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VIAGGIATORY ADJ. given to travelling about ...1847 ETYMOLOGY from Italian viaggiare (to travel) FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1847 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...Monk Lewis has shewn us, even when they come in the shape of the Madonna, how much they are to be dreaded, even by an Ambrosio. Byron thought the viaggiatory English old maids, who scour the continent, and fix themselves for the time being in all parts of it, were only incarnations of evil spirits..." From: The Life of Percy Bysshe Shelley - Thomas Medwin
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NIFLE NOUN 1. originally, a trifling or fictitious tale, a jest; later, a trifle; a thing of little or no worth or importance ...c1395 obs. exc. Eng. dial. 2. a light or flimsy article of dress; perhaps a kerchief of fine material ...1463 obs. 3. an insignificant person ...c1635 obs. rare 4. a fit of idleness ...Bk1883 Eng. dial. 5. a whim, a fancy; fussiness ...Bk1905 Eng. dial. VERB 1. to pilfer, to steal articles of small value ...1785 Eng. dial. 2. to trifle, to waste time, or spend it in doing trifling things; to idle or loaf; to work at a slow pace ...Bk1790 Eng. dial. 3. to talk folly...Bk1862 4. to walk with short steps ...Bk1905 Eng. dial. ETYMOLOGY of uncertain origin; possibly an influence from trifle; Hensleigh Wedgwood in 'A Dictionary of English Etymology (1862)', suggests it's from the Norman niveloter (to amuse oneself with trifles) FIRST DOCUMENTED USE c1395 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...He planed awey the names euerichon That he biforn hadde writen in his tables He serued hem with nyfles and with fables Nay ther thow lixt thow Somnour quod the frere Pees quod oure hoost for cristes moder deere..." From: The Summoner's Tale - Geoffrey Chaucer TUTIVILLER NOUN (derogatory) a wicked, destructive, or difficult person, a scoundrel, a rogue, a knave; a person who gossips, spreads rumours, or tells tales, a tattler ...1568 obs. ETYMOLOGY apparently from Tutivillus (n. a demon or devil that is said to record the sins committed by people as evidence to be used against them on Judgement Day; a wicked, destructive, or difficult person, a scoundrel, a knave; a person who gossips, spreads rumours, or tells tales, a tattler) + -er FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1568 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...Sa mony rakkettis, sa mony ketche-pillaris, Sic ballis, sic knackettis, and sic tutivillaris, And sic evill-willaris to speik of King and Quene; Sic pudding-fillaris, discending doune frome millaris, Within this land was nevir hard nor sene..." From: The Bannatyne Manuscript (1928) A General Satyre - William Dunbar IMPERENT also EMPERENT, IMPERANT, IMPURENT ADJ. insolently disrespectful; shamelessly forward; impertinent, impudent, rude, prone to take liberties ...1771 Eng. dial. & colloq. rare ETYMOLOGY from a regional or colloquial pronunciation of impudent (adj.) FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1771 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...You impurent feller!..." From: The Fair Orphan A comic opera of three acts - George Alexander Stevens RUNKLE ADJ. wrinkled ...1440 obs. rare NOUN 1. a wrinkle; a rumple; a crease ...a1400 now chiefly Sc. & Irish usage 2. a bunch, snarl, or entanglement ...1930 Sc. 3. a wrinkled, shrivelled or gnarled person ...1934 Sc. VERB 1. to wrinkle; to rumple; to crumple; to crush ...a1425 2. to gnarl, to twist, to distort, to curl ...1722 Sc. ETYMOLOGY of uncertain origin; possibly from early Scandinavian (compare Norwegian regional rukla (wrinkle, ridge), perhaps showing a blend with wrinkle (n.); FIRST DOCUMENTED USE a1400 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...Bi his eres skailand sumdele, In hefd he had a clift be-forn, Als nazarens has that thar er born. His for-hed [fair]. wemless to sight, Wit-vten ani runkel slight, His vice sumdel wit rede was blend..." From: Cursor Mundi: A Northumbrian poem of the 14th century GURLY also GURLIE ADJ. 1. boisterous, stormy, rough ...1718 Sc. 2. surly, cross, crabbed, growly, ill-humoured, bad-tempered, sour-tempered ...1721 Sc. 3. of water: gurgling; of infants: gurgling, crowing ...1823 Sc, 4. of a tree: gnarled ...1837 Sc. ETYMOLOGY from gurl (n. a growl, boisterous or rough weather) or gurl (vb. to rumble, to growl) + -y FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1718 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...From me Edina, to the Brave and Fair, Health, Joy and Love, and Banishment of Care: Forasmuch as bare Fields and gurly Skies Make rural Scenes ungrateful to the Eyes; When Hyperborean Blasts confound the Plain, Driving, by Turns, light Snow and heavy Rain..." From: Edinburgh's Address to the Country, November, 1718 - Allan Ramsay BUMBARD also BUMBART ADJ. lazy, idle ...a1513 Sc. obs. NOUN 1. a lazy, foolish, or stupid person ...a1513 Sc. obs. 2. a bumblebee ...a1614 Sc. obs. ETYMOLOGY probably from bum (vb. to hum or buzz loudly, like a bee, an object moving rapidly