margent, n. Now arch. and poet.
(ˈmɑːdʒənt)
Also 5 mariante, 5–6 margente, 6 mergent(e, 7 marg(e)ant, -gint.
[Altered form of margin n.; cf. ancient, pageant, peasant, pheasant, tyrant.]
1. = margin n. 1.
| 1538 Elyot Dict., Margo, the brymme or edge of euery thynge, the margent. 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 25 Grauen Lions on euery syde adourning the rayles or highest margentes of the same. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. x. 3 From th' utmost brinke of the Armericke shore Unto the margent of the Molucas. 1634 Milton Comus 232 By slow Meander's margent green. 1649 Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. ii. §12. 39 Jesus sate himself down upon the margent of Jacob's well. 1742 Gray Ode Eton 23 Say father Thames, for thou hast seen Full many a sprightly race Disporting on thy margent green. 1837 Miss Mitford Country Stories (1850) 107 Coppices with wide turfy margents on either side. 1853 G. Johnston Nat. Hist. E. Bord. I. 157 It..often hides midst brushwood on the margent of a burn. 1901 Henley Hawthorn & Lavender 6 From reluctant woods..And sering margents, forced To be lean and bare. |
| fig. 1679 T. Puller Moder. Ch. Eng. (1843) 329 By catching at some little scattered parts, of the skirts and margent of the cause. |
2. = margin n. 2.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 41 Y schalle purpulle the mariantes [Trevisa margyns]..with a dowble ordre of yeres. c 1485 Digby Myst. iv. 273 Looke How many bludy letters beyn writen in þis buke, Small margente her is. 1532 More Confut. Barnes viii. Wks. 776/1 And thys himselfe confesseth in the mergent of his booke. 1555 Eden Decades 188 Whiche the lymmers of bookes are accustomed to paynte on the margentes of churche bookes. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 8 A sheet of paper Writ on both sides the leafe, margent and all. 1612 Brinsley Lud. Lit. 71 Let them learne euery rule..and the summes of the rules which are set in the margents. 1645 Milton Colast. Wks. 1851 IV. 345 A big margent, litter'd and overlaid with crude and huddl'd quotations. 1722 Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. iv. 364 We have seen some of your laws, that have many Scriptures in the margent. 1834 Landor Exam. Shaks. Wks. 1853 II. 282/2 Such were the very words; I wrote them down with two signs in the margent. |
b. The margin of a book as being the place for a commentary upon or summary of the text; hence, the commentary or summary itself.
| 1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Familye of Loue 48 These his vayne payntyngs of his margent, shall hereafter make his cause more odious. 1589 Lyly Pappe w. Hatchet Wks. 1902 III. 413 Beware my Comment, tis odds the margent shall bee as full as the text. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. iii. 86 And what obscur'd in this faire volume lies, Find written in the Margent of his eyes. 1602 ― Ham. v. ii. 162. 1657 Austen Fruit Trees i. 18 As the Margint renders it. 1733 Swift Brother Protest. Wks. 1755 IV. i. 182 That blockhead..Who knows in law nor text, nor margent. |
3. = margin n. 4 a.
| 1678 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 106 The Middle Rail hath commonly two breadths of the Margent of the Stile. Ibid. 110. 1823 [see margin n. 3 a]. |
4. attrib. (or
quasi-adj. = marginal).
| 1555 Eden Decades Contents ad fin., Reade the margente notes of the same. 1643 R. Saltonstall To Winthrop (Cent.), Margent notes upon a French text. 1811 W. R. Spencer Poems 113 The margent thistles of the Tweed. |
Hence
† margent v. trans., to insert as a marginal note, to add marginal notes to.
| 1610 R. Niccols Eng. Eliza To Rdr., I present it in one whole entire Hymne, distinguishing it only by succession of yeares, which I haue margented through the whole storie. 1662–3 Pepys Diary 23 Jan., Finishing the margenting of my Navy-Manuscript. |