▪ I. sconce, n.1
(skɒns)
Forms: 4–6 skonse, 5–6 skonce, scons(e, (5 sconsce, 7 skons, 8 dial. scoance), 5– sconce.
[Aphetic a. OF. esconse lantern (also hiding-place), ad. monastic L. sconsa, shortened f. absconsa, fem. of L. absconsus, pa. pple. of abscondĕre to hide. Cf. OIcel. skons, ? lantern, candlestick (1397 in a church inventory).]
† 1. A lantern or candlestick with a screen to protect the light from the wind, and a handle to carry it by (as distinguished from a lantern carried suspended from a chain). Obs.
| c 1392 in Fabric Rolls York Minster (Surtees) 129 Pro reparacione de iij skonses fractis in vestiario, 12 d. 14.. S. Etheldred 351 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 290 And in a sconsce he hadde hurre candelle with hurre lyȝt. 1434 E.E. Wills (1882) 102, Y bequethe..to..sir Iohn Russhebrok a skonce. 1450 Pol. Rel. & L. Poems 11 It wexyth derke, thou nedyst A scons. 1486 Bk. St. Albans d ij b, Clymbe to her with a sconce or a lanterne that hath bot oon light. 1530 Palsgr. 268/1 Scons to sette a candell in, lanterne a mayn. 1602 Middleton Blurt iv. iii, Wood. Yonder's a light, Master Constable. Blu. Peace, Woodcocke, the sconce approaches. 1644 Evelyn Diary 22 Nov., The windows of the whole city were set with tapers put into lanterns, or sconces, of several coloured oiled paper. c 1746 J. Collier (Tim Bobbin) View Lanc. Dial. (1787) 10 It begun t' be dark, on I'r beawt Scoance in a strawnge Country. |
| transf. and fig. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 445/1 Tindal..hydeth himself in the darkenesse of the deuill, walking with a sconse of a dimme light, to make men wene he would shewe them the way. 1747 Hervey Medit. II. 85 The moon is of signal service..to the Mariner..to explore his way and under the influence of this beaming Sconce, to avoid the fatal rock. |
b. A flat candlestick with a handle for carrying.
| 1834 S. Lover Leg. & Stor. Irel. Ser. ii. 190 Put a candle in the tin sconce. 1858 Mrs. Oliphant Laird of Norlaw I. v. 55 Taking the candle..she stood with the little flat brass sconce in her hand. 1897 Barrère & Leland Slang, Sconce (public schools), a tin candlestick. |
2. A bracket-candlestick, usually of brass or iron, to fasten against a wall; esp. an ornamental bracket for holding one or more candles, often fitted with a mirror. Also, a candle-bracket for a piano, etc.
| c 1450 in Aungier Syon (1840) 363 The mynyster of hyghe masse schal..lyght the quyer sconses..as ofte as nede is. 1509–10 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 270 Paid for iij plattes with nosis for þe skonsis ij d. 1662 Pepys Diary 4 Jan., Seeing how my pewter sconces that I have bought will become my stayres and entry. 1685 Dryden tr. Lucretius ii. 28 If Golden Sconces hang not on the Walls, To light the costly Suppers and the Balls. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 381/2 The forms..of these..Sconces, are numberless; some having them with Faces, others with Birds, Beasts, Fish, Trees and Flowers; some with round or oval imbossed works. 1706 Hearne Collect. 4 Dec. (O.H.S.) I. 310 Mr. Thomas Cherry was buried on Wednesday... The Rooms were very handsomely set out w{supt}{suph} black sconces &c. proper for such occasions. 1729 Swift Direct. Serv. i. (1751) 22 You may likewise stick the Candle so loose, that it will fall upon the Glass of the Sconce, and break it into Shatters. 1755 Johnson, Sconce, a pensile candlestick, generally with a looking-glass to reflect the light. 1821 Scott Kenilw. vi, The dark colour..was relieved by the number of lights in silver sconces, which hung against the walls. 1859 W. Collins Q. of Hearts (1875) 41 This strange scene was lighted up by candles in high and heavy brass sconces. 1881 Besant & Rice Chapl. of Fleet ii. iv, Wax candles, arranged upon the walls on sconces. 1908–9 Civil Service Supply Assoc. Catal. 1212 Piano Candle Sconces. Ibid. 1241 Adjustable shaving stand..with..Sconces and best mirror. |
3. A street-lamp or lantern attached to a wall.
Only in descriptions of Continental life.
