Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1825, 1923
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
SEISSLE, v., n. Also syssle. [səisl]
I. v. 1. tr. and absol. To waste (time), dawdle, trifle, fritter away (time) (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.). Ppl.adj. seisslin. Hence seissler, a trifler (Bwk., Rxb. 1825 Jam.2).Bwk., Rxb. 1825 Jam.2:
A seisslin body.
2. To confuse, muddle, jumble up, put in disorder (Bwk., Rxb. 1825 Jam.2).Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.:
He seissl't a' the tickets.
II. n. Trifling; footling work (Bwk., Slk. a.1838 Jam. MSS. XII. 198, syssle).
[The same word as n.Eng. dial. sizle, = I. 1., phs. orig. from Norw., O.N. sysla, to be busy, arrange things, with extended meaning, sc. about small unimportant matters.]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Seissle v., n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 19 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/seissle>
