A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1951 (DOST Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1456-1599
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
Distene, -teyn(e, -teynȝe, v. Also: -teinȝe, -tengȝie. [ME. disteyne, desteigne (Gower), desteyne (Chaucer), OF. desteign-, desteindre.] tr. To stain or discolour; to cause to lose colour or brightness; to outshine.(a) 1456 Hay I. 6/15.
The schynyng of the licht that come fra him disteynȝeid all the lave in clerenes of schynyng 15.. Clariodus ii. 1313.
I saw the fair Meliades … Disteinȝeand the rest about with hir bewtie c1590 J. Stewart 36/225.
Thair teirs distels bot onlie to distengȝie Our chastetie(b) c1500-c1512 Dunb. G. Targe 278.
Rude is thy wede, disteynit [v.r. destenit], bare, and rent 1513 Doug. i. Prol. 45.
Bot sair I dreid forto disteyn [R. distene] thé quyte, Throu my corruppit cadens imperfyte 1513 Ib. iv. Prol. 196.
Eschame, ȝyng virgynys,., Furth of wedlok forto disteyn ȝour kellys c1552 Lynd. Mon. 2448.
None spott of fyre distenyng cote nor goun
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Distene v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 16 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/distene>
