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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

CLOITER, Kloiter, Clyter, Clowt(t)er, Clouter, Cluitter, Clitter, Clutter, v., adv. and n. [′klɔɪtər, ′klɔɪ̢tər Sc., but n.Sc. + ′klʌtər, ne.Sc. + ′kləitər, Ork., Cai. and em.Sc. + ′klʌutər, m.Sc. + ′klɪtər, s.Sc. + ′klytər]

I. v.

1. To be engaged in dirty (particularly wet) work (Sc. 1825 Jam.2; Bnff.2, Abd.2, Ags.1, Lnk.3 1936); “heard in Balerno when plumbers were cleaning a choked drain” (Edb.3 1929). Hence cloiterin' work, “dirty farmyard work — cleaning byres, etc.” (Id.).

2. (1) “To work in a dirty, disgusting manner, particularly in liquids, or semiliquids” (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 220, clyter; Abd.2, Ags.1, Lnl.1 (clitter) 1936). Jam. (1808) gives cluttering, pr.p., “doing any piece of business in an awkward and dirty way,” for n.Sc.Fif. 1825 Jam.2:
The following proclamation, which was lately made in a village in Fife, shews the mode in which the term is used. “A' ye wha hae been clowtterin' in the toun-burn, will gang perclair, an' 'pear afore the Shirra.”

(2) With prep. wi': “to over-nurse” (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 220).

3. To walk in a slovenly manner, esp. in water or on muddy ground; to shuffle along (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 220, clyter); “to walk noisily” (Sc. 1911 S.D.D. Add., clouter). Cai.7 (1936) gives clowter as obsol.Ags.(D) 1894 J. B. Salmond My Man Sandy (1899) xvi.:
The middle o' the road cudna haud the can'le to the paidmints for glaur. . . . Sandy an' me gaed kloiterin' alang the Port.
Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.:
Cluitterin' owre the stanes.

4. “To gossip; to speak in an unknown tongue” (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 220). This meaning may be based on Clatter, used in the same sense, but could also be explained as the “untidy” and ill-defined series of sounds picked up by one listening to an unknown language. Gregor also gives clyteran, vbl.n., “the hum of many people speaking.” Not known to our correspondents.

II. adv.

1. “With tawdry, dirty step” (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 220).

2. “With force; spoken of any body falling, particularly into a liquid, or among mud” (Ib.). (This has phs. more affinity with Cloit, adv., above.)

III. n. Given by Gregor with meanings corresponding to all senses of the verb. Senses 1 and 3 here given are only slight variations.

1. “A disgusting mass of any wet [or sticky] substance” (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 220; Abd.2, Abd.9 1936). (See also first quot.)Lnl.1 1936:
A clitter o' cauld, an awfu' clitter, a cold that attacks nose and throat, causing a loose, spluttering cough and a running nose.
Kcb.1 1930:
A clitter o' snaw, the dirty mess made by the melting of a slight fall of snow — not enough to be called slush.

2. (1) “A badly built up heap of anything, like peats” (Ant. 1924 “N. Antrim” in North. Whig (14 Jan.)), cf. clooter, clutter s.v. Cluther, n. (2); (2) anything in a precarious or dilapidated condition.(2) Ork.1 1937:
An auld clowter o' a cairt.

3. “The noise of much confused speaking” (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 220). Deriv. clytery, noisy.ne.Sc. 1994 Alastair Mackie in James Robertson A Tongue in Yer Heid 91:
The milk cairts and coal cairts struck clytery music fae thon granite keys, howkit and chippit and squared aff by the dingin mells o the sett makkers.

[Not found in O.Sc. Prob. of Low Ger. origin; cf. Mid.Du. clāteren, to dirty, besmear, M.L.Ger. klad(d)eren, id., Westph. kluədern, to walk about in a slovenly fashion, Low Ger., Flem. klater, a blemish, splotch (Franck, s.v. klad and klodder); cogn. Eng. clutter (variant of clotter, from clot), which had a rather similar development of meaning. For the vowel variations, cf. Blitter, Bluiter, n.1, v.1, Bluiter, n.2, v.2, Bluiter, n.3, v.3, Blutter, Blouter, Blyter. The various vowels seem to convey various degrees of emphasis.]

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"Cloiter v., adv., n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 29 Mar 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/cloiter>

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