▪ I. dight, v. Now arch. and dial.
(daɪt)
Forms: 1 diht-an, 2–3 diht-en, 3–4 diȝt-e(n, (4 dyghte, diȝt, diȝth, 4–5 dyht, diȝte), 4–6 dighte (5 dyte, dyth, 5–7 dite, 6 dyght), 4– dight (6– Sc. dicht, 8–9 north. dial. deeght, deet). pa. tense 1 dihte, dihtode, 2–4 dihte, diȝte, 4 diȝted, -id, 4–5 diȝt, dyȝt, 4– dight (6– Sc. dichtit). pa. pple. 1 (ᵹe)diht, dihted, 3–4 (i)diht, 3– dight, (7 dighted, 6– Sc. dichtit).
[OE. dihtan, ad. L. dictāre to dictate, compose in language, appoint, prescribe, order, in med.L. to write, compose a speech, letter, etc.: see dictate v. Parallel forms are OHG. dihtôn, tihtôn, tictôn, thictôn to write, compose, MHG. tihten, dichten, to write, compose, invent, contrive, mod.G. dichten to compose verses or poetry, MLG. dichten to compose, institute, contrive, set (oneself), LG. dichten, digten to versify, invent, contrive, think out, MDu. dichten to compose (in writing), contrive, institute, prepare, mod.Du. dichten to invent, compose, versify; also Icel. dikta to compose or write in Latin, to write a romance, to romance, lie, Sw. dikta to feign, fable, Da. digte to make poems (from Ger.). The mutual relations of the OE., OHG., and Norse words are not quite clear; but the difference of formation between OE. dihtan:—*dihtjan, and OHG. tihtôn v.:—*dihtôjan, indicates that they are independent adoptions of the Latin, although the change of d to t shows that the word is old in German. The Norse word must be of later adoption: if it were old, the expected form would be *détta.
From the senses of literary dictation and composition in which it was originally used, this verb received in ME. an extraordinary sense-development, so as to be one of the most widely used words in the language. Special representatives of these ME. senses, survive dialectally, esp. in the north; the modern literary language knows the pa. pple. dight, which after being nearly obsolete in the 18th c., has been largely taken up again by poets and romantic writers of the 19th c. in senses 10, 14. (In MHG. dichten had also a much greater development of meaning than in mod.German.)]
I. To dictate, appoint, ordain, order, dispose of, deal with, treat.
† 1. trans. To dictate, give directions to, direct. Obs. (Only in OE.)
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxviii. 16 Ða ferdon þa endlufun leorning-cnihtas on þone munt, þær se hælynd heom dihte. c 1000 ælfric Gen. xvi. 3 Abram þa dyde swa swa him dyhte Sarai. Ibid. xxxix. 23 Drihten þær..dihte him hwæt he don sceolde. c 1000 ― On O. Test (in Sweet A.S. Reader 60) Moyses awrat..swa swa him God silf dihte on heora sunderspræce. |
† 2. To appoint, ordain. Obs.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke xxii. 29 Ic eow dihte swa min fæder me rice dihte. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1606 Þe deore drihtin haueð idiht ow ba þe blisfule crune of his icorene. a 1300 Cursor M. 9369 (Cott.) How þe fader of heuen Dight his dere sun to send. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 127 Þat Steuen to dede was dight. 1340 Ayenb. 7 He mæde þe worlde an ordaynede [v.r. diȝte]. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 7795 Þe ioyes sere Þat God has ordaynd þare and dyght. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iv. 1160 (1188) Ther as þe dom of Mynos wolde it dyghte. a 1400 Pistill of Susan 267, I am deolfolich dampned, and to deþ diht. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 60 A iuge is seid for he ditiþ riȝt to þe peple. 14.. E.E. Misc. (Warton Club) 12 A dredefulle payne is for me dyȝte. 1558 Will of Willyson (Somerset Ho.), Consyderyng y{supt} death to euery man is dight. [1808 Scott Marm. i. vi, The golden legend bore aright, ‘Who checks at me, to death is dight.’] |
