Abbreviations – SND
The following Abbreviations key was published in Volume X of SND but is known to be incomplete. Contact us at info@dsl.ac.uk if you need help with any abbreviation we use.
A Top
| a. (with date) | ante = before |
| A. = Author | (after an author’s own note) |
| abbr. | abbreviated, abbreviation |
| abr. | abridged |
| absol. | absolute(ly) |
| acc. | accusative |
| accord. | according |
| ad. | adaptation of |
| Add. | Addenda |
| adj. | adjective, adjectival(ly) |
| adv. | adverb, adverbial(ly) |
| affirm. | affirmative(ly) |
| Angus Gl. | Glossary of the Shetland Dialect, by J. S. Angus (1914) |
| Anon. | Anonymous |
| ante. | antecedent |
| aph. | aphetic |
| App. | Appendix |
| appar. | apparent(ly) |
| Arab. | Arabic |
| arch. | archaic |
| art. | article |
| assim. | assimilated, assimilation |
| assoc. | association |
| attrib. | attributive(ly) |
| aux. | auxiliary |
| A.V. | Authorised Version |
B Top
| B. and H. | A Dictionary of English Plant-Names, by James Britten, F.L.S., and
Robert Holland (1886) |
| B.C. | Bannatyne Club |
| Bense | A Dictionary of the Low-Dutch Element in the English Vocabulary,
by J. F. Bense, Lit. Ph.D. (1926–38) |
| Björkman | Scandinavian Loan- Words in Middle English, by Erik Björkman,
Ph.D. (1900–02) |
| Bk. | Book |
| B.R.S. | Burgh Record Society |
C Top
| c. (with date) | Circa = about |
| c. | century |
| cent. | century |
| centr. | central |
| cf. | confer = compare |
| chron. | chronological(ly) |
| Cleasby and Vigfusson | Icelandic–English Dictionary based on the MS. collections of the
late Richard Cleasby, enlarged and completed by Gudbrand Vigfusson (1874) |
| C.M. | Cursor Mundi |
| cogn. | cognate |
| coll. | collective(ly) |
| colloq. | colloquial(ly) |
| Colville | Studies in Lowland Scots, by J. Colville (1909) |
| comb. | combination |
| comm. | common(ly) |
| comp. | compound |
| compar. | comparative |
| Concise Eng. Dict. | The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English, adapted by H. W.
Fowler and F. G. Fowler from The Oxford Dictionary (1929) |
| condit. | conditional |
| conj. | conjunction, conjunctive |
| conn. | connected |
| cons. | consonant |
| constr. | constructed, construction |
| contr. | contracted, contraction |
| corr. | corresponding to |
| Cotgrave | A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, compiled by
Randle Cotgrave (1611) |
| Curriehill | John Marshall, Lord Curriehill (1794–1868), judge of the Court of
Session, who wrote marginal notes in a copy of MacTaggart’s Gallov. Encycl. now in the library of the late Mr. E. A. Hornel, artist, Kirkcudbright. (Gall. a.1868 Curriehill) |
D Top
| d. | died |
| (D) | dialect, dialectal (after the county name at the start of a quotation, to indicate particularly strongly marked local dialect) |
| D.A.E. | A Dictionary of American English on Historical Principles, compiled
at the University of Chicago under the editorship of Sir William Craigie and James R. Hulbert (1936–) |
| Dan. | Danish |
| Danneil | Worterbuch der altmarkischen platt-deutschen Mundart. by Johann
Friedrich Danneil (1859) |
| dat. | dative |
| def. | definition |
| def. art. | definite article |
| dem. | demonstrative |
| deriv. | derived, derivative, derivation |
| dial. | dialect, dialectal |
| Dict. | Dictionary |
| Dieth | A Grammar of the Buchan Dialect (Aberdeenshire), Descriptive and
Historical. Vol. I. Phonology–Accidence, by Eugen Dieth, Ph.D. (1932) |
| Diez | An Etymological Dictionary of the Romance Languages; chiefly from
the German of Friedrich Diez, by T. C. Donkin, B.A. (1864) |
| Dijkstra | Friesch Woordenboek, by W. Dijkstra (1900) |
| dim. | diminutive |
| Dinneen | Dinneen’s Irish–English Dictionary |
| D.O.S.T. | A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue, from the Twelfth Century
to the end of the Seventeenth, by Sir William A. Craigie, LL.D., D.Litt. and A. J. Aitken, M.A. (1931–) |
| D.S.C.S. | The Dialect of the Southern Counties of Scotland, by J. A. H. Murray
(1873) |
| Du. | Dutch |
| Dwelly | The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary, by E. Dwelly. F.S.A.
