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: 1399-1400, 1473-1616
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Forehed(e, Forhed(e, n. Also: foir-, forheid, forhad; fourhed. [ME. forhed(e, forheved, OE. forhéafod. See also Foret n.]
1. The forehead.(a) a1400 Legends of the Saints xxxii. 183.
Hir forhed & breste bath Scho taknyt of the croice rath c1400 Troy-bk. i. 328.
He … with forhede blith … resauit thame swyth c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace xi. 1260.
A fyr brand in his forheid he bayr c1515 Asloan MS I. 165/27.
Sum of thir ilis has men with ane E in the forhed 1513 Doug. i. Prol. 20.
Quhy suld I than, with dull forhed and vayn, … Presume to write? a1578 Pitsc. I. 258/17.
His forheid was beld and bair(b) 1501 Acts Lords of Council MS. XI. 116.
Ane quhite meir with ane blak foale, beld in the forehed 1560 Rolland Seven Sages 7851.
Ane hiddeous wound he gat in his foirheid 1558-66 Knox II. 452.
The leprosie appeirit in his foirheid 1591 Criminal Trials I. 245.
The thing in the foirheid of ane new-foillit foill 1616 Master of Works Accounts (ed.) II. 4.
Ane blak broun hors beld in his foreheid
2. The line up to which a peat-moss has already been dug. 1473 Reg. Cupar A. I. 174.
Tha sal kast thar petis apon a forhed filland behynd tham 1473 Ib. 199.
Tha sal neuer cast thar pettis bot onder a forhed
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"Forehed n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/forehede>
