▪ I. pismire Obs. exc. dial.
(ˈpɪsmaɪə(r))
Forms: α. 4–5 pissemyre, 5 pysmire, pyse-myer, (spissemire), 5–6 pysmyre, 6 pismyr, pissemyer, 6–7 pismier, 5– pismire. β. 5–6 pysse-, pysmere, 6 pismeere, -mer, pyse-, pyssemer, pysse-, pissemare, pysmar, -marie, 7 pisimer, pismere. γ. 5 pismoure, pyssmowre.
[ME. pissemyre, pissemire, etc., f. piss + mire2 ant; from the urinous smell of an anthill. So early mod.Du. pismiere ant (Kilian). In the β forms the second element is obscured; in the γ forms it is a different word, ME. maur ant, from Norse.]
An ant.
(Cf. the similar names for the ant, Fris. pis-imme, pis-emme, LG. miegemke, Norw. migemaur (LG. miegen, Norw. miga = L. mingĕre), early mod.Du. mierseycke (seycke urine), Fin. kusiainen (kusi urine). Cf. also piss-ant.)
| α c 1386 Chaucer Sompn. T. 118 He is as angry as a pissemyre, Though þat he haue al that he kan desire. 1388 Wyclif Prov. vi. 6 O! thou slowe man, go to the amte [gloss ether pissemyre, v.rr. spissemire, pismire]. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxiii. 149 In þis ile..er grete hilles of gold, þe whilk pissemyres kepez bisily and pures þe gold... Þase pissemyres er als grete as hundes er here. 1560 Bible (Genev.) Prov. vi. 6 Goe to the pismire, o sluggard. 1575 Turberv. Venerie 173 These pissemyers..will driue them out. 1617 R. Fenton Treat. Ch. Rome 100 Sent..by Solomon to the Conies and Pismiers for wisedome and prouidence. 1676 Hale Contempl. i. 468, I have seen a Republick of Pismires with great circumspection choosing the seat of their Residence, and every one carrying his Egg and Provisions to their common Store-house. 1827 Hood Mids. Fairies lv, The pismire's care to garner up his wheat. 1903 Eng. Dial. Dict. (dial. forms), Pishmire, pissimire, pushmire. |
| β c 1440 Promp. Parv. 402/1 Pysmere, formica. c 1440 Gesta Rom. liii. 372 (Add. MS.) Pissemers in somere are besy, and rennyn faste aboute. 1547 Boorde Brev. Health clxi. 58 Amytes, or Pysmars, or Antes. 1555 Eden Decades 139 Pyssemares swarmynge owte of an ante hyll. 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden 52 Cyphers or round oos, lyke pismeeres egges. 1623 in C. Butler Fem. Mon. Ad Authorem 17 That the Pismere and these Hony-flies Instruct us better to Philosophize. 1634–5 Brereton Trav. (Chetham Soc.) 73 Eggs..hatched under an hen, fed with pisimers. 1903 Eng. Dial. Dict. (dial. forms), Pishamer, pishemeer, pis(s)imer, pissamer, pissmare, -mere. |
| γ a 1400 Relig. Pieces fr. Thornton MS. (1867) 21 Mare vs availes till oure ensampill..þe werkes of þe pyssmowre þan dose þe strenghe of þe lyone. 1483 Cath. Angl. 281/2 A Pismoure, formica. 1903 Eng. Dial. Dict., Pissamoor, pisamoor, pissymoor, pishmoor, pissemyore, pissy-, pismyour (all north. and n.w.). |
b. fig. Applied contemptuously to a person.
| 1569 J. Sandford tr. Agrippa's Van. Artes 13 b, The pismers of Mirmidones. 1653 J. Hall Paradoxes 50 Wee poore pismires that crawle upon this hill. 1790 Gibbon Decl. & F. lxv. XII. 18 Thou art no more than a pismire. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xviii, To rid the land of the swarm of Arminian caterpillars, Socinian pismires, and deistical Miss Katies, that have ascended out of the bottomless pit. |
c. attrib. and
Comb., as
pismire-eater,
pismire-egg,
pismire-fly,
pismire-hill (
= ant-eater, -egg, -fly, -hill). In
quot. 1668
= resembling the crawling motion of ants.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 402/1 Pysmeryshylle, formicarium. 1483 Cath. Angl. 281/2 A Pismoure hylle, formicecarium. 1527 Andrew Brunswyke's Distyll. Waters B ij b, A flatte..botell of glas..ful of roses or other floures, or pyssemer eggys. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. 369 That..the pulse of the arteries is caused by the Impulse of Blood, the waving, creeping, pismire pulses seem to show. 1704 tr. Nieuhof's Brazil in Churchill Voy. II. 19 The pismire⁓eater is thus called because he feeds upon..pismires. 1799 G. Smith Laboratory II. 311 The Pismire-fly. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 203 Where the pismire hills abound. |
▪ II. † pismire obs. (illit.)
f. bismar, a steelyard.
| 1701 Brand Descr. Orkney 28 They not useing Peck and Firlot, but in stead thereof, weigh their Corns on Pismires or Pundlers. |