Scot., F.S.G. (4th ed. 1941) |
E Top
| E. | Early |
| (E) | Eclectic = an artificial form of Scots, sometimes called synthetic
Scots or Lallans |
| e.Ang. | east Anglian |
| ed. | edited, editor, edition |
| E.D.D. | The English Dialect Dictionary, by Joseph Wright, in six Volumes
(1898–1905) |
| Edm. Gl. | Glossary of the Dialect of Shetland and Orkney, by T. Edmonston
(1866) |
| E.E.P. | Early English Pronunciation, by A. J. Ellis (1869–1889) |
| E.E.T.S. | Early English Text Society |
| ellipt. | elliptical(ly) |
| E.M.E. | Early Modern English |
| Eng. | English |
| Eng.–Welsh Dict. | Spurrell’s English–Welsh Dictionary (1926) |
| erron. | erroneous(ly) |
| esp. | especial(ly) |
| etym. | etymology, etymological(ly) |
| euphem. | euphemism, euphemistic(ally) |
| evid. | evident(ly) |
| ex. | example(s) |
| exc. | except, exception |
| excl. | exclamation, exclamatorily |
| expl. | explained |
| expr. | expression |
F Top
| Fær. | Faeroese |
| Falk and Torp | Norwegisch–Danisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, by H. S.
Falk and Alf Torp (1910–1911) |
| fam. | familiar(ly) |
| Farmer and Henley | A Dictionary of Slang and Colloquial English, by John S. Farmer and
W. E. Henley (1905) |
| fem. | feminine |
| fig. | figurative(ly) |
| fl. | floruit = flourished |
| Flem. | Flemish |
| Flom. | Scandinavian Influence on Southern Lowland Scotch, by G. T. Flom
(1900) |
| foll. | following, followed |
| Fr. | French |
| Francisque-Michel | A Critical Inquiry into the Scottish Language, by Francisque-Michel
(1882) |
| Franck | Franck’s Etymologisch Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal (1912) |
| freq. | frequent(ly), frequentative |
| Fris. | Frisian |
| fut. | future |
G Top
| Gael. | Gaelic |
| Gamillscheg | Etymologisches Worterbuch der Französischen Sprache, ed. Ernst
Gamillscheg (1928) |
| gen. | genitive; general(ly) |
| Gen.Sc. | General Scots = known generally wherever Lowland Scots is spoken |
| Ger. | German |
| Gl. | Glossary |
| Gmc. | Germanic |
| Godefroy | Lexique de L’Ancien Francais, by Frederic Godefroy (1901 ed.) |
| Goth. | Gothic |
| Gr. | Greek |
| Gregor D. Bnff. | Dialect of Banffshire, by W. Gregor (1866) |
H Top
| Hatz. and Darm. | Dictionnaire General de la Langue Francaise, by A. Hatzfeld and A.
Darmesteter (1926) |
| Hebr. | Hebrides |
| (Highland) | representation of a Highlander’s speech by the author |
| hist. | history, historical |
I Top
| Ib. | Ibidem = in the same place |
| Icel. | Icelandic |
| Id. | Idem = the same person (esp. when referred to as authority for a
word) |
| Idg. | Indogermanic |
| I.E. | Indo-European |
| imit. | imitative |
| imp. | impression |
| imper. | imperative |
| impers. | impersonal(ly) |
| impf. | imperfect |
| indef. | indefinitive |
| indic. | indicative |
| inf. | infinitive |
| infl. | inflexion |
| instrum. | instrumental |
| int. | interjection |
| interrog. | interrogative(ly) |
| intr. | intransitive(ly) |
| Intro. | Introduction |
| Ir. | Irish |
| irreg. | irregular(ly) |
| It. | Italian |
| ital. | italics |
J Top
| Jak. | An Etym. Dictionary of the Norn Language in Shetland, by Jakob
Jakobson (1908 Dan. ed., 1928 Eng. tr.) |
| Jam. | Etym. Dictionary of the Scottish Language, in two volumes (1808), by
John Jamieson |
| Jam.1 | Etym. Dictionary of the Scottish Language (abr. ed.) (1818) |
| Jam.2 | Supplement to the Etym. Dictionary of the Scottish Language, in two
Volumes (1825) |
| Jam.3 | Etym. Dictionary of the Scottish Language, revised by J. Johnstone
(1840–1841), in two Volumes |
| Jam.4 | Dictionary of the Scottish Language, by John Jamieson, abr. by J.
