A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1986 (DOST Vol. VI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1400, 1500-1570
[0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
Quartane, adj. Also: cartane. [ME (Cursor M.) and e.m.E. quartain(e, -eyn(e, -ane, F. (fièvre) quartaine (13th c.), L. (febris) quartāna. (Cf. also Quart(e.)]Fever quartane, the quartan fever, ‘characterised by the occurrence of a paroxysm every fourth (in mod. reckoning, every third) day’.— a1400 Legends of the Saints xxxi 296.
The fel fevyr scho had tane That callit is the quartane c1500 Crying of Play 57.
For cald scho tuke the fever cartane 1540 Lynd. Sat. 2188 (Ch.).
It is ane bane of Sanct Bryds cow, Gude for the feuer quartane [B. cartane] c1552 Id. Mon. 5114.
Sum in the flux and feuir quartane, Bot ay the houre of deith vncertane 1570 Satirical Poems xvi 37.
Albeit he haif the feuer quartane He suld be made Knycht of the Gartane
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Quartane adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/quartane>
