conv. Burghs II 375.
The thousand knappald iiij s. [sc. duty]

3. In hyperbolical use, as an expression of a very large number (chiefly, of times). ?1438 Alex. ii 2203.
I thank ane thousand syse Wenus, Cupido and Marcurius c1500-c1512 Dunb. (OUP) 39/7.
Ȝour man am I, A thousand tymes that dois ȝow mercy cry a1538 Abell 1*a.
In the fyft place ten thousand tymys thair self a1605 Montg. Ch. & Slae 327 (L).
One thowsand tymes I think that [etc.] 1635 Lundie Poems 9.
He crys tenn thusand-thusand tyms adeue 1664 Rothesay B. Rec. 78.
Be the space of tuentie dayis [he] callit [him] a thowsand knaiffs

4. As the ordinal number: Thousandth. c1552 Lynd. Mon. 6029.
Off man quhilk passis the ingyne, The thousand part for tyll defyne c1550 Rolland Ct. Venus iii 866.
And had not bene that sweit virginitie Was mair condigne in the thousand degre 1684 Symson Descr. Galloway 38.
A bell at the church of Penygham … dedicat … to Saint Ninian in the thousand year after the birth of Christ