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: 1500-1626
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Cunning, -yng, (ppl.) a. Also: cwnning, cuning, connyng. [ME. cunning, con(n)yng, etc. (14th c.), f. cunne, conne Cun v. After 1500 common in Sc. in place of Cunnand a.] Possessed of knowledge or skill; learned, skilful.(a) c1515 Asloan MS I. 181/5.
Diligence … makis of ane rude & vnnurist man ane man cuning, perte, & weile manerit c1500-c1512 Dunb. lxxxii. 31.
Ȝour commone menstrallis hes no tone, … Cuningar men man serve Sanct Cloun 1533 Boece i. viii. 54.
Ptolome of Alexandria … richt cunnyng baith in the science of mathematic and cosmographie 1545 Acts & Decreets II. 31.
Like as hes bene obseruit … as is schewin to ws be auld, wis, & cunnyn men 1562-3 Winȝet II. 47/5.
In sa mekle the tentatioun [was] gretar, quhow mekle he war cunningar, quha had errit 1570 Leslie 7.
That cuning and eloquente historiographe, Hector Boecius 1572-5 Diurnal of Occurrents 4.
Iames the fourt … favorit all cunnyng and religious men 1596 Dalr. II. 44/29.
[King James I] in al sciences was sa scientiue and cunning, that in quhat science he was cunningest culd na man tel 1622-6 Bisset I. 107/10.
His hienes progenitouris institute the said college of cwnning and vyse men(b) c1500-c1512 Dunb. G. Taege 273.
Thou lytill quair, be ewir obedient, … Before the face of ewiry connyng wicht a1578 Pitsc. I. 176/11.
Becaus he was conning in that craft … thai maid him maister maisone 1581 Lennox Mun. 321.
It is fund be ane conning inqueist … that his louit cousingnace … is idiot and prodigall
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"Cunning ppl. adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 13 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/cunning_ppl_adj>
