A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1990 (DOST Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1500-1699
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Rifart, -fert, n. Also: riffard; riphet; rafert, raphort, raphorte. [e.m.E. rayffort (1541), F. raifort, reff-, riffort, etc., (16th c. in Wartburg) f. OF raiz a root and fort strong. Also in the later Sc. dial. as reefort.] A horse-radish. — 1568 Skeyne Descr. Pest 21.
Quhairin ane clene raphort cuttit smal had bene steipit aucht dayis 1568 Ib. 26.
Raphorte dissoluit in vyne or vinagir may be vsit 1500-1699 Herbarius Latinus Annot. cxvi (Bot.).
Radix … rafert a1646 Wedderburn Voc. 18.
Raphanus, a riffard 1665 Household Bks. Archb. Sharp in Misc. Maitl. C. II 527.
For rifertis and salt [5 s.] 1665–7 Lauder Jrnl. 83.
In Octobre is the tyme of their roots, as riphets, tho they eat of them al summer throw 16.. Sempill P. 69/55.
There'll be … sybows and rifarts and carlings, That ar both sodden and ra
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"Rifart n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 13 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/rifart>
