A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2002 (DOST Vol. XI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1490-1617
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Turpitud(e, n. [e.m.E. turpytude (Caxton), turpitude (1570), F. turpitude, L. turpitūdo.] Lowness of character, baseness, shameful behaviour. 1490 Irland Mir. I 67/14.
Thar had bene expulsioune and egestioune of the superfluiteis, bot nocht as now Be sic filth & vthire turpitud, bot be subtilite 1490 Irland Mir. III 26/7.
Quhen the saule … consentis to the plesaunce and fleschly dilectacioun of the body, and lufis the turpitude and the wnhoneste of the flesch 1533 Bell. Livy II 30/25.
It was grete schame & turpitude to thame to haue schewin mare manhede and strenth aganis thare awne citeȝanis than now aganis thare inemyis 1567 Reg. Privy C. I 522.
Dowbill sentences of divorce … groundit on the cause of his awin turpitude a1578 Pitsc. II 209/10.
The matter mycht be forder tryit to thair gret honour and to the turpitud and schame of the vthir pairtie a1597-1617 Hist. Jas. VI (1804) 107.
He … delaitit his turpitude to the judge criminall and certaine uther preachers
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"Turpitud n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 16 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/turpitude>
