Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1976 (SND Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1858-1891
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
BRATTOCK, n. The young of an animal, specif. a young eider-duck, Somateria molissima.e.Lth. 1858 Chambers's Jnl. (14 Aug.) 108:
A solitary pair of eider-ducks may sometimes venture to rear their progeny of “brattocks” on the rock. e.Lth. 1891 Edb. Ev. Dispatch (1 May):
Didna Her Maijesty get brattocks frae the auld pond in Mark Barker's time, an' d'ye think she can ha'e forgotten them when ilka brattock cost her a pound a piece, as Mark has often tell't me?
[Orig. doubtful. Poss. a dim. form of Eng. brat in transf. sense.]
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Brattock n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 19 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/snd00088148>
