A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1452, 1604-1605
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Bysyn(e, Bysin(e, n. Also: bysyng, bisyn. [ON. býsn marvel, portent.] A monster. Also attrib. or as adj., monstrous, portentous. (Cf. Bysnyng.) a1400 Legends of the Saints xii. 33.
He sal be a bysyne man For his ill a1400 Ib. l. 944.
Thy body … I sall gere doggis … rife & mak a bysine wyf of thé c1420 Wynt. ii. 1306.
Off this bysyn best [sc. the Minotaur] … Scho wes delywyre c1420 Ib. vi. 1055.
Till a bysyn [C. bisyn] best all lyke Sene he wes c1450-2 Howlat 69.
Quhom sall I blame … a bysyn that I be? c1450-2 Ib. 107.
I am … bysyn of all birdis a1605 Montg. Son. xxxiv. 14.
Fy, death, that dou not serue me Bot quik and dead a bysin thow must preserve me
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"Bysyn n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/bysyne>
