▪ I. dismal, n.1 and n.2 and a.
(ˈdɪzməl)
Forms: 4–7 dismall, 4–5 dis(e)male, 5 dysmal, -mel, -mol, 6 diesmoll, dismold(e, 6–7 Sc. dismail, 6– dismal.
[Mentioned in 1256 as the English or Anglo-French name for Fr. les mals jours: whence it appears to be OF. dis mal = L. dies mali evil days, unlucky days. It was thus originally a substantive of collective meaning; when ‘day’ was added, making ‘dismal days’, (cf. ‘summer days,’ ‘winter days’), its attributive use passed into an adjective, and, its original application being obscured, it was finally before 1600 extended from day, days, to be a general attribute. See Note at end of this article.]
A. n.1 (The original use.)
† 1. The dies mali, evil, unlucky or unpropitious days, of the mediæval calendar, called also dies ægyptiaci, ‘Egipcian daies’ (see Egyptian 1 b); hence, by extension, Evil days (generally), days of disaster, gloom, or depression, the days of old age.
The dies mali were Jan. 1, 25; Feb. 4, 26; March 1, 28; April 10, 20; May 3, 25; June 10, 16; July 13, 22; Aug. 1, 30; Sept. 3, 21; Oct. 3, 22; Nov. 5, 28; Dec. 7, 22. They are said to have been called ‘Egyptian days’ because first discovered or computed by Egyptian astrologers; though some mediæval writers connected them with the plagues of ancient Egypt (cf. the Chaucer quot. 1369, where the word appears to be treated as OF. dis mal, ten evils, or plagues, plāgæ; see Prof. Skeat's note, Chaucer I. 493); some, still more fancifully, associated them with the gloom of ‘Egyptian’ darkness.
| [1256 see Note below.] c 1300 Langtoft's Chron. (Rolls II. 258), Cambr. MS. Gg. I. i. (c 1310), (Satirical Verses on Baliol) Begkot an bride, Rede him at ride In the dismale [rime liale]. c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 1206, I trowe hyt was in the dismalle, That was the .x. woundes of Egipte. a 1400 Pystyll of Susan 305 Þou hast I be presedent, þe peple to steere, Þou dotest now on þin olde tos in þe dismale [v. rr. in þin olde days, in þin elde]. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 93 A waytiþ not þeis Egipcian daies, þat we call dysmal. |
B. adj. [orig. attributive use of A.]
† 1. Of days: Of or belonging to the dies mali; unlucky, unpropitious. Obs.
| c 1400 Beryn 650 So trewly for the Pardonere, it was a dismol day. c 1420 Lydg. Story Thebes iii. (1561) 370 a/1 Her disemale daies and her fatal houres. 1548 Cranmer Catech. B vj b, Other..thinke that when the Sonne, Moone, or any other planetes is in this or y{supt} signe, it is an vnlucky thing to enterprise this or that, and vpon such dismolde daies (as they call them) they will begin no new enterprise. 1552 Huloet, Dismall dayes, atri dies, dies ægiptiaci. 1560 Bp. J. Pilkington Exp. Aggeus i. B viij b, Why shall we then be bolde to call them euyll, infortunate, and dysmall days?.. Why shal they not prosper on those dayes, as well as on other? 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 24 If she had now escaped her dismall daye: yet, doubtlesse..within a fewe yeares her life would have ended. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. vii. 26 An ugly feend, more fowle than dismall day. 1608 Bp. Hall Char. Virtues & V. 88 (Superstitions) If his journey began..on the dismall day; or if he stumbled at the threshold. 1618 Bolton Florus 12 Hee..distinguisht the yeere into twelue months, and markt out which dayes were luckie, and which were dismall. [1738 Birch Life Milton M.'s Wks. 1738 I. 75 Before that dismal 30th of January that his Majesty's Life was taken away.] |
† 2. Of other things: Boding or bringing misfortune and disaster; unlucky, sinister, malign, fatal.
| 1588 Greene Perimedes 9 Seest thou not a dismall influence, to inflict a dispairing chaos of confused mishaps. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. vi. 58 Now death shall stop his dismall threatning sound, And his ill-boading tongue, no more shall speake. Ibid. iii. ii. 41 A Rauens Note, Whose dismall tune bereft my Vitall powres. 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 139 Such like love..could not prove to her otherwise than dismall and unluckie. [1664 Dryden Rival Ladies v. iii, It was that dismal Night Which tore my Anchor up.] |
3. Of the nature of misfortune or disaster; disastrous, calamitous. (Now rare, and associated with sense 5.)
| 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iv. iii. 19 My dismall Sceane, I needs must act alone. 1599 T. M[oufet] Silkwormes 37 A little dismall fire whole townes hath burnd, A little winde doth spread that dismall fire. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 188 Many dismall showres of Darts and stones. 1655 Stanley Hist. Philos. Biog. (1701) 13 Epilepsies, Convulsions and other Dismal and Affrighting Distempers. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 418 ¶6 Torments, Wounds, Deaths, and the like dismal Accidents. 1777 Watson Philip II (1793) II. xii. 91 Involved in this dismal catastrophe. 1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh v. 433 If this then be success, 't is dismaller Than any failures. |
4. Causing dismay; terrible, dreadful, dire. Now in weakened sense (associated with 5): Causing gloom or dejection, depressing, wretched, miserable.
