Show Search Results Show Browse

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1934 (SND Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Quotation dates: 1721

[0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]

†AFRIST, A FRIST, adv. meaning "when put off, or delayed."Sc. 1721 J. Kelly Proverbs 32:
All ills are good a frist. [Explained by Kelly as "The longer a mischief is a coming, the better."]

[Prob. A = on + Frist. Cf. Mid.Eng. do in first = to delay, and O.E. on firste = in time — i.e. not at once, after an interval. But of frist occurs in 16th cent. Sc. — e.g. c.1565 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (1814) I. 238: All thir lordis war verrie blyth, thinking that all evill was guid of frist (quot. in N.E.D.)]

You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.

"Afrist adv.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 20 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/afrist>

262

snd

Hide Advanced Search

Browse SND:

    Loading...

Share: