A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1971 (DOST Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1595
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Min, Myn(e, a. [North. and midl. ME. ([the] mare [more] and [the]) minne (a 1300), mynne, ON. minne compar. of lítill. After c 1440 appar. only Sc.] Lesser. Only in adj. or quasi-adv. phrases coupled with mare (more).
1. a. Mare and min, greater and lesser (persons etc.), all of them, every one. Also the mare and the min.(1) a1400 Legends of the Saints xxi. 616.
Al … That was thare, mare & myne ?1438 Alex. i. 3090.
To the erd ȝeid mare and min ?1438 Ib. ii. 10102.
And be our goddis mare and myn c1420 Wynt. ii. 1074.
Man and best, bath mare and myn [: tharein] He wyndyde c1420 Ib. iv. 2516. a1450 Fifteen Ois 202.
And all my freindis, mair and myn [: blyn] a1500 King Hart 68.
With all his lustie seruandis more and myn a1500 Bk. Chess 586.
And as thaim list scho tald thaim mor & myn a1500 Buke of the Sevyne Sagis 226. a1508 Kennedy Flyt. 412.
Thay suld be exilde Scotland mare and myn [: kyn, pyn, thin] 1535 Stewart 30090. 1535 Ib. 6916.
With haill consent of all baith mair and myn 1535 Ib. 9411. 1535 Ib. 21941. 1567 Gude and Godlie Ballatis 43. a1570-86 Maitland Folio MS xxxix. 49. 1568 Charteris Lyndesay Pref. Adhort. 54.
Idolateris … Reid heir ȝour lyfe at large baith mair and min 1595 Anderson Winter Night (1713) 19.
Christ bade all people more and min [: sin](2) a1500 Golagros and Gawane 1159.
Quhen thai war machit at mete the mare and the myn
b. Mare na (nor) myn, (neither) greater nor lesser, none of them. c1420 Wynt. v. 5804.
Quhare nevyr nane wes off hys kyne Auld na yhowng, mare na myne c1420 Ib. viii. 729.
Gyff brethyr na systyr nane have he, Na thai na barnys mare na myn 1535 Stewart 18360.
Of this Octaueus kin … He sparit nother mair nor myn
2. Mare and myn (also, myn no mare), greater and smaller, to a greater or smaller extent, altogether, entirely. a1400 Legends of the Saints xii. 234.
He for-gafe hyme the syne That he had done mare & myne a1400 Ib. xxvii. 268.
Bot angelis … It kepit thane myne no mare, Fra wath of watir quhare it lay a1400 Ib. xxxiv. 222.
Of tonge the syne He bad hyr forbere mare & myne 1560 Rolland Seven Sages 7760.
I sall ȝow schaw the mater mair and min
b. Mare ne (nor, also or) myn, (neither) greater nor less, of any kind, in any way, at all. a1400 Legends of the Saints xli. 75.
Persawyng … That hyme nothire ailyt mare ne myn Bot that luf distrenȝet hyme a1500 Buke of the Sevyne Sagis 1943.
Bot he spak na word mare nor myn 1573 Davidson Satirical Poems xlii. 526.
Nor ȝit the hart, syching for sin, Can thair fynd comfort mair or min
c. But myn or more, neither more nor less, exactly. c1552 Lynd. Mon. 2732.
Four hundreth stageis and four score In circuit, but myn or more
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"Min adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 19 Apr 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/min>
