VERB
to await, to wait for ...1653 nonce word obs.
 
ETYMOLOGY
from French prestoler (Rabelais)
from Latin praestolari to stand ready for, to wait for
 
FIRST DOCUMENTED USE
1653 - see Example below
 
EXAMPLE
"...whilest we prestolate the Coming of the Tabellaries
from the Penates, and patriotick Lares."
 
From: The First Book of the Works of Mr. Francis Rabelais
By: Thomas Urquhart, 1653
 
SOURCES
• A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles,
​James Murray, 1887-1933
 

ADVERB
with the legs wide apart ...1609 obs. rare
 
ETYMOLOGY
from stride (n.) + -long
 
FIRST DOCUMENTED USE
1609 - see EXAMPLE below
 
EXAMPLE
"...The militarie men...with hairie cords bound fast to his legges,
drew him stridelong without any intermission as farre
as to the Praefects Praetorium"
 
From: Marcellinus' Roman Historie
Translated by Philemon Holland, 1609
 
SOURCES
• A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles,
​James Murray, 1887-1933

also BOOSTIS, BOISTOUS, BUSTHIOUS
 
ADJ.
thickset, corpulent, over-fat ...1854 Eng. dial. (Cornwall)
 
ETYMOLOGY
from boist (n.) corpulence, boist (adj.) fat, corpulent (Eng. dial.) + -ious
 
FIRST DOCUMENTED USE
1854 - as per The English Dialect Dictionary: 'Used at Polperro, N. & Q. (1854) 1st S.  x. 179'
 
EXAMPLE
"...The Commodore was a little purgy, bustious sort o' man, sir, wi' a squinny eye an' mottles upon hes face pretty near so thick as the Milky Way..."
 
From: The Astonishing History of Troy Town
By:  Arthur Quiller-Couch, 1888
 
SOURCES
• The English Dialect Dictionary, Joseph Wright, 1898-1905
• Glossary of Words in use in Cornwall,
Miss M.A. Courtney, Thomas Q. Couch, 1880
• Randigal Rhymes and A Glossary of Cornish Words,
​Joseph Thomas, 1895

ADJ.
eager, zealously enthusiastic, impetuous ...c1400 obs.
 
ETYMOLOGY
from yever greedy, covetous + -ous
 
FIRST DOCUMENTED USE
c1400 - see EXAMPLE below
 
EXAMPLE
"...So faire freikes vppon fote was ferly to se,
So ȝonge and so yepe, ȝyuerus of wille..."
 
From: The "Gest Hystoriale" of the Destruction of Troy:
An Alliterative Romance translated from
​Guido de Colonna's "Hystoria Troiana"
 
SOURCES
• A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles,
James Murray, 1887-1933
 

ADJ.
pert. to speech or speaking ...1828 rare
 
NOUN
a room or place for conversation;
esp. a room in a monastery, or, in later use, a convent, where
​monks were allowed to converse ...1483
 
ETYMOLOGY
from medieval Latin locutorium apartment in a monastery
set apart for conversation,
neut. of locutorius, from locutor one who speaks
from loqui talk
 
FIRST DOCUMENTED USE
1483 - see Example below
 
EXAMPLE
"...he brought him in to the parlour or locutory ..."

From: The Golden Legend or Lives Of The Saints
Compiled by Jacobus de Voragine, Archbishop of Genoa, 1275
Englished by William Caxton, 1483
 
SOURCES
• A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles,
James Murray, 1887-1933
• The Encyclopaedic Dictionary, Robert Hunter, 1879-1888
• Webster's International Dictionary of the English Language,
Noah Porter, 1895

NOUN
a term of abuse, reproach, or contempt; apparently, a miser ...1599 obs.
 
ETYMOLOGY
from Latin cum prep. with + twang from 'huddle and twang' a term of contempt for a person (1579 obs.)
 
FIRST DOCUMENTED USE
1599 - see Example below
 
EXAMPLE
"...those graybeard huddle-duddles and crusty cum-twangs, were stroke with such stinging remorse..."
 
From: Lenten Stuffe
By: Thomas Nashe, 1599
 
SOURCES
• A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles,
​James Murray, 1887-1933
• A Supplementary English Glossary, O. Davies, T. Lewis, 1881 

NOUN
the letter Z ...1597 obs.
 
ETYMOLOGY
variant of "izzard" an old name for the letter Z
 
FIRST DOCUMENTED USE
1597 - see EXAMPLE below
 
EXAMPLE
"...X. with Y. ezod. & per se. con per se.
 
From: A Plain and Easy Introduction to Practical Music
By: Thomas Morley, 1597
 
SOURCES
• A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles,
​James Murray, 1887-1933
 

ADJ.
abounding in or giving rise to action; active, energetic, brisk
​...1592 obs.
 
