▪ I. lote, n.1 arch.
(ləʊt)
Also 6 lot.
[Anglicized form of lotus.]
= lotus in various senses.
1. The Nettle-tree: = lote-tree a.
| c 1510 Barclay Mirr. Gd. Manners (1570) F iij, In hye grounde or hilles reioyseth the Peretree, But the Lote and Planetree where waters often flowe. 1597 Gerarde Herbal iii. cxvii. 1308 Of the Lote or Nettle tree. The Lote whereof we write, is a tree as big as a Peare tree. 1665–76 Rea Flora (ed. 2) 221 The Lote or Nettle tree. |
2. [After Homer's λωτός.] Some kind of clover, trefoil, or melilot: = lotus 3. bird's-foot lote = Lotus corniculatus.
| 1548 Turner Names of Herbes 49 Lotus syluestris... It maye be called in english wylde lote [Melilotus officinalis, Willd.]. 1615 Chapman Odyss. iv. 802 Where the broad fields beare Sweet Cypers grasse; where men-fed Lote doth flow. 1676 Hobbes Iliad (1677) 33 The horses..upon lote and cinquefoil feeding were. 1713 Petiver in Phil. Trans. XXVIII. 208 These Pods are lightly joynted like the Birds foot Lote. |
3. The food of the Lotophagi (usually identified with the berry of Zizyphus Lotus: see lotus 1).
| 1638 Farley Emblems xxxi. E 8, Thus cralling for its food, my soule can fret And tasting Lote, his Country doth forget. 1726 Pope Odyss. xxiii. 335 How to the land of Lote unblessed he sails. 1830 Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 114 The fruit of Zizyphus..is often wholesome and pleasant to eat, as in the case of the Jujube and the Lote, the latter of which is now known to have given their name to the classical Lotophagi. 1855 Bailey Mystic 80 That heart-soothing herb, not less renowned Than lote, nepenthes, moly, or tolu. |
4. The lotus-lily: see lotus 4.
| 1561 A. Scott New Yeir Gift to Q. Mary 218 Fragrant flour formois, Lantern to lufe, of ladeis lamp and lot. 1650–60 Wharton Disc. Soul World Wks. (1683) 657 The Lote (which shutteth its Leaves before Sun Rise, but when he Ascendeth openeth them by degrees). |
5. attrib. and Comb., as lote-berry, lote-eater, lote-leaf; lote-bush, Zizyphus Lotus.
| 1611 Cotgr., Micocoules, *Lote berries (be round, and hang by long staulkes like Cherries). |
| 1846 Lindley Veg. Kingd. 582 The *Lote-bush, which gave its name to the Ancient Lotophagi, is to this day collected for food by the Arabs of Barbary. |
| 1587 Golding tr. Solinus Polyhistor (1590) S iij, In the innermost part of the bigger Syrt..inhabited the *Loteaters. 1638 Mayne Lucian (1664) 355 Your example of the Lote-eaters, and instance of the Syrens, carry no resemblance to my case. |
| 1865 Swinburne Laus Veneris 185 Softer than the Egyptian *lote-leaf. |
▪ II. † lote, n.2
The eel-pout (Lota vulgaris).
| 1611 Cotgr., Marmote,..also, the riuer Lote; a little muddie fish, headed, skinned, and finned, like an Eele. |
▪ III. † lote, v.1 Obs.
Also 3 lotie(n, 4 lotye, ? 5 loyt.
[? OE. *lotian, f. *lut-, ablaut-variant of *lūt- in the synonymous OE. l{uacu}tian = OHG. lûzên (MHG. lûzen); the root is prob. identical with that in the str. vb. OE. l{uacu}tan to bow down (see lout v.).]
intr. To lurk, lie concealed.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 217 On þesse fewe litele wored lotieð fele gode wored ȝif hie weren wel ioponed. c 1275 Lay. 21509 And dude ȝam alle cleane into þan sipes grunde, and hehte heom lotie [c 1205 lutie] wel, þat Cheldrich nere noht war. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 102 For outlawes in the wode and vnder banke lotyeth. c 1386 Chaucer Sec. Nun's T. 186 He foond this hooly olde Vrban anon Among the Seintes buryeles lotynge. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 397 Latere a Latyn is lotye. 1398 ― Barth. De P.R. xvii. liii. (Tollem. MS.), Wormes loteþ under þe schadow þerof. |
Hence † ˈloting vbl. n. (in comb. loting-place).
| 13.. K. Alis. 6203 He say the ekeris wonynge, And the fysches lotynge. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xiv. liii. (Tollem. MS.), A caue is proper lotynge and hidynge place of bestes, þat wonen in dennes and dowers. |
▪ IV. † lote, v.2 Obs.
[a. ON. láta = let v.1]
1. trans. To forsake, fail.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3131 Ne sal ic ȝu noȝ[t] loten Of ðat ic haue ȝu bi-hoten. |
2. intr. To take account of.
| c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 8598 Ther is no man that lengur lotes Off these gay golden cotes. |
▪ V. † lote, v.3 Obs.
[f. L. lōt-, ppl. stem of lavāre; or perh. back-formation from lotion.]
trans. To wash with a solution.
| 1547 Boorde Brev. Health cclxxix. 93 Use the water of plantein with Tutty loted, and ever use colde thynges to the eyes. |
▪ VI. lote
variant of late n.1 Obs., look, sound.
▪ VII. lote
obs. form of loth n.; variant of lout.