▪ I. lout, n.1
(laʊt)
Also 6 loute, loughte, 6–7 lowt(e.
[perh. of dialectal origin, connected with lout v.1 (cf. ON. l{uacu}t-r stooping) or lout v.2]
1. An awkward ill-mannered fellow; a bumpkin, clown.
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI 110 Callyng them, cowardes, dastardes, and loutes. 1565 Golding Ovid's Met. (1567) Pref. A iij b, The wyse, the foole: the countrie cloyne: the lerned and the lout. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. iv. iv. 71 'Tis no trusting to yond foolish Lowt. 1636 T. Randall in Ann. Dubrensia (1877) 18 Ill thrive the Lowt, that did their mirth gaine-say. 1660 R. Coke Justice Vind., Arts & Sci. 20 Will any man say, a great Lout new whipt, is probably like to make a good Schollar. c 1720 Prior Old Gentry 4 His son, and his son's son, Were all but ploughmen, clowns and louts. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 19 A more uncouthly lout was hardly seen. 1871 Carlyle in Mrs. C.'s Lett. I. 317 Her particularly stupid huge lout of a son. 1901 Longm. Mag. Apr. 546 That lout has actually dared to make love to me. |
† 2. In occasional use: A servant. Obs.
| 1567 Drant Horace's Ep. i. x. E j, Collected coyne is Lord or lowte to eche possessinge man. 1626 Spelman Gloss. s.v. Leudes, Anglis veteribus loute, pro seruiente et subdito. |
3. Rugby School slang. A common fellow, ‘cad’.
| 1857 Hughes Tom Brown i. v, We never wear caps here. Only the louts wear caps. Ibid. i. viii, They would roar out instances of his..shirking some encounter with a lout of half his own size. |
▪ II. lout, n.2 dial.
(laʊt)
[Cf. clout n.1]
A blow.
| c 1650 Turke & Gowin 142 in Furnivall Percy Folio I. 95 Thou shalt see a tenisse ball that neuer knight in Arthurs hall is able to giue it a lout. 1877 N.W. Linc. Gloss. s.v., I fetch'd him a lout upo' th' side o' th' heäd. |
▪ III. † lout, n.3 Obs.
[f. lout v.1]
An inclination, bend.
| 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 44 Thair the land bowing the selfe be litle and litle, with a certane laich lout and bend with her bosum. |
▪ IV. † lout, n.4 Obs. rare—1.
[f. lout v.4]
A bellowing noise.
| ? a 1500 Chester Pl. vii. 172 Yender lad..The lowt [v.r. lowde (? = lude1)] of this horne he shall heare. |
▪ V. lout, v.1
(laʊt)
Pa. tense and pa. pple. louted. Now arch., poet. and dial. Forms: 1 l{uacu}tan, 3 luten, (lutien), Orm. lutenn, 4 lute (lote, louȝte, lutte), 5–7 loute, lowte, (5 loutte, lowth, lowtt), 6 lewt(e, 6, 9 Sc. loot, 4– lout. pa. tense. α. strong 1 léat, pl. luton, 3–4 leat, pl. luten. β. weak 3 lotte, ? lute, lowtede, 3–5 lut(te, luted, 4–6 lowted, 4– louted.
[Orig. a str. vb., OE. l{uacu}tan, pa. tense léat, pl. luton, pa. pple. loten, corresponding to ON. l{uacu}ta, pa. tense lǫut, pl. lutu, pa. pple. lotenn (Sw. luta, Da. lude), f. Teut. root *leut-: laut-: lū̆t-:—pre-Teut. *leud-: loud-: lū̆d-.
The primary sense of the root is prob. that represented in this vb.; it also appears in the senses ‘to lurk’ (see lote v., lout v.2, and cf. the cognates there mentioned), ‘to deceive’ (as in Goth. liut-s hypocrite, lutōn to deceive, OE. lot deceit, lytegian to defraud) and ‘to be small’ (see little a.). Outside Teut., probable cognates are Lith. liūdeti to mourn, liûdnas sad, cast down, OSl. luditi to deceive, ludŭ foolish.]
1. intr. To bend, bow, make obeisance; also, to stoop. Occas. refl.; also with down.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter xciv. 6 Cumað weorðien we and forð luten we biforan god. c 1200 Ormin 11392 Þe birrþ biforr þin Laferrd Godd Cneolenn meoclike & lutenn. c 1200 Lay. 1880 Ofte hes luten a-dun. a 1300 Cursor M. 5156 Hailsand forwit him þai lute. Ibid. 11614 Þai þam luted vnder him. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 798 Loȝe he loutez hem to Loth to þe grounde. 1375 Barbour Bruce v. 253 Thar-with-all he lowtit, and his leyf has tane. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xii. (Tollem. MS.) Foure fotid bestis, þat hauen hedes loutynge doun to þe erþewarde. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xxxvi. 144 (Add. MS.) The Steward..lowted downe, and thanked the Emperour of his grete mercy. c 1450 Merlin 98 The archebisshop lowted to the swerde, and sawgh letteres of golde in the stiel. 1513 Douglas æneis x. ix. 84 The Troiane prynce down lowtis hym abone. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. i. 30 He faire the knight saluted, louting low. 1658 Cleveland Rustick Rampant Wks. (1678) 403 The limber Knights..who..can kiss the Hand and lowt with more Grace. a 1755 G. West Abuse Trav. (Imit. Spenser) xli. in Dodsley Coll. Poems (1755) II. 98 Tho' to that old mage they louted down. 1826 J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 147 Dinna loot wi that lang back o yours. 1891 Conan Doyle White Company iii, I uncovered and louted as I passed. |
b. Const. dative or till, to, unto: To bow or make obeisance to, reverence. † Also trans.
