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: 1375-1638
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Ges, v. Also: gesse, ghess(e, gaise, gis. [ME. gesse (13..), MDu. gessen, var. of MDu. and MLG. gissen. Cf. Du. gissen. In both verb and noun the spelling gais(e corresponds to the modern pronunciation.]
1. tr. To form a conjectural estimate or opinion about (something). 1456 Hay I. 48/5.
He … brocht peple but nombre, that nane could gesse sik multitude thai war a1500 Lancelot of the Laik 765.
Ten thousand y ges them for to be 1540 Lynd. Sat. 158.
Quhat is my name can ȝe not gesse? 1540 Ib. 3421.
How haue ȝe vsit ȝour office can ȝe ges? 1560 Rolland Seven Sages 5759.
Gif scho was blyith the auditouris may ges 1560 Ib. 8812.
The treuth I traist to ges a1605 Montg. Flyt. 285 (T).
How this ghaist haid bene gottin, to ges they begane a1605 Id. Son. xxiii. 2.
Then culd I ges vho wer a gentle Jhone 1638 Chron. Perth 36.
Ȝe may ges gif the toun … wes angrie or not
2. absol. To estimate by guess; to conjecture. Freq. in I ges, added to a statement.(1) 1375 Barb. xiv. 270.
Thai war, to ges, fifty thousand c1420 Wynt. viii. 3521.
Welle twa thousand, as men can ges a1500 Bk. Chess 1322.
Cam, as I ges, In to this warld the first teileman that wes c1550 Rolland Court of Venus ii. 684.
As I ges, superexpendit was he 1560 Id. Seven Sages 5486.
As thay ges, Sum will say fals(2) c1450-2 Howlat 397.
The said persevantis gyde was grathit, I ges, Brusit with ane grene tre a1500 Henr. III. 103/35.
Hir hois of honestie, I ges, I suld for hir provyd c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace viii. 323.
Off Wallace men v hundreth war slayne, I ges c1500-c1512 Dunb. G. Targe 230.
Be this … God Eolus, his bugill blew, I gesse 1513 Doug. xii. xii. 95.
Ȝa, swyftar than the wynd he fled, I ges 1567 Gude and Godlie Ballatis 210.
Thay hony lippis ȝe did persew Grew gall, I ges c1600 Montg. Suppl., Misc. P. xxvi. 7.
Sumtyme to forgett, I gaise, Hes na les force to kendill Cupydis fyre
3. intr. to ges at. To attempt to discover by conjecture. 1600-1610 Melvill 170.
A sweik thik mist … , wherby we might bot skarslie gis at the sight of the land
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"Ges v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/ges_v>
