Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1825-1852, 1911
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†ARRAS, ARRESS, ARIS, n. Sc. spellings of the Eng. arris, defined in N.E.D. as "The sharp edge formed by the angular contact of two plane or curved surfaces." The term is known over a wide area in Eng. dialect and is treated as a Sc. dial. word in Sc. dictionaries. The forms with a distinctive Sc. development are Awrige, Arridge.Sc. 1911 S.D.D.:
The angular edge of anything, of a stone; the tips of the little ridges laid by the plough.Lth. 1825 Jam.2:
The angular edge of a stone, log or beam. "The rebbits of that window would hae look't better, gin the mason had ta'en aff the arras." "Thai jambs would have been as handsome, and would hae been safer for the bairns, if the arress had been tane aff" — i.e. if the sharp edge had been hewed off.Ayr. 1852 M. Lochhead Poems and Songs 124:
Five an' a-half to hairs-breadth cuts, And splendid aris on he puts.
