A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1586
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Bitternes, Bittirnes, n. Also: bytternes, -irnes, -yrnes. [ME. bitternesse, OE. biternes, -nys.] Bitter quality (lit. or fig.).a1400 Legends of the Saints iii. 459 (the self bittirnes of gall). c1420 Wynt. vii. Prol. 10 (bakbyttyn to be with byttyrnes). 1456 Hay II. 140/29 (the bitternes of the curnis). 1461 Liber Pluscardensis 383 (breith and bitternes). a1499 Contemplacioun of Synnaris 1039 (with cair and bitternes). c1500-c1512 Dunb. xxv. 82 (that nevir taistit bittirnes). 1513 Doug. iv. Prol. 229 (quhat byttyrnes and payne lufe bredis). 1562-3 Winȝet II. 22/22 (deplorand the bittirnes of the tyme). a1570-86 Maitland Folio MS clxx. 136 (withe better hart mair bitternes that beiris).
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"Bitternes n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 13 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/bitternes>
