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: 1615-1700+
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Numberous, Numbrous, a. [e.m.E. noumberous(e (1566, 1592), numberous(e (1566, a 1603), numbrous (1581–1607), F. nombreux (1564). Cf. Numerous.]
1. Numerous, consisting of many individuals. 1628 Mure I. 190/869.
What joyes to view this numbrous host 1658 Orkney Rentals App. 59.
The … extreme indigence of our numberous poore 1670 Reg. Privy C. 3 Ser. III. 124.
Upon notice of any numberous conventicle keeped since … November last 1677 Inverness Presb. 78. 1692 Rec. Convention of Royal Burghs IV. 639.
The numbrous bygone annual rents a 1714 Cromartie Corr. II. 468.
A people who … are numberous in Lochbroome
2. Exhibiting poetic ‘number’ (cf. Noumer n. 9) or regular measure; metrical, rhythmical. c1615 W. Alexander in Drummond Wks. (1711) 150 (OED.).
He numbrous notes with measur'd fury frames, Each accent weigh'd 1636 Drummond in Archaeologia Scotica IV. 113.
Whether thou read graue proses, or did raise Delight and wonder by a numbrous straine
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"Numberous adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/numberous>
