▪ I. orison arch.
(ˈɒrɪzən, -sən)
Forms: α. 2–3 ureisun, 3–5 oreison, etc. (5 uresun, Caxton oroyson), 3–6 oreson, etc., 6 orayson, orasoun, 6–7 orason, 6–9 oraison, 7 oraizon; β. 3– orison, (3–7 -oun, oryson, etc., 4–6 urison, etc., 4–7 horison, 5 orisson, urrysone, 6 Sc. wrisoun, wriesone, 6–8 orizon, 6 -one): with interchanges in 3–7 of i and y, and of -on, -un, -onn, -unn, -oun, -own, with or without final e.
[a. OF. oreisun, orison (12th c.), now oraison (16th c. in Littré) = Pr. orazon, Sp. oracion, It. orazione:—L. ōrātiōn-em speech, oration, in Christian L. an address to God, a prayer (Vulgate); n. of action f. ōrāre to utter words, speak, pray, f. ōs, ōr- mouth. Etymologically a doublet of oration.]
1. A prayer. (In later use chiefly in pl.: cf. say one's prayers.)
| α c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 51 Þe halie ureisuns þe me singeð in halie chirche. a 1225 Ancr. R. 16 Siggeð so al ðe imne..& te oreisun, ‘Deus qui corda’. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 64/375 Al one in is oresones: þere he lai wel stille. 1340 Ayenb. 51 He begynþ his matyns and his benes and his oreysones. 1490 Caxton How to Die 1 Certayn oreysons and deuoute prayers that they oughte to saye. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon xliii. 146 Whan he had made his oreson ther came a sarazyn to Huon. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 36 The Captain Bassa..performing appointed oraisons and ceremonies. 1740 Dyer Ruins of Rome Poems (1761) 21 The pilgrim oft..'mid his oraison hears Aghast the voice of time. |
| β 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7196 As þis holiman adde is orison ydo þere. c 1320 R. Brunne Medit. 361 Þe same orysun þat he preyd byfore. 1382 Wyclif Dan. ix. 17 Now forsothe, oure God, heere the orisoun of thi seruaunt. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶965 Of whiche orisons certes in the orison of the Pater noster hath Ihesu crist enclosed moost thynges. 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love iii. ix. (Skeat) I. 92 Devoute horisons & praiers to God. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. st. 582 Wiþ certeyne urrysones for hurre prayng. 1474 Caxton Chesse 33 They wake alle the nyght in prayers and orisons. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 349, I teichit thame the dominicall wrisoun quhilk we call the Lordis prayer. 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 50 Manie orizons [she made] to Hymæneus. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. i. 89 Soft you now, The faire Ophelia? Nimph, in thy Orizons Be all my sinnes remembred. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 137 When Adam and first Matron Eve Had ended now thir Orisons. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xv, Remember me in your orisons. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. xli, Three tongues prefer strange Orisons on high. 1868 Milman St. Paul's vii. 144 Provided for the due celebration of these inestimable orisons. |
| Comb. 1653 Urquhart Rabelais i. xxi, To the same place came his orison-mutterer. |
b. Without an or pl.: The action of praying, prayer. Now rare.
| c 1250 O. Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 28 Stor, for holy urisun. Mirre, for gode werkes. a 1300 Cursor M. 15623 To-quils he lai in orisun. 1483 Caxton Cato F iv, There by the space of twenty dayes as he was in oryson. 1572 Lament. Lady Scotl. in Scot. Poems 16th C. II. 246 Thus to disdane the hous of orisoun. 1860 Pusey Min. Proph. 19 The soul hath in orison familiar converse with God. |
† 2. A speech, oration. Chiefly Sc. Obs.
| 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas vi. xv. (1554) 161 b, Through his language, this sayd Tullius Reconciled by his soote Orisons. 1549 Compl. Scot. vi. 43 The prencipal scheiphirde maid ane orison tyl al the laif of his conpanyȝons. 1603 Philotus lxv, Ȝovr Orisoun sir sounds with sic skil In Cupids Court as ȝe had bene vpbrocht. |
▪ II. orison, -soun, -sont(e
obs. ff. horizon.