A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1951 (DOST Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1375-1420, 1499-1599
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Ferliful(l, Ferlyful(l, a. [ME. ferliful (a 1300), f. Ferly n.] Wonderful, marvellous, strange. 1375 Barb. xii. 453.
Now I se All the mast ferlifull sycht That euir I saw 1375 Ib. xiii. 638.
With so ferlifull a mycht Of men of armys a1400 Legends of the Saints xix. 26.
Our hal he Of fasone ferlyful was to se a1400 Ib. l. 39.
Ferlifull was that offerand thane c1420 Wynt. ii. 1256.
In it ar changys sere, That ferlyffull ar for to here a1500 Taill of Rauf Coilȝear 2.
Thair fell ane ferlyfull flan within thay fellis wyde a1500 Tale of the Colkelbie Sow ii. 56.
He wes the caus of feill ferlifull deidis c1500-c1512 Dunb. Tua Mar. W. 26.
Off ferliful fyne favour war thair faceis meik c1500-c1512 Ib. lxxxvii. 15.
O hevin in erthe of ferlifull suetnes 15.. Clariodus v. 2414.
Aucht virginis … In tracit hairis of ferlifull bewtie
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"Ferliful adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/ferlifull>