through the air, or a crowd of people talking) + -ard FIRST DOCUMENTED USE a1513 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...I have ane wallidrag, ane worme, ane auld wobat carle, A waistit wolroun, na worth bot wourdis to clatter; Ane bumbart, ane dron bee, ane bag full of flewme, Ane skabbit skarth, ane scorpioun, ane scutarde behind; To see him scart his awin skyn grit scunner I think..." From: The Tretis of the Twa Mariit Women and the Wedo (The treatise of the two married women and the widow) - William Dunbar DIMINUTE ADJ. 1. diminished, lessened; abated; incomplete, defective, imperfect ...c1475 obs. 2. diminutive, minute, small ...1611 rare VERB to lessen; to belittle, to disparage, to put down, to degrade, to humiliate ...1575 rare ETYMOLOGY from Latin dī-, dēminūtus, past participle of dī- , dēminuĕre (to diminish) FIRST DOCUMENTED USE c1475 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...Perceued it was by hys owne desert, Saw he and his land shold be disherite, Exile and deminute by his dedes smart. When fro the worlde cam in-to ending plite, A kyng after hym regned in þat site..." From: The Romans of Partenay, or of Lusignen: Otherwise Known as The Tale of Melusine Translated from the French of La Coudrette WARRAYABLE ADJ. fit for warfare ...a1400 obs. rare ETYMOLOGY from Old French werreiable, dialect variant of guerroyable (warlike), from werrei-er (guerroyer) (war) FIRST DOCUMENTED USE a1400 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...Wyth all the dyffence that myzt dere, For the wayys were fulle warryable, And the dykys depe and defensabylle; The dycke that was the wall wythoute The londe syde there alle aboute..." From: Archaeologia, Or, Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity Siege of Rouen - written in the reign of Henry the Fifth MASCHERATE VERB to disguise the appearance of something, to mask, to conceal ...1654 obs. rare ETYMOLOGY from Italian mascherare (to mask, to hide, to conceal) from maschera + - ate FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1654 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...Wicked man, answered the Infanta, how skilfull thou art to mascherate thy excuses! Thy perfidiousnesse might move me, if I had not proved the dammages of thy disloyalty. Tell me, tell me, perfidious man, how thou canst colour thy flight?..." From: Dianea: An Excellent New Romance Written in Italian by Giovanni Francesco Loredano Translated into English by Sir Aston Cokaine SCRUTATORY ADJ. searching, examining ...1893 ETYMOLOGY from Latin scrūtāt-, scrūtārī (to examine, to scrutinize) + -ory FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1893 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...Loripont dropped a scrutatory glance through the depths of the too transparent liquid, which glance went down deep into the Father's heart..." From: Temple Bar: A London Magazine for Town and Country Readers The Greater Glory - Maarten Maartens CULINARIAN ADJ. pert. to a kitchen ...1615 rare ETYMOLOGY from Latin culīnārius (culinary adj. of a kitchen) + -an FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1615 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...And what are the Doctrines which your Hall wonders serue to confirme? are they not Culinarian Theorems which they striue to support? Forsooth they are the buttresses of Purgatory, Transubstantiation, Worshipping of Images, Prayer for the dead, and of that diuine honour, which is sacrilegiously ascribed to the Virgin Mary..." From: A Curry-combe for a Coxe-combe. Or Purgatories Knell. In Answer of a lewd Libell lately foricated by Iabal Rachil against Sir Edw. Hobies Counter-snarle: entituled Purgatories Triumph ouer Hell - Edward Hoby FEMALE-MASTIX NOUN a person who writes in denunciation of women ...a1631 obs. ETYMOLOGY from female (n.) + -mastix (combining form - forming nouns designating a person violently hostile to an idea, institution, etc.) FIRST DOCUMENTED USE a1631 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...The monstrous fashions, how, were, alive, to eate Deare reputation. Would to God she were But halfe so loath to act vice, as to heare My milde reproofe. Liv’d Mantuan now againe, That fœmall Mastix, to limme with his penne This she Chymera, that hath eyes of fire, Burning with anger, anger feeds desire, Tongued like the night-crow, whose ill boding cries Give out for nothing but new injuries, Her breath like to the juice in Tenarus..." From: Elegies - John Donne Julia EXCOGITOUS ADJ. inventive ...1646 obs. rare ETYMOLOGY from Latin excōgitāre (to think out, to devise, to invent) + -ous; after medieval Latin cōgitōsus FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1646 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...Impatience is very excogitous: a man had need have more naturall strength then ten men, or else he will fall into a consumption, the soule is so uncessantly hammering it selfe, and other folks, about its owne devices and divine events..." From: A Sermons Preached before the Honourable House of Commons assembled in Parliament: at their late solemn fast, Octob. 