A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1951 (DOST Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1652
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Deil(l, Dele, n.1 Also: deyle. [ME. dele (14th c.), contracted form of Devil.] A, or the, devil. a1400 Legends of the Saints xxxii. 120.
Sic thing he wrocht For to dissawe men … Thru deylis crafte and sorcery c1450-2 Howlat 799.
Quhat dele alis thé? a1500 Buke of the Sevyne Sagis 512.
Ȝour callit son, ȝone dele c1500 Rowll Cursing 145.
I, devill of deillis, I ȝow condame a1508 Kennedy Flyt. 259.
Generit betuix ane sche beir and a deill c1500-c1512 Dunb. xxvii. 54.
Off all his denner … His breist held deill a bit 1560 Rolland Seven Sages 1248.
The deill bedryte ȝow 1560 Ib. 2548.
Quhair deilgat we this freir? a1570-86 Maitland Maitland Folio MS xcv. 6.
I trow the mekle deill thame gydis 1603 Philotus cliii.
I gat … A deill vnto my dame 1652 Peebles B. Rec. II. 2.
The said Iames Haldine … sayd: Deill nor he break his neck if that he served upon these termes
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"Deil n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/deill_n_1>
