A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2001 (DOST Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1488-1687
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Thymmil, Thymbill, n. Also: thymyll, themmill, thimbell, thumbill, thumble, thoumble, timmele. [Late ME and e.m.E. themel, thymelle (both Hoccleve), thymbyl (Prompt. Parv.), themyl, thymbyll (both 15th c.), thimble (1591), OE þýmel, f. þúma thumb. Cf. ON þumall the thumb of a glove.] A thimble.(a) 1488 Treasurer's Accounts I 80.
A thing of gold with a top like a timmele(b) 1505 Treasurer's Accounts III 172.
Item, for thymyllis, xviij d. c1530-40 Stewart in Bann. MS 140a/25.
Thou ȝeid with elwand, scheir and thymmil, Full mony a day seikand thy craft 1569 Edinburgh Testaments I 284b.
Sevin dosan … thymmillis price of the dosane xxx d.(c) 1575–6 Dumfries B. Ct. 20 Jan.
Item xvj themmills iiij balls(d) 1575 Edinburgh Testaments III 362b.
Sex greit caisis of nedillis & thymbillis 1612 Bk. Rates (Halyb.) 331.
Thimbellis(e) 1624 Edinburgh Testaments LII 294b.
Thumbilles 1662 Haigs of Bemersyde 472.
For a thumble 3 d.(f) 1687 Montgomery Mem. 339.
Two silver thoumbles
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"Thymmil n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 6 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/thymmil>
