▪ I. † loath, n. Obs.
Forms: 1 láð, (laað), 2–4 lath(e, 4–6 loth(e, 4, 6 Sc. and north. laith, 6– loath(e.
[OE. láð, orig. neut. of láð loath a. In sense 2 from the vb. loathe. (Cf. leth.)]
1. Something hateful or harmful; evil, harm, injury; an annoyance, a trouble.
| c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. v. vi. (Schipper) 576 Eala; hwæt þu me mycel yfel and lað dest mid þinre ærninge. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 74 Ðonne bið þæs innoðes sar settende & liðiᵹende, þæt hit sona næniᵹ lað ne bið. c 1205 Lay. 16073 Nu þu most þat lað on-fon. c 1300 Havelok 76 Wo so dede hem wrong or lath,..He dede hem sone to hauen ricth. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxiv. (Alexis) 308 Þat na man did hyme lath. a 1400 Sir Perc. 1935 To do that lady no lothe That pendid to velany. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xvi. 9 Harmes shall ye hent And lothes you to lap. |
2. Dislike, hatred, ill-will; in later use, in physical sense, disgust, loathing. Also to have in loath.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 157 Men schedden hate teres for laþe of þe worlde. c 1200 Ormin 11887 To shildenn þe wiþþ all hiss laþ. a 1240 Sawles Warde in Cott. Hom. 255 Ich mei..warnin ow of his lað. a 1330 Otuel 603 Eyther forȝaf oþer his loþ. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 458 Be now lathe or lette, ryghte as þe thynkes. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. st. 818 Ever bytwyne hem was hate & loth. 1508 Dunbar Poems vi. 28 Det michi modo ad potandum And I forgif him laith et wraith. 1589 R. Bruce Serm. (1843) 129 We are come to such a loath, disdain and off casting of this heavenlie food. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 301 If your Horse..grow to a loath of his meat. 1614 Markham Cheap Husb. (1623) 141 They are by experience found to breede loathe in the Birds. 1669 Flamsteed in Rigaud Corr. Sci. Men (1841) II. 84 What then hath cast us behind them? not our want of wits, but loathe of pains. 1728 P. Walker Life Peden (1827) 113 O Scotland, many long and great shall thy Judgments be of all kinds..for Loth and Contempt of the Gospel. |
▪ II. loath, loth, a.
(ləʊθ)
Forms: α. 1 láð, (laad, laath, láth), 2–3 lath, (3 læð). β. Sc. and north. 4–6 lath(e, 4–8 laithe, layth(e, 6–9 leath, 4–9 laith. γ. 3–5 leith, 5–6 leyth. δ. 2–4 loþ, (2 lod), (3 leoð, lodt, lothȝ), 4–6 lothe, (4 lot), 4–5 looth(e, (7 loathe, lought), 4– loth, 6– loath.
[Com. Teut.: OE. láð = OFris. leed (for *lêth), OS. lêð (Du. leed), OHG. leid (MHG. leit, leid-; mod.G., as n., leid sorrow, pain; cf. leider unfortunately, which is properly the comparative of the adj.), ON. leið-r (Sw., Da. led):—OTeut. *laiþo-, adopted in Rom. as F. laid, It. laido ugly.
The ulterior etymology is obscure. Apparently cognate are OHG. lêwes alas, and possibly OE. lá lo int.1]
† 1. Hostile, angry, spiteful. rare in ME. Obs.
| Beowulf (Z.) 1506 Þæt heo þone fyrd-hom ðurh-fon ne mihte..laþan fingrum. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3811 He lengit not long in his lothe hate. |
† 2. Repulsive, unpleasant, hateful, loathsome.
