▪ I. kindle, n.
(ˈkɪnd(ə)l)
Forms: 3 kundel, pl. -les, 4 pl. kyndles, -(e)lis, 5 -yll, kindil, 7, 9 kindle.
[Appears in early ME. (along with the cognate kindle v.2): app. a deriv. of cynd-, stem of ᵹecynd, kind n. Cf. G. kind child.]
† 1. a. The young (of any animal), a young one. b. collect. A brood or litter (of kittens). Obs.
| c 1220 Bestiary (Elephant) 620 Ðanne ȝe sal hire kindles beren, In water ȝe sal stonden. a 1225 Ancr. R. 82 Heo is neddre kundel. Ibid. 200 Þe Neddre of attri Onde haue[ð] seoue kundles. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 2 Joon baptist and crist clepede hem ypocritis and serpentis and addir kyndles. 1486 Bk. St. Albans F vj, A Litter of welpis, a kyndyll of yong Cattis. 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 132/1 [A company of] Cats [is] a Kindle. [An error of Holme.] |
2. in kindle (of a hare): With young.
| 1877 Daily News 23 July 2 A fine hare, and..a doe in kindle. Mod. Advt. 3 pure Belgian hare does, in kindle. |
▪ II. kindle, v.1
(ˈkɪnd(ə)l)
Forms: α. 3 kundlen, kindlen, (Orm. kinndlenn), 3–5 kindel(l, kyndel(l, -il(l, -yl(l, (4 kinl-, kynl-), 5–6 kyndle, 5– kindle (mod.Sc. kynnle, kinnle). β. 4–6 kendyl, (6 Sc. -yll), 5–6 Sc. -ill.
[app. f. ON. kynd-a to kindle (trans. and intr.) + -le: cf. ON. kyndill a candle, torch.
In most of the senses up may be added as an intensive.]
1. trans. To set fire to, set on fire, ignite, light (a flame, fire, or combustible substance).
| c 1200 Ormin 16135 Hat lufess fir..Iss kinndledd i þatt herrte. a 1300 E.E. Psalter xvii. 9 Koles..Kindled ere of him glouand. c 1300 Havelok 915 Stickes kan ich breken and kraken, And kindlen ful wel a fyr. 1388 Wyclif Judg. xv. 4 He..boond brondis in the myddis, whiche he kyndlid with fier. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 107 Dame..kendill on ane fyre. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop i. xiii, [He] put to gyder grete habondance of straws..and kyndeled it with fyre. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 24 Soom doe set on caldrons, oothers doe kendel a bauen. 1607 Shakes. Cor. iii. i. 197 Fie, fie, fie, this is the way to kindle, not to quench. 1646 Boyle Let. to Marcombes 22 Oct., Wks. 1772 I. p. xxxi, These two flints are striking such sparks, as are likely to kindle a fine bonfire for the English. 1707 Watts Hymn ‘Come Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove’ i, Kindle a Flame of sacred Love In these cold Hearts of ours. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. i. §11 A man must be a long time kindling wet straw into a vile smothering flame. 1800 tr. Lagrange's Chem. I. 40 Kindle the phosphorus with a piece of bent iron brought to a state of ignition in the fire. 1863 F. A. Kemble Resid. in Georgia 31 Bidding the elder boys and girls kindle up the fire. 1871 R. H. Hutton Ess. II. 122 Wordsworth seems to kindle his own poetic flame like a blind man kindling his own fire. |
2. intr. Of a fire, flame, or combustible matter: To begin to burn, catch fire, burst into flame.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 296 Þe sparke..keccheð more fur..And þe deouel bloweð to from þet hit erest kundleð. a 1300 E.E. Psalter lxxvii[i]. 25 [21] Fire kindeled ful brinnand þare In Iacob. 1495 Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. xvii. iv. (W. de W.) 606 Gleymy fatnesse..of this tree Abies kyndlyth full soone and brennyth wyth lyght leyle. a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) P iij b, In great thycke and dry busshes, the fyres kendle moste easyly. 1679 Bedloe Popish Plot 15 They know not how it [a fire] came to kindle there. 1719 Young Busiris ii. i, Think not, Mandane, this a sudden start; A flash of love, that kindles and expires. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 45 A spark of heavenly fire..which kindles up and blazes in the hour of adversity. 1848 C. Brontë J. Eyre xii, My eye..caught a light kindling in a window. |
