▪ I. pilch, n.
(pɪltʃ)
Forms: 1 pyl(e)ce, 3–6 pilche, 4 pilchche, 4–6 pylche, 6– pilch.
[OE. pylece, ad. med.L. pellicea a furred garment, fem. of L. pelliceus adj., made of skins, f. pellis a skin. Cf. pelisse.]
† 1. An outer garment made of skin dressed with the hair; in later use, a leathern or coarse woollen outer garment. Obs. exc. Hist.
| c 1000 ælfric Alcuin's Interrog. Segewulfi in Anglia (1883) VII. 30 Hwi worhte god pylcan adame & euan æfter þam gylte? a 1100 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 328/11 Pellicie, pylece. a 1225 Ancr. R. 362 He is of þe te-tore uolke, þet to-tereð his olde kurtel, & to-rendeð þe olde pilche of his deadliche uelle. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 377 Two pilches weren ðurȝ engeles wroȝt, And to adam and to eue broȝt. a 1300 Siriz 225 Warme pilce and warme shon, With that min hernde be wel don. c 1390 Chaucer Proverbs 4 Affter heet komeþe colde, No man caste his pilchche away. 1416 Will of Holt (Somerset Ho.), Pelche de foxe. c 1440 Lydg. Hors, Shepe & G. 366 Ther is also made of sheepis skyn, Pilchis & glovis to dryve awey the cold. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 397/2 Pylche, pellicium, pellicia. 1548 Udall Erasm. Par. Luke vii. 85 Clothed in a pilche of a camels hyde. 1563–87 Foxe A. & M. (1596) 1613/1 Some wandred to and fro in sheepes pilches, in goates pilches, forsaken, oppressed, afflicted. 1602 Dekker Satiromastix Wks. 1873 I. 231 Ile beate five pound out of his leather pilch. 1674 Blount Glossogr. (ed. 4), Pilch.., a woollen or fur garment [obs.]. 1853 Stevenson Anglo-Sax. Chron. 127 Of costly pilches, and of grey skins. 1901 Archæol. Jrnl. Mar. 4 Every canon had..a pilch or cassock (pellicea). |
2. † a. A rug or pad laid over a saddle. Obs. b. A light frameless saddle for children: = pad n.3 2.
| 1552 Huloet, Pilche for a saddle, instratum. 1684 Lond. Gaz. No. 1895/4 Taken away.., a Pye-bald Gelding,..with a Pannel and Pilch on his Back. a 1728 Kennett Lansd. MS. 1033 lf. 297 A course shagged piece of rug laid over a Saddle for Ease of a Rider is in our midland parts calld a pilch. 1863 Baring-Gould Iceland 397 Take also with you a light saddle without a tree, commonly called a pilch. 1900 List Civil Serv. Supply Assoc., Saddles..Child's Pilch, all over quilted hogskin, for boy or girl. |
3. A triangular flannel wrapper for an infant, worn over the diaper or napkin.
| 1674 Blount Glossogr. (ed. 4), Pilch..now used for a flannel cloth to wrap about the lower part of young children. a 1728 Kennett Lansd. MS. 1033 lf. 297 A piece of flannel or other woolen put under a child next the clout is in Kent calld a Pilch. 1799 M. Underwood Treat. Dis. Childr. III. 91 note, An error worthy of remark.., is, that of wearing a pilch (as it is called), an old fashion still too much in use. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Pilch, a flannel wrapper for an infant. 1861–80 Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. §2626 Baby-linen..4 pilches,..2 waterproof pilches,..4 dozen napkins. |
4. attrib. and Comb., as pilch-clout, pilch-maker.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 212 Þe deoflen schulen pleien mid ham..& dvsten ase enne pilcheclut, euchon touward oðer. 13.. Coer de L. 6736 Here armure no more I ne doute, Thenne I doo a pylche-cloute. c 1483 Caxton Dialogues 14 Wauburge the pilchemaker Formaketh a pylche well. |
▪ II. pilch, v. Now dial.
(pɪltʃ)
Forms: 3 pileken, pilken, 6– pilch, 9 Sc. pilk.
[Origin uncertain. Cf. LGer. pül(e)ken, pölken to pick (up den knaken pülken to pick a bone); Norw. and Færöese pilka to pick, scrape, prick. Cf. also OF. peluchier, OPicard pelukier, plusquier (mod.Picard pluquer) to pick, clean, peck: see pluck v.]
intr. To pick, pluck; to pilfer; to rob.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 84 Ȝet wolde he teteren & pileken [v.rr. pilewin, picken], mid his bile, roted stinkinde fleshs, as is reafnes kunde. Ibid. 86 Uor euere me schal þene cheorl pilken [v.r. plokin] & peolien, uor he is ase þe wiði þet sprutteð ut þe betere þet me hine ofte croppeð. 1570 Levins Manip. 130/10 Pilch, miche, suffurari. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 33 Some steale, some pilch, some all away filch. 1665 Jas. Fraser Polichronicon (S.H.S. 1905) 163 The country was free from all manner of thift and pilching. 1808 Jamieson, To Pilk,..1. To shell peas,..also, to pick periwinkles out of the shell;..2. To pilfer..as ‘She has pilkit his pouch’. 1900 Eng. Dial. Dict., Pilch, to pilfer, filch (S. Worcester, Glouc.). |