▪ I. mell, n.1 Now only Sc. and dial.
(mɛl)
[Northern var. of mall, maul n.1]
1. A heavy hammer or beetle of metal or wood (= maul n.1 2); † a mace or club (obs.); also, a chairman's hammer.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 23240 Þaa dintes ar ful fers and fell, Herder þan es here irinn mell. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 7048 Þarfor þe devels salle stryk þam þare, With hevy melles ay. c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 353 Swilk a sownd like as þe bed had bene dongen on with mellis. 1563 Winȝet Vincent. Lirin. Ded., Euery kind of necessar waippin and werklume..as habirione, scheild, suord, bow, speir, spade, mattok, and mell, &c. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 107 Theire manner is for one to stande with a mell and breake the clottes small [etc.]. 1768 Ross Helenore iii. 109, I hae..A..quoy..She's get the mell an' that sall be right now, As well's a quoy altho she were a cow. 1864 A. M{supc}Kay Hist. Kilmarnock (1880) 326 The mell used on the occasion was one that had been handled by Burns. 1897 Crockett Lad's Love v, A mason had gaun hame wi' his square and mell ower his shooder. |
b. Phrases. as dead as a mell, quite dead. mell and wedge (work): used by miners for work done with those tools as opposed to ‘blasting’. to keep mell in shaft (Sc.): to ‘keep things going’; to be able to maintain oneself; also allusively.
| 1798 D. Crawford Poems 54 They'll think you're as dead as a mell, Or my ern-tangs. 1811 Pinkerton Petral I. 271 The clay-bed..varies from the softness of tough clay, to the hardness of striking fire with steel; in the language of miners, from mell and wedge to blasting. 1824 Mactaggart Gallovid. Encycl. (1876) 339 When a person's worldly affairs get disordered, it is said the mell cannot be keeped in the shaft. 1830 T. Wilson Pitman's Pay (1843) 33 A' bein' mell-and-wedge wark then. 1831 Mrs. Carlyle Let. 6 Oct. in New Lett. & Rem. (1903) I. 38 Carlyle is reading to-day with a view to writing an Article—to keep mall in shaft. 1850 J. Struthers Life vii. p. cviii. in Poet. Wks., He had gained something in the way of experience, and had been able still to keep the shaft in the mell. |
2. Sc. and north. dial. (See quots. and E.D.D.)
| a 1743 J. Relph Misc. Poems (1747) 5 And still still dog'd wi' the damn'd neame o'mell? Gloss., A mell, a beetle, signifies here the hindmost, from a custom at Horse-races of giving a mell or beetle to the hindmost. Hence they call the hindmost the Mell. 1837 Hogg Sheph. Wedd. Tales II. 161 Now for the mell! now for the mell! Deil tak the hindmost now! Ibid., He..thus escaped the disgrace of winning the mell. 1869 Lonsdale Gloss. s.v. Mell, To get the mell is to obtain a mallet in prize ploughing, as a prize for the worst ploughing. |
3. Comb.: mell-headed a. Sc. and north. dial., having a head like a mell, i.e. large, thick, etc.
| 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lx. 60 Mell-heidit lyk ane mortar⁓stane. 1878–99 Dickinson Cumberld. Gloss., Mell-heedit. |
▪ II. † mell, n.2 Obs.
(mɛl)
Forms: 6, 9 mel, 6–7 mell.
[a. L. mell-, mel, = Gr. µελιτ-, µέλι, Goth. miliþ, O. Irish mil.]
Honey.
| a 1575 Gascoigne Dan Bartholomew Posies Flowers 98 That bitter gall was mell to him in tast. 1584 Lodge Truth's Compl. (Shaks. Soc. 1853) 119 The drones from busie bee no mel could drawe. 1586 Warner Alb. Eng. iv. xx. 86 Her..lookes were..such as neither wanton seeme, nor waiward, mell, nor gall. 1648 Herrick Hesper., Pray & prosper, The spangling Dew dreg'd o're the grasse shall be Turn'd all to Mell, and Manna. 1864 Bamford Rhymes 181 Adieu to the..lip that is sweet as the mel of the bee. |
b. attrib. (mel-dew = honey-dew.)
| 1606 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. i. Tropheis 1053 Th' Heav'n..Pours-forth a Torrent of mel-Melodies [Fr. vn roux torrent de miel], In David's praise. a 1643 Browne Brit. Past. iii. (Percy Soc.) 27 Some choicer ones, as for the king most meet, Held mel-dewe and the hony-suckles sweet. |
▪ III. † mell, n.3 Obs. rare—1.
| 1726 Dict. Rust. (ed. 3) s.v. Colick, Tying down his [the horse's] Mell or Tail close between his Legs. |
▪ IV. mell, n.4 Sc. and north. dial.
