Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1991-2004
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SILE, n.5 Also syle. Sc. variant spelling of Eng. soil (Sc. 1830 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) III. 32; Abd. 1920 M. Argo Makkin' o' John 7; w.Sc. 1929 R. Crawford In Quiet Fields 36). [səil. See P.L.D. §46.]Sc. 1991 John McDonald in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 90:
Spain's sair syle cam drookit i their licht;
an the sair syle gruppit their smeddum
tae'ts hert - hainin a pickle; garrin thaim byde
(like Cornford, bund in Cordova's mort-claith)
tae mak growthie this sair syle fir the future. em.Sc.(a) 1991 Kate Armstrong in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 110:
This is the laund that bigs the winds; winds big the cloods;
the cloods, the weit, the weit, the grun; an antrin steer
o syle an rain. Ayr. 2004:
Yer drain shud huv nae mair problems noo, hen - it wis jist a wee sint sile causin the bother.
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"Sile n.5". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 16 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/sile_n5>