3. fig. trans. a. To inflame, excite, rouse, inspire (a passion or feeling).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 6791 And sal mi wrath be kindeld sua. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 240 Þis wolde kyndele oonhede and love. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 64 It is the synne of pride, and engenderithe and kendelithe lechery. 1547–8 Ordre of Commvnion 9 We kyndle Gods wrathe ouer vs. 1638 Penit. Conf. viii. (1657) 235 Kindling in his heart faith, whereby he is justified. 1759 Robertson Hist. Scot. ii. Wks. 1813 I. 145 The protestant army, whenever it came, kindled or spread the ardour of reformation. 1874 Green Short Hist. iii. §5. 141 The wholesale pillage kindled a wide spirit of resistance. |
b. To inflame, fire, excite, stir up (a person, the mind, etc.); to make ardent or eager. Const. † in († of), to, or with inf.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 19436 (Cott.) Eth es to kindel þat es kene. c 1340 Ibid. 15390 (Trin.) Of al venym and of envye ful kyndeled he was. c 1440 Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (ed. 2) 227/620 Kindele þou me in charitee. a 1547 Surrey æneid ii. 131 This kindled us more egre to enquire. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. i. i. 179 Nothing remaines, but that I kindle the boy thither. 1657 Trapp Comm. Nehem. i. 4 These good men..by mutual confidence kindle one another. 1775 Johnson Tax. no Tyr. 21 Some discontented Lord..would..have quickly kindled with equal heat a troop of followers. 1824 Byron Juan xvi. xli, The thrilling wires Died from the touch that kindled them to sound. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus xvi. 9 It shall kindle an icy thought to courage. |
c. To arouse or give rise to († care, trouble, etc. (obs.), war, strife).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 24149 Ye Iuus þat kindeld all þis care. c 1325 Metr. Hom. 37 Thai kindel baret wit bacbiting. c 1470 Golagros & Gaw. 1121 It semyt be thair contenance that kendillit wes care. 1513 Douglas æneis ix. viii. 99 As scho thus kyndillis sorow and wo. 1567 Satir. Poems Reform. xi. 48 Throw the is kendlit ciuil weir. 1761 Hume Hist. Eng. II. xxix. 151 He took measures for kindling a war with England. 1764 Goldsm. Hist. Eng. in Lett. (1772) I. 95 The wars that were now kindled up between England and France. 1847 Mrs. A. Kerr Hist. Servia 312 Time was gained for kindling the revolution in the neighbouring districts. |
4. intr. a. Of passion or feeling († care or trouble): To rise, to be aroused, to be excited.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 6791 (Trin.) Þenne shal my wreche kyndel [other MSS. be Kindeld]. a 1352 Minot in Pol. Poems (Rolls) I. 62 Rough-fute riveling, now kindels thi care. a 1400–50 Alexander 2724 Myn angire on þine arrogance sall at þe last kindill. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 94 Quhen kissis me that carybald, than kyndillis all my sorow. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. xlii. (1869) II. 553 Their mutual resentment again kindled. 1845 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 18 As their fury kindled, they pushed into the nave of the building. |
b. To become inflamed, ardent, or warm; to glow with passion or excitement; to become eager or animated.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 6575 Then Alcanus, the kyng, kyndlit in yre. 1513 More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 775 The Queene..began to kindle and chafe, and speake sore byting wordes. 1666 Bunyan Grace Ab. §91 The words began thus to kindle in my spirit. 1794 Godwin Cal. Williams 27 We are both apt to kindle, warm of resentment. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. II. 97 He kindled into warmth with the ardour of his contest. 1888 Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men II. xii. 383 Very pleasant it was..to see the dear fellow kindle at the mention of Hebron and Jerusalem. |
† c. To spread like fire. Obs. rare.
