A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2001 (DOST Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1424, 1499-1600, 1660-1686
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Tellar(e, -er, n. [ME and e.m.E. teller (14th c.); Tel(l v.] a. One who relates (information, esp. lies) or makes known or announces (something) in sense 1 of Tel(l v. b. One who counts (money). —a. 1424 Acts II 8/2.
All lesingis makaris & tellaris of thaim the quhilk may ingener discorde a1500 Henr. Hasty Credence 10 (M).
Ane nobill lord ane tale aucht weill to weye, Knaw the tellar [B. tailltellar], and on quhome it is tauld a1500 Henr. Hasty Credence 12 (M).
Tellar [B. tailisman] c1520-c1535 Nisbet Acts xvii 18.
A tellare [Vulg. annunciator] of new feendis 1579 Acts III 177/1.
They salbe … persewit as learis and tellaris of lesingis 1660 Wodrow Hist. I (1828) 76.
All leasing-makers, and tellers thereof 1686 Proclam. 17 June.
A proclamation against slanderers and leesing-makers … against makers and tellers of leesings —b. 1600 Criminal Trials II 213.
His maiesty … gaue answere, that he was no good teller of money
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"Tellar n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 18 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/tellare>
