Norman, n.1 and a.
(ˈnɔːmən)
Also 4 noreman, normen, 7 Normane.
[Orig. in pl., a. OF. Normans, -manz (AF. -maunz), pl. of Normant (later -mand) Normand, a reduced form of the Teut. or Scand. Northman 1, which also appears as Norman in OE., OFris., OHG., MDu., and MSw. (mod.G. Normann, Du. Noorman, Norw. Norrman). Hence med.L. Normannus.]
A. n.
1. a. A native or inhabitant of Normandy; one belonging to, or descended from, the mixed Scandinavian and Frankish race inhabiting that part of France.
| c 1205 Lay. 7116 Seoððen comen Normans mid heore nið crafte and nemneden heo Lundres. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7498 Þus was in normannes hond þat lond ibroȝt. Ibid. 7500 Of þe normans beþ heyemen..of engelonde. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 75 Þe Normans in þe South wer in so grete affray. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 29 Þe sixte [book is] from þe Danes to þe Normans. Þe seuenþe fro Normans to oure tyme. c 1425 Engl. Conq. Irel. 140 Thay anoon..of the Normannes weren shamefully receyued. 1538 Starkey England i. iv. 123 Therby ys testyfyd our subiectyon to the Normannys. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 36 Neyther hauing the accent of Christians, nor the gate of Christian, Pagan, or Norman. 1736 Thomson Liberty iv. 739 The haughty Norman seiz'd at once an isle, For which..The Roman, Saxon, Dane had toil'd and bled. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) III. 157 The next name of dignity is comes, earl, which was also introduced here by the Normans. 1874 Stubbs Const. Hist. (1897) I. 270 Of the constitutional history of the Normans of Normandy we have very little information. |
| Comb. 1876 Tennyson Harold (Show-day at Battle Abbey), Here fought, here fell, our Norman-slander'd king. |
† b. A Northman, a Norwegian. Obs. rare.
Cf. the OE. pl. Normen in this sense.
| 1605 [see Norwegian B. 1]. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) I. 570/2 A people so versed in maritime affairs, and so adventurous, as the ancient Normans were. |
2. = Norman-French (see B. 3 b).
† Also in Sc. form Normans, after Scots = Scottish.
| 1646 Drummond of Hawthornden Wks. (1711) 213 The Laws of England, which William the Conqueror imposed.., mufled up in barbarous Normans. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VI. 667/2 Our language..is now a mixture of Saxon,..Danish, Norman, and modern French. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe iv, I sufficiently understand Norman to follow your meaning. 1879 Walford Londoniana II. 98 The upper classes spoke Norman and lived as Normans. |
B. adj.
1. Belonging or pertaining to, characteristic of, the Normans.
| 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. xii. (Arb.) 130 Scholers.., who not content with the vsuall Normane or Saxon word, would conuert the very Latine..word into vulgar French. 1640 Baker Chron. (1653) 38 Footsteps remaining of the Norman language in the English tongue. 1698–9 Dryden Sigism. & Guisc. 1 While Norman Tancred in Salerno reigned. 1736 Thomson Liberty iv. 773 The Barons.., Both those of English and of Norman race. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) II. 229/2 The rage of building fortified castles..among the Norman princes. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe v, The fantastic fashions of Norman chivalry. 1879 G. C. Harlan Eyesight viii. 112 What are called Norman Capitals, in which the characteristic strokes are excessively heavy, and the others but lightly traced. |
| Comb. 1877 Tennyson Harold i. i, I say not this, as being Half Norman-blooded. |
2. Norman Conquest, the conquest of England by the Normans under William I, which took place in 1066. (Cf. conquest n. 3.)
| 1605 Camden Rem. (1623) 144 Many approoued customes, lawes, manners,..haue the English alwayes borrowed of..the French..by the Norman Conquest. 1708 J. Chamberlayne Pres. St. Gt. Brit. i. ii. xiii. (1710) 100 Our Ancestors, who after the Norman Conquest, were generally skill'd in the French tongue. 1755 Johnson Dict., Hist. E i/2 This change seems not to have been the effect of the Norman conquest. 1827 Gentl. Mag. XCVII. i. 607 The Norman-Conquest is one of the most splendid events in history. 1874 Stubbs Const. Hist. (1897) I. 269 The effect of the Norman Conquest on the character and constitution of the English was threefold. |
3. Norman-English or Norman-Saxon, English as spoken by the Normans, or as influenced by them. rare.
| 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. xii. (Arb.) 130 Our Normane English which hath growen since William the Conquerour. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe vii, The following [ejaculations] were distinctly heard in the Norman-English, or mixed language of the country. 1845 Stoddart Gram. in Encycl. Metrop. I. 74/2 Strong..seems to have been anciently adopted in the Noman-Saxon Adverbially. |
b. Norman-French, the form of French spoken by the Normans, or the later form of this in English legal use (Law French).
| 1605 Camden Rem. (1623) 26 By setting downe their lawes in the Norman-French. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VI. 667/2 After that the Saxon blended with the Norman French. 1865 Nichols Britton I. p. xlvi, The jargon..of our legal writers,..which has also been commonly termed Norman French. 1900 Toller Hist. Eng. Lang. 209 For some time the natural speech of the Norman was Norman-French. |
4. The distinguishing epithet of a form of architecture, or its details, developed by the Normans and employed in England after the Conquest.
| 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) II. 221/2 There seems to be little or no grounds for a distinction between the Saxon and Norman architecture. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 134 In many small churches..the Norman door has been suffered to remain. 1828 Gentl. Mag. XCVIII. ii. 519 The noble structures of Norman architecture, as it is called in this country. 1842 Gwilt Archit. §392 That called the Norman style, which continued from 1066 to nearly 1200. 1889 Merriman Slave of Lamp xviii, The narrow Norman windows had been framed with unpainted wood. |
5. Norman line, Norman shell, Norman thrush (see quots.).
| 1713 Petiver Anat. Anim. Amb. 4/1 Auris marina.., Long Sea Ear or Norman Shell. 1883 L. Z. Joncas Fish. Canada 12 (Intern. Fish. Exhib.), The bank fishing is made with long lines which our fishermen call ‘Norman lines’. 1891 Cent. Dict. s.v. Thrush, Norman thrush, the mistle⁓thrush. |