Johnstone, revised by J. Longmuir (1867) |
| Jam.5 | Etym. Dictionary of the Scottish Language, revised by J. Longmuir
and D. Donaldson (1879–1882) |
| Jam.6 | Supplement to Jamieson’s Scottish Dictionary, by D. Donaldson
(1887) |
| Joyce | English as we speak it in Ireland, by P. W. Joyce, LL.D., T.C.D.,
M.R.I.A. (2nd ed. 1910) |
K Top
| Kilian | Etymologicum Teutonicæ Linguæ, sive Dictionarium
Teutonico–Latinum, by C. Kilian (1772–1777) |
| Kluge | An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, by Friedrich
Kluge |
L Top
| L., Linn. | Linnæus |
| lang. | language |
| Larsen | Dansk–Norsk–Englsk Ordbog, ed. A. Larsen (1910) |
| Lat. | Latin |
| L.Ger. | Low German |
| lit. | literal(ly) |
| liter. | literary, in literary use only |
| Lith. | Lithuanian |
| L.Sc. | Lowland Scottish |
M Top
| m., mod. | modern |
| M.C. | Maitland Club |
| McAlpine | Gaelic Dictionary, by Neil McAlpine |
| MacBain | Etym. Dictionary of the Gaelic Language, by A. MacBain (1896) |
| MacLennan | A Pronouncing and Etym. Dictionary of the Gaelic Language, by
Malcolm MacLennan (1925) |
| Macleod and Dewar | A Dictionary of the Gaelic Language, by the Rev. Dr. Norman
Macleod and the Rev. Dr. Daniel Dewar (1893) |
| Marw. | The Orkney Norn, by H. Marwick (1929) |
| masc. | masculine |
| Med. (med.) | Mediaeval |
| Med. Lat. | Medieval Latin |
| met. | metathetic, metathesis |
| metaph. | metaphor, metaphorical(ly) |
| Metcalfe | Supplementary Dictionary of the Scottish Language, with
Introduction by W. M. Metcalfe (1910) |
| M.H.Ger. | Middle High German |
| Mid. Eng. | Middle English |
| midl. | midland (i.e. Eng. dialect of the Midlands) |
| Mid.Sc. | Middle Scots |
| Misc. | Miscellany |
| M.L.Ger. | Middle Low German |
| M.M.Sc. | Manual of Modern Scots, by W. Grant and J. M. Dixon (1921) |
| Mont.-Fleming | Notes on Jamieson’s Scottish Dictionary, by J. B. Montgomerie-
Fleming (1899) |
N Top
| n. | noun |
| naut. | nautical |
| n.d. | no date |
| N.E.D. | A New English Dictionary, ed. J. A. H. Murray, H. Bradley, W. A.