| 1849 James Woodman ii, A sconce was lighted on the side of the nunnery. 1873 ‘Ouida’ Pascarel I. 176 The oil wicks were lighted in the iron sconces of the streets. |
4. The tube in an ordinary candlestick in which the candle is inserted.
| 1850 in Ogilvie. |
5. attrib., as sconce candlestick, sconce light, sconce maker.
| 1455 in Anstey Munim. Acad. (Rolls) II. 664, j. *scons candelstik of latone. |
| 1479 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 427 *Skonce light. |
| 1530 Palsgr. 268/1 *Sconsmaker, lanternier. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 381/2, S. the like O. with a Candle burning in the Socket proper, is the Badge of the Sconce⁓makers. |
▪ II. sconce, n.2 arch.
(skɒns)
Also 6–7 sconse, skonce.
[Of obscure origin; possibly a slang use of sconce n.1 or of sconce n.3 (though in our quots. recorded earlier than the latter).]
A jocular term for: The head; esp. the crown or top of the head; hence, ‘head’, ability, sense, wit. † Also put for the person himself.
| 1567 Turberv. Epit., etc. 105 A curled Sconce he hath, with angrie frowning browe. 1577 Kendall Flowers of Epigr. 94 b, Bartlet a pleasant sconse, whose mirthe all men did muche delight. 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 47 Master B. found Socrates in my Letter, and sent to seeke out your well reputed skonce to expound it. 1593 G. Harvey New Let. Notable Contents C 2 b, The Princock..that can play vpon his warped sconce, as vpon a tabor. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. Democr. to Rdr. 64 Much learning..hath crackt their skonces. 1645 Milton Colast. 25 How many are there..who have such a Fee simple in their sconse, as to take a Leas of their own Lands from another? 1651 Cleveland Poems 20 Who swears &c., swears more oaths at once Than Cerberus out of his triple Sconce. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 15 Sept., He..running into the house, exposed his back and sconce to the whole family. 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. vi. viii. (1849) 370 As he stooped..Peter Stuyvesant dealt him a thwack over the sconce. 1883 Century Mag. XXVI. 915/2 To put it [the sum] up to twelve dollars..if she..showed any sconce for the business. 1888 J. Inglis Tent Life in Tigerland 197 He had received a crack on the sconce. |
▪ III. sconce, n.3
(skɒns)
Forms: α. 6–7 skonce, sconse, (7 sconch), 6– sconce. β. 6 scance, skance, 7 skants, scans.
[a. Du. schans (in early mod.Du. also written schantze, schentze), with assimilation of form to sconce n.1 and n.2
The word (of which the synonymous early mod.Du. schranse, schrantze, seems to be a variant) is found also in late MHG. and mod.G. schanze fem.; in the 16th c. it had in Du. the senses ‘brushwood’, ‘bundle of sticks’, ‘screen of brushwood for soldiers’, ‘earthwork made with gabions’ (cf. Du. schanskorf gabion). The ultimate origin is obscure; the late appearance of the word in Teut. would suggest the probability of some Romanic source, but neither form nor sense supports the hypothesis of adoption from OF. esconse hiding-place (cf. sconce n.1) which app. does not occur in any military application.]
