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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

LOUT, v., adj., n. Also loot; lowt (Slk. 1820 Hogg Winter Ev. Tales II. 41); lut (Jak.). [lut]

I. v. 1. intr. To bend the body, to stoop, bow down, duck (Sc. 1710 T. Ruddiman Gl. to Douglas Aeneis, 1782 J. Sinclair Ob. Sc. Dial. 89; Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 320; Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928); Per., Fif., Lth. 1915–26 Wilson). Gen.Sc. Sometimes used refl., id. (Jak.; Per. 1915 Wilson L. Strathearn 204; Sh. 1961). Pa.p. loutit; ¶louten. Now only dial. in Eng.Abd. 1746 W. Forbes Dominie Depos'd (1765) 34:
She was so stiff she cou'd na lout.Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 106:
He loutit down and drank bedeen A dainty skair.Dmf. 1797 Edb. Mag. (Dec.) 457:
Auld Symon, dais'd with eild, Comes, loutin' sair, out our his aiken kent.Sc. 1826 Willie and Lady Maisry in Child Ballads No. 70 A. ix.:
She's louten down unto her foot To loose sweet Willie's shoon.Sc. 1862 A. Hislop Proverbs 152:
He that winna lout and lift a preen will ne'er be worth a groat.Bwk. 1876 Minstrelsy Merse (Crockett 1893) 223:
It's no worth the lootin' for't Pickin' up a croon.Ags. 1880 J. E. Watt Poet. Sketches 27:
Wha, in daundrin' alang the braeheid wi' her jo, Loutit ower, an' played souse i' the water below.Lnk. 1897 J. Wright Scenes Sc. Life 17:
Her back had become quite bent with the continual “looting.”Sh. 1898 Shetland News (22 Jan.):
Lootin' her doon for paets ta pit aboot da fire.Ork. 1908 Old-Lore Misc. I. viii. 323:
He's hed a sair misanter an' cinna loot for hostan.Abd. 1915 H. Beaton Bemachie 31:
Loot ye doon on the cutty there, an' we'll see.Lth. 1920 A. Dodds Songs of Fields 8:
A yammerin' wind comes oot the east, The banket cluds are lootin' low.m.Sc. 1996 John Murray Aspen 20:
Ah loutit doun afore the Sgurr
whaur yince the warld gied vent

Hence ppl.adjs. (1) loutin(g), stooping, bending; (2) loutit, -id, bent with age, etc., round-shouldered (Cai. 1920; Cai., Kcd., Lth. 1961).(1) Lnk. a.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 211:
She being in a louting posture, he . . . comes ower her hurdies with the pitcher.Rnf. 1790 A. Wilson Poems 217:
As thro' the stream, wi' loutin' back. Thrang, stanes an' sand I threw out.Wgt. 1804 R. Couper Poems I. 151:
But soon it's buried in the rig; And wet's the looting brow.Ayr. 1822 Galt Provost iv.:
He was a long spare man, and looting in his gait.(2) Bnff. 1956 Banffshire Jnl. (5 June) 4:
Ilky 'ear saw Rob Eervin growin' a bittie mair loutit — or boo't, as ye ken.

2. To bow as a mark of courtesy or deference, to make an obeisance (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Per., Fif., Lth. 1915–26 Wilson). Also used refl.Sc. 1726 Ramsay T.-T. Misc. (1876) I. 231:
As law as he to ladies us'd In courtly gyse to lout.Fif. 1812 W. Tennant Anster Fair 72:
Rob . . . louting in obeisance meet, Did lowly duty to his king again.Sc. 1813 Scott Rokeby iv. viii.:
To Rokeby, next, he louted low, Then stood erect his tale to show.Ags. 1815 G. Beattie John o' Arnha' (1852) 48:
He loutit him, wi' due respeck.Abd. 1857 G. Macdonald Songs (1893) 41:
Laigh loutit the skipper upo' the deck; “Stan' up, stan' up”, quo the king.Kcb. 1895 Crockett Moss-Hags ii.:
After being well served with meal at the door, and louting low for thankfulness.

3. To stoop, fig., to lower or demean oneself, to condescend; to give way, yield. Sometimes used refl.Ags. 1790 D. Morison Poems 123:
Susan sure ne'er to his love will loot.Sc. 1822 Blackwood's Mag. (Jan.) 33:
Ye might hae lootit down a wee to the young man, Isabella, woman, there's nae need for being sae skeigh on a night like this.Ayr. 1822 Galt Provost xix.:
I was . . . constrained to loot a sort a-jee.Abd. 1824 G. Smith Douglas 43:
Wad I, for aught in a' this sinfu' warl', E'er loot mysel' to ony lustfu' carl?m.Lth. 1894 P. H. Hunter J. Inwick 178:
Hoo men wha ca'd theirsels ministers o' the gospel could lout sae low as to bear fause witness against their neebour.Edb. 1928 A. D. Mackie Two Tongues 58:
The laivrick spiers at Heeven for his mate, And a'thing tae the season's will maun loot.

4. tr., of persons and animals: to bend or bow a part of the body, to lower (the head, etc.). Also fig.Sc. 1788 R. Chambers Pop. Rhymes (1870) 180:
Thy leg thou shake, thy neck thou lout And shew some curtesy on this floor.Ags. 1790 D. Morison Poems 27:
Ilk lass begins her back to lout, Her cotties a' to turse.Abd. 1844 W. Thom Rhymes 55:
She lootit her hand for the silly rose leaf.Dmf. 1877 R. W. Thom Poems (1883) 15:
Sae, demurely she louts her head.e.Lth. 1892 J. Lumsden Sheep-Head 145:
Foxgloves, bluebells, thimmels, an' spinks, Lootit their heids a-wee.Sc. 1907 D. Macalister Echoes (1923) 125:
Gae, kiss like slaves wi' loutit een A lording's pasment traisses.Abd. 1915 H. Beaton Benachie 47:
Ye hiv gi'en yer airm a thraw. Loot it intae this basin o' het water.

II. adj. Of the shoulders: bent, stooping, round. Gen. in comb. lout-shouthered, id. (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928)).Sc. 1700 Edb. Gazette (15–18 April):
Aged 22, of a Rudy Complexion, Chesnut coloured Hair, short Necked, broad Lout-shoulders.Sc. 1723 Caled. Mercury (2 May):
The said Duncan Campbel of Edramucky, is a tall thin Man, stoops, or is Lout-shoulder'd.Gsw. 1835 Gsw. Jnl. Gen. Liter. (19 Dec.):
Sic waste o' gude wooers to hain! Yet, aye at the souter, Meg grumph'd her! an' grumph'd her! The loot-shouther'd wabster, she humph'd her! and humph'd her!Fif. 1883 W. D. Latto Bodkin Papers 118:
A man comes in to ye wi' lout shoothers or wi' a humphy back.m.Lth. 1894 P. H. Hunter J. Inwick 18:
The first ane that preached was a lang lout-shouthered callant.

III. n. The act of bending or bowing, a stoop, a hunched posture (Sh. 1961).Rnf. 1813 G. McIndoe Wandering Muse 126:
Beneath the stack stood blae an blate Wi' lounging lout.Rxb. 1847 J. Halliday Rustic Bard 211:
He limpit and stachert sae when he did gang, Wi' a loot and a stop, syne a bob and a bang.Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928):
To geng wi a lut.