A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1951 (DOST Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1606, 1678
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Emot(t, Emmot, n. Also: nemot, emet, emmet; imat. [ME emot(e, emete, OE. ǽmete. Cf. Imock n.] An emmet, an ant. a1400 Legends of the Saints iv. 137.
Na mycht haff we To grewe the thing at twechis thé, Na, nocht a nemot [L. formicam] 1456 Hay II. 131/4.
The emotis gaderis to thair provisionis for aganis the wynter to thair nestis 1456 Ib. 157/26.
Sum man [is] wys as a bee or ane emot 1450-1510 Gray MS. vi. 63.
Full oft is sene Thir emotis in ane hillok ay Rinnand oute befor thin ene 1513 Doug. iv. vii. 80.
Lyke emmotis [Sm. emetis] grete Quhen thai depulȝe the mekill byng of quhete c1552 Lynd. Mon. 1708.
Lyke … emottis travelling in to June, Sum under wrocht, and sum abone 1581 Satirical Poems xliii. 46.
Medas [was fed] with [= by] imates 1606 Birnie Kirk-b. xvi. 27.
The emmet, and bee … buries their dead, but without their hyuesattrib. 15.. Lichtoun Dreme 70.
Ane cleirly coit maid … Of emmot skynis 1678 Mackenzie Laws & C. i. x. § 9.
An ant or emmot-hill
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"Emot n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/emott>