† 3. To order, keep in order, manage, govern, rule. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 6848 Wel wes þisse londe idiht. Ibid. 7220 He makede þane kalender þe dihteð þane moneð & þe ȝer. Ibid. 10201 Þa setten heo biscopes Þan folken to dihten. c 1230 Hali Meid. 7 Deð hire in to drecchunge to dihten hus & hinen. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 424 Kyng Henry & hys wyf..So wel dyȝte Engelond, þat yt was wyde ytold. c 1400 St. Alexius (Laud 622) 28 Religious þat her lijf willen diȝth. ? a 1500 Chester Pl., Balaam & Balak 397 A Childe..in Bethlem shall be born, That shall be Duke to dight and deale, and rule the folke of Israell. 1522 World & Child in Hazl. Dodsley I. 274 Christ rose upon the third day..That all shall deem and dight. |
† 4. To deal with, treat, handle, use (in some manner); often to maltreat, abuse. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 11020 Hu he mihte dihten ælene his dohter. c 1275 Ibid. 25907 Þus he vs diht to-day a soueniht. a 1300 Cursor M. 21447 (Gött.) Sai me hu þu wile him dight, If þat he be dempt to þe wid right. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 742 What mercy mayst þou aske..Whan þou þus my sone hast dyghte? c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 320 Þouȝ þe fynger ne be but a litil lyme ȝitt þou muste have good kunnyng and good witt for to diȝte it wel. c 1450 Mirour Saluacioun 1758 Two stronge ȝonge men..Dight Helyodore with thaire whippes til he als dede thare laye. 1513 Douglas æneis vi. viii. 51 How euir wes ony suffirit the so to dycht? 1563 B. Googe Eglogs (Arb.) 115 Acteon wofull wyght, In what a manner, all to torne, his cruell Dogs him dyght. 1650 B. Discolliminium 52, I feare also at length some or other will come and dight us to purpose. |
† b. spec. To have to do with sexually. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 398 Al my walkynge out by nyghte Was for tespye wenches þat he dighte. Ibid. 767 Lete hir lecchour dighte hire al the nyght. c 1386 ― Manciple's T. 208. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. ii. 27 In hus dronke⁓nesse a day hus douhtres he [Lot] dighte And lay by hem boþe. |
† 5. To dispose, place, put, remove. Obs.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 148 Cuþeþ now ȝoure myȝte, How ȝe mow þis stones best to þe schip dyȝte. a 1300 Cursor M. 17312 (Cott.) Quy Blame ȝe me..for I a man in graf diȝt, In a toumb þat was myn awen? 1340 Ayenb. 210 Alle þoȝtes ulessliche and wordleliche me ssel diȝte uram þe herte þet wyle god bidde. 1393 Gower Conf. III. 270 Whan he was to bedde dight. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 6612 On þe pament þai it dyght. Ibid. 7138 Þe thrid in tughall þai þaim dyght. 1535 Stewart Chron. Scot. II. 524 The deid corpis in tha flang; And syne kest on the muldis on the clay, The grene erd syne, and dycht the laif away. |
† b. fig. To put into a specified state or condition; esp. in to dight to death, to put to death, kill, slay (see also 2). Obs.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1266 Diȝten dekenes to deþe, dungen doun clerkkes. c 1340 Cursor M. 18043 (Trin.) Þat dede from deþ to lif he diȝt. 1393 Gower Conf. II. 145 Ha, to what peine she is dight. 1415 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 125 Thorow hem many on to deth were dyght. 1460 Lybeaus Disc. 1719 To dethe they wyll her dyghte. c 1470 Henry Wallace iv. 68 Your selff sone syne to dede thai think to dycht. 1579–80 North Plutarch (1676) 13 Bold Theseus to cruel death him dight. 1586 J. Hooker Girald. Irel. in Holinshed II. 179/2 The earle would haue..dighted the lord gouernour and all the garisons to greater troubles. 1664 Floddan F. viii. 78 For unto death till we be dight I promise here to take thy part. 1817 Scott Harold vi. vi, Still in the posture as to death when dight. |
† c. With inverted construction: To cause, bring about, inflict (death). Obs.
| 1307 Elegy Edw. I, i, A stounde herkneth to my song, Of duel that Deth hath diht us newe. c 1350 Will. Palerne 151 Hire deth was neiȝ diȝt. c 1400 Destr. Troy 9558 Myche dole is vs dight to-day. a 1450 Cov. Myst. 265 On of ȝou is bezy my dethe here to dyth. c 1475 Partenay 3444 Yff atwixst his handis he hym haue myght, He wold make hym ende, And shameuous deth dight! |
II. To compose, construct, make, do.
† 6. To compose (with words); to set down in writing. Obs.
| c 1000 ælfric Life Oswold in Sweet A.S. Reader (1879) 102 Nu cwæþ se halᵹa Beda, ðe ðas boc ᵹedihte. c 1205 Lay. 3150 He letten writen a writ & wel hit lette dihten. c 1275 Ibid. 20669 Nis hit in none boke idiht Þat euere her were soch fiht. c 1425 Hampole's Psalter Metr. Pref. 48 Whos wol it write, I rede hym rygth, wryte on warly lyne be lyne, And make no more þen here is dygth. a 1440 Sir Degrev. 153 A lettre has he dyght. |
† 7. To compose, put together, frame, construct, make. Obs.
| a 1175 Cott. Hom. 233 He alle ȝesceop, and all dihte wið-ute swince. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 25 Ure fader in heuene feide þe lemes to ure licame..and swo diȝeliche hit al dihte, þat on elche feinge is hem onsene. c 1205 Lay. 23532 Walles heo gunnen rihten, þa ȝæten heo gunnen dihten. a 1300 Cursor M. 1665 (Cott.), A schippe be-houes þe to dight. Ibid. 12388 (Cott.) Plogh and haru cuth he dight. c 1340 Ibid. 23216 (Trin.) No more..þen peynted fire..þat on a wal bi mon were diȝt. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) vi. 70 The place..is fulle well dyghte of Marble. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 509 Nygh thi bestes dight A fire in colde. 1607 Schol. Disc. agst. Antichr. i. ii. 72 Hee dight himselfe a triple crowne. |
† b. To perform, do. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 15513 Fulle þreo nihten heore craftes heo dihten. c 1460 Play Sacram. 849 Alas y{supt} euer thys dede was dyght. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. ii. 18 Curst the hand which did that vengeance on him dight. |
III. To put in order, array, dress, direct, prepare, make ready, or proper.
† 8. To put or place in order, to set in array, to array; to arrange. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 20563 Howel sculde dihten þritti þusend cnihten. Ibid. 27337 Þa þas ferde wes al idiht, þa wes hit dai-liht. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 2 A hede, þat vs to werre can dight. 1375 Barbour Bruce ii. 565 His men in hy he gert be dycht. ? a 1500 Merline 1784 in Furniv. Percy Folio I. 477 All they can out ryde, & dighten them without fayle to giue Sir Vortiger battayle. [1821 J. Baillie Met. Leg., Wallace lxi, Were with their leader dight.] |
9. To equip, fit out, furnish (with what is needed).
In later use blending with sense 10: which see as to the modern use of the pa. pple. in romantic language.
| c 1205 Lay. 15104 ælc scip he dihte mid þreo hundred cni[h]ten. a 1300 Cursor M. 24807 (Edin.), Wit tresori his schip was diht. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 617 Do dight a schip wiþ sail & ore Ryght as þou a marchaund wore. 1460 J. Capgrave Chron. 33 Nyne hundred cartis dith with hokis of yrun. 1470–85 Malory Arthur ii. xv, He entryd in to a chambyr that was merueillously wel dyȝte and rychely. 1555 Abp. Parker Ps. li. 149 Wyth sacrifice of calfe and cow, they shall thyne aulters dyght. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. iv. 6 The hall..With rich array and costly arras dight. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. i. vi, Why do these steeds stand ready dight? Ibid. v. xxvii, In Sir William's armour dight, Stolen by his Page, while slept the knight. |
† b. With inverse constr.: To fit (some equipment) to or upon. (Cf. 10 b.) Obs. or arch.
| c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 677 With Dosouris to the duris dicht. 1871 P. H. Waddell Ps. xlv. 3 Dicht yer swurd ontil yer thie. |
