▪ I. goat
(gəʊt)
Pl. goats. Forms: α. 1–3 gát, 4–5 gayte, (5 gatt), 5–6 gaytt, 6 gate, 6– north. gait; pl. 3 gaten, 4 gaytes, 6 gates, Sc. gaitis. β. pl. 1– 3 gǽt, 1–4 gét, 3 geat, 4 geete, geyte, north. gaite, gayte, 4–5 geet, gete, 5 gheet, north. gate, 6 (gheate), north. gait. γ. 4 geet, geit, geyt, (gehet, 5 get(t, 6 geat); pl. 4 geetis. δ. 3–5 got, 4 goote, goet, 4–5 goot, (5 gothe), 4–6 gote, 6–7 goate, gott(e, 6– goat; pl. 3 gotes, 4 gootes, 6–7 goates, 7– goats.
[Com. Teut.: OE. gát fem. = MDu. geit, geet(e, Du. geit (obs. geite, geyte), OHG. geiȥ, keiȥ (MHG. geiȥ, mod.G. geisz, ON. geit (Sw. get, Da. ged), Goth. gait-s:—OTeut. *gait- cogn. w. L. hædus kid:—OAr. *ghaid-.
In OE. the vowel of the nom. sing. remained in the gen. gáte, gen. pl. gáta, dat. pl. gátum, but was mutated in the dat. sing. and nom. pl. gǽt. In ME. the northern dialects show the normal gāt, gait, the southern goot, goat. The pl. gǽt is represented in southern and midland dialects by gēt, geet, geat; the northern dialects show an unmutated form gait (? influenced by ON. geitr). A sing. geet in 14th c. is prob. the result of assimilation to the plural.]
OE. gát being fem. denoted only the female goat; the male was called bucca buck n.1, also gátbucca goat-buck. The extended sense seems to occur in early ME., and is frequent in the 14th c. The distinctive terms he-goat and she-goat appear about the end of that century, and are now the recognized terms for the two sexes (colloquially also billy-goat and nanny-goat). The young animal is called a kid.
1. a. A ruminant quadruped of the genus Capra.
The goat is indigenous to the Eastern Hemisphere, but by domestication naturalized in all parts of the world. It is especially noted for its hardy, lively and wanton nature, and its strong odour. Most of the species have hollow horns, curving backwards, and the male is usually bearded.
Occas. used with allusion to the mention of ‘sheep’ and ‘goats’ in Matt. xxv. 32, 33, as symbolical respectively of the righteous and the wicked at the Day of Judgement.
| α a 700 Epinal Gloss. 1028 Titule [? read caulæ] gata loc. a 1000 Riddles xxv. 2 (Gr.) Ic..blæte swa gat. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 352 Ȝenim þæt wæter þe innan gæt byþ. c 1200 Ormin 1200 For gat iss..Gal deor & stinnkeþþ fule. c 1205 Lay 21310 Þeh..þer weoren in ane loken fif hundred gaten. Ibid. 21315 Ich am wulf & he is gat. a 1225 Ancr. R. 100 Wend ut & go efter gate herden. [Ibid., Foluwe heorden of geat.] a 1340 Hampole Psalter xlix. 14 [l. 13] Whether i sall ete fleysse of bulles, or i sall drynke blode of gaytes. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) vii. 24 It had..fra þeine vpward þe schappe of a gayte. a 1550 Christis Kirke Gr. ii, Thay squelit lyke ony gaitis. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. May 177 The Gate her dame..Yode forth abroad [gloss. the Gote: Northernely spoken, to turne O into A]. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. 155 Swyne, hens, geese, gaites. 1737 Ramsay Scot. Prov. (1797) 94 Ye come to the gait's house to thigg woo. 1893 Northumbld. Gloss., Gait, a goat. |
| β a 900 Cynewulf Christ 1230 in Exeter Bk., Hy..reotað and beofiað fore frean forhte swa fule swa gæt. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 214 Ȝif þu ᵹesihst maneᵹa get, ydel ᵹetacnað. c 1200 Ormin 1206 Forrþi sinndenn alle þa..Effnedd wiþþ gæt & nemmnedd gæt. c 1205 Lay. 25682 He makeþ him to mete..ruðeren hors & þa scep, gæt [c 1275 geat] and þa swin eke. a 1225 Ancr. R. 100 Hwat beoð heorden of geat? 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 6134 Hys angels..Sal first departe þe gude fra þe ille, Als þe hird þe shepe dus fra þe gayte. c 1350 Eng. Gilds (1870) 354 Alle marchauntes of Get, Shep, oþer swyn. 1382 Wyclif Gen. xxxii. 14 She geyte two hundrid, hee geyte twenty [1388 geet..buckis of geet]. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 311 In þat londe beeþ many scheep and geet and fewe roos and hertes. c 1440 Gesta Rom. liv. 373 (Add. MS.) Lyouns be pride, Foxes be fraude..Gete be stynke of lechery. c 1480 Henryson Mor. Fab. 27 Under ane tree hee saw an trip of Gate. 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 34 After that I wente to the gheet in to the wode, there herde I the kyddes blete. 1513 Douglas æneis iii. iv. 24 Flockis and hirdis of oxin..And trippis eik of gait. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 7 Verie conuenient to feid horse or nout, or flockis of scheip or gait. |
¶In the following
quots. the plural forms
geat(s and
goats are distinguished as
fem. and
masc. respectively.
| 1567 Thomas Ital. Dict., Zebe, gheate, the femalles of the ghoates. 1576 Turberv. Venerie 147 The female (which are called Geats and the buckes Goates). |
| γ 1382 Wyclif Gen. xv. 9 Take..to thee a kow of thre ȝeer, and a she gehet [1388 a geet] of thre ȝeer. ― Lev. iv. 24 An hee geit of the geetis. 14.. Songs & Carols 15th C. (Percy Soc.) 65 An adamant stone it is not frange⁓byll Wyth no thyng but with mylke of a gett. |
| δ a 1225 Ancr. R. 100 As of a ticchen..kumeð a stinkinde got oðer a bucke [etc.]. c 1275 Lay. 21310 Þeh þar were on flockes two hundred gotes. 1382 Wyclif Lev. xvi. 5 He shal take..two gootes. Ibid. 8 The goot that shal be sent out. c 1475 Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 758/27 Hec capra, a gothe. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop ii. vi, Of a wulf whiche sawe a lambe among a grete herd of gootes. 1535 Coverdale Lev. xvii. 2 What so euer he be..y{supt} kylleth an oxe, or lambe, or goate in the hoost [etc.]. 1584 R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. v. i. 89 The diuell..dooth most properlie and commonlie transforme himselfe into a gote. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iv. iv. 37, I scarse euer look'd on blood, But that of Coward Hares, hot Goats, and Venison. 1628 Sir W. Mure Spirituall Hymne 326 The damned goates hee doth despise; Poynts out his lambes, whose sinfull dyes hee purgde with bloody streame. 1725 Pope Odyss. xiv. 59 He..A shaggy goat's soft hyde beneath him spread. 1817 Coleridge Sibyll. Leaves (1862) 184 Ye wild goats sporting round the eagle's nest! 1833 Tennyson Œnone 50 Leading a jet-black goat white-horned, white-hooved. |
| Phrase. 1611 Cotgr., Paillard comme vn Moine,..as lecherous as a Goat (say we). |
b. Used
Zool. in
pl. as a rendering of
mod.L.
Caprinæ, the name of the sub-family to which the genus
Capra belongs. Also, with distinctive prefix, applied to certain antelopes, as
† blue goat = blauwbok;
Rocky Mountain goat,
Haplocerus montanus;
yellow goat = dzeren.
| 1731 Medley Kolben's Cape G. Hope II. 114 The Blew goats are shaped like the tame, but are as large as an European hart. 1884–5 Riverside Nat. Hist. (1888) V. 343 The Rocky Mountain goat (Haplocerus americanus). |
2. transf. a. The zodiacal sign
Capricorn.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 207 Capricornus þe goot. 1594 Blundevil Exerc. iii. i. xxiv. (1636) 330 The tenth Signe called Capricornus, that is to say, the Goat. a 1631 Donne Progr. Soul i. 336 The Sun hath twenty tymes both Crabb and Goate Parchèd, since first launch'd forth this livinge boat. 1868 Lockyer Guillemin's Heavens (ed. 6) 330 To the west of this constellation we again find the Waterbearer and the Goat. |
† b. The star Capella (Alpha Aurigæ).
Obs.| 1551 Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 264 Then foloweth Erichthonius, with the Goate and the 2 Kyddes. 1674 Moxon Tutor Astron. ii. (ed. 3) 63, I take Capella, alias Hircus, the Goat on Auriga's shoulder. |
† c. [
transl. of
Gr. αἴξ.] A fiery meteor.
Obs.| 1656 Stanley Hist. Philos. vi. 63 Hence come those [fiery exhalations] they call firebrands, goates, falling-starres [etc.]. |
d. Short for
goatskin.
| 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. 290/2 Men's goat driving gloves. 1927 J. S. Hewitt-Bates Bookbinding for Schools 13 Goat or Morocco. Ibid. 14 Persians..may be made either from goat or sheep. 1927 Longman's Class. Cat. Educ. Works 12 Hand grained goat, gilt edges. |
3. fig. a. A licentious man.
| 1675 Traherne Chr. Ethics vii. 90 When a covetous man doteth on his bags of gold..the drunkard on his wine, the lustful goat on his women..they banish all other objects. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Goat, a Lecher, or very Lascivious Person. 1863 Holland Lett. Joneses iii. 51, I think this devotion of your life to music has had the tendency..to make you intellectually an ass and morally a goat. |
b. to play the (giddy) goat: to frolic foolishly; to play the fool; to behave in an irresponsible manner. Also,
to act the goat.
colloq.| 1879 H. Hartigan Stray Leaves from Mil. Man's Note Bk. i, Don't be actin' the goat. 1887 Kipling From Sea to Sea (1900) I. xiv. 162 You'll find some o' the youngsters play the goat a good deal when they come out o' stable. 1888 ― Under Deodars (1890) 91 Generally, as he explained, ‘playing the giddy garden goat all round’. 1927 Galsworthy White Monkey i. v, It's playing the goat for no earthly reason. 1929 W. P. Ridge Affect. Regards 61 Haven't I got enough trouble without you acting the goat in this fashion? |
c. to get (a person's) goat: to make (him) angry; to annoy or irritate.
slang (
orig. U.S.).
| 1910 J. London Let. 2 Aug. (1966) 316 Honestly, I believe I've got Samuels' goat! He's afraid to come back. 1912 C. Mathewson Pitching in a Pinch ii. 28 Lobert..stopped at third with a mocking smile on his face which would have gotten the late Job's goat. 1914 Sat. Even. Post 4 Apr. 10/3 It got my goat—that and the cold and that light in all the dark. 1919 H. Jenkins John Dene of Toronto (1920) iv. 70 There are some things in this country that get my goat. 1922 Weekly Westm. Gaz. 27 May 8/1 What gets my goat is the assumption that the misty subject is necessarily more artistic than the sharp and regular one. 1924 Galsworthy White Monkey ii. i, That had got the chairman's goat!—Got his goat? What expressions they used nowadays! 1929 J. B. Priestley Good Companions iii. i. 474 Now this is what gets my goat, and you can't blame me. 1960 B. Keaton Wonderf. World of Slapstick (1967) i. 22 What got my goat was that when I finally did get knocked off..it was due to an accident outside the theatre. |
d. A fool; a dupe.
colloq.| 1916 C. J. Dennis Songs of Sentimental Bloke 39 The drarmer's writ be Shakespeare, years ago, About a barmy goat called Romeo. 1947 K. Tennant Lost Haven i. 20 You old goat! Shut up and get out before I slam you out. Ibid. xxi. 365 ‘Don't be a goat.’ Silly young fools, all three of them. 1949 Partridge Dict. Underworld 296/1 Goat,..a dupe; swindler's victim. 1971 Inside Kenya Today Mar. 37/2 ‘I must discipline these idiots,’ Omolo said to himself... ‘I must beat them today, goats!’ |
4. attrib. and
Comb. a. General combs., as
goat-beard,
goat-bell,
goat-carriage,
goat-cheese,
goat-feet (also
attrib. or adj.),
goat-fell,
goat-fold,
goat-horn,
goat-house,
goat-kid,
goat-kind,
goat land,
goat-milk (also
attrib.),
goat-pen,
goat-shed,
goat-stand,
goat-thigh:
goat-like adj. and
adv.;
goat-bearded,
goat-eyed,
goat-fed,
goat-footed,
goat-headed,
goat-horned,
goat-nursed ppl. adjs.| 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 703/14 Hoc stirillum, a *gaytt berde. |
| 1604 Middleton Father Hubburd's T. Wks. (Bullen) VIII. 105 A *goat-bearded usurer. 1876 Longfellow Dutch Picture 29 Old sea-faring men come in, goat-bearded gray, and with double chin. |
| 1884 Macm. Mag. Oct. 434/1 Turkish *goat-bells and Albanian goat-bells are quite different. |
| 1897 Blackw. Mag. Dec. 779/2 He used to come in his *goat-carriage to see me. |
| 1893 E. H. Barker Wand. South. Waters 311 She gave me some excellent *goat-cheese. |
| 1656 W. D. tr. Comenius' Gate Lat. Unl. §290 Hee..that looketh with his eyes drawn together, *goat-eyed. 1824 Swan tr. Gesta Rom. lxxvi. I. 267 The goat-eyed man of physic acquiesced. |
| c 1616 Chapman Odyss. ix. 384 We Cyclops care not for your *Goat-fed Ioue. |
| 1590 Marlowe Edw. II, i. i. 60 My men, like satyrs grazing on the lawns, Shall with their *goat-feet dance the antic hay. a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Poems Wks. (1711) 8 Nymphs of the forrests..shewing your beauty's treasure To goat-feet sylvans. |
| 1436 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 160 Commodytes..commynge out of Spayne..Iren, wolle, wadmole, *gotefel, kydefel also. |
| 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Sculler Wks. iii. 17/2 He..to Hels *Goat⁓fold aye doth millions bring, Of soules. |
| 1776 R. Chandler Trav. Greece (1825) II. 74 The *goat-footed god quitted his habitation on the mountain. |
| 1896 A. Lillie Worship Satan Mod. France Pref. 17 Where was the logic of the pact in blood with a *goat-headed monstrosity? |
| 1549 Compl. Scotl. vi. 65 Ane pipe maid of ane *gait horne. |
| 1863 Lyell Antiq. Man 26 The small race of *goat-horned sheep still lingers in some Alpine valleys of the Upper Rhine. |
| c 1550 Cheke Matt. xxvi. 71 As he was going forth into y⊇ *goathous. 1675 Hobbes Odyss. (1677) 207 [To] lead my goats afield..& my goat-houses sweep. 1752 in Scots Mag. (1753) Oct. 510/2 The goat-house in the moor. |
| 153. Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1860) 76, xxiij ould gaytt 38/4. iiij *gaytt keedes 4/. |
| 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 35 Of Animals of the Sheep and *Goat Kind. |
| 1621 Fletcher Pilgrim iv. iii, He is a mountaineere, a man of *Goteland. |
| 1583 Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 89 A meigre leane rake with a long berd *goatlyke. 1594 Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits v. (1596) 68 It behoueth that in humane learning there be some Goat-like wits. 1653 R. Sanders Physiogn. 249 The forehead round, or Goat-like wrinkled. 1862 M. Goodman Exper. Sister of Mercy 87 A goat-like descent from rock to rock. 1897 Hughes Mediterr. Fever iv. 156 A characteristic goat-like odour. |
| c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) vii. 27 Putte þerto *gayte mylke. 1726 Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 266 In June most of the ministers of Glasgow were out of town at the goat-milk. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 8 Aug., Dr. Gregory..advises the Highland air, and the use of goat-milk whey. |
| 1725 Pope Odyss. ix. 330 We Cyclops are, a race above Those air-bred people, and their *goat-nursed Jove. |
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 322 *Goat-pens and stals where they [goats] be kept. |
| 1851 Zoologist IX. 2978 Our guide at length conducted us to a *goat-shed. |
| 1775 R. Chandler Trav. Asia M. (1825) I. 340, I discovered a *goat-stand in a dale. |
| 1879 Browning Pheidippides 68 Under the human trunk the *goat-thighs grand I saw. |
b. Special combs., as
goat and bee, used
attrib. to designate a type of Chelsea porcelain; also, applied to silverware bearing the same pattern;
goat-antelope, an antelope of the genus
Nemorhædus;
† goat-beetle = goat-chafer;
goat-chafer, a capricorn beetle (
cf. quots.);
† goat-doe, a female goat;
goat-drunk a., lascivious from drink;
goat-fig = L.
caprifīcus see
quot.);
goat-fish, a name given to several species of fish, as the
Balistes capriscus and
Phycis furcatus of Europe, and the
Upeneus maculatus of America;
goat-foot [after
Gr. αἰγιπόδης, αἰγίπους], a faun or satyr; the god Pan (
cf. also
goat-feet); also
attrib.;
goat-god, the god Pan;
goat hair, the hair or skin of the goat;
† goat-hart (see
quot.);
goat-leap = goat's leap;
† goat-marjoram (see
quot. and
cf. goat's-marjoram);
† goat-milker = goat-sucker;
goat-moth (see
quot. 1859);
goat-owl = goat-sucker;
goat-path, a narrow mountain track, such as is made by goats;
† goat-peach (see
quot.);
goat-pepper (see
quot.);
goat-root, the plant
Ononis Natrix;
goat-rue = goat's rue (see 4 c);
† goat-sea, the ægean Sea;
goat-singing,
-song, renderings of
Gr. τραγῳδία
tragedy;
† goat-speech = eclogue (
q.v.);
goat-star = goat 2 b;
goat-stones = goat's-stones;
goat-track = goat-path;
goat-weed, a name for the W. Indian plants
Capraria biflora and
Stemodia durantifolia; ? also for
ægopodium Podagraria (Goutweed);
goat-willow,
Salix caprea;
† goat-wool = goat's-wool (a). See also
goat-buck, -herd, -skin, -sucker.
| 1931 E. Wenham Domestic Silver v. 98 Various curious shapes were adapted to these small jugs, one being the so-called ‘*goat and bee’. This is supposed to have been designed by Nicholas Sprimont, a silversmith, and..examples in silver are extremely rare. 1957 Mankowicz & Haggar Encycl. Eng. Pott. & Porc. 97/1 ‘Goat and Bee’ jug, a jug decorated with goats and a bee, incised in the base with the word Chelsea, a triangle, and a date, generally 1745. |
| 1847 Craig, *Goat or goral antelopes. |
| 1658 Sir T. Browne Gard. Cyrus iii. ¶28 Since..we find so noble a scent in the tulip-fly and *goat-beetle. Note, The long and tender green capricornus, rarely found. |
| 1658 Rowland Moufet's Theat. Ins. 1006 Capricornus; the Germans call it Holtzback; the English, *Goat-chafer. 1792 J. Belknap Hist. New Hampsh. III. 181 Goat Chaffer, Cerambyx coriarius. 1837 M. Donovan Dom. Econ. II. 207 The silk-cotton tree worm..is..the caterpillar of a large capricorn beetle, or goat-chafer. |
| 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 570/22 Capra, a *gootdoo [ibid. 30 a gotdo]. |
| 1592 Nashe Pierce Penilesse 24 The seuenth is *Goate drunke, when in his drunkennes he hath no minde but on Lecherie. 1601 ? Marston Pasquil & Kath. iii. 7 Mounsieur's Goat drunke, and he shrugs, and skrubs, and hee's it for a wench. a 1640 Day Peregr. Schol. (1881) 52 In theise two..the goates blood is predominante; and such we call Goate-Drunk. |
| 1835 Booth Analyt. Dict. 106 The common Figtree..when in its wild state is called Caprificus or *Goat-fig. |
| a 1639 T. Carew Cæl. Brit. Wks. (1824) 160 The centaure, the horn'd *goatfish capricorne. 1864 Couch Brit. Fishes III. 125 Goatfish. The Greater Fork⁓beard, Phycis furcatus. 1885 A. Brassey The Trades 302 There were..bright, scarlet fish, known locally as ‘red⁓mullet’, although they are really, I believe, goat-fish, with a little tuft under their lower jaw. |
| 1878 Wilde Ravenna v. 10 Some *goat⁓foot Pan. 1898 G. Meredith Odes Fr. Hist. 6 To veil an evil leer, And bid a goatfoot trip it like a fay. 1906 Daily Chron. 13 Aug. 4/4 It was the hour of Pan. I could almost think I saw the goat-foot playing his pipes by the brook. 1912 R. Brooke Poems (1918) 54 To glimpse a Naiad's reedy head, Or hear the Goat-foot piping low. 1925 E. Sitwell Troy Park 9 The goat-foot satyr waves. |
| 1879 Browning Pheidippides 76 Go, say to Athens, ‘The *Goat-God saith: When Persia..is cast in the sea, Then praise Pan’. 1896 F. B. Jevons Introd. Hist. Relig. xxiii. 351 The Satiric chorus.. wore goat skins..to mark their intimate relation with the goat-god. |
| 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. 102/3 Infants' white *goat hair brushes, fine and soft. 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder (Suppl.) 29 Mar. 4/1 A multilayer goat-hair fleece. 1967 J. Rathbone Diamonds Bid iii. 27, I have plenty of kilims and goat-hair rugs. |
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), *Goat-hart, or Stone-buck, a wild Beast. |
| 1726 Dict. Rust. (ed. 3) s.v. Capriole, The *Goat-leap, when a horse at the full height of his Leap, yerks or strikes out his hind legs. |
| 1755 Johnson, *Goat marjoram, the same with Goatsbeard. [Hence in later Dicts.] |
| 1611 Cotgr., Caprimulge, a *Goat-milker. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Goat-milker or Goat-sucker, a kind of Owl. |
| 1802 Bingley Anim. Biog. (1813) III. 221 The *goat moth. 1859 Thompson Gardener's Assist. 533 The caterpillars of the goat-moth (Cossus ligniperda). |
| 1768 Pennant Zool. II. 246 *Goat Owl. |
| 1897 Daily News 13 Apr. 5/7 Here..the only roads are *goat-paths in the mountains. |
| 1693 Evelyn De la Quint. Compl. Gard. Gloss., *Goat-Peaches are Peaches that are very hairy. |
| 1836 Penny Cycl. VI. 274/1 A much hotter species is the Capsicum fruticosum or *goat-pepper, a native of the East Indies. |
| 1840 Paxton Bot. Dict., *Goat-root, see Ononis Natrix. |
| 1756 P. Browne Jamaica 289 Galega..The shrubby *Goat-rue. |
| 1565 Golding Ovid's Met. ix. (1593) 223 Miletas swiftly past The *gote-sea. |
| 1789 T. Twining Aristotle on Poetry (1812) I. 111 note 7 Tragedy, i.e., according to the most usual derivation of the word, the *goat-singing. |
| 1822 Shelley Hellas Pref., The only *goat-song which I have yet attempted. |
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 148/2 A *Gayte speche egloga. |
| 1894 Gladstone Horace's Odes iii. vii. 6 Him wild *Goat-stars vexed. |
| 1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden cclxxviii, It is called..in English Satyrion, Orchis, Doggestones, *Goatestones, Foolestones [etc.]. |
| 1889 C. Edwardes Sardinia 153 We at length..hit upon the *goat-track. |
| 1756 P. Browne Jamaica 268 *Goat weed. This plant..grows about most houses in the lower Savannas. 1864 Grisebach Flora W. Ind. 784 Goat-weed, Capraria biflora and Stemodia durantifolia. |
| 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. V. 99 Great Round-leaved Sallow, or *Goat-Willow. 1894 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. June 240 For coppice, probably Salix caprea, the Goat Willow or English Palm, would be best. |
| 1513 Douglas æneis viii. Prol. 48 Sum glasteris, and thai gang at all for *gayt woll. |
c. Comb. with
gen. goat's, as
goat's horn,
goat-milk, etc.; also
goat's-bane (see
quot.);
† goat's-cullions = goat's-stones;
goat's-foot,
† (
a) (see
quot. 1786;
= F.
pied de chèvre); also
attrib.; (
b) a name for the South African plant
Oxalis caprina;
goat's hair (see
quot.);
† goat's-jump = goat's-leap;
goat's-leaf (see
quots.);
† goat's-leap = capriole;
† goat's-marjoram, ? wild marjoram (
Origanum vulgare);
† goat's-orchis = goat's stones;
† goat's-organy = goat's-marjoram;
goat's-rue,
Galega officinalis;
† goat's-stones, the name of several orchids,
esp. Orchis mascula or hircina;
goat's-thorn, a name for
Astragalus Tragacanthus and other species;
goat's-wheat, a rendering of
mod.L.
Tragopyrum, a Siberian genus of plants allied to the buckwheat;
goat's-wool, (
a) something non-existent (
= L.
lana caprina); (
b) the fine wool mingled with the hair of some species of goats. See also
goat's-beard.
| 1840 Paxton Bot. Dict., *Goat's-bane, see Aconitum tragoctonum. |
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens ii. lvi. 222 The third kinde [of Orchis]..is called..in English Hares Balloxe and *Goates Cullions. |
| 1672 W. T. Mil. & Mar. Disc. iii. Compl. Gunner i. xxviii. 47 An Iron *Goats-foot with a Crow. 1786 Grose Treat. Anc. Armour 59 The smaller cross bows were bent with the hand by means of a small steel lever, called the goat's foot, from its being forked on the side that rested on the cross bow and the cord. 1829 Loudon Encycl. Plants 384 Oxalis caprina, Goat's-foot. 1869 Boutell Arms & Arm. viii. 141 The hind's foot (called also the goat's foot) cross-bow. |
| 1895 Edin. Rev. Apr. 531 It is the cloud known to seamen..as ‘*goats' hair’ or ‘mares' tails’. |
| 1589 Pasquil's Counter-C. 3 O how my Palfrey fetcht me uppe the Curuetto, and daunced the *Goats jumpe. |
| 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. III. 139 The foliage of our Woodbine is very agreeable to goats, hence our plant is sometimes called *Goat's-leaf. 1861 Mrs. Lankester Wild Flowers 71 The Perfoliate Honeysuckle, or Goat's-leaf. |
| 1598 Florio, Capriola, a capriole, a sault or *goates leape that cunning riders teach their horses. 1623 Cockeram, Capriole, the leaping of a horse aboue ground, called by horsemen the goats leape. |
| 1530 Palsgr. 226/2 *Gottesmylke, laict de chieure. 1848 Buckley Iliad 207 The woman grated over it a goat's-milk cheese. |
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. ccix. §2. 543 Goates Organie is called..in English *goates Organie, and *goates Marierome. |
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens ii. lvi, 222 Rootes of Standergrasses (but especially of Hares Balloxe, or *Goates Orchis) eaten..doth, [etc.]. |
| Ibid. iv. xxxi. 490 Galega..is called in English Italian Fetche and *Goates Rue. 1897 Willis Flower. Pl. II. 170 Galega officinalis L., is sometimes cultivated as a fodder-plant (goat's rue). |
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal i. c. §1. 159 There be three sorts or kinds of *Goates stones. |
| Ibid. iii. xxiii. 1148 Tragacantha..in English for want of a better name, *Goates Thorne. 1611 Cotgr., Barbe regnard, Goats-thorne; the shrub whose root yeeldeth Gumme dragogant. 1829 Loudon Encycl. Plants 638 Astragalus Tragacantha, gt. Goat's Thorn. Astragalus Poterium, sm. Goat's Thorn. |
| 1840 Paxton Bot. Dict., *Goat's-wheat, see Tragopyrum. |
| 1588 J. Udall Demonstr. Discipl. (Arb.) 11 The controuersie is not about *goats woolle (as the prouerbe saeth) neither light and trifling maters. 1704 Lond. Gaz. No. 3983/4 The Cargo of the Ship Hamstead Galley..consisting of..Goats-wooll, Cotton-yarn, Cotton-wooll, &c. will be exposed to..Sale. 1812 J. Smyth Pract. Customs (1821) 314 Turkey Goat's Wool. |
▪ II. goat var. gote, stream, sluice.