Craigie, C. T. Onions (Oxford, 1884–1929) |
| neg. | negative(ly) |
| neut. | neuter |
| nom. | nominative |
| Norw. | Norwegian |
| num. | numeral |
O Top
| obj. | object(ive) |
| obs. | obsolete |
| obsol. | obsolescent |
| occas. | occasional(ly) |
| O.E. | English, before the Conquest; includes the four dialects, West Saxon,
Kentish, Mercian and Northumbrian |
| O.Fr. | Old French |
| O.Fris. | Old Frisian |
| O.H.Ger. | Old High German |
| O.I. or O.Ir. | Old Irish |
| O.N. | Old Norse |
| O.N.Fr. | Old Norman French |
| onomat. | onomatopœic |
| O.North. | Old Northumbrian |
| orig. | origin(al)(ly) |
| O.Sax. | Old Saxon |
| O.Sc. | Older Scots |
| O.Slav. | Old Slavonic |
P Top
| p. (with date) | post = after |
| p., pp. | page, pages |
| pa.p. | past participle |
| pass. | passive(ly) |
| pa.t. | past tense |
| perf. | perfect |
| pers. | personal |
| phon. | phonetic(s) |
| phr(s). | phrase(s) |
| phs. | perhaps |
| pl. | plural |
| P.L.D. | Phonetic Description of the Language and Dialects in Vol. I., Intro. |
| pleon. | pleonasm, pleonastic(ally) |
| poet. | poetical |
| pop. | popular(ly) |
| Port. | Portuguese |
| poss. | possible(ly) |
| ppl. | participle |
| ppl.adj. | participial adjective |
| ppl.phr. | participial phrase |
| pred. | predicate, predicatively |
| pref. | prefix |
| prep. | preposition |
| pres. | present |
| pret. | preterite |
| Prim. | Primitive |
| Prim.O.E. | Primitive Old English |
| prob. | probable(ly) |
| pron. | pronoun |
| prop. | proper(ly) |
| Prov. | Provencal |
| Pr.p. | Promptorium Parvulorum |
| pr.p. | present participle |
| pr.t. | present tense |
| publ. | published |
Q Top
| q.v. | quod vide = which see |
R Top
| reduplic. | reduplicative |
| ref. | reference |
| refl. | reflexive(ly) |
| reg. | regular(ly) |
| rel. | relative |
| repr. | representative, representing, etc. |
| Roget | An Introduction to Old French, by F. F. Roget, 1887 |
| Rom. | Romance—i.e. Latin and languages derived from it |
S Top
| Sc. | Scots (when no indication of a particular dialect is given); Scottish,
Scotch |
| sc. | scilicet = that is to say |
| S.C. | Spalding Club, New Spalding Club, Third Spalding Club |
| Scand. | Scandinavian |
| Scot. | Scotland |
| S.D.D. | Chambers’s Scots Dialect Dictionary, by A. Warrack (1911) |
| sep. | separate |
| S.H.S. | Scottish Historical Society |
| sing. | singular |
| Skeat | Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, by Walter
W. Skeat (1911) |
| Skr. | Sanskrit |
| S.N.D. | Scottish National Dictionary |
| Sp. | Spanish |
| specif. | specific(ally) |
| Stat. Acc.1 | Statistical Account of Scotland (1791–1799) |
| Stat. Acc.2 | New Statistical Account of Scotland (1845) |
| Stat. Acc.3 | Third Statistical Account of Scotland (of varying dates from 1951) |
| St.Eng. | Standard English |
| Sth.Eng. | Southern English—i.e. Standard English as spoken in the middle
and south of England |
| Stratmann | A Middle-English Dictionary containing words used by English
writers from the twelfth to the fifteenth century, by Francis Henry Stratmann (ed. H. Bradley 1891) |
| S.T.S. | Scottish Text Society |
| st.v. | strong verb |
| subj. | subject; subjunctive |
| subst. | substantive(ly) |
| suff. | suffix |
| superl. | superlative |
| Suppl. | Supplement |
| s.v. | sub voce = under the word |
| Sw. | Swedish |
| Sweet, A.S. | The Student’s Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, by Henry Sweet (1897) |
| Sweet, H.E.S. | A History of English Sounds, by Henry Sweet (1888) |
| syll. | syllable |
| syn. | synonym(ous) |
T Top
| tech. | technical(ly) |
| Torp | Nynorsk Etymologisk Ordbok, by Alf Torp (1919) |
| tr. | transitive(ly) |
| Trans. | Transactions |
| transf. | transferred sense |
| transl. | translation |
| Traynor Gl. | M. Traynor English Dialect of Donegal (1953) |
