A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1963 (DOST Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1614
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Hete, Heit, n. Also: het, hette, heitt, heid, hey(i)t, heet, heat, haet, hait; hett, hat(t. [ME. (hette, heite,) het, hete, OE. hǽte, hǽtu.]
1. Heat, in physical and transferred senses.(1) a1400 Legends of the Saints iii. 970.
This day with me thu sall ete Eftyr trawel and the hete a1400 Ib. xliii. 357.
We thole now cald & het c1420 Wynt. i. 1171.
Quhar na man dare repayre na duelle For het off swn c1420 Ib. iii. 950.
The smyth wytht-in, quhen he felde hete [etc.] 1456 Hay II. 129/30.
Than begynnis drouthis and grete hete of sonne to regne 1456 Ib. 143/19.
Quhen man passis … fra grete hete to grete caulde c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace iii. 2.
The flouris suete, … engenered through the heet c1475 Ib. iv. 2.
In September, … Quhen passyt by the hycht was off the hette c1515 Asloan MS I. 310/16.
The south for oure cruell hetis and the north for oure wehement caldis are inhabitable 1513 Doug. v. v. 19.
He semyt … pantand for the hete 1513 Ib. viii. iv. 165 (R).
The caue did gleuin of the hete 1531 Bell. Boece I. 133/11.
His eldest bruther … decessit in Italy be intollerabill hetis of that region(b) a1400 Legends of the Saints xvi. 116.
The gret heit of the sone a1499 Contemplacioun of Synnaris 1225.
In hell of corporale fyre is huge heit a1508 Kennedy Pass. Christ 89.
Wanderand in wa, … In cauld and heit 1531 Bell. Boece II. 228.
The frute and cornis, throw insufferabil heitis of the simer, failyeit c1552 Lynd. Mon. 815.
Thay sufferit nother heit nor cald c1590 J. Stewart 86/216.
Quhan fair Phebus vith his heit seueir Did brymlie byrne 1596 Dalr. I. 5/11.
Cæsar said, he fand heit and calde les vehement in Scotlande than in France 1596-7 Misc. Spald. C. I. 87.
Quhilk scheittis quhow sone thow knew hed takin heitt about hir heid(c) 1513 Doug. iii. viii. 139.
The stew of byrnand heyt … that doith to hevyn rebound 1513 Ib. xii. Prol. 55.
Fyschis … Ourthwort cleir stremys sprynkland for the heyt 1531 Bell. Boece (M) II. 118/7.
Throw insufferable heyittis of the sommyr 1549 Complaynte of Scotland 53/24.
Ane fervent heyt that ascendis fra the sone(d) a1500 Prestis of Peblis (1603) 534.
Throw kynd of ȝeir and hait of that regioun(e) c1460 Alex. (Taym.) 448.
Remufe in tyme and travell litill in hett [: late](2) a1400 Legends of the Saints xxv. 434.
The child na kyndly het cuth tak 1456 Hay II. 158/12.
The naturale hete of mannis body a1500 Henr. III. 152/67.
Gud for haising, and hosting, or heit at the hairt a1500 Taill of Rauf Coilȝear 831.
Thay hewit on in haist, Thay worthit heuy with heid and angerit with all c1500-c1512 Dunb. Tua Mar. W. 222.
Me think ther haldis ȝow a hete, as ȝe sum harme alyt 1513 Doug. vii. viii. 43.
He held doun swymmand … To cuyll hys heyt 1535 Stewart 35755.
Richt oft he fell into ane glowand heit 1551 Hamilton Catechism 177.
The vehement hait of carnal concupiscence 1560 Rolland Seven Sages 4781.
Wantones had the wyte, and heit of blude was aboundant a1605 Montg. Ch. & Slae 1576.
I knaw na liquor … To quench his deidlie drouth, Except the Cherrie help his heit c1614 Mure Dido and Æn. iii. 483.
The native heit her limmes abandon'd quite(3) a1400 Legends of the Saints xxv. 681.
Sancte Blase answert but het 1456 Hay I. 196/14.
Quhat … a man dois in hete of brethe of ire 1456 Ib. 285/23.
Be malice or hete, woodues [etc.] 1513 Doug. ix. iii. 72.
Quhen Turnus thus in hys iniuryus heit Admonyst hes hys pepill 1533 Boece iii. xxi. 122 b.
Be sic ire and hete thai recounterit c1568 Lauder Minor P. i. 109.
Tha ar cum drye with lust and caruall heit(4) 1456 Hay I. 273/5.
Quhen the bataill war in … the maist hete of the fechting a1500 Henr. III. 147/39.
The low of luf haldand the hete Vnbrynt full blithlie birnis 1513 Doug. iv. Prol. 154.
Ȝong fulys … , Quhilk be resson lyst not thar heyt refreyn 1562-3 Winȝet I. 133/12.
Without the heit of cheritie 1570 Satirical Poems xxi. 95.
Thir haistie heitis sa sall ȝe slokin 1600-1610 Melvill 122.
The … hatt of his zeall to haiff reformation in the kirk 1600-1610 Ib. 137.
In the hat of it [sc. the fever]
2. A heating. Also fig. c1500-c1512 Dunb. xxvi. 77.
In dance thay war sa slaw of feit, Thay gaif thame in the fyre a heit 1513 Doug. xiii. Prol. 130.
Thus sare me dredis I sal thoill a heit
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"Hete n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/hete_n>