10. To clothe, dress, array, deck, adorn (lit. and fig.). † to dight naked, to undress, strip.
In this sense the pa. pple. dight is used by Sir Walter Scott, and in later poetic and romantic language: it appears to be often taken as an archaic form of decked.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 87 Clensed of fule sinnes, and diht mid loðlesnesse. a 1300 Cursor M. 24552 (Edin.), Þan nicodem..Wit Iosep nam þat cors to diht. c 1330 King of Tars 848 The soudan dihte him naked anon. c 1340 Cursor M. 2249 (Fairf.), Þai dight ham in þat tide wiþ hors skynnys and camel hide. 1388 Wyclif Isa. xl. 19 A worchere in siluer schal diȝte it with platis of siluer. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 69 The thinge that she dite so her selff with. 1530 Palsgr. 516/1 A foule woman rychly dyght semeth fayre by candell lyght. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Jan. 22 Thy sommer prowde with Daffadillies dight. 1596 ― F.Q. iv. x. 38 Damzels in soft linnen dight. 1600 Holland Livy ii. vi. 48 Dight [decoratus] in our roiall ensignes and ornaments. 1632 Milton L'Allegro 62 The clouds in thousand liveries dight. 1632 ― Penseroso 159 Storied windows richly dight Casting a dim religious light. 1632 Massinger & Field Fatal Dowry iv. i, To see a young, fair, handsome beauty unhandsomely dighted and incongruently accoutred. 1663 Butler Hud. i. iii. 928 Just so the proud insulting Lass Array'd and dighted Hudibras. 1808 Scott Marm. vi. Introd. iii, But, O! what maskers richly dight. 1817 Wordsw. Vernal Ode i, All the fields with freshest green were dight. a 1845 Barham Ingol. Leg., Wedding-day, There stand the village maids dight in white. 1887 Bowen Virg. æneid iii. 517 Orion, in golden panoply dight. |
b. With inverse constr.: To put on (armour, apparel, etc.). (A Spenserian use.)
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. vii. 8 Ere he could his armour on him dight. 1590 ― Muiopotmos 91 His shinie wings..he did about him dight. 1591 ― M. Hubberd 1279 Tho on his head his dreadfull hat he dight. 1654 Gayton Pleas. Notes ii. vi. 59 She straightway dight her robes. |
† c. To dress (a wound); to attend to as a surgeon or ‘leech’. Obs.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 14064 (Fairf.), Ho hir oynement me boȝt & diȝt þar-wiþ my fote & shank. 1464 Mann. & Househ. Exp. 246 To Watkyn the Kynggys horseleche, ffor dytynge my masterys horsses iij.s. iiij.d. 1467 Ibid. 423 My wyffe payd to a schorgon, fore dytenge of heme wane he was horte, xij.d. c 1500 Spir. Remedies in Halliwell Nugae Poet. 64 My..woundys..bene..depe..Her smertyng wylle nat suffre me to slepe, Tylle a leche with dewte have theme dyght. 1533 Bellenden Livy ii. (1822) 136 He deceissit sone eftir that his wound wes dicht. |
d. ironically. To dirty, befoul. dial.
| 1632 Marmion Holland's Leaguer i. ii, Straight we shall fall Into a lake that will foully dight us. 1674 Ray N.C. Words 14 To Dight: Cheshire to foule or dirty one. 1869 Lonsdale Gloss., Deet, to dirty. 1877 N.W. Linc. Gloss. s.v., Thy han's is strange an' dighted up wi' dirt. |
† 11. To make ready, get ready (a person): chiefly refl. to make oneself ready, prepare, set, or address oneself (to do something). Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 12429 Seoððe heo heom dihten to bi-witen þa dich mid cnihten. a 1300 Cursor M. 11179 (Cott.), Ioseph dight him for to ga To bethleem. 1375 Cantic. de Creatione in Anglia I. 303 etc., Eue diȝte here to childyng. c 1400 Destr. Troy 8636 The dethe of þat Duke he dight hym to venge. c 1425 Seven Sag. (P.) 289 Lat dyght messangers ȝare Aftir hym for to fare. a 1550 Christis Kirke Gr. ii, To dans thir damysellis thame dicht. ? 1591 C'tess Pembroke Dolefull Lay Clorinda 105 in Spenser Astroph., Full many other moe..'Gan dight themselves t' express their inward woe With doleful lays. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vi. ii. 18 He..straight bids him dight Himself to yeeld his Love. |
† 12. refl. To direct oneself or one's way; to make one's way, repair, go. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 10551 (Gött.), Quen þis angel away was diht, Tua men þer cam were clad in quiht. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 113 Siþen [he] dight him to Scotland. c 1386 Chaucer Monk's Prol. 26 And out at dore anon I moot me dighte. 1430 Lydg. Chron. Troy iv. xxix, To⁓warde Troye your way was not dyght. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 788 To þe currok þai þaim dyght. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. i. 16 They both uprose and to their waies them dight. Ibid. v. iv. 43 She fiercely towards him her self gan dight. |
† 13. trans. To direct, address, proffer, offer. Obs. rare.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 13990 (Cott.) Ful fair seruis symon him dight, Als was to suilk a lauerding right. 1393 Gower Conf. II. 173 Goddes..To whom ful great honour they dighten. 1568 T. Howell Arb. Amitie (1879) 46 Hir wylling helpe she dightes. |
