Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

STIEVE, adj., adv., v. Also sti(e)v (Sh.), steev(e), steive, ste(a)ve, stive, and deriv. steeval, -il, stevel, stiv(v)al, stivel. [sti:v]

I. adj. ‡1. Of objects: firmly fixed, stable, rigid, immobile, compact, stiff (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl.; Ork. 1929 Marw.); also fig. well-established. Adv. stievely, firmly, securely, stiffly.Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 142:
Steeve as the rocks that hem our native land.Rnf. a.1794 A. Wilson Poems (1876) II. 12:
Right steeve grew the stomachs of some.m.Lth. 1813 G. Bruce Poems 66:
Fast their maws they steevely cram.Slk. 1818 Hogg B. of Bodsbeck iii.:
I had a gay steeve dour aik stick in my hand.Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 309:
We had to draw her near hauf a mile, afore we cam to steave groun.Sc. 1825 Jam.:
A steeve grup, a firm hold.Edb. 1843 J. Ballantine Gaberlunzie v.:
Fou stievely he clouts up auld broken-wind bellows.Kcb. 1894 Crockett Raiders xvi.:
There's a guid steeve purse inside this sleeved waistcoat that is at your service every doit and boddle.em.Sc. 1913 J. Black Gloamin' Glints 75:
We little ken what lies in front, Oor stievest plans get whiles a dunt.Edb. 1928 A. D. Mackie In Two Tongues 59:
The stieve ship lay jowin' in the tide.Sh. 1966 New Shetlander No. 78. 24:
Twa wir stiev corpses afore lang.Sc. 1991 John McDonald in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 91:
close-mooths yeuky wi the unkent;
fain tae drap their gett -
a drucken stramash, or a steive corp. Sc. 1995 David Purves Hert's Bluid 48:
The deuks mumps on the frozen loch;
breistin the snell wund frae the north,
the maws keiks doun frae steive weings
at the deid land o Scotland.

2. Of persons or animals or their limbs: firm, stout, strong, sturdy (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl.; Fif., Lth. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 268; Per., Fif., Lth., Dmf. 1971). Deriv. steevish, stiv(v)age, id. Adv. stievely, firmly, stoutly.Cai. 1773 Weekly Mag. (28 Oct.) 147:
I mutter'd a short pray'r, an' took my leave, Syne drank a gockiefu' to mak me steeve.Abd. 1876 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 22:
She'll be mair stivage, heary, trust ye me, Gin she a toment yet be latten be.Lnk. a.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 16:
A sturdy auld fallow he was, stood stively wi' a stiff rumple.Ayr. 1786 Burns Auld Mare iii.:
A filly buirdly, steeve an' swank.Rnf. 1790 A. Wilson Poems 87:
Since I'm now stively on my feet, An' hale an' weel as ever.Peb. 1805 J. Nicol Poems II. 15:
Sax souple Hempies, stive an' stark.Dmf. 1822 A. Cunningham Tales I. 118:
My foot is not so firm in the stirrup now, nor my hand sae steeve at the steel.Abd. 1824 G. Smith Douglas 73:
Set a' your shou'ders, steevely, to the touzlie.Fif. 1841 C. Gray Lays 218:
To help thee stievely owre a gutter.Slk. 1875 Border Treasury (6 Feb.) 321:
I was beginnin' to grow a steevish chield.Ork. 1893 Sc. Antiquary VIII. 57:
Me ain gudeman a warrior prood, An' aye a stival nave his he.Per. 1895 R. Ford Tayside Songs 264:
Muscles steeve as airn.Lnl. 1910 J. White Eppie Gray 10:
The steevest frame through time will wear.em.Sc. 1913 J. Black Gloamin' Glints 34:
Women an' men i' their prime, Hae steppit stievely to an' fro.Fif. 1960:
I'm as stieve as an auld buckie.

3. In more abstract senses: (1) of persons or their attributes: steady, resolute, stout-hearted, staunch, firm in principles (Sc. 1825 Jam.); trusty, loyal, dependable (Id., a steeve friend; Per., Slg. 1971). Occas. of things. Adv. stievely.Sc. 1769 Caled. Mercury (19 April):
Was no Piercie his steeve friend?Sc. 1816 Scott Antiquary xxviii.:
There's parts [of her mind] that look the steever, and the stronger and the grander.Sc. 1816 Scott Black Dwarf i.:
Your father believed it unco' stievely.Ayr. 1862 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage (1892) 354:
Making steive the proverb still, That gude grows out o' ill.Gsw. 1863 J. Young Ingle Nook 26:
The puir man's steevest, best o' frien's, Is the fond, loving wife.Rnf. 1870 J. Nicholson Idylls 114:
We're a' grown steeve abstainers noo.Dmf. 1871 J. Palmer Poems 19:
Yet in their great object they steivly agree.Per. 1879 P. R. Drummond Bygone Days 216:
He was no “steeve seceder“m.Sc. 1897 Northern Muse (Buchan 1924) 233:
Stout Herds were they, and steeve their creed.Kcb. 1901 R. Trotter Gall. Gossip 410:
Fowr hunner steeve Gallawa men in't.Arg. 1907 N. Munro Daft Days xxi.:
His walk so steeve and steady.Edb. 1915 T. W. Paterson Auld Saws 19:
A hairt that's steive, an' couthie, an' leal.ne.Sc. 1935 Sc. N. & Q. (Jan.) 6:
Roy't loons an' rantin' quines Mak steave carles an' strappin wives.

