Middle English Dictionary Entry
dolh n.
Entry Info
| Forms | dolh n. Also dolȝ & dolc, dolk. |
| Etymology | OE dolg, dolh. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
Note: Cp. dalk n.(1), which overlaps considerably with this word.
1.
(a) A cavity, hollow, void, or depression; also fig.; the hollow of the hand, the sole of the foot; (b) med. a morbid sinus, ulcer or sore; (c) ~ swaþe [OE dolg-swæþ], a scar.
Associated quotations
a
- c1230(?a1200) *Ancr.(Corp-C 402)1a : Þe an riwleð þe heorte & makeð efne & smeðe wiðute cnott & dolc [Nero: dolke] of woh.
- (?a1390) Daniel *Herbal (Add 27329)f.234vb : 'Vola' is þe dolk in þe hand & foot [Alphita: Vola est concavitas manus [var. add. et pedis]].
b
- ?a1200(OE) Hrl.HApul.(Hrl 6258B:Berberich)79.21/3 : Wið þan sweartan dolh, cnuca þa wyrt..leȝe on þan dolȝum, sona hit forðnimð hiȝ.
- ?a1200(OE) Hrl.HApul.(Hrl 6258B:Berberich)101.65/7 : Þanne ðæt dolȝ open si, nim þa wyrt ȝeesodone..læcna þa wunda þarmid.
- a1325(c1250) Gen.& Ex.(Corp-C 444)3027 : Ðo wex vn-selðe on hem wel hard, dolc, sor, and blein on erue and man.
- c1400 Daniel *Herbal (Arun 42)f.33v : For cancre in mowþ of cauernosite of þe senewys -- of hollys & dolkys & puttys in þe synewys --, tak poudre of hym [viz., celidonia] & poudre of rosyn & medle al togydere with acet, & seth into þe half til it be þikke as mustard, & þerwith oynt þo partys þat [read: þat bene] cauernous; it helpeþ hugely.
c
- c1225(OE) Wor.Aelfric Gloss.(Wor F.174)551/20 : [C]icatrix: dolhswaþe.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
Note: For the Ancrene quotation (sense (a)), cp. B. Millett's gloss (EETS 326), 'hollow, pit,' as well as her extensive note on the passage, p. 3: "Dolc is probably derived, as Zettersten (1965, p.119) and MED .. assume, from OE dolg 'wound'; Baldwin's identification with LME dalk 'valley' (OE *daluc) is phonologically implausible. ... Salu (1955, p.1) translates as 'the wounds and tumours of an unhealthy conscience' ..; L[atin], however has .. 'sine conuexo aut concavo...' and C2 .. adds 'scraggi ant unefne.' The imagery seems to be drawn from building rather than medicine: 'cnost ant dolc' probably refers to bumps and hollows."