| Beowulf (Z.) 134 Wæs þæt ᵹe-win to strang lað ond longsum. a 700 Epinal Gloss. 514 Ingratus, lath. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 71 And kep us from his waning þat laþe gast þet laðe þing. a 1200 Moral Ode 283 Þer is þe loþe sathanas. c 1220 Bestiary 458 Seftes sop ure seppande..leiðe and lodlike. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 369 And niðful neddre, loð an liðer, sal gliden on hise brest neðer. a 1300 Cursor M. 7829 To dreri ded þat he be don, Laþer ded þan [printed þat] ani in lijf. c 1300 Harrow. Hell 154 Bring ous of this lothe hous. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xv. 6 Þof þai seme laith & outkastynge. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints ii. (Paulus) 771 A fowle padow..þat wes laythe to se. 1426 Audelay Poems 31 Thenk on the leyth lazar was borne into Abragus barme. c 1460 Towneley Myst. x. 63 He was foule and layth to syght. 1513 Douglas æneis ii. ii. 128 But mair abaid, As was devisit, the laith worde furth braid. 1583 Babington Commandm. viii. (1590) 381 Wee should not take any sure comfort til we haue..altered quite so loath a life. 1592 W. Wyrley Armorie 155 Relaxment from loth prison strong. |
† b. Const. dat. or to, esp. in him (etc.) loath is, were, etc. to (do so and so); also with clause as subject. Obs.
| c 893 K. ælfred Oros. iv. x. §7 Swa lað wæs Pena folc Scipian..ðæt [etc.]. 11.. O.E. Chron. an. 1048 (Laud MS.) Him wæs lað to amyrrene his aᵹenne folᵹað. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 31 He his uniseli ȝif him is lað to donne þis. c 1205 Lay. 4000 Þe quike hire wes swa swiðe leoð þat [etc.]. Ibid. 7321 Þes tiðende him wes læð. a 1225 Ancr. R. 200 Þisse unðeauwe..is þauh of alle on loðest [printed onloðest] God. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1216 Hir was ysmaeles anger loð. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 119/454 Lothȝ vs were any-þing to don. a 1300 Cursor M. 1102 To blam þe broiþer was þam laith. c 1350 Will Palerne 1255 Him loþ þouȝt no lenger to striue. c 1386 Chaucer Manciple's T. 41 For hym were looth byiaped for to be. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. 432 To losse swylke a lordschipe me thynke it fulle laythe. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 1484 Here seruice to him was nat lothe. 1470–85 Malory Arthur i. xxii, That is me loth said the knyght, but sythen I muste nedes I wille dresse me therto. 1513 Douglas æneis i. Prol. 489 Bot laith me war, but other offence or cryme, Ane bruitell body suld intertrike my ryme. |
† 3. Ugly; esp. in phrase for fairer, for loather, in the marriage service. Obs.
| c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xvii. 77 Þe wymmen er riȝt layth and ill araid. 1403 York Manual (Surtees) p. xvi, I take the, N., to my wedded wyfe..to hold and to haue..for fayrer, for layther. 1484 in Ripon Ch. Acts 162 note, For farer for lather. |
| Proverb. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 49 The lothe stake standeth longe. |
4. Averse, disinclined, reluctant, unwilling. Const. († for) to with inf., also for (a person) to (do something), also with sentence as object; occas. with of, to, unto, followed by a n.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. pr. iv. 27 (Camb. MS.) She lyueth loþ of this lyf. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. i. (1495) 3 Loathe to offende I purpose [etc.]. a 1400 Cursor M. 27788 (Cott. Galba) Slewth..it makes a man lath for to lere. 1413 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iv. xxiv. 70 She fond the so dulle and soo lothe to hir wordes. c 1440 Bone Flor. 1126 The pope was not lothe To assoyle hym of hys othe. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 702 He was..laith for to stynt. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cxciii. 229 The whiche the erle of saynt Powle was lothe vnto. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 575 Full laith he wes..To put his honour in dame Fortonis handis. