A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1574-1693
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Bisom, Bissom, n. Also: bisem, bis(s)ome, byssome. [e.m.E. bysom (16th c.), ME. bisme, rare var. of besom(e, besme, OE. besema, besma. See also Bussom.] A besom, a broom. Also transf. of a comet or its tail. 1574 Edinb. D. Guild Acc. 39.
For water & bisomes to dycht the kirk 1595 Duncan Appendix.
Scopae, … a bissom a1598 Ferg. Prov. 10.
A new bissome soupes clean 1600-1610 Melvill 58.
A terrible comet … [with] a lang teall … lyk unto a bissom or scurge maid of wands 1603 Montgomery Mem. II. 246.
Two bisemis, vj d. a1639 Spotsw. Hist. 94.
A comet of that kind, which … the vulgars [call] a firie bissome 1653 Stirling B. Rec. II. 318.
For 4 bissomes to the Towbuith 1680 Lauder Hist. Observes 17.
Thesse 3000 years, ther was not a comet seen with such a … prodigious byssome and taill 1693 Foulis Acc. Bk. 159.
For 4 broom bissomes
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"Bisom n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 6 Feb 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/bisom>