1. Fortif. A small fort or earthwork; esp. one built to defend a ford, pass, castle-gate, etc., or erected as a counter-fort.
| α 1571 Digges Pantom. 54 To make Plattes, and set downe the proportion of anye Sconces, Fortes, Bulwarkes, or Townes. 1586 J. Hooker Hist. Irel. 178/2 in Holinshed, Caluerleigh..went vnto that end of the towne where the seneschall scaled the wals, & there he made a sconse, or a little bulworke, and..saued the towne. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iii. vi. 76 They will learne you by rote where Seruices were done; at such and such a Sconce, at such a Breach. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xv. §39. 630/1 And raising the rampier to a great thicknes whereon he erected many sconces of earth like vnto Castles. 1639 R. Norwood Fortif. 134 Of small Forts or Field Skonces, and marking them out Mechanically, and first of a Skonce of foure sides. 1656 Heylin Surv. France 11 Neither is there any of the least Sconces or Blockhouses, on the shore-side of that Countrey [Hampshire]. a 1668 Davenant Siege (1673) 67 The Out⁓works are made perfect, and our River Guarded by a Sconce. 1673 Sir J. Moore Mod. Fortif. 94 Of small Forts or Skonces, which are built for Defence of some Pass, River, or other place. 1727 A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Ind. I. xiii. 147 The Citizens built Sconces in convenient Places, about half a Mile without the Wall, to protect the Suburbs. 1755 Carte Hist. Eng. IV. 288 They had raised two sconces or breast-works over against two fords passable at low water. 1821 Scott Kenilw. i, [He] was shot at the head of his regiment at the taking of a sconce near Maestricht. 1849 [J. Grant] Mem. Kirkaldy xxi. 246 The Earl of Morton and his troops..threw up a battery on the southern part of Calton Hill... This sconce they hoped would command the Canongate. |
| β 1598 Barret Theor. Warres v. i. 141 To carrie victuals or munition..to a distressed Scance. Ibid. Gloss. 252 Skance, a Dutch word: and is a small fortresse built of turffe and earth, commonly vsed in the low countries. 1632 Holland Cyrupædia 115 To the end it might be, as a warlike and defensive fortresse for themselves, so a strong skants, and offensive to the Assyrians. 1675 Lond. Gaz. No. 1017/1 They had beaten the Indians from a certain Scans, on the foresaid Promontory of Land. |
† b. fig.
| 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. ii. ii. 37 And you vse these blows long, I must get a sconce for my head, and Insconce it to. c 1592 Bacon Conf. Pleasure (1870) 23 It is her goverm{supt} and her gverm{supt} alone that hath (bene y⊇) sconse and forte of all Europe. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. ii. Magnificence 337 Honour is but a puffe..Health but a sconce of paper. 1615 T. Adams Blacke Devill 55 If he loose the sconce of the understanding, yet give him the citadell of the affections. 1633 ― Exp. 2 Peter i. 6 All sins break in at the loss of the sconce, or capitol, reason. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Ch. Porch xxii, Look to thy mouth: diseases enter there. Thou hast two sconses, if thy stomach call; Carve, or discourse. 1647 Ward Simple Cobler 6 To authorise an untruth..is to build a Sconce against the walls of heaven. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. iv. 148 This was one of the best bulwarks and sconces of Soveraignty. a 1670 Hacket Abp. Williams ii. (1693) 166, I spend too much time to pull down a Sconce of Sand. 1676 Hobbes Iliad iii. 221 Great Ajax, Who of the Argives is the Sconce [ἕρκος ἀχαιῶν]. 1711 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 198 Flanders was..to be garrisoned, to the end that it might be a sconce between them and France. |
c. slang. † to build a sconce (see quot. 1730).
