▪ I. ˈlitten, n. Obs. exc. dial.
Forms: 1 l{iacu}c-t{uacu}n, 5 lytton(e, letton, 6 lyttyn, 7 litton, 6– litten.
[OE. l{iacu}c-t{uacu}n, f. l{iacu}c corpse, lich + t{uacu}n enclosure, town.]
A churchyard. (Cf. church-litten.)
| c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. iii. xvii. (Schipper) 268 His lichama..wæs..on þæra broþra lictune bebyriᵹed. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 4087 Bot when he come in to þat chirche-lyttone þo, Twey wemen he founde þere. 1474–5 in Swayne Churchw. Acc. Sarum (1896) 18 It. of the gift of the Bochers for grounds to her Stallys with oute the letton ijs. Ibid. 20 It' in cleansyng of the Lytton xjd. 1506 Will of Leer (Somerset Ho.), To be buried in the cloister or in the lyttyn of the Trynite. 1595 in Swayne Churchw. Acc. Sarum (1896) 145 The wale against the litten. 1614–15 Ibid. 165 Masonn mendinge the Church litton wale, 5s. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Litten, as Church-litten; a word us'd in Wiltshire for a Church-yard. 1798 J. Jefferson Hampsh. Gloss. (MS.) s.v., The bury{supg}. ground at Holy Ghost Chapel at B'stoke is called the Litten. It is used also at Newbury in Berks. 1818 in Todd; and in mod. Dicts. |
▪ II. litten, ppl. a.
(lɪt(ə)n)
[pseudo-archaic pple. of light v.2]
= lighted. Usually in comb., e.g. dim-, gray-, red-litten.
| a 1849 Poe Haunted Palace vi, And travellers now within that valley, Through red-litten windows, see Vast forms that move fantastically To a discordant melody. 1861 Lytton & Fane Tannhäuser 72 And ‘salvum me fac Domine’ they sung Sonorous, in the ghostly going out Of the red-litten eve along the land. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. iii. 9 After the weary tossing of the night And close dim-litten chamber. 1896 Crockett Cleg Kelly 407 Sal Kavannah moved into the gray-litten space. 1899 Blackw. Mag. Feb. 319/1 It [yellow hair] sprayed out like a cloud of litten gold. |
▪ III. † ˈlitten, v.1 Obs.
Also 2 litnien, 3 Orm. littnenn.
[? Extended form (with suffix -en5) of ON. lita = OE. wlitan to look.]
intr. To look to, unto. Also const. for to with inf.: to rely on.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 7 Forþi ne litmie [? read litnie] namon to swiðe to þisse liue. c 1200 Ormin 6115 Þet birrþ wislike nittenn Uppo þe sellfenn, and o þa þatt I ttnenn to þin fode. a 1300 Cursor M. 10209 Child for to gett þai littend lang. 1535 Coverdale Jer. xlvi. 25 Pharao, and all them y{supt} litten vnto him. |
▪ IV. † ˈlitten, v.2 Obs.
[? f. lit lite: see -en5.]
trans. To diminish.
| c 1300 Havelok 2701 Hwan Hauelok saw his folk so brittene, And his ferd so swithe littene, He cam driuende upon a stede. |