▪ I. dudgeon, n.1
(ˈdʌdʒən)
Forms: 5–6 dogeon, 5 dogean, dojoun, dugion, 6 dogen, -ion, dugyon, 6 doodgean, 6–7 dudgen, -in, -ion, 6– dudgeon.
[Occurs as digeon in AF.: the form of the word suggests a French origin; but no corresp. word has been found in continental French.]
† 1. A kind of wood used by turners, esp. for handles of knives, daggers, etc. Obs.
(According to Gerarde 1597 = boxwood. The same sense has been attributed to dudgin in the following quot. from Holland's Pliny, where however the Latin is obscure, and the English a very rude rendering of it.)
| 1601 Holland Pliny xvi. xvi, Now for the Box tree, the wood thereof is in as great request as the very best: seldom hath it any grain crisped damask-wise, and neuer but about the root, the which is dudgin and ful of work. For otherwise the grain runneth streight and euen without any wauing. [Pliny: In primis vero materies honorata buxo est raro crispanti nec nisi radice, de cetero lenis quies est materiæ silentio quodam et duritie ac pallore commendabilis, in ipsa vero arbore topiario opere.] |
| 1380 Ordinance for Cutlers, Lond., in Lett. Bk. H. lf. cxviii, Qe nulles manches darbre forsqe digeo{nmac} soyent colourez. [tr. in Riley Mem. London (1868) 439 No handle of wood, except dogeon.] 1439 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) III. 96 De j dagger, cum manubrio de dogeon. 1443 Ibid. II. 88 Unum par cultellorum cum manubrio de dugion. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 436/2 Ronnyn, as dojoun, or masere, or oþer lyke. 1502 Arnolde Chron. (1811) 245 All my stuf beyng in my [Cutler's] shoppe, that is to saye, yuery, dogeon, horn, mapyll. 1535 in Maddison Linc. Wills (1888) 11 A pare of beads of dogeon. 1550–1600 Customs Duties (B.M. Add. MS. 25097) Dogen, the c peces containing vxx xs. 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 71 b, The wilde ashe..can scarsly be knowen from dudgyon and I thynke that the moste parte of dogion is the root of the wilde ashe. 1597 Gerarde Herbal (1633) 1225 (L.) Turners and cutlers..doe call this woode [box woode] dudgeon, wherewith they make dudgeon-hefted daggers. 1660 Act 12 Chas. II, c. 4 Sched., Dudgeon the hundred peeces cont. five score, j. li. |
† 2. The hilt of a dagger, made of this wood: cf. dudgeon-haft in 4. Obs.
| 1605 Shakes. Macb. ii. i. 46, I see..on thy Blade, and Dudgeon, Gouts of Blood. |
3. Hence dudgeon-dagger, and in later use dudgeon: A dagger with a hilt made of ‘dudgeon’; also, a butcher's steel. arch.
| 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 10 b, Upon the whiche when you rushe with your doodgean daggar eloquence. 1590 Green Wks. (1882) VIII. 199 Loose in the haft like a dudgin dagger. a 1687 Cotton Poet. Wks. (1765) 83 With Dudgeon Dagger at his Back. 1826 Scott Woodst. vii, Bid me give him three inches of my dudgeon-dagger. |
| 1638 Brome Antipodes v. v. Wks. 1873 III. 328 Take your dudgeon, Sir, I ha done you simple service. 1663 Butler Hud. i. i. 379 It was a serviceable Dudgeon, Either for fighting or for drudging. Ibid. ii. 769 That Wight With gauntlet blue and Bases white And round blunt Dudgeon [some later edd. truncheon]. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. iii. v, And still the dudgeon sticks from his left lapelle. 1882 Shorthouse J. Inglesant (ed. 2) II. xix. 372. |
4. attrib. and Comb., as dudgeon-knife; † dudgeon-dagger: see 3; dudgeon-haft, the hilt of a dagger, made of ‘dudgeon’; hence dudgeon-hafted a. (arch.); † dudgeon-tree = 1.
| 1559 Will of J. Gryffyn (Somerset Ho.), My dagger w{supt} the *dudgen hafte gilte. 1611 Cotgr., Dague a roëlles, a Scottish dagger; or Dudgeon haft dagger. a 1612 Harington Epigr. iv. 11 A gilded blade hath oft a dudgen haft. 1634–5 Brereton Trav. (1844) 108 [I] bought in Edinburgh..a dudgeon-hafted dagger, and knives, gilt. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xxxvi, I'll dash your teeth out with my dudgeon-haft! |
| 1841 Borrow Zincali (1872) 213 I'd straight unsheath my *dudgeon knife And cut his weasand through. 1861 Thornbury True as Steel (1863) III. 20 Cutting out the heavy lead window frame with a short heavy dudgeon-knife. |
| 1551 Aberdeen Reg. V. 21 (Jam.) Certane *dugeon tre coft be him. |
| 1602 Dekker Satirom. Wks. 1873 I. 195, I am too well rancht..to bee stab'd With his *dudgion wit. |
▪ II. dudgeon, n.2 and a.
(ˈdʌdʒən)
Forms: 6 dudgion, duggin, 6–7 dudgen, (7 dodgeon, dudgin, -ing), 7– dudgeon.
[Origin unknown; identical in form with prec.; but provisionally separated as having, so far as is known, no connexion of sense. Cf. endugine.
A conjectural derivation from Welsh dygen malice, resentment, appears to be historically and phonetically baseless.]
A feeling of anger, resentment, or offence; ill humour. Almost always in phr. in dudgeon, and esp. with qualifying adj., as high, great, deep.
| 1573 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 28 Who seem'd to take it in marvelus great duggin. 1592 Greene Disput. 6 Taking it in dudgion, that they should be put down by a Pesant. 1663 Butler Hud. i. i. 1 When civil dudgeon first grew high. 1687 Congreve Old Bach. ii. ii, I hope you are not going out in dudgeon, cousin? 1781 F. Burney Diary May, I returned without..any remaining appearance of dudgeon in my phiz. 1816 Scott Antiq. v, They often parted in deep dudgeon. 1862 Trollope Orley F. xxvii. (1873) 195 You must not be in a dudgeon with me. 1865 Livingstone Zambesi ix. 197 He went off in a high dudgeon. 1885 Manch. Exam. 23 Feb. 5/3 [He] resigned his position as reporter of the Committee in high dudgeon. |
† B. attrib. and adj. Resentful, spiteful; ill-humoured. Obs.
| [1589 Pappe w. Hatchet C b, If such a one doo but nod, it is right dudgin and deepe discretion.] 1599 Nashe Lenten Stuffe (1871) 5 Those dull-pated pennifathers, that in such dudgeon scorn rejected him. 1625 Lisle Du Bartas, Noe 128 Another speaketh low, one dudgen is and spightful. |
Hence ˈdudgeon v., to be in dudgeon. rare.
| 1859 G. Meredith R. Feverel xxxviii, You've never been dudgeoning already. |