| 1640 Nabbes Bride iii. i, By battering downe with th'engine of their purse Some sconch your drunken valour in a taverne Hath built with sack. 1641 R. Brathwait Eng. Gentlem. 23 These have beene Men in their time,..but now their fortunes falling to an ebbe,..they are enforced..to erect a Sconce whereto the Roarers make recourse, as to their Rendevous. 1649 Dk. Newcastle Country Capt. i. i. 7 Vnd. Hee shall read warrs to me and fortification. Tho. For a neede I could teach you to build a sconce Sir. 1687 [see sconce-building in 5]. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew s.v., To build a large Sconce, to run deep upon Tick, or Trust. a 1704 T. Brown Lett. fr. Dead iii. Wks. 1730 II. 282 A lieutenant and ensign whom once I admitted upon trust,..built a sconce, and left me in the lurch. 1730 Bailey (fol.), To build a Sconce, to run a Score at an Ale-house, Tavern, &c. so as to be afraid to go there, for fear of being dunn'd. 1760 C. Johnston Chrysal (1822) I. 174 Cribbing from the till, and building sconces, and such-like tricks. 1765 Goldsm. Ess. viii. Wks. (Globe) 307/2 He ran into debt with everybody that would trust him, and none could build a sconce better than he. |
2. transf. A protective screen or shelter (from fire or the elements).
| 1591 R. Bruce Serm. R 3, We ar no more bot as stubble is to the fyre, so ar we in the presence of God, who is consuming fyre, except we haue a sconce, except wee haue Christ Iesus to gang betuixt vs and him. a 1616 Beaum. & Fl. Scornf. Lady v. I 3 b, I am..a rascal: one that vpon the next anger of your brother, must raise a sconce by the high way, and sel switches. a 1670 Hacket Cent. Serm. (1675) 454 He would make small Sconces or Tabernacles upon the top of the Hill. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 449/1 Some call it [sc. an Umbrella] a Skonce, which Gentlewomen..beare up..to keep and shadow them from heat. 1730 A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. ii. xiv. 348 The fervent Heat of the Sun made some kind of Sconce or other necessary at the Games. |
3. dial. a. A screen, partition.
| 1695 Kennett Paroch. Antiq. s.v. Helowe-wall, Hollen in the North is a wall..to secure the family from the blasts of wind rushing in when the heck or door is open: to which wall on that side next the hearth is annext a sconce or screne of wood or stone. 1829 Brockett N.C. Wds. (ed. 2), Sconce,..a short partition near the fire upon which all the bright utensils in a cottage are suspended. 1863 J. C. Atkinson Danby Gloss., Sconce, a screen..lined with some reflecting metal, which is set before the fire when a joint is roasting. 1876 Whitby Gloss., Sconce, a screen or partition. |
b. (See quots.) [Perhaps a different word.]
| 1781 Hutton Tour to Caves (ed. 2) Gloss., Sconce, a fixed seat by the side of a fire place. 1829 Brockett N.C. Wds. (ed. 2), Sconce, a seat at one side of the fire-place in the old large open chimney. 1885 Hall Caine Shadow of Crime vi, She cleared the sconce and took down the flitches that hung from the rannel tree to dry. 1886 Alice Rea Beckside Boggle 4 A long freestone slab, or sconce, as dale folk call it, firmly fixed into the wall by the fireplace, which must have made a comfortable fireside couch in olden times. |
4. (Also sconce-piece.) A low water-washed iceberg (see quot. 1856).
| 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. vii. 72 Just then, a broad sconce⁓piece or low water-washed berg came driving up... As the sconce moved rapidly close alongside us, McGary managed to plant an anchor on its slope. 1889 R. Collinson Jrnl. H.M.S. Enterprise 294 We..were..unable to see our way among the sconces, and..I hove-to for daylight. |
5. Comb.: sconce-battle, a particular mode of drawing up troops in the field; † sconce-building a., that ‘builds a sconce’ (see 1 b); † sconce-korf [Du. schans-korf], a gabion.