(mɛl)
The last sheaf of corn cut by the harvesters. Also attrib., as mell-day, -doll, -sheaf, -supper, (see quots.).
| 1777 Brand Pop. Antiq. xxxi. 303 A plentiful Supper for the Harvest-men..; which is called a Harvest-Supper, and in some places a Mell-Supper. 1832 J. Hodgson Northumbld. ii. II. 2 note, The mell-doll or corn-baby is an image dressed like a female child, and carried by a woman on a pole, in the midst of a group of reapers. 1846–59 Denham Tracts (1895) II. 2 The last day of reaping..is known throughout the north by the appellation of ‘Mell Day’. 1878 Cumberld. Gloss., Mell, the last cut of corn in the harvest field... [It] is commonly platted, enclosing a large apple. 1892 M. C. F. Morris Yorksh. Folk-Talk 212 The last sheaf gathered in is, in the North and East Ridings, called the ‘mell sheaf’. |
▪ V. † mell, v.1 Obs.
Forms: 1 meðlan, mæðlan, 3–6 mell, 4–5 melle, 4 medle, medele.
[OE. męðlan, f. mæðel discourse; a parallel formation with mæðelian mathele v. Cf. mele v.]
intr. and trans. To speak, tell, say.
| a 900 Cynewulf Crist 1338 (Gr.) Þær he [Christ]..to þam eadᵹestum ærest mæðleð. a 1000 Andreas 1440 (Gr.) ær awæᵹed sie worda æniᵹ, Þe ic þurh minne muð meðlan onᵹinne. a 1300 Cursor M. 26657 Dute o brath on hell, þat reues man þe tung to mell. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 797 Þe profete ysaye of hym con melle. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. iii. 36 Þanne come þere a confessoure..To Mede þe mayde he mellud [MS. O medelede] þis wordes. c 1387 Ibid. A. xi. 93 (Vernon MS.) He bi-com so confoundet he couþe not medle [other MSS. mele]. c 1400 Destr. Troy 109 More of thies Mirmydons mell I not now. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xvi. 195, I haue maters to mell with my preuey counsell. |
▪ VI. mell, v.2 Now chiefly arch. and dial.
(mɛl)
Also 4–6 mel.
[a. OF. meller, var. of mesler: see meddle v.]
1. trans. To mix, mingle, combine, blend. Also with together, up.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter ix. 9 When god melles sorow anguys & trauaile till his flescly lykynge. 1375 Barbour Bruce xvi. 65 Quhen byrdis syngis on the spray, Melland thair notys with syndry sowne. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) x. 38 Þat es whyt of colour and a lytill reed melled þerwith. a 1500 Ratis Raving 675 A man..suld..mell Justice and mercy to gider in Jugment. 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. i. Vocation 918 [He] That with his Prowesse Policy can mell. 1633 T. Adams Exp. 2 Peter i. 5 Both these knowledges must be so melled together, that they be not severed. 1748 Thomson Cast. Indol. i. xliii, And oft' began..wintry storms to swell, As heaven and earth they would together mell. 1888 Reports Provinc. (E.D.D.), Us mell up one bushel o'lime to two o'sand. a 1889 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 185 May Mells blue and snowwhite through them, a fringe and fray Of greenery. 1959 Encounter Aug. 60/2, I published an excerpt from Road (melling it with parts of Visions of Neal). |
† 2. intr. for refl. To mingle, combine, blend.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 22641 Þan sal þe rainbou descend,..Wit þe wind þan sal it mell, And driue þam [þe deuels] dun all vntil hell. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 222 Whan venym melleth with the Sucre. |
3. trans. To mix or mingle (persons). Const. with, together. Also pass.
| c 1300 St. Brandan 276 And sette hem ther wel heȝe I-melled with his owe covent. 1387 Trevisa Hidgen (Rolls) II. 155 Normans and Englischemen [ben] i-medled [MS. α i-melled] in alle þe ilond. c 1400 Song Roland 647 Let us now our men melle to-gedur. 1570 Buchanan Admonitioun Wks. (1892) 24 How yai ar mellit w{supt} godles papistes. 1895 Crockett Men of Moss-Hags vii, I wonder..if it would be possible to transplant you Gordons...Here ten score King's men melled and married would settle the land. |
4. intr. for refl. To mix, associate, have intercourse with, to associate.
