▪ I. noll Now dial.
(nəʊl)
Forms: α. 1 hnoll, 4–6 nolle, 4–9 noll, 4, 6–7 nol, 6 nole. β. 6 noule, 6–7, 9 nowle, 9 dial. nowl, noul.
[OE. hnoll = MDu. nolle, OHG. hnol (MHG. nol) top, summit, crown of the head.]
1. The top or crown of the head; the head generally; the noddle.
In later use freq. with the epithet drunken.
| α c 825 Vesp. Ps. vii. 17 In hnolle his unrehtwisnis his astiᵹeð. c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 452 Se deofol..sloh Iob mid þære wyrstan wunde, fram his hnolle..oð his ilas. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 92 Mowe þou not be helid fro þe sole of þe foot unto þe nolle. c 1400 Turnament of Tottenham 60 Thay set on ther nollys For to kepe ther pollys, Gode blake bollys. a 1529 Skelton Col. Cloute 1244 That no man shulde se Nor rede in any scrolles Of theyr dronken nolles. 1559 Mirr. Mag. (1563) M iv, The bastard law broode, which can mollyfie All kynd of causes in theyr crafty nolles. 1577 Harrison England ii. vi. (1877) i. 161 He carrieth off a drie dronken noll to bed with him. 1600 Holland Livy xxxiii. xlviii. 851 When..they awoke and roused themselues, with their drunken and drousie nols. 1626 Breton Fantasticks Wks. (Grosart) II. 14/2 The nappy Ale makes many a drunken Noll. |
| β 1567 Drant Horace, Ep. B ij, All the pothigaries stuffe can scarcely purge his nowle. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vii. vii. 39 Then came October full of merry glee; For yet his noule was totty of the must. 1653 Middleton & Rowley Sp. Gipsy iii. i, Peter-see-me shall wash thy noul And malaga glasses fox thee. 1657 Trapp Comm. Ps. vii. vi, Priests with their drunken Nowls said Mattens. 1823– in dial. glossaries (Suff., Worc., Som., Cornw.). |
† b. transf. A (dull, drunken, etc.) person. Obs.
| 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles i. 20 Though þis be derklich endited ffor a dull nolle, Miche nede is it not to mwse þer-on. 1566 Drant Horace, Sat. i. iii, B iv b, We call him goose, and disarde doulte, and fowlye fatted nowle. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres i. ii. 9 Drunken nowls are apt..in their drunken pangs to haue their throates cut. 1600 Holland Livy ix. xxx. 335 Neither perceived they ought, senselesse druncken nols they. |
† 2. The nape of the neck; the back of the head.
| 1382 Wyclif Acts xv. 10 What tempten ȝe God, for to putte a ȝok on the nol, or necke, of disciplis? 1398 Trevisa Barth. v. xxv. (Bodl. MS.), If þe heed be temperatlich greete, and þe nolle of þe nekke somedele greet. a 1400–50 Alexander 807 Þe noll of Nicollas þe kyng he fra þe nebb partis. c 1550 Lloyd Treas. Health H 4 Aplye it to the nape of y⊇ necke beneth the nol. 1598 R. Haydocke tr. Lomazzo i. 30 The hinder parte vnder the crowne, some do call..the nape or nolle. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 21 The veynes of the forehead, the nowle or backe part of the head. c 1720 W. Gibson Farrier's Guide i. iv. (1738) 35 It is..about two inches within the Head before it passes out at the Noll. |
† 3. transf. The extreme point. Obs. rare—1.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 9 For þis lond lieþ vnder þe norþ nolle [L. vertex] of þe world. |
4. Comb., as † noll-bone, the occiput. Obs.
| 1615 Crooke Body of Man 581 The knub of the nowle⁓bone inarticulated or ioyned to the first rack-bone of the necke. 1683 Snape Anat. Horse iv. xiii. (1686) 167 The Muscles ascend upward as far as to the Occiput or Noll-bone. c 1720 Gibson Farrier's Guide (1722) 62 All which [nerves] uniting together are inserted into the Noll-bone. |
Hence † nolled a., having a noll (or peak) of a certain kind. Obs. rare.
| 1388 Wyclif Ecclus. xvi. 11 If oon hadde be hard nollid, wondur if he hadde be giltles. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. lxxviii. (Bodl. MS.), Onocentaurus..is a beste..stronge nekked and nolled as a boole. 1602 Marston 2nd Pt. Ant. & Mel. iv. i, A mount of mischief..As weighty as the high-noll'd Apennine. |
▪ II. † noll
obs. variant of knoll v.
| 1620 T. Granger Div. Logike 170 Noll, or to noll a bell. |