▪ I. scall, n. (and a.) Obs. exc. Sc. and north. dial.
(skɔːl)
Also 4–6 scalle, skalle, 6–7 scaul(e, skall, 6, 9 skal, 7, 9 scal. β. Sc. and north. 4 sca, 6 skaw, 5, 7, 9 scaw.
[prob. a. ON. skalle a (naturally) bald head (Sw. skalle skull; cf. skallig bald), app. a derivative of OTeut. *skal- (whence shale n., shell n.).]
A. n. A scaly or scabby disease of the skin, esp. of the scalp. dry scall: psoriasis. humid scall or moist scall: eczema.
honeycomb scall, milk scall, milky scall, ringworm scall: see the qualifying words.
| α a 1300 Cursor M. 11819 In his heued he has þe scall. c 1374 Chaucer To Scriv. 3 Vnder þy long lokkes þowe most haue þe scalle. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. vi. 138 They wol been in good poynte Withouten scorf or scalle. 1526 Grete Herball cxxiii. (1529) H ij b, Agaynst scalles of the heed..bruse grene camomyll. a 1529 Skelton Howe the Douty Duke of Albany, etc. 219 Wks. 1843 II. 74 Full of scabbes and scaules. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. iii. (1641) 99 Through their salt phlegms their heads were hid w{supt}{suph} skalls. 1601 Holland Pliny xx. ix. II. 52 It mundifieth the skurfe or dandruffe in the head, the running scalls likewise that are bred there. 1611 Bible Lev. xiii. 30 A dry skall, euen a leprosie vpon the head or beard. Ibid. xiv. 54 This is the law for all manner plague of leprosie and skall. 1694 Salmon Bate's Dispens. 157/1 The Leprosie, white Scall, and all sorts of Ulcers which are not corroding. 1829 Good's Study Med. (ed. 3) V. 641 The furfuraceous or branny scall..is often mistaken for a pityriasis or lepriasis, particularly where it appears in the scalp. 1833 Todd in Cycl. Pract. Med. I. 671 Ecthyma..papulous scall. |
| β c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxvi. (Baptista) 1067, & þar-to sic a sca had he þat of his body nocht was fre. a 1450 Ratis Raving i. 182 The lypir and the faland Ill, Wild fyre and scaw. 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot., Descr. Alb. x. C j, This oulie hes ane singulare virtew aganis all maner of cankir and skawis. 1867 E. B. Ramsay Scot. Life & Char. v. (ed. 15) 115, I've had..the scaw [note, The itch]. 1870 J. K. Hunter Life Studies xxvi. 190 Brimstone and butter was..the great medium for curin' the scaw. |
b. attrib.: scall-bladder, a vesicle of eczema (Syd. Soc. Lex. 1897).
B. attrib. or adj. = scalled. Also Comb., scall-patched adj.
| 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iii. i. 123 To be reuenge on this same scall-scuruy-cogging-companion the Host of the Garter. 1602 Narcissus (1893) 569 Goe to, y'are a scall scabbe. 1632 Lithgow Trav. i. 3 Shallow scal-patch'd pates. |
▪ II. scall
obs. form of scale v.3