14. To prepare, make ready for use or for a purpose; a. in general sense. (Revived in poetic and romantic use.)
| a 1325 Prose Psalter Song of Simeon, For myn eȝen seȝen þyn helþe, Þe which þou diȝted to-fore þe face of alle folkes. c 1340 Cursor M. 13767 (Fairf.), Þer-in was angels wont to liȝt and þat ilk water diȝt. c 1400 Rom. Rose 4240 A nyght His instrumentis wolde he dight, For to blowe & make sowne. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 1123 Grounden shelles dight With flour of lyme. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 123/2 Dyhtyn', paro, preparo. 1476 Plumpton Corr. 36 As for the cloth of my ladies, Hen. Cloughe putt it to a shereman to dight. 1520 Lanc. Wills II. 11 My yarne y{supt} is sponne, to dyght it and make in cloth. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. xi. 2 Alma..to her guestes doth bounteous banket dight. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. i. 94 Thay take the hail meklewame of ane slain ox, thay turne and dicht it, thay fill it partlie with water partlie with flesche. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. 127 And gif they dicht, or prepair the flesh not well, they sall restore the skaith to the awner of the beast. 1613 Beaum. & Fl. Coxcomb iv. iii, Have a care you dight things handsomely. 1821 J. Baillie Met. Leg., Elder Tree xxv, To dight him for earth or heaven. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) II. v. i. 272 Haste and let the meal be dighted 'Neath the garden's blooming trees. 1887 Morris Odyss. iv. 768 This Queen of the many wooers dights the wedding for us then. |
In specific senses:
† b. To prepare, make ready (food, a meal); to cook; to prepare or mix (a potion or medicine). Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 24398 (Cott.) Þai did him dight a bitter drink,..of gall of aissil graid. c 1320 R. Brunne Medit. 49 Þe soper was dyȝt as y herd sey. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xiv. 64 For þai hafe lytill wode, þai dight þaire mete with dung of bestez dried at þe sonne. 14.. Noble Bk. Cookry (Napier 1882) 96 To dight a pik in sauce. 1459 Corpus Christi Coll. Contract in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 259 His mete to be dyght in the kechyn at there costis. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 68/1 She slewe a paske lambe..and dighted and sette it to fore hym. 1535 Coverdale Gen. xxv. 29 And Jacob dight a meace of meate. ― 1 Esdras i. 12 As for the thank offeringes & the other, they dight them in kettels & pottes. 1561 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 20 Chap it smal and dight it lyke a thycke potage. a 1569 A. Kingsmill Godly Advise (1580) 2 The fine cooke men dight the rude morsell with some conceite of their cunning. 1721 Kelly Sc. Prov. 12 (Jam.) A friend's dinner is soon dight. |
c. To repair, put to rights, put in order (what is out of order). Now dial.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 19755 (Cott.) ‘Rise’, he said, ‘þi bedd þou dight’. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 2570 With in thre days all hale dyght. 1580 Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 121 Item paid to Thomas Sim for dighting the leads, iiij d. [1877 N.W. Linc. Gloss., Dight up, to repair, put in order. ‘I mun hev these yates an' stowps dighted up afore th' steward comes’.] |
d. To polish or burnish up so as to fit for use; to cleanse from rust, or the like. Obs. or dial.
| a 1400 Chaucer Rom. Rose 941 Arowis..shaven wel and dight. c 1500 Debate Carp. Tools, Halliwell Nugae Poet. 15, I schalle rube, with all my myght, My mayster tolys for to dyght. 1513 Douglas æneis viii. vii. 133 Ane part polyst, burnyst weill and dycht. 1532–33 Christ's Coll. Audit-Bk. in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 206 Item payd..for dyghtyng the egle and candyllstykkes x{supd}. 1535 Coverdale Baruch vi. 22 Excepte some body dight off their rust, they wil geue no shyne. 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) I. Proheme p. xii, And dois the saule fra all corruption dicht. a 1605 Montgomerie Misc. Poems xli. 34 All curageous knichtis Againis the day dichtis The breist plate that bright is To feght with thair fone. 1674–91 Ray N.C. Words 140 To Deeght, Extergere, mundare. a 1774 Fergusson Poems (1789) II. 69 (Jam.), Wi mason's chissel dichted neat. 1825–80 Jamieson s.v., The act of smoothing a piece of wood by means of a plane is called ‘dichting a deal’. |
e. To winnow, so as to separate the clean corn from the chaff and other refuse. Sc. and north. dial.
