A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1971 (DOST Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1375, 1475-1596
[1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
(Narow,) Narou, Narrow, v. Also: nairow. [ME. narwe(n (a 1300), narewe(n, nerewe(n (Manning), late ME. narow (1429), OE. nearwian, f. nearw- Naro(w a.]
1. intr. To become narrower, to decrease in breadth. 1375 Barb. xvi. 381.
As ane schelde it narrowit ay c1515 Asloan MS I. 156/27.
Than [the sea] narovs till the narownes of vjc pas
2. tr. To make narrower, to reduce in breadth, to constrict. c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace iii. 133.
A maner dyk … Narrowyt the way 1546 Lynd. Trag. Card. 419.
He wald repent that narrowit so his boundis Off ȝeirly rent thre score of thousand poundis 1580 Edinb. B. Rec. IV. 163.
The hie passages and kairt gaittis … ar pairtlie nairowet and stoppet be casting of gottes and fowsis 1582–3 Ib. 263. 1596 Aberd. B. Rec. II. 142.
The said stair narrowis the gett
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Narow v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 10 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/narow_v>
