† ˈgrimsir(e Obs.
[f. grim a. + sir, sire.]
An austere, stern, morose or overbearing person.
| [1450–70 Golagros & Gaw. 86 With that come girdand in greif ane woundir grym sire.] c 1450 Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) 69 A grym-syre at domysday xal he be. 1601 Holland Pliny ii. 297 Tiberius Cæsar..was knowne for a grim sir, and the most unsociable..man in the world. 1603 Florio Montaigne iii. v. (1632) 476 The Goddesse..with soft embrace, Of snow white arme, the grim-sire doth enchase. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. iii. iii. i. ii, I have an old grim sire to my husband. |