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: 1397-1424, 1553-1595
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Communaté, n. Also: comwna(w)té. Also variants (chiefly in later use): comownaté, commonaté, comonatie, commonatie. [ME. com(m)unauté (c 1290), OF. communauté, -alté.]
1. One of the three Estates of the realm. 1397 Acts I. 208/1.
It is … ordanyt with assent of the thre communatez thare beande that ilke schiref [etc.] 1398 Ib. 212/1.
The thre communatez has grantit contribucion
2. A community or the general body of this.(a) c1420 Wynt. v. 3893.
Owt off the quere I rede yhe ga And bwte, amang the comwnawte, Byd thar youre oportunyte c1420 Ib. viii. 5551.
For to sawfe his comwnate Than wyth the wardane tretyde he 1553 Lanark B. Rec. 26.
The balyeis, consall, and communate ordanis every nychtbur to answer to uther howbeit tha be techit at evin(b) c1420 Wynt. viii. 5942.
Than blythe wes all his comownate, Thai hym ressawyd wyth blythnes 1424 State P. (Reg. H.) No. 14.
We micht nocht certify yhour excellence … sua effectueusli as we think … to do with deliuerance of our hale commonate 1553 Lanark B. Rec. 25.
Thareftyr the balleis, cunsall, and commonate was content and ratefeis this byll1568 Ib. 41.
Comonatie 1595 Ib. 110.
For slaiking his ir[e] quhilk hie hes consavit aganis the ballies, cunsall and commonatie
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"Communaté n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 16 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/communate>
