A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1963 (DOST Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1420-1513, 1567-1585
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Lest, n. [f. Lestv.1: cf. Last n.4]The Douglas example may belong here; or perh. it is to be taken as an irreg. p.p. of Lest v.1
Continuance, duration, permanence; also latterly, durability. Freq. to have (a) lest, to endure, and to have na (no) lest. 1489 Brus ii. 277 (E).
Thai may … slep and rest And at to morn but langar lest [H. frist] Ȝe sall isch furth to the bataill c1420 Ratis Raving 686.
Fore quhen men lypnis in thaim [riches] maist, Thai fall & failȝeis and has na lest 1461 Liber Pluscardensis I. 385; c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace vi. 90.
And euiry man a lord desyris to be, Quhilk has na lest a1500 Bk. Chess 823.
With men of laubour, peis, leving & rest In no tyme may but justice haf a lest 1513 Doug. vi. xv. 60.
Gif so it war the giftis ȝhe [gods] hym lent Had remanyt or lang his lyfe had lest a1585 Arbuthnot Maitland Quarto MS xxxv. 21.
The thing fairest with langest lest From all canker maist clein a 1568 Satirical Poems xlviii. 69.
For the lang lest, it wald be schewid [sc. sewn] fast 1585 Edinb. B. Rec. IV. 407.
That the ruiff … be theiket with skailyie als weill for the honesty as the lest thairof
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"Lest n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/lest_n>
