Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1739, 1805-1929
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PRAN, v., n.1 Also prann, praan. For o forms see Pron.
I. v. 1. To crush, squeeze, compress, reduce to pulp, to pound, trample (Ags. a.1838 Jam. MSS. XII. 178; ne.Sc. 1966).Ags. 1815 G. Beattie John o' Arnha' (1882) 33:
John pran'd him down among the mud.Abd.1 1929:
I wis pran't aneth the car fan the thing cowpit.
2. To bruise or buffet, to beat, chastise, punish, “pulverise” (Abd. 1825 Jam.; ne.Sc. 1966); “to injure on the head, to brain” (Sc. 1911 S.D.D., prawn). Hence by extension, to reprimand, censure, scold.Abd. 1739 Caled. Mag. (1788) 503:
A menseless man . . . gart him pran His arse that day.Ags. 1815 G. Beattie John o' Arnha' (1852) 29:
There's few but I baith pran'd and paikit — Spar'd neither man nor mither's son.Abd. 1847 G. Rust Poems 50:
It prans a' an' damns a' Malignity an' strife.Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xx.:
Fat kin' o' a pawrent's hert can ye hae, to come oot o' a market wi' the like o' him, an' leave them 't 's sibbest t' ye to be pran't, or ill-guidet ony gate?Kcd. 1893 Stonehaven Jnl. (16 Feb.) 3:
Shut up, or I'll pran ye.Abd. 1916 G. Abel Wylins 39:
Gin ye snapper at the briggie ye'll be pranned.Bnff. 1923 Banffshire Jnl. (24 July) 2:
Geordie wid a' praant 'im tee gin he'd got's wull o' 'im.
II. n. = Pron, the husk of oats used to make Sowans (Bnff. 1966).Sc. 1805 Child Waters in Child Ballads (1898) V. 220:
The dogs sall eat the gued fite bread, An ye the douë pran.
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"Pran v., n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Feb 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/pran>
