A Concise Dictionary of Middle English | Page 2

together supply no less than sixty-seven characteristic extracts from the
most important literary monuments of this period; and the three
glossaries to these books together fill more than 370 pages of
closely-printed type in double columns. The idea suggested itself that it
would be highly desirable to bring the very useful information thus
already collected _under one alphabet_, and this has now been effected.
At the same time, a reference has in every case been carefully given to
the particular Glossarial Index which registers each form here cited, so
that it is perfectly easy for any one who consults our book to refer, not
merely to the particular Index thus noted, but to the references given in
that Index; and so, by means of such references, to find every passage
referred to, with its proper context. Moreover the student only requires,
for this purpose, a small array of the text-books in the Clarendon Press
Series, instead of a more or less complete set of editions of
Middle-English texts, the possession of which necessitates a
considerable outlay of money. By this plan, so great a compression of
information has been achieved, that a large number of the articles give
a summary such as can be readily expanded to a considerable length, by
the exercise of a very little trouble; and thus the work is practically as
full of material as if it had been three or four times its present size. A
couple of examples will shew* what this really means.
At p. 26 is the following entry:--
'~Bi-heste~, sb. promise, S, S2, C2, P; ~byheste~, S2; ~beheste~, S2;
~byhest~, S2; ~bihese~, S; ~biheest~, W; ~bihese~, pl., S.--AS.
_be-hæ*s_.'
By referring to the respective indexes here cited, such as S (=Glossary

to Specimens of English,

Part I), and the like, we easily
expand this article into the following:--
'~Bi-heste~, sb. promise, S (9. 19); S2 (I a. 184); C2 (B37, 41, 42, F
698); P (3. 126); ~byheste~, S2 (18 b. 25); ~beheste~, S2 (14 a. 3);
~byhest~, S2 (12. 57, 18 b. 9, [where it may also be explained by
_grant_]); ~bihese~, S (where it is used as a plural); ~biheest~, W
(promise, command, Lk. xxiv. 49, Rom. iv. 13; pl. _biheestis_, Heb. xi.
13); ~bihese~, S (pl. behests, promises, 4 d. 55).--AS. _behæ*s_'
In order to exhibit the full meaning of this--which requires no further
explanation to those who have in hand the books denoted by S, S2,
&c.--it would be necessary to print the article at considerable length, as
follows:--
'~Biheste~, sb. promise; "dusi _biheste_" a foolish promise, (extract
from) Ancren Riwle, l. 19; "and wel lute wule hulde þe biheste þat
he nom," (extract from) Robert of Gloucester, l. 184; "holdeth your
_bìheste_," Chaucer, Introd. to Man of Law's Prologue, l. 37;
"biheste is dette," same, l. 41; "al my _biheste_" same, l. 42; "or breken
his _biheste_" Chaucer, sequel to Squieres Tale, l. 698; "þorw fals
_biheste_," Piers Plowman, Text B, Pass. iii, l. 126; "to vol-vulle (fulfil)
þat _byheste_" Trevisa (extract from), lib. vi. cap. 29, l. 25; "the lond
of promyssioun, or of _beheste_," Prol. to Mandeville's Travels, l. 3;
"wiþ fair _by-hest_," William and the Werwolf, l. 57; "þe byhest
(promise, or grant) of oþere menne kyngdom," Trevisa, lib. vi. cap.
29, l. 9; "y schal sende the biheest of my fadir in-to 3*ou," Wyclif,
Luke xxiv. 49; "not bi the lawe is biheest to Abraham," Wycl. Rom. iv.
13; "whanne the biheestis weren not takun," Wycl. Heb. xi. 13;
"longenge to godes _bihese_" Old Eng. Homilies, Dominica iv. post
Pascha, l. 55.'
We thus obtain fifteen excellent examples of the use of this word, with
the full context and an exact reference (easily verified) in every case.
And, in the above instance, all the quotations lie within the compass of
the eleven texts in the Clarendon Press Series denoted, respectively, by

S, S2, S3, C, C2, C3, W, W2, P, H, and G.
The original design was to make use of these text-books only; but it
was so easy to extend it by including examples to be obtained from
other Glossaries and Dictionaries, that a considerable selection of
interesting words was added from these, mainly for the sake of
illustrating the words in the Clarendon text-books. These illustrative
words can be fully or partially verified by those who happen to possess
all or some of the works cited, or they can safely be taken on trust, as
really occurring there, any mistake being due to such authority.
A second example will make this clearer. '~Brant~, adj. steep, high,
MD, HD; ~brent~, JD; ~brentest~, superl. S2.--AS. _brant (bront)_; cp.
Swed. _brant_, Icel. brattr.'
Omitting the etymology, the above information is given in two short
lines. Those who possess the 'Specimens of English' will easily