Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1952 (SND Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1715-1752, 1828-1889
[0,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
EXTRAORDINAR, Extrornar, adj. Also exterord(i)nar; †extrordinare; extranornar (Wgt. 1877 G. Fraser Sketches 183); -ordiner. [′ɛkstrə′ɔrdnər, ɛks′trɔr(d)nər, ′ɛkstər′ɔrd(ə)nər]
1. Gen.Sc. forms of Eng. extraordinary. Also used adv.Slg. 1715 Burgh Rec. Slg. (1889) (10 Sept.):
Appoints the toune treasurer to give to the toune officers twelve pound Scots for their extrordinare trouble in the publicke service.Fif. 1752 in E. Henderson Ann. Dunfermline (1879) 462:
She generally lay in her bed when she told fortunes, and her "extraordiner unearthlie big black cat kept sentry on her bed-cod."Abd. 1865 G. Macdonald Alec Forbes III. xv.:
My Jean's an extrornar han' at parritch. I only hope puir Esau had half as guid for's birthricht.Mry. 1873 J. Brown Round Table Club 75:
I'm exterordinar' weel pleased wi't, for it jist chimes in wi' the frame o' mind I wis in fin I sat doon on this grave-stane.Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr Duguid 82:
He had . . . mony mair rarities and extraordinar things which I have clean forgotten noo.Ags. 1889 J. M. Barrie W. in Thrums ix.:
"It's extror'nar," said T'nowhead, "what a poo'er beauty has."
Hence extraordinars, n.pl., unusual or extraordinary events.Edb. 1828 D. M. Moir Mansie Wauch (1839) xxii.:
Anxious to inquire . . . if any extraordinars had occurred on the yesterday.
2. Sc. usage: extraordinarily keen, eager.Ayr. a.1839 Galt Howdie (1923) 10:
Old Miss Peggy Needle, who had all her life been out of the body about cats and dogs, grew just extraordinar to make a pet, in place of them all, of the laddie Willie Facings.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Extraordinar adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 17 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/extraordinar>