| c 1350 Ipomadon 1663 (Kölbing) Thy brother schall the know there by, Yf ever god wolle, þat ye melle. c 1515 A. Williamson Let. in Douglas Wks. (1874) I. Introd. 24 She may cowrs the tyme that euer she mellyt with your blood. c 1557 Abp. Parker Ps. lix. 2 From workers bad O saue my lyfe, wyth them no tyme to mell. a 1600 Montgomerie Sonn. lxvii. 13 Mell not with vs, vhose heads weirs l[aurel]. 1785 Poems Buchan Dial. 24 But Diomede mells ay wi' me, An' tells me a' his mind. 1880 Webb Goethe's Faust Prol. in Heaven 23 With the dead in churchyard hidden I never care to mell or mingle. 1896 Crockett Grey Man vi. 39 None of us..desired to mix or to mell with loose company. |
† 5. intr. To copulate. Obs.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxi. (Clement) 406 Of my wyf þis case þane fel, Þat cane hyre with hyre serwandis mel. c 1450 Cov. Myst. 215 A talle man with her dothe melle. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 56 God gif matrimony were made to mell for ane ȝeir! a 1555 Ridley in Coverd. Lett. Martyrs (1564) 100 And with thys whore doth spiritually mell..all those Kinges and Princes. 1594 Willobie Avisa lviii. (1605) 49 b, Their feet to death, their steps to hell Do swiftly slide that thus do mell. 1641 Brome Joviall Crew ii. (1652) G, If you are..Dospos'd to Doxie, or a Dell, That never yet with man did Mell. |
6. To mingle in combat.
| c 1320 Sir Tristr. 3270 Þe cuntre wiþ hem meld. c 1350 Will. Palerne 3325 Þei..hadden gret ioye, þa so manli a man wold mele in here side. c 1400 Beryn 2648 Who makith a fray, or stryvith auȝt, or mel to much, or praunce. c 1470 Gol. & Gaw. 543 Forthi makis furth ane man,..That for the maistry dar mell With schaft and with scheild. 1513 Douglas æneis x. xiv. 116 To mell with me, and to meyt hand for hand. 1594 Battell of Balrinness in Scot. Poems 16th C. (1801) II. 353 Lat sie how we can mell w{supt} them Into thair disaray. 1823 Scott Quentin D. xxxvii, Draw in within the court-yard—they are too many to mell with in the open field. 1838 Blackw. Mag. XLIII. 205 Beware..how ye mell among these hosts—their darts are sharp. |
7. refl. To concern or busy oneself. Obs. exc. arch.
| c 1350 Will. Palerne 1709 And manly sche melled hire þo men forto help. c 1386 Chaucer Melib. ¶575 (Harl. MS.) He is coupable þat entremettith him or mellith him with such þing as aperteyneþ not vnto him. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3783 Telamon..mellit hym with musike & myrthes also. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms S.T.S. 161 Thai mell thame nocht tharewith. 1540 Jas. V in St. Papers Hen. VIII, V. 173 And quhat falt ony freir..committis..supponand it concerne Our self, We mel Ws nocht. 1600 Hamilton Facile Traictise in Cath. Tract. (S.T.S.) 226 Thair first mother Eua, for melling hir self with maters of religion,..procurit..a curs of God to hir and al woman kynd. 1941 E. R. Eddison Fish Dinner (1968) vii. 92, I find close harbours of discontentment:..foolish and furious designs. Go, I'll mell me with no flirtations but them as end in bed. |
8. a. intr. To busy, concern, or occupy oneself; to deal, treat; to interfere, meddle. Const. in, † of, with.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 9577 As þe maner is of men, þat mellyn with loue. 1465 Paston Lett. II. 202, I canne not have no knowlych that Haydon mellyth in the mater of Drayton. 1516 Will of Rich. Peke of Wakefield 4 June, And no ferder to mell nor hurtt hir. 1550 Crowley Epigr. 496 When none but pore Colyars dyd with coles mell. 1557 Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 105 And, after, in that countrey lyue,..Where hoonger, thirst, and sory age, and sicknesse may not mell. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. i. 30 With holy father sits not with such thinges to mell. 1605 Sylvester Quadrains lxviii, To some one Art apply thy whole affection; And in the Craft of others seldome mell. 1786 Burns Scotch Drink xvi, It sets you ill, Wi' bitter, dearthfu' wines to mell. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xxxii, I will teach thee..to mell with thine own matters. 1851 C. L. Smith tr. Tasso ix. lix, Go; tell them, thou, no more henceforth to mell With war, which warriors only should sustain. 1893 Snowden Tales Yorksh. Wolds 122 They tucked them [the bed clothes] well in, so that they would be sure to ‘feel her if shoo melled agean’. |
b. Phrase. to mell or make (with), to make or mell (with). dial. Cf. meddle v. 8 c.
| 1825 J. Jennings Obs. Dial. w. Eng. 139 Ther war naw need To mell or make wi' thic awld Creed. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xix. 144 There's some fowk wud never mak' nor mell wi' naething less nor gentry. |
▪ VII. mell, v.3 Now only dial.
(mɛl)
[f. mell n.1]
trans. To beat with a mell; hence, to beat severely.
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 2950 Thane sir Gawayne..Metes þe maches of Mees and melles hym thorowe. c 1400 Destr. Troy 10994 Pirrus þis prowes pertly beheld, How his Mirmydons with might were mellit to ground. 1824 Hogg Conf. Sinner 332 To entertain a stranger, an' then bind him in a web wi' his head down, an' mell him to death! |
▪ VIII. mell
obs. form of meal n.2 and n.4