▪ I. spence1
(spɛns)
Also 5–7 spens(e, 5 spenyse.
[Aphetically f. OF. despense (mod.F. dépense), = Sp. and Pg. despensa, It. dispensa, med.L. despensa, dispensa (rarely spensa), in the same sense: cf. dispense n.1 So Swiss dial. spense.
The prefix de- is similarly dropped in other words; in this case there may have been association with spense n.]
1. A room or separate place in which victuals and liquor are kept; a buttery or pantry; a cupboard. Now dial. or arch.
| α c 1386 Chaucer Sompn. T. 223 Fat as a whale, and walking as a swan; Al vinolent as Botel in the spence. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 23026, I hadd no maner lyberte;..in the seller, nor in the spence, ete nor drynke on no syde. c 1460 Play of Sacram. 529 He syttyth with sum tapstere in y⊇ spence. 1540 Palsgr. Acolastus Q iij, If we..bring out of (the buttery) or spence all the meate that is left. 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme i. v. 22 [A] vaulted roome, which shall also be for the huswifes vse and serue for a spence, to keepe her prouision of victuals in. 1684 Yorks. Dial. 183 (E.D.S.), Our Sew hes been 'ith Spence, thrawn down Whigg-Stand. 1720 Postmaster 25 Nov. 103 House..contains Four Chambers,..a Kitchen, with two Spences. 1790 Grose Prov. Gloss. (ed. 2), Spence, a small place for setting milk or drink in, made with wainscot, or a lattice. 1814 Scott Wav. xvii, In one large aperture, which the robber facetiously called his spence (or pantry). 1865 R. Hunt Pop. Rom. W. Eng. (1871) Ser. i. 110 Nancy must have something to drink before she started for Penzance, and she went to the spence for the bottles. |
| fig. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. xix. xii. 141 These cruell enterludes, which out of a spence or budget of craftie devices he brought forth. |
| β 14.. Lat.-Eng. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 578 Dispensa, a spense. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 1441 He bare þe bordeclath to þe spens. 1519 W. Horman Vulg. 151 b, I haue ij spensis: one for euery day: a nother for store of all vitayle, tyll newe come. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. 6 Hir keyes..of hir spens, hir ark of hir claithing and jewells, or of hir cist or coffer. |
2. Sc. An inner apartment of a house; a parlour.
| α 1783 Burns Poor Mailie's Elegy iv, Our Bardie, lanely, keeps the spence. 1786 ― Vision i. ii, Ben I' the Spence, right pensivelie, I gaed to rest. 1820 Scott Monast. iv, They rushed into the spence, (a sort of interior apartment in which the family ate their victuals in the summer season,) but there was no one there. 1843 A. Bethune Sc. Fireside Stor. 154 Others assisted in conveying the invalid to the spence of the inn, which had been readily offered for the accommodation of the family. |
3. attrib., as spence-basket, spence-door.
| 1825 Jamieson Suppl., Spense-Door, the door between the kitchen and the spense. 1844 W. H. Maxwell Wand. Highl. & Isl. I. ix. 180 A peg behind the spence door. 1881 Cussans Hist. Hertfordsh. III. ii. 321 Spence-Basket, a basket used by waggoners to hold provisions for their journey. |
▪ II. † spence2 Obs. rare.
Also 4 spense.
[Substituted for spencer n.1, after prec.]
A steward.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 28740 For quat [need] es þat spense [v.r. spenser] mai be Nithing þar þe lauerd es fre. c 1325 Metr. Hom. 165 Hir spense [v.r. spensar] knew hir fleysleye. a 1568 Henryson's Twa Myss xix. in Bannatyne MS. (Hunter. Cl.) 963 The spense come in, with keis in his hand. 1644 Digby Nat. Soul ii. §3. 367 In the scripture we meete with these wordes, the iudge of vniustice, the spence of wickednesse, the man of sinne,..which in our phrase of speaking, do signify an vniust iudge, a wicked spence, and a sinnefull..man. |