A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1963 (DOST Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1400-1656
[0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0]
Inch, n.1 Also: inche, ins(c)h(e, ynch. [e.m.E. inch, ME. inch(e, ynch(e, OE. ynce, ince, L. uncia.] An inch as a measure of extent.The sing. may be used for the plural after numbers. 14.. Acts I. 109/2.
Suilk cruiffis … sal be … tua inch in the lenth and thre inch in the breid 14.. Ib. 310/2.
In the roundnes at the boddom lxxi inches 14.. Ib. 375/2.
For ilk inch of bred of the wound c1420 Wynt. viii. 5260.
His spere he bare … in the brest ane inch or mare 1425 Acts II. 12/1.
The … ferlote … sal contene in breid evin ourethorte xvi inchys c1500-c1512 Dunb. v. 12.
Scho … raid ane inche behind the taill 1533 Boece xii. xvi. 484b.
[The boar's] tuskis … having in lenth xvi insch c1540 Lynd. Syde Taillis 43.
Men seis thare feit … Four inche abone thare proper heillis 1549 Complaynte of Scotland 96/24.
Na Scottis man suld veyr na vaupyn bot ane knif of fife inche of lyntht 1585 Rep. Elphinston Mun. 24.
Ane tow of fiftein faddome of thre insche greit 1656 Aberd. B. Rec. IV. 163.
That each insche of double solit shoes … be sold at thrie shilling the insh
b. In figurative or colloquial use. c1420 Ballad in c1420 Ratis Raving 10/7.
For ilk ynch he wyll thé quyte a spane a1540 Freiris Berw. 266.
Said the gudwyf, ‘Devill inche cun may I’ a1578 Pitsc. II. 135/21.
They could not obtein in all the toune of Sanctandrois … ane inche of ane tow a1605 Montg. Misc. P. vii. 39.
Drie furth the inch as thou hes done the span c 1651 Douglas Corr. 264.
You wold … haue bidden (as they say) the inshe as yow haue done the spann
c. pl. Small fragments. 1573 Satirical Poems xxxix. 94.
Thocht the wallis wes wycht, ȝit dowbell battrie brak thame al in inschis
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Inch n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 6 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/inch_n_1>
