Show Search Results Show Browse

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

GIRZIE, n. Also girrz(z)ie. [′gɪrzi]

1. A maid-servant (Ags., Fif. 1954, rare).Sc. 1828 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) II. 124:
And a pretty pack they wad be — fishwives, female caudies . . . girrzies, auld maids wi' bairds, and young limmers wi' green parasols.
Ib. 198:
A lodging-house Girrzzie laying down a baikie fu' o' ashes at the mouth of a common stair.
Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr Duguid 282:
He took the Beuk of course nicht and morning, gathering a' the girzies and the men into the spence.

2. Used by Stevenson as a familiar and slightly derogatory form of address to a young woman.Sc. 1887 Stevenson Merry Men (1925) ii.:
“Mary, ye girzie,” he interrupted himself to cry with some asperity, “what for hae ye no' put out the twa candlestivks?”
Sc. 1896 Stevenson W. of Hermiston 181:
“I'll leave that for your pairt of it, ye girzie,” said he. “Ye'll lee to me fast eneuch, when ye hae gotten a jo.”

[Met. dim. from Grizel, reduced form of the proper name Griselda.]

You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.

"Girzie n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 28 Mar 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/girzie>

12839

snd

Hide Advanced Search

Browse SND:

    Loading...

Share: