▪ I. nat, n.1 Now north. dial.
Also 4–5 natte, 6–8 natt, 7 knat.
[a. F. natte: see etym. note to mat n.1]
a. A mat. (Freq. in church-accounts.) b. dial. A straw mattress.
1361–2 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 385 Cum factura del nattes in coro. 1399 Fabric Rolls York Minster (Surtees) 17 In nattes emptis de Iohanne de Francia, 8d. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 11264 Olde nattys ageyn he made. 1430–40 ― Bochas iii. i. (1554) 69 A brode hat, rent out of nattes olde. 1483 Cath. Angl. 249/1 To make Nattes, storiare. 1597 Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 43 For makinge a natt for the wyves to knele on when they come to be churched. 1682 Ibid. 206 To George Newton for nats for the church, 3 s. 1730 Finghall Churchw. Acc. (MS.), For two Nats, 7d. 1744 Ibid., Paid for a Natt 11d. 1788 W. Marshall Yorksh. Gloss, Nat, a straw mattrass. 1876 in Whitby Gloss. 1877 in N.W. Linc. Gloss. |
Comb. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 11282 The natte-makere answerde ageyn. 1483 Cath. Angl. 249/1 A Natte maker, storiator. 1530 Palsgr. 247/2 Nat maker, natier. |
Hence † ˈnatting, matting. Obs. rare—1.
1669 Fabric Rolls York Minster (Surtees) 348 For covering the seates with natting in the Dean's closet 1s. |
▪ II. nat, n.3
(nɑːt)
[Burmese nāt, f. Skr. nāthá lord, protector.]
a. In the animistic native religion of the Burmese people, a spirit or demon, a supernatural being.
1819 F. Hamilton Acct. Kingdom Nepal i. i. 57 The Bhotiyas..worship all the spirits, that by the Burmas are called Nat. 1826 J. Conder Mod. Traveller: Birmah, Siam & Anam 82 Carved images..are to be seen.., the supposed representatives of different nats or demons. 1828 Asiatick Researches XVI. 468 In Ava and Siam..in the existence of Nats, it is admitted, that other animated creatures than man and animals exist. 1858 C. T. Winter Six Months Brit. Burmah i. 13 The Nats who guard the royal city, palace, and umbrella. 1878 C. J. F. S. Forbes Brit. Burma viii. 223 A man going on a journey through a forest, comes to a large and conspicuous tree..and places..an offering to the Nát of the tree. 1923 Blackw. Mag. Aug. 149/1 We had been talking..of folk-lore, superstitions, witches, djinns, nats, spookes, ghouls and other inventions of primitive man. 1934 ‘G. Orwell’ Burmese Days xiv. 209 Sacrificing to the local god. Nats, they call them—a kind of dryad. 1959 C. Ogburn Marauders (1960) iv. 115 These were intended to propitiate, entice, or exorcise the nats, or forest spirits. 1968 O. Wynd Sumatra Seven Zero i. 10 ‘Rubies..only come out of the ground when their protecting {oqq}nats{cqq} permit it.’.. ‘What is a {oqq}nat{cqq}?’.. ‘A Burmese spirit of the earth and air.’ 1974 Times 30 Apr. 16/7 A Burmese journalist..asked if I would like to come with him to an evening of ‘Nat’ Dancing. To the Burmese the Nats are the multitudinous spirits that inhabit all natural phenomena and can exercise at will power over people and objects... The monks are tolerant of Nats: a good many of them are probably Nat-conscious themselves. |
b. Comb., as nat-worship, nat-worshipper.
1833 A. Judson Let. 29 Nov. in F. Wayland Mem. A. Judson (1853) II. 56 The best outward test is to have refrained from rum, nat-worship, &c. 1910 Encycl. Relig. & Ethics III. 21/1 The practical everyday religion of the Burmese peoples is Animism, called generally in Burmese ‘Nat-worship’. 1965 M. Nash Golden Road to Modernity ix. 320 There is a system of animistic belief (nat worship) which is integrated with Buddhism and gives a villager a belief system reaching from hut to heaven and beyond. |
1906 J. G. R. Forlong Faiths of Man I. 257 Its [sc. Burma's] population in 1894 was..Nāt worshipers..420,000. 1923 Blackw. Mag. Feb. 183/2 They are all Nat or spirit worshippers. |
▪ III. † nat, adv. Obs.
Also 6 natt.
[Reduced form of naȝt naught adv.]
= not adv.
c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 12 Men schal nat wenyn euery thyng a lye [etc.]. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. iii. 18 Layn nat yf ȝe knowen. Ibid. xix. 251 Ich with-sat nat hus heste. 1402 Hoccleve Let. Cupid 46 That men shulde nat for her sake dey. c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 453 Yef she be examynyd she woll hit nat deny. a 1485 Fortescue Wks. (1869) 486 The fyle wereth, and after that is laide asyde as a thyng nat profitable. 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge ii. 27 The notable actes of our fathers..(yf litterature were nat) myght nat nowe be tolde. 1536 Lett. Suppress. Monast. (Camden) 147, I colde natt then name them to you. 1575 Gamm. Gurton i. ii. 30 Nay; but ich saw such a wonder as ich saw nat this vii yere. |
▪ IV. nat
variant of not v., wot not. Obs.
▪ V. nat
obs. form of not a., hornless.