| trs. | transfer |
| T.S.D.C. | Transactions of the Scottish Dialects Committee |
U Top
| Un. Eng. Dict. | The Universal English Dictionary, edited by H. C, Wyld (1932) |
| U.S. | United States |
| usu. | usual(ly) |
V Top
| v., vb. | verb |
| v. | vide = see |
| var. | variant of |
| vbl.n. | verbal noun |
| vern. | vernacular |
| v.i. | vide infra = see below |
| viz. | videlicet = namely |
| Voc. | vocabulary |
| v.s. | vide supra = see above |
W Top
| Watson W.-B. | Roxburghshire Word-Book, by G. Watson (1923) |
| Webster | Webster’s New International Dictionary (end ed., 1935) |
| Weekley | Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, by Ernest Weekley
(1921) |
| Westergaard | Studies in Prefixes and Suffixes in Middle Scottish, by Elizabeth
Westergaard (1924) |
| Wettstein | The Phonology of a Berwickshire Dialect, by Paul Wettstein (1942) |
| Wilson, D. Burns | The Dialect of Robert Burns as spoken in Central Ayrshire by Sir
James Wilson (1923) |
| Wilson Cent. Scot. | The Dialects of Central Scotland, by Sir James Wilson (1926) for
Fif., Lth. |
| Wilson, L. Strathearn | Lowland Scotch as spoken in the Lower Strathearn District of
Perthshire, by Sir James Wilson (1915) for Per. |
| Wilson | referring to any of the above works (differentiated by the county
abbreviation) |
| wk.v. | weak verb |
| W.-L. | Word-List |
| W.S. | West Saxon |
X Top
Y Top
Z Top
| Zai | The Phonology of the Morebattle Dialect (East Roxburghshire), by
Rudolf Zai, Ph.D., 1942 |
| Zoëga | A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, by Geir T. Zoëga (1910) |
Symbols Top
| * | (in etymological notes) hypothetical form. |
| † | obsolete. |
| ‡ | obsolescent. |
| [ ] | square brackets enclose the phonetic descriptions, the etymological notes, and explanations by editor inserted in quotations.
A date in square brackets is sometimes given for the first edition of a book, when that ed. has not been consulted, but when it is known to differ in some respect from the ed. used. |
| ¶ | indicates that no evidence for the word in question has been found, beyond that quoted in the article. |
Geographical labels Top
The geographical labels listed below indicate the dialect districts as they appear in SND. They refer to the traditional counties as they were until the late 20th century, and are therefore those which pertained during most of the period during which SND was compiled. This list was published in Volume I of SND but is known to be incomplete. Contact us at info@dsl.ac.uk if you need help with any geographical label we use.
| Abd. | Aberdeenshire |
| Ags. | Angus |
| Ant. | Antrim |
| Arg. | Argyll |
| Ayr. | Ayrshire |
| Bch. | Buchan |
| Bnff. | Banff |
| Bte. | Bute |
| Bwk. | Berwickshire |
| Cai. | Caithness |
| Clc. | Clackmannan |
| Cld. | Clydesdale |
| Crm. | Cromarty |
| Cum. | Cumberland |
| Dmb. | Dumbartonshire |
| Dmf. | Dumfriesshire |
| Don. | Donegal |
| Dur. | Durham |
| Dwn. | Down |
| Edb. | Edinburgh |
| e.Dmf. | east Dumfriesshire |
| Elg. | Elgin |
| e.Lth | East Lothian |
| e.Rs. | Easter Ross |
| Fif. | Fife |
| Frf. | Forfar |
| Gall. | Galloway |
| Gsw. | Glasgow |
| Hdg. | Haddington |
| Inv. | Inverness |
| Ir., Irel. | Ireland |
| Kcb. | Kirkcudbright |
| Kcd. | Kincardine |
| Lnk. | Lanarkshire |
| Lnl. | Linlithgow |
| Lth. | Lothian |
| m.Dmf. | mid Dumfries |
| Mry. | Moray |
| Nai. | Nairn |
| Nhb. | Northumberland |
| Ork. | Orkney |
| Peb. | Peeblesshire |
| Per. | Perthshire |
| Rnf. | Renfrewshire |
| Rs. | Ross-shire |
| Rxb. | Roxburghshire |
| Sc. | Scotland |
| Sh. | Shetland |
| Slg. | Stirlingshire |
| Slk. | Selkirkshire |
| Sth. | Sutherland |
| Twd. | Tweeddale |
| Tyr. | Tyrone |
| Uls. | Ulster |
| w.Dmf. | west Dumfriesshire |
| w.Fif. | west Fife |
| Wgt. | Wigtownshire |
| Yks | Yorkshire |