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 223 Sanctus Martinus..leat forð to ðæm men ðe hine slean mynte. c 1200 Ormin 8961 And till hemm baþe he lutte & bæh. a 1225 St. Marher. 12 Heo leat lahe to hire leoue lauerd. 1340 Ayenb. 239 Þer com on of þe princes, and leat to him. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxiii. (George) 343 Þat scho suld god lofe & lowte. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 306 Ȝif a frere be a mastir..he shal be loutid & worshipid. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) iii. 926 Why lowtt ȝe nat low to my lawdabyll presens? 1522 World & Child (Roxb.) B j, To me men lewte full lowe. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. iii. 5 Thrise lowted lowly to the noble Mayd. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. v. 78 All lowting lowe to him, him humbly they observe. 1813 Scott Rokeby iv. viii, To Rokeby, next, he louted low, Then stood erect. |
c. fig. To bow, stoop, submit (to).
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 282 Þe ildes aboute alle salle loute vnto þat lond. c 1350 Will. Palerne 2900 He ga[r]te þe grettest to hire prison louȝte. c 1500 Elegy on Henry 45 in Percy's Reliv., To whome grete astates obeyde and lowttede. 1568 C. Watson Polyb. 100 The Carthaginenses perceiving how they were not able at that present to cope with the Romans, louted for the time. 1801 Macneill Poems (1844) 118 ‘He ne'er can lout’, I musing said, ‘To ply the fleeching fawning trade’. 1819 Keats Otho iii. i. 17 Was't to this end I louted and became The menial of Mars? |
2. trans. To bow (the head); to let (the countenance) fall. rare.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2479 Hengist vaire him þonkede & is heued lotte [v.r. lowtede] adoun. a 1300 Cursor M. 16350 Iesus thoght ful mikel scam, and luted dun his cher. |
▪ VI. † lout, v.2 Obs.
(laʊt)
Forms: 1 l{uacu}tian, 3 lutien, 4 lute(n, 5 loute, lowt.
[OE. l{uacu}tian weak vb. = OHG. lûȥên (MHG. lûȥen) f. Teut. root *leut-: laut-: lū̆t- (see lout v.1); cf. OHG. loscên (:—*OTeut. stem *lut-skæ̂-) to lurk, lusk.]
intr. To lurk, lie hid, skulk, sneak. Used both in material and immaterial sense.
| c 825 Vesp. Hymns xiii. 26 Ðu wunda lutiendra god ætstondes lece. c 1000 ælfric Josh. ii. 16 Farað eow nu..to muntum and lutiað þær þry daᵹas. c 1205 Lay. 21509 Duden heom alle clane into þan scipen grunde & hæhte heom þere lutie [c 1275 lotie] wel. c 1230 Hali Meid. 43 Ha [sc. prude] luteð iþe heorte. a 1250 Owl & Night. 373 Þe hare luteþ al day, Ac noþeles i-seo he may, Ȝif [etc.]. c 1250 Long Life 29 in O.E. Misc. 156 Ac deþ luteþ in his scho. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 107 For love is of himself so derne, It luteth in a mannes herte. c 1470 Harding Chron. cxx. ix, Thus semeth well in armes a knight to dye, And not in bed to lye, loure, and loute, Tyll death hym kyll with paynes cruelly. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 378/2 Valeryan..fonde this holy man urbane lowtyng emonge the buryellys. |
b. simply. To lie.
| c 1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 579 Þey [fish] must be tekyn of as þey in þe dische lowt. |
▪ VII. lout, v.3
Also 6–7 lowt(e.
[? f. lout n.1]
1. trans. To treat with contumely, mock. (Cf. flout v.) Also, to lout (a person) out of (something). Obs.
| c 1530 Redford Play Wit & Sci. (1848) 41 So mokte, so lowted, so made a sot! a 1553 Udall Royster D. iii. iii. (Arb.) 44 He is louted and laughed to skorne, For the veriest dolte that euer was borne. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 258 b, Here is no want of any thing nowe, but of some gyering Gnato, which may lowt this Thraso out of hys paynted coat. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. iii. 13, I am lowted by a Traitor Villaine, And cannot helpe the noble Cheualier. 1591 Harington Orl. Fur. xii. xxii, She will finde some sleight and pretie shift, With her accustom'd coynes him to lout. c 1650 Eger & Grine 672 in Furnivall Percy Folio I. 375 Eger..lay and heard her lowte him like a knave. |
2. intr. To act as a lout; to loll about.
| 1807 W. Irving Salmag. No. 3 (1811) I. 59 Those sprigs of the ton..Who lounge, and who lout, and who booby about, No knowledge within, and no manners without. |
▪ VIII. † lout, v.4 Obs.
Also 6 lowte.
[? Echoic: cf. rowt, low vbs.]
intr. To low or bellow.
| 1530 Palsgr. 615/2, I lowte as a kowe or bull dothe. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, To Lout, to Low like a Cow, or Bellow like a Bull. 1847 in Halliwell. |