ETYMOLOGY
from Latin actiosus active, full of activity,
from actionem action + -ous
 
FIRST DOCUMENTED USE
1592 - see Example below
 
EXAMPLE
"...The fourth and fifth of Henries were as actious as the rest:
Especially the latter was the formost with the best."
 
From: Albions England
By: William Warner, 1592
 
SOURCES
• A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles,
​James Murray, 1887-1933

VERB
to deceive as a harlot does ...1611 nonce word obs.
 
ETYMOLOGY
from Latin meretric- prostitute, parodying matriculate
 
FIRST DOCUMENTED USE
1611 - See Example below
 
EXAMPLE
"...I warrant you, sir, I haue not been matriculated in the
Vniuersity to be meretriculated by him"
 
From: May Day
By: George Chapman, 1611
 
SOURCES
• A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles,
​James Murray, 1887-1933
• Dictionary of Early English, Joseph Shipley, 1955
 

NOUN
an oddity ...1788 rare
 
ETYMOLOGY
from 'quiz' (n.) an odd or eccentric person
in character or appearance (rare)
 
FIRST DOCUMENTED USE
1788 - see EXAMPLE below
 
EXAMPLE
"...his height and proportion mighty slender, and well enough by nature,
but fidgeted and noddled into an appearance not over prepossessing;
nor are his sharp features and very sharp little eyes
​a whit behind them in quizzity."
 
From: Letters of Anna Seward
Written Between the Years 1784 and 1807
Letter XVI, Miss Weston, Lichfield, April 15, 1788
Published 1811
 
SOURCES
• A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, James Murray, 1887-1933
 

ADJ.
pert. to homicide; tending to or resulting in homicide; man-slaying; murderous ...1632 rare
 
ETYMOLOGY
from Latin homicidium homicide, the act of killing a human being + -ous
 
FIRST DOCUMENTED USE
1632 - see EXAMPLE below
 
EXAMPLE
"...An inhumane and homicidious Pope was Stephanus the seventh ..."
 
From: The Totall Discourse, Of the Rare Adventures, and painefull Peregrinations of long nineteene Yeares Travayles,
From Scotland, to the Most Famous Kingdomes
​in Europe, Asia, and Affrica.
By: William Lithgow, 1632
 
SOURCES
• A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles,
James Murray, 1887-1933

ADJ.
making or causing enjoyment, pleasure, or delight ...1721 rare
 
ETYMOLOGY
from late Latin voluptificus that causes enjoyment, gives delight
 
FIRST DOCUMENTED USE
1721 - Voluptific making pleasure or delight
 
SOURCES
• A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles,
James Murray, 1887-1933
• An Universal Etymological English Dictionary, Nathan Bailey, 1721
 

ADJ.
expressive in face; exhibiting one's feelings through the eyes or face
..1708 obs. rare
 
ETYMOLOGY
from Latin aspectare, freq. of aspicere to look at,
+ -bundus, suffix forming verbal adjectives,
after Latin lacrimabundus weeping, osculabundus kissing,
cogitabundus full of thought, etc.,
 
FIRST DOCUMENTED USE
1708 - see Example below
 
EXAMPLE
"...On the Stage, he's very Aspectabund, wearing a farce in his Face."
 
From: Roscius Anglicanus
Or, an Historical Review of the Stage from 1660 to 1706
By: John Downes, 1708
 
SOURCES
• A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles,
James Murray, 1887-1933
• The Century Dictionary and Encyclopedia,
​William Dwight Whitney, 1889-1891
• Dictionary of Early English, Joseph Shipley, 1955
 

NOUN
midnight ...1873 Scot.
 
FIRST DOCUMENTED USE
1873 - see EXAMPLE below
 
EXAMPLE
"...For when the cock, at twal' o' nicht,
Erects its scarlet kame,
Tak' ye nae fear, there's some lane soul,
Gaun to its lang, lang hame.
 
From: Lilts on the Doric Lyre:
A Collection of Humorous Poems and Versified Sketches of Scottish Manners and Characters
"The Dominie's Story; or, The Flittin' o' Auld Aunty Gartley"
By: Alexander G. Murdoch, 1873
 
SOURCES
• The English Dialect Dictionary, Joseph Wright, 1898-1905
 

NOUN
a person of flighty and hasty character ...1563 obs.
 
ETYMOLOGY
from fling n. a spell of unrestrained indulgence of one's impulses + -brain
 
FIRST DOCUMENTED USE
1563 - see Example below
 
EXAMPLE
"...Remember what they haue bene which haue set forth
the same in this Realme: A sort of flyngbraynes and light heades,
which were neuer constant in any one thyng,
as it was to be seene in the turnyng of the Table"
 
From: Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Dayes
(The Book of Martyrs)
By: John Foxe, 1563
 
SOURCES
• A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles,
​James Murray, 1887-1933

NOUN
a dispute, contention ...1886 Eng. dial. (Somerset)
 
VERB
1. to dispute; to contend in disputation ...a1225 obs. exc. Eng. dial.
2. to spit on a person or on something ...1382 obs.
 
