Middle English Dictionary Entry
hat n.
Entry Info
| Forms | hat n. Also hatte, (early) hæt, (in place names only) atte, het(te. Pl. hattes, hatten. |
| Etymology | OE hæt & ON; cp. OI höttr, gen. hattar, dat. hatti. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1a.
(a) An outer head covering (often worn over a hood or a cap), a hat; beneten ~, ?an openwork hat; bever ~, a hat of beaver fur; ?beveren ~ [see beveren]; cardinales ~; hat of strau (twigges), a hat of plaited straw (twigs); pilioun ~, q.v.; prikinge ~, q.v.; splete ~, ?a hat made of plaited strips of wood or willows; strau (stre) ~, q.v.; (b) a head covering of iron or steel worn as a helmet; hard ~, iren (irnen, isen) ~, stele ~; wir ~, ?a hat made of, or ornamented with, wire; (c) in oaths and proverbial expressions; gile under the ~, a trick or device concealed under a mountebank's hat.
Associated quotations
a
- c1225(OE) Wor.Aelfric Gloss.(Wor F.174)540/35 : Capicium: hæt.
- ?a1300 Jacob & J.(Bod 652)517 : He toc his benetene [?read: beuerene] hat, wiþ pal þat was biweued.
- (a1387) Trev.Higd.(StJ-C H.1)1.403 : Wiþ oute hodes, hatte, or cappes, Thus arraied gooþ þe gigges [read: geggis].
- (c1387-95) Chaucer CT.Prol.(Manly-Rickert)A.272 : Hye on hors he sat, Vp on his heed A Flaundryssh beuere hat.
- (c1387-95) Chaucer CT.Prol.(Manly-Rickert)A.470 : Vpon an amblere esily she sat, Ywympled wel, and on hir heed an hat As brood as is a bokeler or a targe.
- c1390 PPl.A(1) (Vrn)6.11 : An hundred of ampolles on his hat seeten.
- (c1390) Chaucer CT.Mil.(Manly-Rickert)A.3122 : He nolde aualen neither hood ne hat.
- (c1395) Chaucer CT.CY.(Manly-Rickert)G.574 : His hat heeng at his bak doun by a laas.
- c1400(c1378) PPl.B (LdMisc 581)5.195 : Þanne cam coueytise..With an hode on his hede, a lousi hatte aboue.
- (1402) in Gras Eng.Cust.Syst.555 : De Johanne Thorysby pro i kysta cum hattys val. x s., sub. iiii d.
- (1418) Doc.in Rogers Hist.Agric.3495 : Bever hat..2/10.
- a1425(c1333-52) Minot Poems (Glb E.9)28/41 : Cardinales with hattes rede War fro Calays wele thre myle.
- a1450(?c1430) Lydg.DM(1) (Hnt EL 26.A.13)233 : Come forthe, Sire Abbot, with ȝowre brode hatte.
- (1440) PParv.(Hrl 221)229 : Hatte, hed hillynge: Capellum, capellus. Hatte of strawe: Capedulum.
- (1440) Wars France in RS 22.2441 : My lord your fadre..had as leef sette his coroune biside hym, as to se him were a cardinal's hatte.
- c1450(?a1400) Wars Alex.(Ashm 44)1714 : He dressis to him in dedeyne..a ball..A hernepan..a Hatt made of twyggis.
- c1450 Alph.Tales (Add 25719)426/16 : He keste of þe hatt þat was on his head.
- c1450 Chaucer HF (Frf 16)1940 : Al thys hous..Was made of twigges..Whiche as men to these cages thwite, Or maken of these panyers, Or elles hattes [Bod: hattys; ?error for: hottes] or dossers.
- c1450 Pilgr.LM (Cmb Ff.5.30)121 : If euere thou seye an enchauntour pleye with an hat, how he maketh the folk to weene ther be sumwhat vnder, and ofte it is ther is no thing.
- (1451) Lin.DDoc.51/20 : I will that all odyr yomen..haue Ilkon of yam..A hode or a hat of my weryng.
- (1465) Paston (Gairdner)4.203 : Item, a payr botys, a payr sporys, a shert, a cappe, a hatte.
- (1467) in Gras Eng.Cust.Syst.617 : Item pro uno maunde cum xv dussenis splet' hatts, val. viii s. iiii d.
