Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
REEF, n. Also reif, refe (Jam.); rife. A skin disease leaving crusts on the skin, the scab (Sc. 1808 Jam.); loosely applied to an itch (Ib.). Deriv. reefy, affected with this disease, scabby (n.Sc. 1808 Jam.). Also in Eng. dial. Cf. Ruff, n.2 [rif, †rəif]m.Lth. 1794 G. Robertson Har'st Rig (1801) 35:
'Tis but ae night, We'll e'en stay, (maybe get the rife).Sc. 1808 Jam.:
In some places the itch is, by way of eminence, called the reif.m.Lth. 1812 P. Forbes Poems 132:
Wi' breeks gay an' raggit an' twa reefy hands.Rxb. 1824 Farmer's Mag. (Nov.) 434:
Every year, there are several among a flock which have a crust or foulness, or what the shepherd calls a reef, on their skins.Sc. 1853 Jnl. Agric. 181:
How frequent, too, do we find upon the back of the dipped or unsalved turnip-fed sheep a hard crust, which not unfrequently genders into what the skinners technically call “reif”.
