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A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)

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First published 1986 (DOST Vol. VI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Pois-, Poysoun, -on, v. Also: -en and poisonn-, poys(s)onn-, poysown, poysont. P.t. and p.p. poisonit etc., poysond, poysont, etc. [ME and e.m.E. poysone(n, -ene(n, -ine(n (14th c.), poisone (1395), also puyson (north., c 1400), OF poisonner to give to drink, f. poison Poiso(u)n n. Cf. OF *poisnier, L. pōtiōnāre to give to drink, drug, f. L. pōtiōn- Poiso(u)n n. Cf. also Puso(u)n v.] To poison.

1. tr. To administer poison to (a person, also an animal). Also reflex. b. To harm or kill by means of poison.pres. c1475 Wall. viii 1277.
I can nocht trow ladyis wald do sic deid, To poysoun men, for all Ingland to wyn 1535 Stewart 37446.
Quhen thow gart poysoun Malcum Dufe the prince Of Cumbria 1590 Crim. Trials I ii 196.
How to poysoun the young laird a1595 Cullen Chron. Aberd. 68.
Heir standin pwillis of mwid The taist quharof infectis the sawll And poysonis fles and blwid(b) c 1532 Misc. Bann. C. I 333.
[Ye kill] certaine fleis that eite and poysont the [body]p.t., p.p.(a) 1375 Barb. xx 609.
Bot syne, allas! poysonyt [E. pusonyt] wes he c1420 Wynt. vii 129.
For sum off thame thare poysownyt ware [C. poyssonnyt, W. poysound] Ib. viii 3352.
At the Wemys … Poysownyd [C. pusownyt] at a fest wes he c1515 Asl. MS. I 263/19.
Bot … King Ihon was poysonit with his pepill 1531 Bell. Boece II 44.
He was poisonit be Roxena 1549 Compl. 81/18.
For melancolye he poysonnit hym self(b) 1456 Hay I 45/11.
Socrates was put in prisoun and tharein poysond 16.. Herries Mem. 81.
The queen's unfriends gave out that he was poysend(c) a1561 Q. Kennedy Breif Tract. (ed.) 139/28.
Medicinaris quha persauand ony man intoxicat or poysont be contra poysone curis the pacient 1658–1700 Greyfriars Interments 718.
A poor las poysent(d) 1581-1623 James VI Poems I 241/368.
The sea uas littid reade uith bloode & fisches poisonned all 1596 Dalr. I 164/27.
Gif … he [Agricola] had nocht bene … in Rome poysouned and sa endet this lyfe 1644 Ritchie Ch. S. Baldred 261.
It was lyklie she was poysonned by eating poysonable herbs

2. To impregnate (the air, or something to be eaten, etc.) with poison; to render poisonous. a1400 Leg. S. xxxiii 62.
Thru slachtir and corrupcion Of the ayre that he wald poyson 1549 Compl. 122/5.
He poysont the host of the sacrament vitht poyson 1597 Old Dundee I 101.
That the skinners … daily poison and intoxicate with scouring of pellets … the water

3. fig. To taint or corrupt; to infect with vileness or depravity; to spoil.Also const. up.(1) a1500 Henr. Orph. 442 (Ch. & M.).
The serpent stangis that is dedely sin That poysons [Bann. posownis] the saule wyth out & in a1499 Contempl. Sinn. 1413 (Harl.).
Pompeous presumptioun hes poysound sa prudence That [etc.] 1513 Doug. Conscience 26.
To poysoun iustis thow dois never irk(2) a1605 Montg. Flyt. 116 (T).
Ȝe huirsone … drink of that wel that poysonit thy pen(3) c1500-c1512 Dunb. lix 9.
That fulle dismemberit hes my meter And poysound it with strang salpeter(4) a1605 Montg. Son. xxiv 4.
A peltrie pultron poysond vp with pryde

4. To render (a fire-arm) unfit for use by the introduction or operation of some deleterious agent such as moisture or rust.Also in this sense in late 17th c. (a 1693) and later Eng. 1633 M. Works Acc. (ed.) II 387.
For rining and wining of the tuicholle of the irone peice that hes beine poysoned this many yeires bygaine a1650 Row 395.
All the bishops' cannons were poysoned, they would misgive