† ˈaleberry Obs.
Forms: 5 ale-bre, -brey, albery, 5–7 alebery.
[f. ale- 3 + OE. br{iacu}w pottage, brewis: changed by its unaccented position to bre, brey, varying phonetically with -bery, of which -berry is a corruption due to erroneous etymology. Cf. bread-berry.]
Ale boiled with spice and sugar and sops of bread; also called alebrue, and alemeat (see ale- in comb. II).
| c 1420 Lib. Cure Coc. (1862) 53 Alebre þus make þou schalle With grotes and safroune and good ale. 1440 Promp. Parv., Albery, vel alebrey [1499 albry] Alebrodium, fictum est. 1543 Becon Agst. Swear. Wks. 1843, 373 They would taste nothing, no, not so much as a poor aleberry..until they had slain Paul. 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Gt. Eater 12 His appetite..needed the assistance of cawdle, iulep, alebery. |