† ˈcouthutlaughe Obs. Law.
Also 3 (in MSS.) cuthutlage, cuth vtlaghe, kuthutlaghe.
[app. an early ME. repr. of an OE. c{uacu}þ {uacu}tlaᵹa known outlaw.]
A term applied, according to Bracton, to a person knowingly harbouring or concealing an outlaw; or perhaps, more properly, to the offence of doing so.
| c 1250 Bracton iii. ii. xiii. (Rolls) II. 336 Talem [exulem] vocant Anglici utlaughe..[Utlagatus] aut potest esse notus et cognitus vel ignotus et incognitus; et unde qui notum et cognitum receptaverit pari pœna puniendus est, qui dicitur Couthutlaughe [MSS. v.rr.: see above]. 1607 Cowell Interpr., Coutheutlaughe is he that willingly receiveth a man outlawed..and hideth him. [Hence, 1641 in Termes de la Ley, 1656 Blount, and later Dicts.] |
[Known only in loc. cit.; the OE. term represented is not recorded. It is not easy to comprehend that the term ‘known outlaw’ could originally designate the harbourer; prob. the word is the fragment of a phrase designating the harbouring of a known outlaw; it has been suggested that the meaning might be ‘acquaintance or familiar of an outlaw’, but this would be in OE. {uacu}tlaᵹan c{uacu}þa, or perh. c{uacu}þa {uacu}tlaᵹan.]