Part 2 — LOANWORDS. (continued 2)

Theck, vb. to thatch. Ramsay, II, 224. Has been taken as a loan-word from O. N. þekja, to thatch, Norse tekka, Sw. täcka. Cp. O. E. þeccan. Theck probably comes from O. Nhb. þecca.

Thir, dem. pron. these, those. Bruce, I, 76; Dunbar, G.T., 127; Lyndsay, 4, 20, 1175; R.R., 108. O. N. þeir. Cp. M. E. þir, þer, those, Cu. thur.

Thra, adj. eager. Bruce, XVIII, 71. O. N. þrár, obstinate, persistent, Norse traa, untiring, also wilful, Sw. dial. trå, M. E. þra, bold, strong, thraly, adv. Wyntoun, II, 8, 55; VII, 8, 186. See Wall. Skeat cites Eng. dial. thro.

Thra, adv. boldly. Dunbar, T.M.W., 195. See above, thra.

Thraif, sb. two stooks or twenty-four sheaves of grain. Dunbar, 228. O. N. þrefi, a number of sheaves, Dan. trave, Sw. trafwe, twenty sheaves of grain, M. E. þrāve, a bundle, a number, Cu. threve, threeav.

Threave, sb. a crowd, a large number. Ramsay, II, 463. The same word as thraif, q.v.

Thrist, vb. to thrust, push, also means to clasp. Bruce, XIII, 156; R.R. 12, 9; Rolland, IV, 590. O. N. þrýsta, to thrust, force, Norse trysta, to press together, M. E. þrīsten, þrȳstan. Lyndsay also uses the word in the sense of "to pierce."

Thwaite, sb. originally a small piece of cleared land on which a house was built, a cottage with its paddock. O. N. þvæit, O. Ic. þveit. Northwest England thwaite, Norse tveit, tvæit, Dan. tved. Occurs in a number of place-names in S. Scotland, especially in Dumfriesshire. Its form is Norse not Dan. Thweet or thwet would correspond to the Dan. word, but see also Part III, 1.

Tit, tyt, adv. soon, quickly. Bruce, II, 4; IV, 289. O. N. títt, adv. frequently, in quick succession, "höggva hart ok títt." The Sco. word comes from this O. N. form, which is simply the neuter inflected form of tiðr, adj. meaning "customary, familiar." The comparative titter often means "rather" in Sco., like Eng. sooner. Cp. Cu. "I'd as tite deat as nut," "I'd as lief do it as not."

Tithand, titand, sb. news, tidings. Bruce, IV, 468; Lyndsay, 341, 720. O. N. tiðindi, news, Norse tidende, id., Dan. tidende, Orm. tiþennde. Of O. E. tidung > tidings Bosworth says: "the use of the word, even if its form be not borrowed from Scand., seems to have Scand. influence."

Titlene, sb. the hedge sparrow. C.S., 38. O. N. titlingr, a tit, a sparrow.

Toym, tume, sb. leisure. Bruce, V, 64, 2, XVII, 735. O. N. tóm, leisure (Skeat).

Traist, vb. to trust. Bruce, I, 125; XVII, 273; Rolland, I, 27. Trast, adj. secure, traist, sb. confidence. Lindsay, 229, 195. Traisting, sb. confidence, reliance, L.L., 25. Cp. O. N. tröysta, adj. traustr, and Eng. trust, M. E. trusten. I do not at present understand the relation between the forms in e, and these in u and ou.

Trig, adj. trim, neat, handsome. M.W., 159, 26. O. N. tryggr, true, trusty, unconcerned, trygging, security, O. Dan. trygd, trugd, confidence (Schlyter), Norse trygg, secure, unconcerned, confident, tryggja, to consider secure, tryggja sek, feel secure, Dan. tryg, fearless, confident. Cp. Cu. trig, tight, well-fitted, "trig as an apple." The M. E. trig means faithful, see B-S. Ramsay, II, 526, uses the adv. trigly in the sense of "proudly."

Twist, sb. twig, branch. Bruce, VII, 188; Montg., C. and S., Irving, 468. O. N. kvistr, a twig, O. Dan., quist, Norse, Dan. kvist, Sw. quist, id. For the change of kv (kw) to tw cp. Norse, Dan. kviddre, Sw. quittra, Du. kwittern with Eng. twitter, and kj to tj in W. Norse. A regular change.

Tyne, vb. lose, impair, destroy. C.S., 3; Wyntoun, IX, 21, 14; R.R. 779. O. N. týna, to lose, destroy, Norse tyna, to lose, sometimes impair, Sw. dial. tyna, to destroy.

