A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1971 (DOST Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1499-1500, 1560
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Mensles, a. [e.m.E. (north.) menceless (1593), and mod. Sc. and north. Eng. dialect. Cf. also Menskles.] Wanting in decorum or seemliness; indecorous, unmannerly, graceless. — a1500 Tale of the Colkelbie Sow i. 113.
Fro this cursit cumpany And mensles mangery 1560 Rolland Seven Sages 4068.
Scho is … Ane mensles monsture 1560 Ib. 7994.
Quhair suld be rest, thay rattill ay in a rane … Quhair meiknes is, than thay ar mensles
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"Mensles adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 19 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/mensles>
