A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1983 (DOST Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1420, 1500-1699
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Pimper-, Pimpirnell, n. Also: pymper-; pynper- and -nil, -nal, -nole. [ME. and e.m.E. pinpernele (c 1265), pym-, pimpernel(l)e (15th c.), pymper-, pympyr-, pimpernel(l (16th c.), OF. pimprenele, pimpernelle, earlier piprenelle (12th c.), also pimpi-, pimpenelle (Godef.), med. L. (Eng.) pimpinella.] Pimpernel. c 1420 Liber Calchou 451.
It is gud to oyse a powder that is gud agayn al wennom that is made of thir herb … dytan pynpernole trementyn & schabyose 15.. Comrie Hist. Sc. Medic. I. 189.
Geif him … to purge the wound … pympernell … or … letuse … or … mousere with ale 1500-1699 Herbarius Latinus Annot. cix. (Bot.).
Pipinella selff heill or pympinell [also] pimpirnell 1500-1699 Herbarius Latinus Annot. (Adv.).
Pimpirnil, pimpernal
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"Pimpirnell n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/pimpirnell>