| 1635 W. Barriffe Mil. Discipl. xcv. (1643) 273 The *Sconce Battell is a Figure most properly fit for a whole Regiment. |
| 1687 T. Brown Saints in Uproar Wks. 1730 I. 80 Thou huffing, puffing, *sconce-building ruffian. |
| 1629 tr. Pelegromius' Shertogenbosh 41 Our Land-souldiers..did set on fire some *Sconce-kornes [? read -korues = -korves]. |
▪ IV. sconce, n.4
(skɒns)
[f. sconce v.2]
1. At Oxford (? formerly also at Cambridge): † a. A fine imposed for a breach of university or college discipline (obs.). b. A fine of a tankard of ale or the like, imposed by undergraduates on one of their number for some breach of customary rule when dining in hall.
| 1650 in Rashdall & Rait New College (1901) 176 Taking off the sconce [misprinted scoure] which, for their absence from prayers, was laid upon them by the said Warden. 1653 in 4th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. (1874) 456/1 In the case of neglect thereof they shall be punished by sconce, or imposed exercises, as to the officers of the said Colleges..shall seeme meete. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. I. 521 Upon the hearing of one of Sir Hen. Savile's mathematic lectures by accident, or rather to save the sconce of a groat, if he had been absent. 1707 in Hearne Collect. 23 Dec. (O.H.S.) II. 83 The Dean put y⊇ usual Sconce for missing Prayers upon his Name. 1763 Colman Terræ-Filius No. 1 ¶10 If I fine them for their Irregularities, it shall be in a much more moderate Sum than Forty Shillings, or any other Sconce imposed by the Proctors. 1885 N. & Q. Ser. vi. XII. 523/2 When I was at Oriel,..sconces were the fines..inflicted in the ‘gate-bill’... Sconces, as fines for offences in hall contra bonos mores, were in vogue in other colleges but not with us. |
| attrib. 1885 N. & Q. Ser. vi. XII. 449/1 The sconce-tankards held about two quarts. |
† 2. In extended application: A mulct, fine (exacted, e.g. from a member of a society, from a servant). Obs.
| 1683 Barnard Life Heylin 112 The exacting of Sconses or perdition mony, which he [as Treasurer of Westminster] divided among them that best deserved it. 1703 MS. Bk. of Receipts Ashm. Museum 2 b, Gilacholuim's sconces or Forfeits out of his wages, Beginning Oct. 22, 1703. |
▪ V. † sconce, v.1 Obs.
[f. sconce n.3 Cf. Du. (be)schansen.]
1. trans. To fortify, entrench; in later use, to shelter, protect. to sconce away Sc., to ward off.
| 1598 W. Phillip tr. Linschoten i. 153/2 They set vppon the towne of Ioor, that was sconsed [orig. beschanst] and compassed about with woodden stakes. 1620 R. Brathwait Five Senses 75 Long time, therefore, haue I resolued to sconce my selfe betwixt these two. 1621 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. xiv. (1626) 282 A little Bay, by Scylla haunted, lies..sconst from the Seas and skies Distemper. 1690 C. Nesse Hist. & Myst. O. & N. Test. I. 208 A screen to sconce and shelter us from consuming fire. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 65 He's pretty well sconc'd against Bullets. c 1715 Ramsay Vision iii, To..skonce my skap and shanks frae rain. 1746 D. Graham Hist. Rebell. x. Writ. 1883 I. 178 Confin'd into a stinking stye, And 'bove his head two hydes of kye, To skonce away the sooty rain. |
2. [? By etymological association with F. esconser (Cotgr.).] To hide, screen from view.
| 1652 Urquhart Jewel 122 With so close and secret a minde did he harbour in his heart, that new love,..remotely skonsing it from the knowledge of all men. 1663 Sir G. Mackenzie Religious Stoic xiii. (1685) 146 As if a thicket of trees could have sconced him from his all-seeing Maker. |
▪ VI. sconce, v.2
(skɒns)
[Of obscure origin. As a term of University slang, it may have arisen from some far-fetched reference to sconce n.1, n.2, or n.3 Our first two quots. refer it to sconce n.2; so app. also quot. 1641 in sense 2.]