| 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. iii. i. 262 Be this dismall sight The closing vp of our most wretched eyes. 1605 ― Macb. v. v. 12 My Fell of haire Would at a dismall Treatise rowze, and stirre As life were in't. 1686 A. Horneck Crucif. Jesus ii. 24 The Devil appeared unto him in a..most dismal shape. 1728 Pope Dunc. iii. 269 Dire is the conflict, dismal is the din. 1770 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 204 Full well the busy whisper circling round Conveyed the dismal tidings when he frowned. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 15 The sight of this wreck..gave rise to many dismal anecdotes. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 460 These things when spoken to a multitude..take up a dismal length of time. |
5. a. Of a character or aspect that causes gloom and depression; depressingly dark, sombre, gloomy, dreary, or cheerless.
Dismal Science, Carlyle's nickname for Political Economy. Great Dismal Swamp (U.S.): see C. 5.
| 1617 Minsheu Ductor, Dismall..It signifieth also Darke. 1631 Gouge God's Arrows i. §23. 30 On a sudden was that faire skie turned into a sulphurious and most dismall skie. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 146 Blacke is not knowne among them, they say tis dismall and a signe of hell and sorrowe. 1696 tr. Du Mont's Voy. Levant 48 The Ghastliness of the Prospect is heighten'd by the Pine-Trees, that cast a dismal Shade. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §311 It looked very dismal and threatening all the time. 1849 Carlyle Nigger Question, Misc. Ess. (1872) VII. 84 The Social Science—not a ‘gay science’, but a rueful,—which finds the secret of this Universe in ‘supply and demand’..what we might call, by way of eminence, the dismal science. 1850 ― Latter-d. Pamph. iv. (1872) 119 Good monitions, as to several things, do lie in this Professor of the dismal science. 1873 Black Pr. Thule i, What a wild and dismal country was this which lay..all around him! 1882 Garden 28 Jan. 54/2 The fogs in London this week have been about at their dismallest. |
| fig. 1871 Morley Voltaire (1886) 246 Doctrines which had naturally sprung up in the dismal age when the Catholic system acquired substance and shape. |
b. Of sounds: Dreary, cheerless, woeful. (In late use chiefly subjective, as in 6.)
| 1593 [see 2]. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Dismal ditty, a Psalm at the Gallows. 1703 W. Dampier Voy. III. 131 Whales..blowing and making a very dismal noise. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. xix. 350 The dismallest howlings of wolves. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho i, Afar in the woods they raise a dismal shout. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) I. 139 And heard her singing a lively song, In a very dismal tone. 1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 80 The dismal groans of the harmonium. 1894 Blackmore Perlycross 56 A dismal wail of anguish. |
6. Of a character or aspect denoting gloom or depression; (subjectively) gloomy or miserable.
| 1705 W. Bosman Guinea 403 You may be surpriz'd that these poor Wretches should wear Hats, Perukes, &c. which they do in a very particular dismal manner. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1766) I. 329 Wrote dismal letters to Court. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. vii, The only dismal figure in a group of merry faces. 1771 Junius Lett. lxvii. 330, I think you should suffer your dismal Countenance to clear up. 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville II. 14 Gathering the mangled bodies of the slain..the warriors returned, in dismal procession, to the village. |
| quasi-adv. 1757 E. Griffith Lett. betw. Henry & Frances (1767) I. 64, I fear it was a dismal penned piece. |
7. Dismal Desmond: a toy dog with drooping ears; also transf., a gloomy person; Dismal Jimmy (colloq.): a gloomy person.
| 1926–7 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 891/3 Dismal Desmond. An amusing, lovable puppy. 1934 A. Christie Parker Pyne Investigates 66 The gentleman selling Dismal Desmonds does not know what to make of it. 1938 E. Bowen Death of Heart ii. iii. 219 A Dismal Desmond dog sat on the bed. 1939 ‘M. Innes’ Stop Press ii. vii. 319 A blob of a nose, a mottled snout, a lachrymose eye, a..drooping ear—the creature is called a Dismal Desmond and is known in every nursery. 1941 A. Christie N or M? i. 5, I wasn't conscious of looking a Dismal Desmond. 1968 ‘R. Raine’ Night of Hawk x. 52 Larry's a character and a half. Don't let the dismal Desmond look fool you. |
| 1927 Melody Maker Sept. 931/2 We are not prophets nor dismal Jimmies. 1940 H. G. Wells All Aboard for Ararat iii. 92 It's up in all the offices now; the Dismal Jimmy stuff is barred. |
C. n.2 [Elliptical or absolute use of B.]
† 1. A dismal person. a. The devil. b. A funeral mute. Obs.