Tynsell, tynsale, sb. loss. Bruce, V, 450, XIX, 449; R.R., 505. In Wyntoun, IX, 3, 25, it means "delay, loss of time," frequently means "loss of life, slaughter." M. E. tinsel, loss, ruin, probably a Sco. formation from tyne, to lose, similarly in Norse tynsell, loss (not frequent), from tyna.

Tynsale, vb. to lose, suffer loss. Bruce, XIX, 693. See the sb.

Tytt, adj. firm, tight. Wallace, VII, 21, 2. O. N. þittr, tight, close, Norse, tett or titt, Dan. tæt, Sw. tät, close together, tight, Eng. dial. theet. The long vowel in theet is unusual.

Ug, vb. to dislike, abhor. Winyet, II, 31, 32; Scott, 71, 119. O. N. ugga, abhor, Norse ugga, see B-S.

Ugsum, adj. fearful. Sat. P., 3, 135. See ug. Ougsum, Howlate, I, 8, means "ugly."

Underlie, adj. wonderful. Gau, 29, 24. Dan. underlig, Norse, underleg, O. N. underlegr, wonderful, shows Scand. loss of w before u. The O. E. word is wundorlic, cp. Scand. ulf, Eng. wolf. The word is Dan. in Gau.

Unfleckit, adj. unstained. Psalms, XXIV, 4. See fleckerit.

Unganand (gēn.), adj. unfit, unprepared. Douglas, II, 48, 16. See ganand.

Unrufe, sb. restlessness, vexation. Gol. and Gaw., 499. See rove, sb. Cp. Norse uro, restlessness, noise, Dan. uro, id.

Unsaucht, adj. disturbed, troubled. Gol. and Gaw., II, 12. See saucht.

Upbigare, sb. a builder. Winyet, II, 3, 4. See big. Cp. Norse bygga up.

Uploip, vb. leap up. Montg., M.P., III, 33. See loup. On this change of ou to oi cp. the same word in Norse, laupa and loipa.

Vath, waith, sb. danger. Bruce, V, 418; Wallace, IX, 1737. O. N. váði, harm, mishap, disaster, Dan. vaade, danger, adversity, Sw. våde, an unlucky accident, M. E. wāþe, peril. Does not seem to exist in the modern diall.

Vitterly, adv. certainly. Bruce, IV, 771; X, 350. O. N. vitrliga, wisely, Dan. vitterlig, well-known, undoubted, M. E. witerliche, certainly.

Vyndland, pr. p. whirling around. Bruce, XVII, 721. O. N. vindla, to wind up. Norse vindel, a curl, anything twisted or wound. Cu. winnel. Cp. Dan. vindelbugt, a spiral twist. Skeat cites provincial Eng. windle, a wheel for winding yarn.

Wag, vb. to totter, walk unsteady. Dunbar, 120, 98. Norse, vagga, to swing, rock, sway, O. N. vaga, to waddle. See further Skeat.

Waggle, vb. to wag, sway from side to side, wabble. M.W., 16, 23; 51, 5. Sw. dial. vagla, vackla, to reel, Norse vakla, id. May be taken as a Sco. frequentative of wag, q.v. Not to be derived from the L. G. word. Confined to the Scand. settlements.

Wailie, adj. excellent. Burns, 179, 2, 3, and 8, 7. See wale, sb.

Wailit, adj. choice, fashionable, excellent. Rolland, I, 64. See wail, vb.

Wale, vb. to select, choose. Douglas, III, 3, 21; Dunbar, G.T., 186. Probably from the noun wale, choice. The vowel does not correspond with that of the O. N. vb. velja, which should have become well. But the forms dwall from O. N. dvelja, and hale, O. N. hella, appear in Sco. Wale may be a formation analogous to hale.

Waith, sb. the spoil of the chase or of fishing. Wallace, I, 386. O. N. væiðr, a catch in hunting or fishing. Norse veidd, the chase, veida, to hunt. On Sco. faid, a company of hunters. See I, § 22.

Wandreth, sb. sorrow, trouble. Douglas, I, 88, 14. O. N. vandræði, difficulty, trouble. Norse, vanraad, misery, poverty.

Want, vant, vb. lack, stand in need of, suffer. Montg., S., 48, 3; Lyndsay, 152, 40704; Bruce, V, 422; Burns, 113, 2, 3. O. N. vanta, to lack. Norse vanta, lack, never means desire. This is the regular use of the word in Sco.

Wanthreivin, adj. unthriven, miserable. Montg., F., 327. O. N. van + þrifenn, Norse vantreven, O. N. vb. þrifa, Norse triva, vantriva (refl.). See Skeat under Eng. thrive and thrift.