| a 1350 St. Matthew 28 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 132 Þe meruailes of þir mawmettes two Thwrgh all þe cuntre kindeld so. |
5. trans. To light up as with fire; to make bright or glowing. Also with up.
| 1715–20 Pope Iliad ii. 537 The fires expanding..Shoot their long beams, and kindle half the skies. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxii, One of those intensely golden sunsets which kindles the whole horizon into one blaze of glory. 1860 Hawthorne Marb. Faun 364 Brilliant costumes largely kindled up with scarlet. 1881 Freeman Sk. Venice 95 The mighty campanile of Spalato rises, kindled with the last rays of sunlight. |
b. intr. To become glowing or bright like fire.
| 1797 Campbell Wounded Hussar iii, Dim was that eye,..That melted in love, and that kindled in war! 1810 Southey Kehama vii. v, The Orient,..Kindles as it receives the rising ray. 1823 F. Clissold Ascent Mt. Blanc 23 The western arc of the misty circle kindled, from a rosy to a deep reddening glow. 1865 Kingsley Herew. xvii. Hereward's face reddened and his eyes kindled. |
Hence kindled (ˈkɪnd(ə)ld) ppl. a.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 275/1 Kynlyd, as fyyr.., accensus, succensus. 1561 Norton & Sackv. Gorboduc ii. ii. (1847) 120 The fiery stedes did drawe the flame With wilder randon through the kindled skies. c 1632 Poem in Athenæum No. 2883. 121/3 When the furious Doggstarr raves throughout the Spanish soyle, which smoakes like kindled flax. 1767 Sir W. Jones Seven Fountains in Poems (1777) 48 The magick water pierc'd his kindled brain. 1898 Daily News 2 Apr. 5/5 The kindled sentiments of the Spaniards. |
▪ III. kindle, v.2 Now dial.
(ˈkɪnd(ə)l)
Forms: 3 kundlen, 5 kyndlyn, kyndel, -il, (6 -yll), 5–6 kyndle, 7 kindel(l, 6–8 kindle; 4–6 kendle; 4 kynel-, kinel-, 5 kynle(n, kinlyn, 8 kinnel, 9 dial. kinnle, kennel.
[Cf. kindle n.]
trans. Of a female animal: To bring forth, give birth to (young). Also fig.
| c 1220 Bestiary 16 Wanne he is ikindled Stille lið ðe leun. a 1225 Ancr. R. 328 Euerich on [sin] kundleð more and wurse kundles þen þe sulue moder. a 1300 E.E. Psalter vii. 15 Bihald, he kyneld [v.r. kineled] un-rightwisnesse, Onfang sorwe and bare wickednesse. 1579–80 North Plutarch (1895) III. 275 A rat was taken full of young, and kendled five young rats in the trappe. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 358 As the Conie that you see dwell where shee is kindled. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Rabbit, When a Doe has kinnell'd one Nest, and then kinnell'd another, the first must be taken from her. |
b. absol. (Of hares or rabbits.)
| c 1310 Prophecy (MS. Harl. 2253) in Thomas Erceld. (1875) Introd. 18 When hares kendles oþe herston. 1486 Bk. St. Albans E iij, Now of the hare..Other while he is male..And other while female and kyndelis by kynde. 1530 Palsgr. 598/2 A konny kyndylleth every moneth in the yere. 1614 Markham Cheap Husb. (1623) 131 The Females [of Rabbits or Conies] after they have kindled, hide their young ones. 1781 W. Blane Ess. Hunt. (1788) 102 The Doe makes choice of some thick dry brake..to kindle in. 1810 Treat. Live Stock 170 (E.D.D.) The males or bucks should be parted from the does, or females, till the latter kindle. 1828 Craven Dial., Kinnle, to bring forth young. |
† c. intr. To be born. Obs. rare.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 696 Þat euer he kyndild [Dubl. MS. come] of his kynde kend he bot litill. |