Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
CUNYIE, Cunyo, Coonyie, Cunzie, n. Also cunie (misread cunne below). [′kʌnji Sc., but Ork. + ′kʌnjo, Cai. + ′kunji]
†1. A keystone, quoin.Sth. 1733 in C. D. Bentinck Dornoch Cath. and Par. (1926) 273:
Two vaults in the steple above the second floor, with doors, windows, and cunzies.Abd. 1706 Abd. Burgh Records (1872) 333:
Building the first font at the spring of Cardanus well for ten pund sterleing, the thesaurer only furnishing lyme cunnes and casting the found.
‡2. A corner (Cai. 1905 E.D.D. Suppl., coonyie; Bwk., Rxb. 1825 Jam.2, cunyie; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., obs.).Ork.(D) 1880 Dennison Sketch Bk. 49:
Mansie geed ower a muckle rock 'at lay atween him an' that geo; an' there, i' a cunyo o' the geo, he saw a mither selkie.Ork. 1908 J. A. Pottinger in Old-Lore Misc. I. v. 173:
He . . . scravelled roond intae a cunyie, whaur he could sit and see a' that was gaan on.
Comb.: cunyie-nuik, “a very snug situation; literally the corner of a corner” (Rxb. 1825 Jam.2). Known to Slg.3 1941.
[O.Sc. cunȝ(i)e, etc., a corner of a wall or building, from 1375, from O.Fr. cuigne, a wedge or die (D.O.S.T.), Lat. cuneus. Same word as Cunzie,n. and v. ]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Cunyie n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 20 Apr 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/cunyie>