1. trans. At Oxford (? formerly also at Cambridge): To fine, mulct; often with the penalty as second object. Formerly said of university and college officials, with reference to fines inflicted for breaches of discipline. Now only of undergraduates when dining in hall: To fine (one of their number) a tankard of ale or the like, as a penalty for some breach of good manners or conventional usage.
| 1617 Minsheu Ductor s.v., Wherevpon comes the terme in Oxeford to sconce one, Lat. Mulctare pecunia, i. to set vp so much in the butterie booke vpon his head to pay for his punishment. 1628 Shirley Witty Fair One iv. ii, I have had a head in most of the butteries of Cambridge, and it has been sconced to purpose. 1687 Magd. Coll. & Jas. II (O.H.S.) 224 The said persons entering the Buttery, and taking out their crosses, M{supr}. Charnock thereupon sconced the Butler ten shillings each. 1687 Settle Refl. Dryden 11 The poorest Freshman in the University would be sconced for half so great a blunder. 1688 Wood Life Apr. (O.H.S.) III. 265 The vicechancellor told him the Coll. was to be sconced: Charnock said he had provided a preacher. 1706 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) I. 238 D{supr} Mill..saying..that no Master of Arts in the Hall should for y⊇ future have any Privilege of sconsing or otherwise punishing the Servants in the Hall. 1707 Ibid. II. 9 Yesterday the Vice-Chaunc. scons'd all that were without their Hoods at S{supt} Marie's. 1728 Johnson in J. Hawkins Life (1787) 9 [He said to Jordan] Sir you have sconced me two-pence for non-attendance at a lecture not worth a penny. 1821 Etonian II. 391 Hall dinner. Was sconced in a quart of ale for quoting Latin. 1853 ‘C. Bede’ Verdant Green iii. xi, There was a shout of indignation and he [the punster] was sconced by the unanimous vote of the company. |
2. In extended application (cf. sconce n. 2).
| 1641 Milton Ch. Discip. ii. 85 We must of duty still appear before them once a year..to be taxt by the poul, to be scons't our head money..in their Chaunlerly Shop-book of Easter. 1755 Connoisseur No. 57 ¶7 [The toast-master of a drinking society] punishes an offender by sconcing him a bumper. 1849 Rock Ch. of Fathers IV. xi. 107 A theft committed on any one of these three [Rogation] days, was, by Alfred's laws, sconced in a two-fold ‘bot’ or fine. 1869 Gladstone Sp. Ho. Comm. 18 June, This superstition.. by which every officer..who only had the good fortune to tie himself to the tail of some Judge,..had built up around him this sanctity of tenure, by which the public had been sconced generation after generation. 1892 Symonds Life in Swiss Highl. xvi. 346 He who comes last is sconced three litres of Veltliner for the company. 1901 Speaker 27 Apr. 99/1 Why should a small village public-house be sconced five or six times as much as one of the great gin-palaces. 1903 Morley Gladstone iv. ii. I. 471 A new minister, who..did not shrink from sconcing the powerful landed phalanx like other people. |
† b. to sconce off: to take off, rebate. Obs.
| 1768 Foote Devil ii. Wks. 1799 II. 260 The widow..paid my bill..without sconcing off sixpence. |
Hence ˈsconcing vbl. n. (Also attrib.)
| 1695 Kennett Paroch. Antiq. App. 688 Neither are any polling Officers to draw fees and sconcing money to enrich themselves. 1885 N. & Q. Ser. vi. XII. 448/2 Sconcing was a privilege possessed by the senior scholar or commoner dining in hall of fining any delinquent. |
▪ VII. sconce, v.3 nonce-wd.
Aphetic form of ensconce v.
| 1841 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. ii. Auto-da-fé, All, save Privy-purse Humez, Who sconced in his room is. |
▪ VIII. sconce
dial. form of scunch.