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 93 The duke of Gloucester..beganne to waxe lothe of his supposed wife. 1598 Deloney Jacke Newb. vii. 86 The lother to speake, for that hee could speake but bad English. 1599 Hakluyt Voy. I. 600 The residue shewed themselues unwilling and loath to depart. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. (1632) 1023 What king hath be lother to punysh his subjects. a 1657 Sir W. Mure Sonnet iii. 12 (S.T.S.) I. 49 No greif at all..Sall mack me ewer loath of my estait. 1662 J. Bargrave Pope Alex. VII (1867) 22 His relations being lought to part with the estate they had got by his supposed death. 1667 Pepys Diary 7 Feb., I..would be loth he should not do well. 1713 Berkeley Hylas & Phil. ii. Wks. 1871 I. 314 You are loath to part with your old prejudice. 1722 Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. iii. 169 She found him moderate, and loth to send her to prison. 1724 Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 114, I am laith that she shou'd tyne. 1811 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. XXXI. 5 The Calvinists..are seen to be..loth to military service. 1844 Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. ix. §1 (1862) 113 Would be loath to risk a shilling of it. 1861 Geo. Eliot Silas M. 62 Lammeter isn't likely to be loth for his daughter to marry into my family. 1890 Sir A. Kekewich in Law Times Rep. LXIII. 764/1 One is loth to believe the similarity is innocent and unintentional. |
b. without construction; sometimes quasi-adv. Phr. nothing loath: not at all unwilling.
| c 1475 Lerne or be Lewde 11 in Babees Bk., To Lothe, ne to Lovyng, ne to Lyberalle of goode. 1608 G. Wilkins Pericles vi. (1857) 42 To take a loth and sorrowfull departure of her. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 1039 Her hand he seis'd, and to a shadie bank..He led her nothing loath. 1702 Rowe Tamerl. i. i. 406 As Wretches..Part with their Lives, unwilling, loth and fearful. 1813 Scott Rokeby v. i, Thus aged men full loth and slow The vanities of life forego. 1836 J. H. Newman in Lyra Apost. (1849) 123 See in king's courts loth Jeremiah plead! 1852 Thackeray Esmond i. xi, The children were nothing loth, for the house was splendid, and the welcome kind enough. 1873 Browning Red Cott. Nt.-cap 227 Give me permission to cry ‘Out of bed, You loth rheumatic sluggard!’ |
† c. Displeased. Obs. rare.
| a 1250 Prov. ælfred 363 in O.E. Misc. 124 Þurh lesinge mon is loþ. 1670 Dryden Conq. Granada i. i. (1725) 38 You are loth, That, like a perjur'd Prince, you broke your Oath. |
5. Used antithetically to lief, in senses 2 and 4. See lief a. 3, and quots. there given.
† 6. quasi-adv. Reluctantly, slowly. Obs.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter lxxvi[i]. 1 Þe laghere is oure voice and þe lathere ere we herd. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 1185 (1234) Of þing ful ofte loth bygonne Cometh ende good. |
7. loath to depart: orig. the tune of a song (prob. containing those words) expressive of regret for departure; transf. any tune played as a farewell.
| 1584 Greene Arbasto Wks. (Grosart) III. 211 With that she cast on me such a louing looke, as she seemed to play loth to depart. 1609 Ravenscroft's Deuteromelia in Chappell Pop. Mus. Old Time I. 173 Sing with thy mouth, sing with thy heart, Like faithful friends, sing Loath to depart. 1657 S. Purchas Pol. Flying-Ins. 80 Yet againe returning to the Hive, with delightful melody singing a loath to depart, [they] invite all their Sisters to hasten apace, and wait upon their Queen now on her coronation day. 1855–7 Chappell Pop. Mus. Old. Time II. 708 It [sc. ‘The Girl I left behind me’] has also been played for at least seventy years, as a Loth-to-depart, when a man-of-war weighs anchor, and when a regiment quits the town in which it has been quartered. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Loath to depart, probably the first line of some favourite song; formerly the air was sounded in men-of-war, when going foreign, for the women and children to quit the ship. |