† ˈwoodwose, ˈwoodhouse, n. Obs. (exc. Hist.).
Forms: 1 wudewasa, 4 wodwos, (-wysse), 4–5 wodewese, 4–6 wodewose, 5 wodwose, (-wous(e, -woys, -wosh(e, -wyssh(e, wodewyse), 5–6 woodwose, -wyss, 6 -woss, pl. wodys, vodys. β. 5 woodowes, 6 wodowes, woodos(e, wodehouse, -howse, wood(e)hous(e.
[Late OE. wudewása, f. wudu wood n.1 + *wása (of obscure origin).]
A wild man of the woods; a savage; a satyr, faun; a person dressed to represent such a being in a pageant.
Sometimes taken for or construed as pl.
| a 1100 Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 108/22 Satiri, uel fauni,..uel fauni ficarii, unfæle men, wudewasan, unfæle wihtu. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 721 Sumwhyle wyth wormez he werrez,..Sumwhyle wyth wodwos, þat woned in þe knarrez. 13.. Metr. Hom. (Vernon MS.) in Herrig Archiv LVII. 261 Þis Breusteres douhtur..tolde þe folk as wodewose wilde Who gat on hire þis forseyde childe. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xv. xix. (Tollem. MS.) Þerin [sc. in Africa] ben satires, wodewoses, tigris, and oþer horrible bestes. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3817 Alls vnwyse wodewyse he wente at þe gayneste. c 1440 Partonope 7691 [4737] in Anglia XII. 616 Partanope hath now forsake The wodwous [v. rr. wodwoys, wodwose, wodwouse] lyfe. 1460 J. Capgrave Chron. (Rolls) 257 The Kyng of Frauns daunsed in his halle with iiii knites, and was arayed lich a wodwous. 1484 Caxton Fables of Auian xxii, A wodewose named Satyre. 1519 W. Horman Vulg. 109 Woode wosis be vpward nostrelde, Satyri sunt sili. 1555 Machyn Diary (Camden) 96 Men lyke wodys alle in gren. 1556 Withals Dict. (1562) 15 A wodewose, satyrus. |
| β a 1505 in Kingsford Chron. Lond. (1905) 251 Fourthly came..the Erle of Essex..w{supt} a woodhous precedyng, and beryng a Sere tre. ? 1525 Fitzherb. Husb. Colophon, Emprynted at London in Southwarke, at the sygne of the wodowes. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 9 b, These beastes were led with certayne men appareiled like wilde men, or woodhouses. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. Pref. A iij, Some wente naked, some romed lyke woodoses, none did anye thing by reason. [1832 Aspin Anc. Customs etc. English 251 The savage men, or wodehouses, as they are sometimes called, frequently made their appearance in the public shows. 1866 J. Nicholl Comp. Ironmongers 86 note, The engravings..represent ivy-men or wood-wards, characters introduced in the pageants..of that period [c 1515]. They were sometimes called woodhouses.] |
b. A figure of such a being, as a decoration, a heraldic bearing or supporter, etc.
| 1355 in Rep. MSS. Ld. Middleton (1911) 465 Item j. botoner de roses, pris xl s. Item j. botoner de wodewoses, pris c s. 1381 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) I. 121 Lectum..broudatum cum signis de wodewese. a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 1540 A vestoure..Wroȝt full of wodwose & oþer wild bestis. 1498 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) IV. 133 Sex cocliaria optima arg[entea] cum wodwoshes. |
| β 1493 Will of Feld (Somerset Ho.), Dosen spones of siluer with woodowes on thende. 1513 in Archaeologia LXVI. 347 A Counterpoint of woodehouse lyned w{supt} canvas. 1531 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 49, vj Sponys with woodos gylt. [1910 F. Bond Misericords 16 The wodehouse is a very common supporter in heraldry. 1920 Archaeologia Ser. ii. XIX. 81 Three woodhouses; between crosses.] |
Hence
† ˈwoodwose v. intr., to run wild.
| 13.. Metr. Hom. (Vernon MS.) in Herrig Archiv LVII. 274 Ho is wodore þen þat mon Þat muche skile and resun con..And goþ siþen wod wosande? |