(2) hard-hearted, grim, relentless, inflexible, obstinate (Sc. 1808 Jam., a steeve carle; Per. 1971). Comb. stieve-breasted, emotionally hard, unfeeling.Edb. 1856 J. Ballantine Poems 59:
The rags waffin' round her wad wauken ruth In a mair stieve-breasted chield than me.Kcb. 1895 Crockett Moss-Hags xlv.:
He [Claverhouse] waved his hand, cried to his men, and rode off like the steeve and dour persecutor that he was.m.Sc. 1898 J. Buchan John Burnet iii. i.:
By a' accoont, he's a stieve dour chiel.m.Sc. 1917 J. Buchan Poems 34:
There's saft bits in the stievest men.Slg. 1932 W. D. Cocker Poems 26:
The auld, thrawn, steeve, contentious spirit.wm.Sc. 1937 W. Hutcheson Chota Chants 26:
Earl Douglas, he was steeve and stark.

(3) well-established in the world, shrewd and prosperous in business, cautious and prudent in money matters, cannie, slightly niggardly.Ayr. 1783 Ayrshire Wreath (1844) 104:
The farmer, a gae jolly spark, In cash and credit steeve.Dmf. 1826 A. Cunningham Paul Jones I. iv.:
A sedate man, and a steeve — well to live in the world.Ayr. 1928:
He's gey stieve wi the siller.

(4) fig. of qualities: strong, durable, hard-wearing.Edb. 1843 J. Ballantine Gaberlunzie Intro. ii.:
We are the true conservatives o' the auld stieve Saxon tongue . . . The gude steeve stuff she's made o'.

(5) of a struggle: hard, obstinately contested, grim; of haste: pressing.Dmf. 1830 J. McDiarmid Sketches 67:
The rest, after a steeve battle, wad soon eat it up.Abd. 1882 W. Forsyth Writings 191:
We'd mony stieve tugs on the fair fields o' Spain.Lnk. 1913 Border Mag. (Aug.) 180:
He was in a steve hurry, an' slippit as they handed him in.

(6) of a road, lit. and fig.: difficult, steep and rough, ungenial (Sh. 1971 , a stieve brae).Edb. 1856 J. Ballantine Poems 113:
At the foot o' a stieve an' stey brae.Abd. 1922 Swatches o' Hamespun 52:
He then sets oot on life's stieve road.

4. Of food or drink: strong, substantial, thick, full of pith or body, potent (Per. 1825 Jam., stevel; Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 181; Cai. 1904 E.D.D.; Ork. 1929 Marw., Ork. 1971, stivval), deriv. stievie, id., e.g. of porridge (Gall. 1971); sim. of cloth: thick, hard-wearing, durable (Ork. 1971, stivval).m.Lth. 1786 G. Robertson Har'st Rig (1801) 13:
Good steeve brochin, braw an' warm.Edb. 1801 H. MacNeill Poems II. 46:
And helping round ilk friend and cousin Wi' crack — and joke — and steeve rum toddy.Mry. 1806 R. Jamieson Ballads II. 355:
We'll a' get crowdie whan it's done, And bannocks steeve to bind it.Slk. 1823 Hogg Shep. Cal. (1874) 294:
His good steeve aitmeal parritch and his horn spoon.s.Sc. 1838 Wilson's Tales of the Borders IV. 92:
I drank a guid steeve tumbler o' toddy.Kcb. 1894 Crockett Raiders xvi.:
Them that gaes linking thorough the moss-haggs and the muirs has need o' some steeve belly-timber.Sh. 1904 E.D.D.:
Der nathin' dat keeps da stamak lek a cug o' steeve gruel.Sc. 1936 J. G. Horne Flooer o' Ling 38:
An' the steer o' the theevil When the parritch are steevil.

5. Of wind: strong, blowing hard.Edb. 1811 H. MacNeill Bygane Times 13:
Ere ye dashing sail Afore the wind wi' a stive gale.

II. adv., used in most of the above senses of the adj.: firmly, stoutly, stiffly, securely, with determination, staunchly. Hence steeve still, stock-still, to go steeve on tae, to make straight for (Ork. 1929 Marw.).Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 93:
As lang's a canny chiel Can stand steeve in his shoon.Hdg. 1801 R. Gall Poems (1819) 38:
An' for that purpose, linked steeve, They held by ane anither's neive.Ayr. 1822 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage 153:
I reckon'd thee than, Jessie, my ain, Steeve trysted for gude an' a'.Ayr. 1847 Ballads (Paterson) 61:
Whiles the purse that's hespet steeve, Tines a' its gatherings oot.Lth. 1854 M. Oliphant M. Hepburn xi.:
He's keepit his castle stieve against the governor.Gsw. 1860 J. Young Poorhouse Lays 58:
Gie me my parritch reekin' steve.Dmb. 1868 J. Salmon Gowodean 13:
That life to ills mann e'en stieve batter'd be.Kcb. 1886 Vale of Urr Verses MSS. II. 31:
'Mang the younger race there were stieve-built chiels.m.Lth. 1897 P. H. Hunter J. Armiger 34:
There's nae man in the parish'll stand up for him mair stieve.e.Lth. 1903 J. Lumsden Toorle 73:
Gin he disna screw them a' steeve an' starn eneuch!Edb. 1928 A. D. Mackie Poems 45:
Wi' ilk stane stapped stieve in.

III. v. 1. To make firm, stiff, or taut. Ppl.adj. steevin, stiff, hard, strong. Also in n.Eng. dial.Lnk. 1808 W. Watson Misc. Poetry 101:
I steave up my temper-string gayly.Wgt. 1912 A.O.W.B. Fables 49:
Just brak his jaw-bane wi' a guid steevin' kick!

2. In pa.p. steeved, of a boat, heavily laden with fish (Arg. 1990s).Arg. 1998 Angus Martin The Song of the Quern 51:
Yon nicht, steeved wi a sleever,
rowlin roon the Cock,
her forefut fa'in canny,
buffin seas tae smok,