Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1786-1817, 1882
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BITCH, n.1 A term of contempt applied to a man. Also in Eng. dial.Ayr. 1786 Robert Burns Poems and Songs (1969) 33:
Below their stanes lie Jamie's banes:
O Death, it's my opinion,
Thou ne'er took such a bleth'rin bitch
Into thy dark dominion.Sc. 1882 R. L. Stevenson Letters (1899) I. 243:
Of Wordsworth he remarked, "He wasnae sound in the faith, sir, and a milk-blooded, blue-spectacled bitch forbye."Dmf. 1817 W. Caesar Poems 71:
Some Taylor loon, or Souter bitch, . . . But prick the louse, an' count the stitch.
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"Bitch n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 19 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/bitch_n1>
