thig, v. Now Sc.
(θɪg)
Forms: 1 þicg(e)an, 2 þigg(i)en, 3–5 thigge, 3–8 thigg, 4–5 thygg, 5–6 thyg, (6 thige), 4– thig.
[OE. þicg(e)an, þeah, þáh-, þǽᵹon, þeᵹen to take, esp. as food; also as a weak vb., pa. tense þiᵹ(e)de. ME. thigge, a. ON. þiggja, þá-, þǫ́gum, þágum, þegen to receive (Sw. tigga, Da. tigge to beg); cf. OS. thiggian to beg, OHG. dikken, etc. (MHG. digen) to beg;:—OTeut. *þigjan (with j suffix as in *ligjan lie v.1, *sitjan sit v.), f. root *þig-: þag-: þǣg-:—Indo-Eur. *tegh: togh-: tēgh.
The OE. vb., which would have given thidge or perh. thie, thy in mod. Eng. (cf. lie, say), was lost a 1150, and its place was taken in the north by the Norse form, with modification of sense.]
† 1. trans. To take, receive, accept; esp. to take (food), to consume by eating or drinking.
| a 864 O.E. Chron. an. 755 (Parker MS.) And hiera se æþeling ᵹehwelcum feoh and feorh ᵹebead and hiera næniᵹ hit ᵹeþicgean [Laud MS. c 1100 þicgan] nolde. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Mark vii. 5 Hwi..þine leorning-cnihtas..besmitenum handum hyra hlaf þicgað [c 1160 Hatton Gosp., þiggieð]. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 92 Þiᵹe þar of anne cuppan fulle on ærne morᵹe and oþerne an niht. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 105 Temperantia þet is metnesse on englisc, þet mon beo imete on alle þing and to muchel ne þigge on ete and on wete. |
2. To receive by begging; to beg (alms, one's food, etc.); in mod. Sc., to solicit gifts on special occasions, esp. on setting up housekeeping, etc.: cf. thigging vbl. n. quots. 1827, 1872.
| c 1300 Havelok 1373 He haueth me do[n] mi mete to thigge, And ofte in sorwe and pine ligge. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxiv. (Alexis) 169 [He] Ilke day thigyt his lyf-led. c 1400 Destr. Troy 13549 Now me bus, as a beggar, my bred for to thigge. 1561 Maitl. Club Misc. III. 282 My brother is and salbe Vicar of Crayll quhen thow sal thyg thy mayt fals smayk. 1887 J. Service Dr. Duguid iii. iv. 262 He gaed to the gaits' hoose to thig 'oo' [= wool]. 1894 P. H. Hunter J. Inwick xi. 145 Syne thig a' they can get aff the pairish. |
b. intr. To beg, cadge.
| a 1300 E.E. Psalter cviii. [cix.] 10 Drecchand his sones be outborne awai, And thigg mote þai, night and dai. c 1470 Henryson Mor. Fab. iv. (Fox's Conf.) xiv, I eschame to thig, I can not wirk. 1665 J. Fraser Polichron. (S.H.S.) 281, I will not goe begg nor thigg amongst my friends. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxvi, Lang-legged Hieland gillies that..maun gang thigging and sorning about on their acquaintance. Note. Thigging and sorning was a kind of genteel begging, or rather something between begging and robbing, by which the needy in Scotland used to extort cattle, or the means of subsistence, from those who had any to give. 1895 Crockett Men of Moss-Hags 166 Ye see it's treason to hae sic a thing, and rank conspiracy to thig and barter to get it back. |
c. trans. To take, borrow (as a quotation).
| 1728 Ramsay Epist. to D. Forbes xi, I'll frae a Frenchman thigg a fable, And busk it in a plaid. 1728 ― Adv. to Mr. ― on his Marriage 22 And blaw ye up with windy fancies, That he has thigit frae romances. |
† 3. To crave, request, ask (a boon, a favour, leave); in quot. c 14702 with the person as obj. Obs.
| c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 3565 Bot of thi grace we thyg To vouche safe with us to ligg. c 1470 Henry Wallace ii. 260 Scho..thyggyt leiff away with him to fayr. c 1470 Henryson Mor. Fab. ix. (Wolf & Fox) xiii, Thocht we wald thig ȝone verray Churlische chuf, He will not gif vs ane hering of his Creill. 1513 Douglas æneis vii. x. 75 Thay thyg vengence at the goddis. a 1568 Balnaves in Bannatyne Poems (Hunter. Cl.) 391 To tar and tig, syne grace to thig, That is ane petouss preiss. |
† b. intr. Obs.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints I. (Katerine) 1144 Graunt þaim þar bowne, I thig at þe. a 1578 Lindesay Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 125 They war faine to thige and cry for peace. |
Hence thig n., begging, mendicancy.
| 1898 Blackw. Mag. July 82/1 Master Brown sat..studying through horn specks the tale of thig and theft which the town officer had made up a report on. |