ETYMOLOGY
vb. 1. aphetic form of 'dispute'
vb. 2. from Latin sputare to spit
 
FIRST DOCUMENTED USE
(vb. 1.) a1225 - "...ne funde we nowhwer nan swa
deope ilearet þet durste sputin wið us"
 
From: The Legend of St. Katherine of Alexandria, a1225
 
EXAMPLE
(vb. 2.) "...Thei wlaten me, and ferr floun fro me,
​and to spute my face they shame not"
 
From: The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments, with the Apocryphal Books
By: John Wycliffe, 1382
 
SOURCES
• A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles,
James Murray, 1887-1933
• The Century Dictionary and Encyclopedia,
William Dwight Whitney, 1889-1891
• The Imperial Dictionary of the English Language,
​Rev. John Ogilvie, 1847-1850
• The English Dialect Dictionary, Joseph Wright, 1898-1905
• The West Somerset Word-Book, Frederick Thomas Elworthy, 1886
 

NOUN
a disagreeable tingling sensation in the extremities, caused by cold; numbness of the fingers or toes ...1816 Eng. dial. (Cornwall)
[in some parts of Cornwall it is pronounced 'wonders']
 
ETYMOLOGY
? from Welsh gwynrew numbness from the cold; gwyndraw numbness, stupor
 
FIRST DOCUMENTED USE
1816 - The History of Cornwall, Civil, Military, Religious, etc."
By: Richard Polwhele, 1816
 
EXAMPLE
"I have the gwenders in my fingers."
 
From: Glossary of Words in use in Cornwall
By: Miss M.A. Courtney, Thomas Q. Couch, 1880
 
SOURCES
• A Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, James Halliwell, 1855
• The English Dialect Dictionary, Joseph Wright, 1898-1905
• Glossary of Words in use in Cornwall,
​Miss M.A. Courtney, Thomas Q. Couch, 1880

ADJ.
lasting, continuous, permanent ...1670 rare
 
ETYMOLOGY
from Latin perdurantem, pr. pple. of perdurare to endure
 
FIRST DOCUMENTED USE
1670 - see Example below
 
EXAMPLE
"...A Letter. Perdurant and inconcussed Mistriss,
Tis not onely my Solamen..."
 
From: The Humorists, a Comedy
By: Thomas Shadwell, 1670
 
SOURCES
• A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles,
​James Murray, 1887-1933
 

NOUN
1. a trifler ...1622 obs. rare
2. a pair of bones held loosely between the fingers on which boys
play a kind of tune; castanets ...1888 Eng. dial.
3. a fussy, officious person ...1960s US sl.
 
ETYMOLOGY
from knick-knack + -er
 
FIRST DOCUMENTED USE
1622 - see Example below
 
EXAMPLE
"...Other kind of knick-knackers there are,  which betwixt knaue
​and foole can make an illfauoured passage through the world."
 
From: Strange News Ovt of Divers Covntries
By: Nicholas Breton, 1622
 
SOURCES
• A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles,
James Murray, 1887-1933
• The Century Dictionary and Encyclopedia,
​William Dwight Whitney, 1889-1891
• A Supplementary English Glossary, O. Davies, T. Lewis, 1881
• The Encyclopaedic Dictionary, Robert Hunter, 1879-1888
• A Glossary of Words Used in the Neighbourhood of Sheffield, Sidney Oldall Addy, 1888
• Cassell's Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2000

also:
DRAW A RED HERRING ACROSS THE PATH
DRAW A RED HERRING ACROSS THE TRAIL

 VERB
to attempt to divert attention from the real question ...1892
 
ETYMOLOGY
- derived from farmers 17th century* practice of trailing or
dragging a red herring** around their fields to divert the hounds
away from their crops during a fox hunt;
- some sources also state that criminals would mislead bloodhounds
that were chasing them by dragging a red herring across their tracks;
hence: red herring: a subject intended to be misleading or distracting
 
 * published in The Gentleman's Recreation, by Nicholas Cox, 1686
** red herrings - literally, herrings that turn red when cured by smoking,
​and have a strong scent
 
FIRST DOCUMENTED USE
1892 - See Example below
 
EXAMPLE
"...That these red-herrings drawn across the path did not prevail,
and that M. Mercier was overthrown in spite of his many advantages,
is a proof that the people..."
 
From: The Spectator, March 12, 1892
"The Verdict of Quebec"
 
SOURCES
• A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles,
​James Murray, 1887-1933