A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1986 (DOST Vol. VI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1581
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Preso(u)n, v. Also: -one, -onn, -own. [ME presune (Cursor M.), e.m.E. preson (16th c.), more common Sc. var. of Priso(u)n v.]
1. tr. To put or keep (another) in prison, to imprison, incarcerate, confine as a prisoner. a1400 Legends of the Saints ii 11.
He wes … syn thare Presonyt and put in stokis a1400 Ib. i 98, ii 128. c1420 Wynt. v 966.
Sa presownyd, he bad in that state, Quhyll that [etc.] c1420 Ib. viii 7132. 14.. Acts I 324/2.
Presonnyt 1456 Hay I 153/28.
He has tane him and presound him 1464 15th Rep. Hist. MSS App. viii 38.
[The King shall immediately] presoun thaire personis, mak penny of thaire gudis [etc.] 1488–9 Acts Lords of Council I 107/2.
Presonit a1500 Buke of the Sevyne Sagis 1135. 1494 Acts Lords Auditors 202/1. c1515 Asloan MS I 305/22. a1508 Kennedy Pass. Christ 99. c1520-c1535 Nisbet III 351.
The cause quhy he was presoneth 1533 Bell. Livy II 26/21.
That the begynnare of the samyn lawis … salbe presonit amang vile … thevis? 1543 Criminal Trials I i 327.
Presonit in the Castell of Edinburgh 1549 Complaynte of Scotland 162/24.
He gart … presone the bodeis of ane vthir part in perpetual captiuite 1550 Reg. Privy C. I 92. c1552 Lynd. Mon. 3947. c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace (1570) viii 1350. 1581 Acts III 212/1.
The puir folkis … to be put in the stokis, joggis or presonit for the space of foure houris
2. To fasten or restrain (a person) as in a prison, to fetter. c1550 Rolland Court of Venus iii 443.
In handis sone tane was he, And presonit sair with irne bandis till ane tre
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"Preson v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 16 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/presoun_v>
