▪ I. shorn, ppl. a.
(ʃɔən)
Forms: see the verb.
[Pa. pple. of shear v.]
1. Shaven, tonsured.
| c 1050 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 507/34 Rassis [read rasis], scorenum. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. lxvi. (1495) 183 Heer shorne is callyd Cesaries, heer vnkytte is callyd Coma in Grewe. 1530 Compend. Treat. in Roy Rede me (Arb.) 170 Many a shoren crowne. 1600 J. Lane Tom Teltroth 114 Bald pate Priests and shoren Friars. 1798 D. Collins Acc. N.S. Wales I. 583 With..scars upon their shorn heads. |
| absol. 1565 J. Calfhill Answ. Martiall iv. 111 Therefore ye doe wrong to your shorne and annoynted, to forbyd them mariage. |
† 2. Of gold: Newly cut, so as to have a bright surface. Obs.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 213 As schorne golde schyr her fax þenne schon. |
3. Of corn: Cut with a sickle. Of grass: Cut close.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 448/1 Schoryn, or repyd, messus. 1523–34 Fitzherb. Husb. §26 And also it [mown corn] wyll not kepe nor saue it selfe frome rayne or yll wether, whan it standeth in the couer, as the shorne corne wyll do. 1735 Somerville Chase iii. 102 Smooth as Swallows skim The new-shorn Mead, and far more swift we fly. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xxxix, They are trampled down like the shorn grass. 1885 Pater Marius x. I. 172 There was still a glow along the road through the shorn cornfields. |
4. Of sheep, etc.: Having undergone shearing. shorn lamb: also applied to the dressed fur of the sheep used in garment-making.
| c 1515 Cocke Lorell's B. 1 The nexte that came was a coryar..As ryche as a newe shorne shepe. 1602 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. iv. ii. (1886) 132 And hauing lost their fleeces, [they] liue afterward like poore shorne sheepe. 1768 [see temper v. 2]. 1913 Times 13 Sept. 18/6 While shorn skins and lambs are quoted 1/4d. higher. 1945 N. Mitford Pursuit of Love xxi. 183 Linda..comes back covered with rich furs, while you and I..get..three-quarter-length shorn lamb. 1968 J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet 153 American broadtail. This was the trade-name for the fur of the very young Argentine lamb... The name is now prohibited in the U.S.A. and the fur is sold under its true name of ‘shorn lamb’. 1978 Lancashire Life Oct. 101/1 (caption) The ‘Rambler’ jacket in shorn lamb with leather piping all round and on the pockets, plus leather belt, is about {pstlg}130. |
5. Sc. † a. Carved (obs.). b. Chopped up.
| 1547 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 20 note, Ane Scottis comptar of aik, schorne werk, with the furmis of the samyn. 1597 in Spalding Club Misc. (1841) I. 115 Thow gawe him ane drink, mixt with certaine shorne herbis. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. vii. vi, Plates containing each three grilled herrings, sprinkled with shorn onions. 1842 J. Aiton Dom. Econ. (1857) 265 Hard eggs, chopped fine with crumbs of bread, or shorn nettles and oatmeal. |
6. Lessened in extent, deprived of splendour, etc.: see shear v. 4.
| 1853 M. Arnold Sohrab & Rustum 894 For many a league The shorn and parcell'd Oxus strains along Through beds of sand and matted rushy isles. 1868 Lowell Pict. Appledore vi, The great shorn sun as you see it now, Across eight miles of undulant gold That widens landward. 1902 Daily Chron. 28 July 5/1 Lord Lister has spoken with confidence of the King's ability to go through the shorn ceremonial at the end of next week. |
▪ II. shorn
variant of sharn.