| ? a 1500 Priests of Peblis in Pinkerton Scot. Poems Repr. I. 17 (Jam.) Never bot by the dysmel, or the devil. 1570 Levin Manip. 13/20 Y⊇ dismall, deuill, diabolus. 1708 Reply Swift's Bickerstaff detected Wks. 1755 II. i. 165 Away..into your flannel gear..here is a whole pack of dismals coming to you with their black equipage. |
† 2. ‘The designation of a mental disease, most probably, melancholy’ (Jam.), hypochondria. Obs.
| a 1605 Montgomerie Flyting w. Polwart 315 The doit and the dismail, indifferentlie delt. |
† 3. pl. Mourning garments. Obs.
| 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) VII. 171 How she would have adorned the weeds!.. Such pretty employment in her dismals. 1778 Foote Trip Calais iii. Wks. 1799 II. 363 As my lady is deck'd out in her dismals, perhaps she may take a fancy to faint. |
4. pl. a. Low spirits, the dumps, the ‘blues’.
| 1762 Foote Lyar ii. Wks. 1799 I. 298 He..seems entirely wrapt up in the dismals. 1777 J. Q. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 265 The spleen, the vapors, the dismals, the horrors seem to have seized our whole State. a 1834 Lamb Final Mem. v. To Mrs. Haslitt 232 When we are in the dismals there is now no hope from any quarter whatever. 1836 Marryat Midsh. Easy xxxiii, He has frightened that poor old woman into the dismals. 1893 Edna Lyall To Right the Wrong I. 44 What business have you to indulge in a fit of the dismals on this gala-day? |
b. pl. Expressions of gloom or despondency.
| 1774 J. Q. Adams Fam. Lett. (1876) 16 Their mutual reproaches, their declamations..their triumphs and defiances, their dismals and prophecies, are all delusion. |
c. pl. Depressing circumstances, miseries.
| 1829 Sporting Mag. XXIV. 107 Quitting the dismals, I must relate an amusing anecdote. 1865 Reader 25 Feb. 221/3 She harps upon the petty annoyances of her dreary poverty, and on other dismals of life. |
5. A local name of dreary tracts of swampy land on the eastern sea-board of the United States, esp. in North Carolina.
| 1763 G. Washington Writ. (1889) II. 198, 5 miles from the aforesaid mills, near to which the Dismal runs. 1812 H. Williams Hist. N. Carolina II. 180 Such are the Dismals, so called, and the other great swamps that are numerous in the flat country. 1856 Olmsted Slave States 149 The ‘Great Dismal Swamp’, with the smaller ‘Dismals’..of the same character, along the North Carolina Coast. |
D. Comb., as dismal-dreaming.
| 1599 Shakes. Pass. Pilgr. 200 And drives away dark dismal-dreaming night. |
[Note. As to the identity of dismal with OF. (= AF.) dis mal:—L. dies mali, see Professor Skeat in Trans. Philol. Soc. 1888, p. 2. Already in 1617, Minsheu (whose own memory doubtless recalled the time when dismal was used only to qualify days) derived it from ‘L. dies malus, en euill and vnhappie time’. Early corroborative evidence comes from OF. and Icelandic sources. (1) The Anglo-French Art de Kalender of Rauf de Linham, 1256 (MSS. at Glasgow, Oxford, Cambridge; extracts printed by M. Paul Meyer in his official Rapport on Documents Manuscrits de l'ancienne littérature de la France, Paris 1871, pp. 127–9), has a passage of sixty lines on the Dies mali, beginning ‘Ore dirrai des jours denietz, Que vous dismal (Bodley MS. dismol) appelletz’ [Now shall I tell of the forbidden days, Which you call dismal], and further on ‘Dismal les appelent plusours, Ceo est a dire les mals jours’ [Dismal several call them, That is to say the evil days]. Here dismal is given as the equivalent of ‘mals jours’, evil days.
(2) A short Icelandic treatise in a Copenhagen MS. (Arna-Magnæan 350, written 1363, lf. 148 a), begins ‘Her greinir um dismala daga. Tueir ero þeir dagar i huerium manadi er at bokmali kallaz dies mali..enn þat þydiz illir dagar’ [Here tells of the dismal days. There are two days in every month that in the book-language (Latin) are called dies mali, and that is interpreted ‘evil days’]. The word dismal is not Norse, and must have been learned from England before 1363. In dismala daga, it is probably an adj. accus. pl., but may be a n. gen. pl., ‘days of the dismals’. Both the AF. and the Icelandic treatises give a list of the dis mal or dies mali, identical with that given by various mediæval writers, and computable by the mnemonic distich given by Du Cange s.v. Dies ægyptiaci: see sense 1 above.]
▪ II. † ˈdismal, v. Obs. nonce-wd.
[f. prec. adj.]
intr. To feel dismal or melancholy.
| 1780 F. Burney Diary (1842) I. 344 Miss L. sung various old elegies..O! how I dismalled in hearing them. |