A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2002 (DOST Vol. XII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1400, 1500-1640
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Werynes, Weirines, n. Also: werines, verynes, veirines, wearenes. [ME and e.m.E. werinesse (c1200), werynes (Wyclif), wearines, wearynes (both 1560).] a. Exhaustion; tiredness. b. Dejection, sorrow. c. Tedium.a. a1400 Legends of the Saints xviii 605.
For werynes, Of ned me worth[it] be in pes I wes sa thrungyne & mad sare That tho I wald I mycht nomare Bot … restyt me, & myn aynd tuke a1400 Legends of the Saints xviii 1249.
That I mycht al tyme folow thé But verynes a1400 Legends of the Saints xxxiv 110.
[He] fore slepe ȝede til his bede Fore werynes, as he was clede, & fel one slepe 1533 Boece 533a.
Think ȝe than sall be ony difficulte to prosterne thir bodyis quhilk be debilite and werynes may be ourgane with ȝoure fete at ȝoure plesure? c1550 Rolland Court of Venus iv 615.
The forwrocht wichtis in verray werines 1560 Rolland Seven Sages 6663.
Ane vther knicht, Quhilk … For werynes was baith houngrie and cald(b) c1500-c1512 Dunb. (OUP) 159/9.
For weirines on me ane slummer soft Come with ane dremyng 1571 Misc. Bann. C. III 119.
I tuik the first fitte of my feaver … ane gryt veirines, cold, schattring of tyeith, and thair efter a gryt hait(c) a1597-1617 Hist. Jas. VI (1825) 93.
In the myds of thair wearenes to haue invaydit sik a strenthie tounb. 1621-40 Melville Commonpl. Bk. 37.
Ethair with a mirie hart ouercome all weirines Or with a faithfull freind overcom all cairfullnesc. 1583 Melvill 157.
The maist lernit and fathfull pastores … ar forced … to keipe sylence and leave the ministerie … or els to essay the filthie weirines of stinking pressones
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"Werynes n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 16 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/werynes>
