A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2001 (DOST Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1456, 1575
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(Sipe,) Sype, n. [MDu. sijp a channel, watercourse, gutter, narrow ditch (Verwijs & Verdam), MLG sîp, sipe a small stream (Schiller-Lübben); cf. OE sype ? seepage, drainage, and Sipe v.] A seepage, leakage, trickling overflow. (Also in the early place-names Sipland (1210 Regesta II 447) and Sipelawes (?a1259 Acts I 88/1)). — 1456 Hay II 138/28.
The slepand wateris of lowis, but rynnyng, or of dubbis or sypes fra townis, … ar nocht halesum c1575 Balfour Pract. 588.
Gif thair be ony persounis that settis furth under the ȝeird the sype of thair bark cobill … or ony sype of kitching, to the King's water or well, throw the quhilk the King's lieges may oft-times tak skaith [etc]
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"Sipe n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 12 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/sipe_n>
