A Concise Dictionary of Middle English | Page 3

find the
example of the superl. brentest. By consulting Mätzner's, Halliwell's,
and Jamieson's Dictionaries, further information can be obtained, and
the full article will appear as follows:--
'~Brant~, adj. steep, high, MD [~brant, brent~, adj. ags. _brand_,
arduus, altus, altn. _brattr_, altschw. _branter_, schw. _brant, bratt_,
dän, _brat_, sch. _brent_, nordengl. Diall. _brant_: cf. "_brant_,
steepe," Manipulus Vocabulorum, p. 25: steil, hoch.--"Apon the bald
Bucifelon brant up he sittes," King Alexander, ed. Stevenson, p. 124;
"Thir mountaynes ware als brant upri3*e as thay had bene walles," MS.
quoted in Halliwell's Diet., p. 206; "Hy3*e bonkkes & _brent_,"
Gawain and the Grene Knight, l. 2165; "Bowed to þe hy3* bonk
þer brentest hit wern," Alliterative Poems, ed. Morris, Poem B, l.
379]; HD [~brant~, steep. _North_: "Brant against Flodden Hill,"
explained by Nares from Ascham, "up the steep side;" of. Brit. Bibl. i.
132, same as _brandly_?--"And thane thay com tille wonder heghe
mountaynes, and it semed as the toppes had towched the firmament;
and thir mountaynes were als brant upri3*te as thay had bene walles,
so that ther was na clymbyng upon thame," Life of Alexander, MS.
Lincoln, fol. 38]; JD [~brent~, adj. high, straight, upright; " My bak,
that sumtyme brent hes bene, Now cruikis lyk are camok tre," Maitland
Poems, p. 193; _followed by a discussion extending to more than 160
lines of small print, which we forbear to quote_]; ~brentest~, superl. S2.
13. 379 ["And bowed to þe hy3* bonk þer brentest hit were (MS.

wern)," Allit. Poems, l. 379; already cited in Mätzner, _above_].'
The work, in fact, contains a very large collection of words, in many
variant forms, appearing in English literature and in Glossaries between
A.D. 1150 and A.D. 1580. The glossaries in S2, S3 (Specimens of
English, 1298-1393, and 1394-1579) have furnished a considerable
number of words belonging to the Scottish dialect, which most
dictionaries (excepting of course that of Jamieson) omit.
The words are so arranged that even the beginner will, in general,
easily find what he wants. We have included in one article, together
with the Main Word, all the variant spellings of the glossaries, as well
as the etymological information. We have also given in alphabetical
order numerous cross-references to facilitate the finding of most of the
variant forms, and to connect them with the Main Word. In this way,
the arrangement is at once etymological and alphabetical--adapted to
the needs of the student of the language and of the student of the
literature.
The meanings of the words are given in modern English, directly after
the Main Word. The variant forms, as given in their alphabetical
position, are frequently also explained, thus saving (in such cases) the
trouble of a cross-reference, if the meaning of the word is alone
required.
An attempt is made in most cases to give the etymology, so far at least
as to shew the immediate source of the Middle-English word. Especial
pains have been taken with the words of French origin, which form so
large a portion of the vocabulary of the Middle-English period. In many
cases the AF (Anglo-French) forms are cited, from my list of English
Words found in Anglo-French, as published for the Philological
Society in 1882.
The student of English who wishes to trace back the history of a word
still in use can, in general, find the Middle-English form in Skeat's
Etymological Dictionary, and will then be able to consult the present
work in order to obtain further instances of its early use.
The relative share of the authors in the preparation of this work is easily
explained. The whole of it in its present form (with the exception of the
letter N) was compiled, prepared, and written out for press by Mr.
Mayhew. The original plan was, however, my own; and I began by
writing out the letter N (since augmented) by way of experiment and

model. It will thus be seen that Mr. Mayhew's share of the work has
been incomparably the larger, involving all that is most laborious. On
the other hand, I may claim that much of the labour was mine also, at a
much earlier stage, as having originally compiled or revised the
glossaries marked S2, S3, C2, C3, W, W2, P, and G, as well as the very
full glossarial indexes cited as B, PP, and WA, and the dictionary cited
as SkD. The important glossary marked S was, however, originally the
work of Dr. Morris (since re-written by Mr. Mayhew), and may, in a
sense, be said to be the back-bone of the whole, from its supplying a
very large number of the most curious and important early forms.
The material used has been carefully revised by both authors, so that
they must be held to be jointly responsible for the final form in