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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1934 (SND Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

ACE, n. [es Sc.; is Abd.; js s.Sc. + ès]

1. The smallest possible amount. (The last quotation in N.E.D. for this sense is dated 1737.)Ork. 1866 Edm. Gl.:
Ace, the smallest division of anything, a single particle, a unit.Bnff.2 1931:
There's nae an ace o' difference atween them.Bnff.4 1931:
He ga im seed corn, bit he'll never see an ace o't back.

2. The best.Ayr. 1801 (first publ.) Burns To James Tennant 31–32:
My heart-warm love to guid auld Glen, The ace an' wale o' honest men.Bwk. 1863 A. Steel Poems 53:
Except like D —, that ace o' fellows, Noo pechin' at the devil's bellows.

[Fr. as, Lat. as, assis, unit, which is said to owe its form to ας, Tarentine form of Gr. εις, one. Earliest sense in Fr. and Eng. is the side of the dice with one pip; hence (1) the lowest throw; but in some games the highest throw, hence fig. the best; (2) a very small particle, distance, or space, as in phrase “within an ace of.”]

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