Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1718-1939
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JUNT, n.1 Also jund. [dʒʌnt]
1. A large lump of anything, esp. meat or bread (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Ork. 1899 Ellis E.E.P. V. 800, jund; Uls. 1953 Traynor; ne.Sc. 1959). Also fig.Sc. 1718 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 72:
Twa Times aught Bannocks in a Heap, And twa good Junts of Beef.Sc. 1746 Lyon in Mourning (S.H.S.) I. 170:
A junt of butter betwixt two fardles of bread.Ayr. 1790 A. Tait Poems 281:
And ye'll gie me a junt o' ham.Lnk. 1808 W. Watson Poems 71:
Whare ancient poets us'd to dine On junts o' rhymin skill.Bnff. 1847 A. Cumming Tales (1896) 4:
An' lang your sonsie waistcoats button, On cogs o' ale, an' junts o' mutton.Ags. 1874 Kirriemuir Observer (7 Aug.) 4:
There wisna brochen nor powsowdie at it, bit big junts o' flesh.Dmb. 1894 D. MacLeod Past Worthies 176:
She helped her mother now and then to junts of salt meat out of her master's barrel.Abd.15 1928:
That's a gey junt o' a ruck.Uls. 1939 P. Gallagher My Story 98:
A fine bowl of tea and a junt of flour bread.
2. A large quantity of liquid (Kcb. 1959).Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 288:
Gowdie, the cow, gives a junt of milk, but we know not how much that is, though we are aware it is a considerable deal.Kcb.4 1900:
Gie's a junt o' whusky in a bowl.
3. A squat, clumsy person (Sc. 1825 Jam.), in 1879 quot. as a nick-name; transf. the knave in a pack of cards (Abd.7 1925).Bnff. 1787 W. Taylor Poems 26:
Brave Jess, the fodgel junt, Did had Dad's hands.Ags. 1879 in A. L. Fenton Forfar Poets 155:
An' if the Junt had been mair slim He'd made an excellent Corporal Trim.
4. A knot (Bnff. 1947, “tie it in a junt”).
5. Comb. †jaunt coal, coal which lies in alternate layers with other substances (Lnk. 1793 D. Ure Hist. Rutherglen 290), now termed jointy coal (Fif.15 1947). Cf. Eng. joint, a crack or fissure intersecting a mass of rock.
[Fig. extensions of meaning of O.Sc. junt, c.1500, Mid.Eng. jonte, a joint (of the body), poss. with influence from Junk. For the phonology, cf. Fushion, Pushion.]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Junt n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 8 Jan 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/junt_n1>
