A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 2001 (DOST Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1450-1452, 1513, 1567-1568
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
Spel(l, v.1 [ME and e.m.E. spelle(n (a1200), spell (Cursor M.), OE spellian, MDu. and MLG spellen; Spel(l n.] a. intr. To discourse, preach; to speak, say. b. tr. To tell (someone) (something). —a. c1450-2 Howlat 99 (A).
He suld spedely speike, and spair nocht to spell c1450-2 Howlat 879 (A).
Ȝe sall be specialy sped or ȝe mayre spell a1568 Bannatyne MS 134b/72.
Syne he went out of hir sicht How it wes eftir I can nocht tell For speiking spair I nocht to spell —b. 1513 Doug. viii Prol. 131.
I spek to thé into sport; spell [Ruddim. spel] me this thyng [etc.]
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Spel v.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/spell_v_1>
