▪ I. daunt, v.
(dɔːnt)
Also 4–6 daunte, dawnt(e, 4–7 (4–6 Sc.) dant.
[a. OF. dante-r (12–14th c. in Littré), var. of donter (mod.F. dompter) = Pr. domtar:—L. domitāre, freq. of domāre to tame, subdue. (For the a of danter, cf. Dan n.1)]
I. † 1. trans. To overcome, subdue, vanquish.
| c 1300 K. Alis. 1312 Sone he wol daunte thy maigne! 1375 Barbour Bruce iv. 602 The lord persy..Dantit suagat all the land. 1391 Chaucer Boeth. iv. vii. 147 Hercules..dawntede þe proude Centauris. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. iv. xii, He mette an hydeous gyaunt..With his great strokes he did hym daunt. 1549 Compl. Scot. i. 21 The riche monarche of rome, quhilk dantit ande subdeuit al the varld? 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 256 Being now daunted by time, there remaineth an heape of rammell and rubbish, witnessing the ruines thereof. |
† 2. To tame, break in (an animal). Obs.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 393 Makometh..Daunted a dowue, and day and nyȝte hir fedde. 1481 Caxton Myrr. ii. vi. 72 Bullys whiche..haue hornes that remeue about hym so that noman may tame ne daunte them. 1549 Compl. Scot. xvii. 145 Sum of them began to plant treis, sum to dant beystis. 1569 Newton Cicero's Olde Age 43 a, To daunte fierce horses. |
† 3. fig. To bring into subjection, subdue, tame; to hold in subjection, control. Obs.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 8420 Þat þou mayst nat þy flesshe daunte Be not þarfor yn wanhope. c 1390 Chaucer Truth 13 Daunt thi self that dauntest otheres dede. c 1425 Jas. I (Scotl.) Good Counsel in Kingis Q. (1884) 51 Sen word is thrall and thocht is only free, Thow dant thi twnge, that pouer has and may. 1533 Gau Richt Vay (1888) 14 Thay quhilk wil nocht suffer god to dant and rewl thayme..efter his halie wil. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. iv. vii. (1651) 163 It daunts whole kingdoms and cities. |
† b. To cast down, put down, quell. Obs.
| ? a 1400 Arthur 113 He daunted þe proude & hawted þe poure. 1513–75 Diurn. Occurrents (1833) 144 To dant the insolence of George erle Huntlie. 1594 G. W. Senior Pref. Verses Spenser's Amoretti, Dawnting thereby our neighboures auncient pride. 1709 Strype Ann. Ref. I. xlvii. 511 The secretary in a letter..trusted the Queen's Majesty would proceed here in such sort, as both these mischiefs would be daunted. |
4. To abate the courage of, discourage, dispirit; to put in awe, abash; to overcome with fear, intimidate, cause to quail. (The current sense.)
| c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 600, I dreid me, sa he dantit the, thow durst not with him deill. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 615 This discomfiture..daunted the hartes of the..Gascons. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. i. ii. 200 Thinke you a little dinne can daunt mine eares? 1614 Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 1063 True Christian fortitude..may be overborne, but it cannot be daunted. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. II. xxxii. 227 The spirit of their chief was not daunted by misfortune. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola ii. iv, She was not daunted by the practical difficulties in the way. |
† 5. To daze, stupefy. Obs. exc. dial.
| 1581 Mulcaster Positions xiii. (1887) 62 Such as..haue their senses daunted, either thorough dreaming melancholie, or dulling phleame. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. i. 18 Much daunted with that dint her sence was dazd. 1847–78 Halliw., Daunt..in the provinces, to stun, to knock down. |
† II. 6. To dandle, fondle, caress. Obs.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 4880 Þe fadyr..Þe chylde dauntede on hys kne. 1382 Wyclif Isa. lxvi. 12 Vp on the knes men shul daunte ȝou. 14.. Prose Legends in Anglia VIII. 132 Wiþ siche woordes & cosses dauntynge hir body. 1483 Cath. Angl. 92 To Dawnte (A. or to cherys), blanditractare. |
† b. absol. To toy. Obs. rare.
| a 1529 Skelton Image Ipocr. 225 Some daunte and daly..in the blak ally Wheras it ever darke is. |
III. 7. Herring Fishery. To press salted herrings into the barrel with a ‘daunt’.
| 1733 P. Lindsay Interest Scot. 201 The largest Herrings..repackt by themselves, and sufficiently served with fresh Salt, daunted and well oyled. 1891 Rep. Deputation Fishery Board Scot. to Continent 7 No daunting should be used, when the barrel is fully filled up, but it is most desirable on the first filling up. |
▪ II. daunt, n.
[f. daunt v.]
† 1. The act of daunting; dispiriting, intimidation; a check. Obs.
| a 1400 in Leg. Rood 139 Þe deuel..Mony folk In-to helle he clihte, Til þe crosses dunt ȝaf him a daunt. 1573 Twyne æneid. xi. Ii iv b, b, O Tyrrhene dastardes still? What daunt within youre hartes doth light? 1640 Bp. Reynolds Passions xxvii. 279 In a sudden daunt and onset of an unexpected evill. |
† 2. Dandling, caress. Obs.
| a 1548 Thrie Priests Peblis in Pinkerton Sc. Poems I. 43 (Jam.) Of me altyme thow gave but lytil tail; Na of me wald have dant nor dail. |
3. Herring Fishery. A disc of wood, usually made of two barrel heads nailed together cross-wise, used to press down salted herrings in the barrels.
| 1890 Regul. Branding Herrings (Sc. Fishery Board) 5 The daunt must be used with all repacked herrings. Ibid. 6 The..herrings then left in the barrel..shall be pressed down..steadily and uniformly, by daunt or otherwise. |