A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2000 (DOST Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1375, 1456-1538, 1600-1699
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S(c)hort quhil(e. Also: scort- and -quhill, -while, -fyll. [S(c)hort adj. and Quhile n.] For a short time.Schort quhile syne (abefoir), not long ago; recently.(1) 1375 Barb. vii 270.
Bot he has schort quhile [C. quhil] at the mete Syttyn quhen he hard gret stamping Abowt the hows 1456 Hay I 197/19.
And sa, to kepe this mortale lyf of his body that sa schort quhile lestis [etc.] a1500 Buke of the Sevyne Sagis 1286.
Or ellis schort quhile sall ȝe haf ȝour lyf a1538 Abell 35b.
This miserabill man rang scort quhile a1538 Ib. 75b.
Schort quhill 16.. Ellon Par. 65.
I have been short fyll at the lair(2) 1535 Stewart 23963.
Nobill Constantyne, Quhome of befoir I schew schort quhile syne 1535 Ib. 33615.
The marbell stone The quhilk his father of befoir schort quhile, On to that place had brocht c1650 Spalding I 156.
Whairin the marques had lodgit schort-while abefoir
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"Short Quhil adv.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/schort_quhile>
