▪ I. † eˈffeir, n. Obs. or arch.
Also 4–5 effer(e, 6 effeer, -air.
[Sc. var. of affair, q.v.]
1. = affair 1; a ‘cause’.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce x. 305 He sped him to the were, Till help his Eym and his effere. 1501 Douglas Pal. Hon. i. lxviii, For greit effeir me thocht na pane to die. a 1605 Montgomerie Oppos. Court to Consc. 22 No furtherer of thair effairs. |
2. = affair 6; appearance, bearing; show, ‘pomp and circumstance’; ceremony.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce v. 608 The king persauit be thair effeir, That all wes suth men till hym tald. Ibid. vii. 30 Iohn of lorn, with gret effere. Ibid. 126 Thai persauit be his spekyng, And his effer, he wes the kyng. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. ix. xxii. 69 Dame Anabil Qwene of Scotland..Cunnand, curtas in her efferis. c 1500 Lancelot 2357 Sche gart bryng..With grete effere this knycht to hir presens. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (1858) I. 299 Thair forwardnes and eik thair fresche effeir. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xii, This rising in effeir of war. |
b. pl. Phenomena, properties.
| 1500–20 Dunbar Thistle & Rose 128 Discirnyng all thair [flouris] fassionis and effeiris. |
▪ II. effeir, effere, v.1 north. dial.
(in Sc. əˈfir)
Also 7 effeer.
[Usual spelling of affeir, affere.]
1. impers. intr. To fall by right, appertain, become, be proper or meet. Obs. exc. in Sc. law phrase ‘as effeirs’.
| c 1375 Barbour Troy-bk. ii. 3020 And þai In Achaia hime erde With kyngis honour, as efferde. c 1375 ? Barbour St. Philippus 90, & al þe remaynyne to do Þat efferyte þare ordyr to. c 1430 Henryson Mor. Fab., Tale of Dog 23 The Ravin, as to his office weill effeird, Indorsat hes the write. Ibid. (1832) 25, I drewe a little by, For it effeirs nether to heare nor spye. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. III. 326 Or to his stait efferit for to haif. 1657 S. Colvil Whigs Supplic. (1751) 95 It effeers That I be judged by my Peers. 1833 Act 3 & 4 Will. IV, c. 46 §128 All competent diligence may pass and be directed hereon in form as effeirs. |
† 2. As personal vb. To be becoming, pertain properly. Const. to or dat.
| a 1550 Christis Kirke Gr. viii, He cheist a Flane as did affeir him. a 1600 Maitland Poems 328 (Jam.) Honest weidis, To thair estait doand effeir [= effeirand]. a 1605 Montgomerie Flyting 573 All his fousome forme thereto effeirs. 1820 Scott Monast. xxxiii, In all that effeirs to war. |
▪ III. † eˈffeir, v.2 Sc. Obs. rare.
[var. afear, q.v.]
1. trans. To frighten.
| 1513 Douglas æneis xi. xii. 102 Na wound nor wapyn mycht hym anis effeir. 1553 (ed. 1) Ibid. viii. iv. 88 The first time that ony..persauit Cacus efferde [v.r. afferd]. |
2. trans. To fear, be afraid of.
| 1552 Lyndesay Monarche 2576 Effeir ȝe nocht Diuine punytione? |