Browse dictionary
Showing 1-20 of 149 results in 149 entries
1. abstraction, n. View full entry c1450
...The action of withdrawing or secluding oneself from worldly or sensual things, or of turning one's mind away from the world towards the contemplation of the spiritual; a state of solitude or...
2. advantageous, adj. View full entry c1485
...Providing or conferring advantage; profitable, beneficial; opportune, favourable....
3. Alcoran, n. View full entry c1405
...The sacred book of Islam; = Qur'an Usu. with the. Now chiefly hist....
4. anybody, n. and pron. View full entry 1490
...comb. of any and body in the sense of person (as in nobody, somebody): Any person, any one. It has all the...
5. † ˈaskefise, n. View full entry c1400
...One who blows the ashes or fire; a term of reproach among northern nations for an unwarlike fellow who stayed at home in the chimney-corner....
6. baboon, n. View full entry c1400
...A representation of a grotesque figure or monster, esp. in architecture, or as a manuscript decoration. Cf. baboonery1. hist. after Middle English....
7. baby, n. and adj. View full entry c1400
...A very young child, esp. one not yet able to walk and dependent on the care of others; an infant. Also applied to an unborn child. Formerly also: †a child...
8. badge, n. View full entry 1440
...Originally: a heraldic symbol worn as an identifying mark by a knight and his retainers (= cognizance5a; sometimes more fully badge of arms). In later use: any...
9. bard, n.1 View full entry 1449
...An ancient Celtic order of minstrel-poets, whose primary function appears to have been to compose and sing (usually to the harp) verses celebrating the achievements of chiefs and warriors, and who committed...
10. bell-wether, n. View full entry c1430
...The leading sheep of a flock, on whose neck a bell is hung....
11. blonde | blond, adj. and n. View full entry 1481
...Properly (of the hair): Of a light golden brown, light auburn; but commonly used in sense of light-coloured, ‘fair’, as opposed to ‘dark’, or ‘brunette’, and extended to the complexion of those...
12. blueness, n. View full entry 1440
...The discoloration of the skin characteristic of bruising, severe cold, etc.; (as a count noun) a discoloration of this type....
13. brach, n. View full entry c1400
...A kind of hound which hunts by scent; in later English use, always feminine, and extended to any kind of hound; a bitch-hound....
14. braying, n.1 View full entry c1440
...Loud or harsh crying, hoarse shouting. Obs....
15. brick, n.1 View full entry c1440
...A substance formed of clay, kneaded, moulded, and hardened by baking with fire, or in warm countries and ancient times by drying in the sun; used instead of stone as a building...
16. bubble, n. View full entry 1481
...A thin globular (or hemispherical) vesicle of water or other liquid, filled with air or gas; applied alike to those produced by the agitation of a quantity of the liquid, or the...
17. † casbald, n. View full entry c1440
...A term of reproach (addressed in places quoted to Mary Magdalene)....
18. churchwarden, n. View full entry 1443
...In the pre-reformation Church in England, and subsequently in the Church of England and certain other Anglican Churches: an elected lay representative in a parish church, whose responsibilities include maintaining order in...
19. clack, n. View full entry c1440
...A sharp, sudden, dry sound as of two flat pieces of wood striking each other, partaking of the character of a clap and a crack....
20. clan, n. View full entry c1425
...A number of persons claiming descent from a common ancestor, and associated together; a tribe....
