▪ I. mulct, n.
(mʌlkt)
Also 6 multe, 6–8 mult, 7 mulcte, 6– mulct.
[ad. L. mulcta, multa. Cf. obs. F. mulcte (earlier multe).]
1. A fine imposed for an offence. Also occas. in wider sense, a compulsory payment (usually implying unfair or arbitrary exaction).
| 1591 Horsey Trav. (Hakl. Soc.) 207 This Emperowr reduced..their lawes..into a most..plain forme of a written lawe, for everie man..to..challenge upon a great mult to the crown judgment without delaye. 1598 Hakluyt's Voy. I. 266 To set and leuie..penalties and mulcts by fine or imprisonment. 1616 Sir C. Mountagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 249 The Low Countries have banished all our dyed cloths, and set such a mult on the white as will mar the trade. 1664 H. More Myst. Iniq. xix. 71 For multitude and frequency of Transgressours brings in Mulcts and Fees to the Ecclesiastick Officers. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. II. 86 A rape and adultery is punished with a mulct of nine head of cattle. 1816 T. L. Peacock Headlong Hall viii, Imposed a heavy mulct on every one of his servants. 1858 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. iii. iii. (1872) I. 148 Humiliating peace, with mulct in money, and slightly in territory, attached to it. 1874 Stubbs Const. Hist. I. ii. 28 The state received the portion of the mulcts which in the monarchies fell to the king. |
| attrib. 1610 Healey St. Aug. Citie of God 174 Which P. Posth. Megellus being ædile built with the mulct-money hee had gathered. |
2. A penalty of any kind.
| a 1619 Fletcher, etc. Knt. Malta iii. iii, Chastity That lodges in deformity, appeares rather A mulct impos'd by nature, then a blessing. 1657 M. Hawke Killing is M. 38 He justly paid the mult of his head which forged them, and his hands which pressed them. 1724 R. Welton Chr. Faith & Pract. 113 The losing of the soul..is to have a mulct inflicted upon the soul. 1892 Zangwill Childr. Ghetto I. 47 Nor was this the only mulct which Providence exacted from the happy father. |
¶ 3. Misused by Massinger for: A blemish.
Cf. quot. 1619 in sense 2, which Massinger has unintelligently imitated.
| 1632 Massinger Maid of Hon. i. ii, Ber. If so, what diverts Your Favour from me? Cam. No mulct in your selfe, Or in your person, mind or fortune. 1639 ― Unnat. Combat iv. i, That which all the world Admires and cries up in thee for perfections Are to unhappy me foule blemishes And mulcts in nature. |
▪ II. mulct, v.
(mʌlkt)
Also 5–6 multe, 9 pa. pple. mulct, mulked.
[ad. L. mulctāre, multāre, f. mulcta, multa mulct n. Cf. F. mulcter (15th c. multer).]
1. trans. To punish (a person, † an offence) by a fine. † Also occas. to subject to a penalty of any kind. (The penalty or amount is expressed by a second object, or introduced by in.)
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 246/2 To Multe, multare. 1530 Palsgr. 642/1, I multe. 1611 B. Jonson Catiline v. vi, Those townes, then to be mulcted, as enemies to the State. a 1619 M. Fotherby Atheom. i. x. §4 (1622) 101 They mulcted him with exile. a 1626 Bacon New Atl. (1900) 31 Marriage without consent of Parents they doe not make void, but they mulct it in the Inheritours. 1667 Causes Decay Chr. Piety v. 96 He that mulcts the more Indeliberate Oaths, may yet enjoyn a solemn Perjury. 1747 Gentl. Mag. 45/1 The master was mulcted all his pay. 1792 Burke Let. to Sir H. Langrishe Wks. VI. 355 Will you punish by deprivation of their privileges, or mulct in any other way, those who have tempted us? 1800 Colquhoun Comm. Thames 664 On pain of being mulked when such arms are found rusty or unserviceable. 1851 Dixon W. Penn xv. (1872) 131 The new sect were..mulcted in heavy fines. 1858 J. B. Norton Topics 81 Mulct the holders of India Stock, the fault is theirs. |
2. To deprive or divest of.
| 1748 Anson's Voy. iii. ix. 397 The Linguist was seized, and..mulcted of all he had gotten in the Commodore's service. 1833 I. Taylor Fanat. vi. 201 Let any one conceive himself..to be mulct at once of manhood and humanity. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour II. 233/1 When..the wages of which the men are mulct go to increase the profits of the capitalist, [etc.]. 1902 Contemp. Rev. Dec. 838 Every third year each tree is mulcted of her spreading boughs. |