28. 1646. in Margarets Westminster - Nicholas Lockyer LEWTIFULL ADJ. faithful, loyal; upright, honourable ...1563 Sc. obs. ETYMOLOGY from lewty (n. fidelity, loyalty) + -ful FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1563 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...As to the phrase and dictiouns heirof, guid it war to remember that the plane and sempill trewth of all thingis requiris only amangis the lautefull and faithfull peple plane, familiar, and na curius nor affecfat speche..." From: Certain Tractates: Together with the Book of Four Score Three Questions and a Translation of Vincentius Lirinensis - Ninian Winzet DUNGISH ADJ. 1. base, worthless; contemptible, despicable, vile ...1550 2. * resembling dung; characteristic of dung ...a1722 ETYMOLOGY from dung (n. compost, manure) + -ish FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1550 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...How can he be closed wythin limytes, that ouerspreadeth the heauens and contayneth all thynges? Thys dyuinite of yours is but dougyshe daubry..." From: The Apology of Iohan Bale Agaynste a Ranke Papyst Anuswering both hym and hys doctours, that neyther their vowes nor yet their Priesthode are of the Gospell, but of Antichrist - John Bale ONGLE NOUN 1. a fingernail ...c1436 obs. 2. a claw ...1484 obs. ETYMOLOGY from Middle French ongle (talon of a bird of prey, claw of a wild animal, fingernail), from Latin ungula (hoof, claw, talon) FIRST DOCUMENTED USE c1436 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...In the same maner zif on merchaunt selle his merchaundise to an other merchaunt for to payen at short day or fresshly to suyn the ongle, in which cas merchauntes vsyn not comounlychfor hastyff payment for to makyn writ ne tayle, that zif the plee rise be twixe the same personys in the forseid court of Gippeswich for no sute of that same merchaundise, thanne be not that merchaunt..." From: Monumenta Juridica: The Black Book of the Admiralty The Domus Day of Gippeswich - Edited by Travis Twiss TANTALEAN also TANTALIAN ADJ. pertaining to Tantalus; only apparently reachable; tantalizing, elusive ...1605 ETYMOLOGY from Latin tantaleus (belonging to Tantalus), (from Tantalus n. the name of a mythical king of Phrygia, son of Zeus and the nymph Pluto, condemned, for revealing the secrets of the gods, to stand in Tartarus up to his chin in water, which constantly receded as he stooped to drink, and with branches of fruit hanging above him which ever fled his grasp; a rock is also said to have hung over him threatening to fall) + - an FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1605 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...Men ouertoild in Common-Wealth affaires Gett much Tantalian wealth by wealthie paines: Which they enioy not through vncessant Cares: So, all their Comfort is in Care, and Gaines Good reason then, that they should care to gett, Who gett great Cares, by getting great Comands..." From: Wittes Pilgrimage, (by Poeticall Essaies) Through a World of amorous Sonnets, Soule-passions, and other Passages, Diuine, Philosophicall, Morall, Poeticall, and Politicall - John Davies PAPERASSERIE NOUN excessive bureaucratic procedure or paperwork; bureaucracy; red tape ...1856 ETYMOLOGY from French paperasserie (bureaucracy; red tape) (1807) from paperasse (quantity of paper, especially of bureaucratic paperwork) (c1590 in Middle French; from papier (paper n.) + -asse, augmentative suffix; + -erie FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1856 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...but his long experience led him to the conviction that the Prussian system of official interference was thoroughly defective and wasteful. In his later life he lost no opportunity of denouncing bureaucracy and paperasserie (red-tapism), or of dwelling on the comparative cheapness and efficiency of the less elaborate State machinery which is employed in England..." From: The Edinburgh Review, Or Critical Journal: For January, 1856....April, 1856 ART. IV - Das Leben des Ministers Freiherrn vom Stein. By G.H. Pertz. Berlin 1849-1855 GOBBIN ADJ. uncouth, lubberly ...Bk1886 Eng. dial. NOUN 1. (also GOBLIN, GUBBINS) an unintelligent, uneducated, or ignorant person; a fool, an idiot, a blockhead; a greedy, clownish person, a country fellow ...1740 Eng. dial. 2. waste material from a coal mine, especially waste material used to fill an empty space from which coal has been extracted ...1811 Eng. dial. rare 3. a receptacle for any kind of waste goods ...Bk1876 Eng. dial. 4. a spoiled child ...Bk1886 Eng. dial. ETYMOLOGY of obscure origin FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1740 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...Boh th' gobbin nere consithert at hangin wuldo be coed good spwort by onybody i'ther senses, an wur enoof fort edge a finer mon's teeth thin mine..." From: A View of the Lancashire Dialect; by way of Dialogue between Tummus o'Williams, o'Margit o'Roaphs, and Meary o'Dicks, o'Tummy o'Petty's - Tim Bobbin (pseudonym) |
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