Wap (wæ̆p), vb. to turn, overturn, throw, hurl. Douglas, I, 2, 20; III, 167, 28; Gol. and Gaw., 127. O. N. vappa, to waddle. Norse vappa, turn, wrap around. Sw. dial. vappla, wrap up. Cu. wap, to wrap.

Ware, vb. to lay out money, spend. Rolland, III, 450; Dunbar, 92, 13; R.R., 3553. O. N. verja, to invest money. See Wall.

Waur, vb. to overcome. Burns, 7, 1, 7; Psalms, CXL, 2. See werr. Cp. Eng. worst as a vb. and superlative of bad, worse.

Weik, vb. to weaken. Scott, 68, 14. Cp. Norse veikja, to weaken, make weak. O. N. væikja, to grow weak, both from adj. væikr, weak, same as O. E. wāc. The Sco. vb. may be formed directly from the adj., in which case its origin becomes uncertain. Skeat says Eng. weak, M. E. weyke (which replaced wook < O. E. wāc), is from O. N. væikr. But the M. Sco. form of O. E. or O. Nhb. wāc was wāke (wēk); our word could come from this. The diphthong, however, rather indicates that it comes from the Norse vb.

Weill-varandly, adv. in a proper manner. R.R., 911. See farrand. Cp. O. N. fara vel, Norse fara vel, to go well, velfaren, gone well.

Welter, vb. to roll, turn, overturn. Bruce, XI, 25; III, 700; Douglas, II, 125, 25; T.M.W., 439; Lyndsay, 342, 770. O. N. valtra, to be unsteady, not firm, easily shaken. O. Sw. valltra, Sw. dial. välltra, to roll.

Werr, were, war, var, waur, adj. worse. C.S., 57; Lyndsay, 428, 1392; R.R., 589, etc. O. N. verr, worse, Norse verr, verre, Dan. værre, Sw. värr, Cu. waar. This is the modern Sco. pronunciation of it. The O. Fr. wirra does not correspond to the Sco. forms of the word. It is most common in Scotland and N.W. England.

Wicht, adj. strong, vigorous, skillful. Bruce, VII, 263; Ramsay, I 253. O. N. vígr, fit for battle, skilled in war, from víg, battle, Sw. vig, active, M. E. wiht, valiant. B-S. queries the word, but thinks it may come from M. L. G. wicht, heavy, thus the same word as Eng. weight. This meaning is, however, not satisfactory. The Sco. usage is that of the Scand. word. The t is inflectional. Cp. O. N. eiga vígt um.

Wick, vb. to make to turn, to strike off on the side, strike a stone in an oblique direction, a term in curling, to hit the corner (Wagner). O. N. víkja, to turn, to veer, Sw. dial. vik, Sw. wika, Norse vikja, vika, to turn (causative). Dan. vige not quite the same word.

Wilkatt, sb. a wild cat, Dalr., I, 723. Ramsay II, 500. O. N. vill + Eng., Norse cat, kat.

Will, vill, adj. adv. lost, bewildered, astray. Dunbar, 228, 74; Douglas, II, 24, 6, "to go will." O. N. villr, bewildered, fara villt, get lost, Norse vill, astray, Dan. vild, Sw. vill. Cp. Cu. wills, doubts, "Aaz i' wills whether to gang or nit."

Wilrone, sb. a wild boar. Scott, 71, 106. O. N. vill, wild, + runi, a boar, a wild boar, Norse rone, raane, Sw. dial. råne, Dan., with metathesis, orne.

Wilsum, adj. errant, wandering. Douglas, II, 65, 16; "a wilsome way," "Freires of Berwick," 410. See will, astray. Wilsum more frequently means "willful," is Eng.

Wissle, vissil, wyssil. Douglas, III, 225, 8; Bruce, XII, 580; Montg., F., 578. O. N. vixla, to cross, to put across, vixlingr, a changeling (Cl. and V.), Norse veksla, vessla, to exchange, Dan. veksle. Sco. and Norse both show the change of ks to ss. The Norse form versla shows later dissimilation of ss to rs. This is W. Norse.

Wittir, sb. a sign. Douglas, II, 231, 16. See wittering.

Wittering, vittering, sb. information, knowledge. Bruce, IV, 562; Douglas, II, 185, 27. O. N. vitring, revelation, from vb. vitra, to reveal. Norse vitring, information, M. E. witering, id.

Welter, sb. an overturning. Winyet, I, 49, 22. See the vb. welter.