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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

ORT, n.1, v. Also oart. [ort]

I. n., gen. in pl.: what is useless and has been cast aside, leavings, left-over fragments, esp. of food (Ayr. 1811 W. Aiton Agric. Ayr. 693, 1923 Wilson D. Burns 177; Mry. 1925; Sh., Fif., Uls. 1964); light corn blown away in winnowing (Ags. 1857 N. & Q. (Ser. 2) iv. 19); “food for horses, the seed of hay and corn mingled together” (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 368); refuse (Dmf. 1894 Trans. Dmf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc. 158), dross. Also fig. Now only dial. in Eng.Sc. 1721 J. Kelly Proverbs 96:
Evening Oarts is good Morning Foder. Spoken when a Man Breakfasts upon what he left for Supper.
Ayr. 1822 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage 77:
A depository for fish offal, and other orts of the town.
Sc. 1827 Scott Letters (Cent. Ed.) X. 203:
I doubt that the Whigs will be satisfied with their share of orts and grains.
Sc. 1832 A. Henderson Proverbs 16:
Mak nae orts o' gude hay.
Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 121:
Laddie, gang an' tack a puckle horse orts, an' bed the pigs.
Abd. 1884 D. Grant Lays 77:
Toils to free for trustfu' readers Sober facts fae gossips' orts.
Ayr. 1892 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage 237:
Whaur will I find this Andro Keir, The orts o' lawless men?
Dmf. 1899 Country Schoolmaster (Wallace) 339:
They jib their kye, feed them on orts and locks.
Edb. 1916 T. W. Paterson Wyse-Sayin's xvii. 3:
There's a pat for takin the orts oot o' siller.
Sc. 1928 Scots Mag. (May) 144:
And man, man, what hae we dune wi't? Coost it wi' the orts!
Abd.4 1931:
A heap o' foul oarts for ae clean winlin — said in contempt of one who has been praised, or set up as example to others.

II. v. 1. To reject, throw away, refuse (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Edb., Kcb. 1930); to deal wastefully with food, as by picking out the best parts and casting aside the rest (Uls. 1931 Northern Whig (5 Dec.) 13; Kcb.3 1939), or by crumbling it (n.Sc. 1808 Jam.). Also with over (Uls. 1931 Northern Whig (9 Dec.) 11); to pick out what is to be rejected (Kcb. 1964), to pick and choose; to distribute wastefully and extravagantly (Ork. 1929 Marw.). Vbl.n. pl. o(a)rtins, -ans, left-over scraps or fragments, leavings (Uls. 1880 Patterson Gl., 1931 Northern Whig (9 Dec.) 11; Bte. 1959).wm.Sc. 1808 Jam.:
The lasses nowadays ort nane of God's creatures; the reflection of an old woman, as signifying that in our times young women are by no means nice in their choice of husbands.
wm.Sc. 1868 Laird of Logan 511 Add.:
Ort the man's dochters”; a saw, signifying to make Jacob's selection in the order of a family — to pass the elder, and marry the younger.

2. To work energetically but in a rough and therefore wasteful manner.Ork. 1929 Marw.:
He's ortan in it like an ox in an oot-dyke.

[Mid.Eng. ortus, pl., = I. 1. Cf. L.Ger. ort, id., Mid.Du. oorete, leavings of eating.]

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"Ort n.1, v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 28 Mar 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/ort_n1>

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