Middle English Dictionary Entry
exprē̆s adj.
Entry Info
| Forms | exprē̆s adj. |
| Etymology | L express-us, OF expres. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
Of statements, directions, rules, etc.: explicit, definite, specific; clear, plain; of a voice: clear; bi expres word, expressly, specifically.
Associated quotations
- (a1393) Gower CA (Frf 3)8.2185 : A Supplicacion With pleine wordes and expresse Wryte unto Venus.
- (c1395) Chaucer CT.WB.(Manly-Rickert)D.61 : Where kan ye seye..That heighe god defended mariage By expres word?
- (1432) Let.Christ Ch.in RS 85.3161 : Ye have a part of an endenture undyr our seel and we anothyr undyr your seele whych make expresse declaracion.
- (c1443) Pecock Rule (Mrg M 519)410 : As þouȝ he schulde aske his desijr by exprees preier.
- a1450 Who þat liste loke (Stw 951)41/64 : God by his lawe full expresse Two persons hath ordeyned in vnitee.
- c1450(c1380) Chaucer HF (Benson-Robinson)2021 : And yaf expres commaundement To which I am obedient.
- ?c1450 St.Cuth.(Eg 3309)5667 : Þe childe..sayde þan with a voyce expresse..'Saint cuthbert, þou venge my wrange'.
- 1607(?a1425) Chester Pl.(Hrl 2124)100/372 : This speach is so veray..This speach is so expresse.
2.
Manifest, visible, evident, in evidence; of idolatry: open; of a heretic: avowed.
Associated quotations
- a1400 Wycl.MPl.(Add 24202)55 : Thei diden expresse maumetrye.
- ?c1430(?1383) Wycl.Curse (Corp-C 296)271 : Þei ben expresse heretikis and cursed Anticristis.
- (?1440) Palladius (DukeH d.2)11.537 : In drie & cold, ther smoke is noon expresse, Hem [i.e. raisins] kepith they.
- ?a1475(?a1425) Higd.(2) Ctn.(Hrl 2261)458 : Hit is open & expresse that the seide peple entende the destruccion of the realme.
- a1500(?a1400) SLChrist (Hrl 3909)1467 : Abraham..moste nede fulfille Al maner poyntes of meknes..And in þat plas ber(e) signe expres [etc.].
- a1500 Swet Ihesus is cum (BodPoet e.1)p.59 : The Jewes truly Had grete enuy To se hys myght expresse.
3.
Of observation: direct or actual; of a type of person: distinct; of a messenger: special; of a time: proper or suitable.
Associated quotations
- (?1440) Palladius (DukeH d.2)2.403 : Rapis make wel to smelle In condyment, is now the tyme expresse.
- c1450(?a1400) SLChrist (Add 38666)767 : The furth euidence verrayment that we witen ho maiden was, was by expresse experiment the mydwif preuet in þat plas.
- c1450(a1425) MOTest.(SeldSup 52)778 : Þou sall furth bryng two maners of pepyl expresse, And the more in all thyng sall serue vnto [the] lesse.
- ?a1475 Ludus C.(Vsp D.8)108/318 : Fare wel, Gabryel..goddys masangere expresse.
4.
As noun in phrase: in (bi) expresse, expressly; unmistakably, clearly; ?fully, ?without delay [quot.: a1500].
Associated quotations
- ?1457 Hardyng Chron.A (Lnsd 204:Hammond)234/31 : All openly he ordeynde in expresse That all men myght [etc.].
- a1500(a1460) Towneley Pl.(Hnt HM 1)250/216 : I [Pilat] am sakles of this bloode. Both my handys in expres weshen sall be.
- c1500 Late as I (Rwl C.86)76 : Mercy to geve I am redy, Thus shewith experience by expresse.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- a1475 Sidrak & B.(LdMisc 559)3548 : AS foly amonge wyse men is but lewdenesse, Soo is wisdom amonge folis expresse.
Note: Probably belongs to sense 2., though the passage is a bit cryptic, and differs markedly from the parallel proverbial passage in the Lansdowne MS, for which see thikke adj., sense 7.(g) and Whiting *W386.5.