| c 1611 Chapman Iliad v. 498 And as, in sacred floors of barns, upon corn-winnowers flies The chaff, driven with an opposite wind, when yellow Ceres dites. 1618 ― Hesiod ii. 343 To dight the sacred gift of Ceres' hand, In some place windy, on a well-plan'd floor. 1619 Naworth Househ. Bks. 91 For threshing and dighting v bushells and a peck of wheat. 1786 Burns Addr. Unco Guid, heading, The cleanest corn that e'er was dight May hae some pyles o' caff in. 1801 Jo. Hogg Poems 104 (Jam.) That it was lawful, just, an' right Wi' windasses folk's corn to dight. 1808 R. Anderson Cumberld. Ball. 72 I'll ax his wark, an muck the byres, Or deet, an thresh the cworn. 1816 Scott Old Mort. vii, A new-fangled machine for dighting the corn frae the chaff. 1878 Cumbld. Gloss. Deet, deeght, to winnow or dress corn. Mod. Sc. (Roxb.) Dichtin' in the barn wi' the windasses is a dusty job. |
f. To wipe clean or dry. Sc. and north Eng. dial.
| 1681 S. Colvil Whigs Supplic. (1751) 120 With his hankerchief he dights off Tears from his eyes. 1724 Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 8 He dighted his gab, and he pri'd her mou'. 1728 ― Anacreontic on Love 21, I..Dighted his face, his handies thow'd. a 1803 Douglas Trag. viii. in Child Ballads (1882) i. 101/1 She's taen out her handkerchief,..And aye she dighted her father's bloody wounds. 1816 Scott. Old Mort. xl, Morton..underwent a rebuke for not ‘dighting his shune’. 1830 Galt Lawrie T. vii. iii. (1849) 327 She may dight her neb and flee up. 1878 Cumbld. Gloss., Deet, deeght, to wipe or make clean. 1892 Northumbld. Gloss. Mod. Sc. Dicht the table before you set anything on it. Take a cloth and dicht it up. |
† 15. To ‘dress’ in husbandry (vines, land, etc.); to cultivate, till, or attend to (plants, crops, etc.).
| c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxii. 103 Þe whilk telez þe land and dightez vynes. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. ii. 81 Yf the vyne is dight with mannes hond. 1496 Dives & Paup. (W. de W.) iii. xiv. 149/2 Yf corn or grasse be in the felde & sholde be lorne but it were dyght & gadred, it is lefull in the holy dayes to saue it. 1532 G. Hervet Xenophon's Househ. (1768) 78 The ground that is well tylled and dyght, wyll coste moche more money. 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 46 It groweth in waterie places and those softlye dighted and banked about. |
¶ 16. To lift, raise. (An erroneous use by Spenser.)
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. viii. 18 With which his hideous club aloft he dights. |
Hence † dight, dighted, ppl. a. Obs.
| 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 165 Put þer ynne of þe forsayd dightyd hony thre Rotes. 1535 Coverdale Jer. xxxvii. 21 To be geuen him a cake of bred, and els no dighte meate. 1569 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1835) 310 Eight dight calffe skinnes vs. |
▪ II. dight, n. dial.
In Sc. dicht.
[f. dight v.]
A wipe, a rub in order to clean or dry: see dight v.
| 1887 in Donaldson Suppl. Jamieson. 1889 J. M. Barrie Window in Thrums iii, ‘For mercy's sake, mother’, said Leeby, ‘gie yer face a dicht, an' put on a clean mutch’. |
b. (See quot.)
| 1890 Glouc. Gloss., Dight, ‘a dight of a body’, a proud thing: of a woman. |
▪ III. † dight, adv. Obs. rare.
Properly, fitly.
| a 1800 Lord Randal 66 (Child Ballads 1864 II. 25) The birdie sat on the crap o' a tree, And I wat it sang fu' dight. |