eightsome, a. Now chiefly Sc.
(ˈeɪtsəm)
Also 4 aȝt-sum.
[f. on the analogy of OE. phrases like syxa sum one of six, where the numeral is in genit. pl. See eight and some, and cf. Sc. twasome, threesome; -some2.]
Eight together. eightsome-reel (after foursome), a kind of dance in which eight persons take part. Also n. = an eightsome reel.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 411 Hym aȝt-sum in þat ark as aþel god lyked. 1745 A. Murray Let. 3 July in J. J. Murray Chrons. Atholl & Tullibardine Families II. 481, I am to be in the ‘Eightsome Minuet’ if I be at the Ball. 1843 Blackw. Mag. LIII. 615 The eightsome-reel of the heptarchy became the pas-seul of the kingdom of England. 1875 W. Alexander Sks. Life amang Ain Folk 246 They..caper through the ‘eightsome’ figure with louder ‘hooch-hoochs!’ than before. 1899 Daily Mail 1 June 4/5 After two o'clock reels and eightsomes were indulged in. 1905 Westm. Gaz. 15 Sept. 7/2 A host of charming young Highland girls, with the tartans and badges of their clans, danced the eightsomes and the Reel of Tulloch. 1926 Glasgow Herald 7 June 8 The dancing of Scottish reels, foursomes, eightsomes, and sometimes even a sixteensome. 1952 ‘J. Tey’ Singing Sands vii. 109 There was room, with some squeezing, for three eightsomes. |