- c1475(c1450) Idley Instr.(Cmb Ee.4.37)1.120 : Be not straunge of hatte, hoode, ne hure.
- a1500(?a1400) KEdw.& S.(Cmb Ff.5.48)208 : His hatte was bonde vndir his chyn; He did hit nothyng of to hym.
- a1500(c1465) SEChron.(Lamb 306)60 : The Duke of Bedforde went up to the auter and toke the cardenales hatt and sett it on the bysshoppys hede.
- a1500 Gloss Dict.Garland (Hrl 1002)124 : Capellarii faciunt capella ([glossed:] hattys) de fultro ([glossed:] feltte) sive centone.
b
- c1330(?a1300) Arth.& M.(Auch)9727 : Boþe on helmes & ysen hatten, Þe dintes of swordes flatten.
- c1330 Horn Child (Auch)52 : Out of danmark com an here..Wiþ yren hattes, scheld, & spere.
- c1400(?a1300) KAlex.(LdMisc 622)1628 : Of summe was þe brayn out squatt, Al vnder þe yrnen [LinI: iren] hatt.
- c1400(?c1380) Cleanness (Nero A.10)1209 : Hard hattes þay hent and on hors lepes.
- (1411) EEWills19/11 : Also to Henre my son, an aburioun, a ketil Hatte.
- c1425(c1400) Ld.Troy (LdMisc 595)5129 : He smot hem on that yren hat, That ney the heued ofte it sat.
- (1430) Will York in Sur.Soc.3013 : Item, Johanni..unum dublett..unam loricam..et unum stele hat.
- a1450(c1410) Lovel.Merlin (Corp-C 80)20805 : Anon in here hattes, weren Mad of Steel, watyr they browhten.
- a1450-1509 Rich.(Brunner)367 : He set his stroke on his yron hat.
- c1450(c1353) Winner & W.(Add 31042)51 : In aythere holte was ane here in hawberkes full brighte, Harde hattes appon hedes and helmys with crestys.
- c1450(?a1400) Wars Alex.(Ashm 44)2981 : Sum araies þaim..in row brenys..With hard hattis on þaire hedis.
- (1456) Invent.Armory in Archaeol.16126 : It'm a Wyre hatt garnysshed ye bordour Serkyll.
- a1475 Siege Troy(1) (Hrl 525)209/1791j : And many les þe hede in his Iren hatte.
- a1500(a1400) Ipom.(1) (Chet 8009)5220 : There helpud noþur helme noþere hatte.
- a1500(?c1450) Merlin (Cmb Ff.3.11)191 : Thei were wele armed and hadde on hattes of stile [F chapiaus de fer] as squyres vsed in tho dayes.
- a1500(?c1450) Merlin (Cmb Ff.3.11)260 : Thei hadden hattes of fin steill a-bove theire coiffes of Iren vpon theire heedes.
c
- c1330 Otuel (Auch)1117 : Bi min heued vnder myn hat, I nele nouȝt longe ouwe þe þat.
- c1330 Why werre (Auch)187 : For als ich evere brouke min hod under min hat, The frere wole to the direge, if the cors is fat.
- (a1393) Gower CA (Frf 3)2.1872 : Mi Sone, as guile under the hat With sleyhtes of a tregetour Is hidd, Envie..Hath yit the ferthe deceivant.
- a1425(c1385) Chaucer TC (Benson-Robinson)3.320 : Swich manere folk..hem avaunte of wommen..That nevere yet bihyghte hem this ne that, Ne knewe hem more than myn olde hat!
- c1430(c1380) Chaucer PF (Benson-Robinson)589 : 'Wel bourded,' quod the doke, 'by myn hat!'
1b.
(a) A crown, a chaplet of flowers, a crown of thorns; (b) a head covering to which bandages or dressings are attached; (c) the foam on a boiling pot; cloud or mist on a hilltop.
Associated quotations
a
- a1425(?a1400) RRose (Htrn 409)2277 : Have hat of floures [F Chapel de flors] as fresh as May, Chapelett of roses of Whitsonday.
- ?a1425 Mandev.(2) (Eg 1982)120/3 : He doffez his hatte [Tit: chapelet; F chapeau de feutre], whilke es made full richely with perlez and precious stanes.
- c1440 I conjoure the laythely (Thrn)3 : I conjoure the..also with ane hatte of thorne Þat one my Lordis hede was borne.
b
- ?c1425 *Chauliac(2) (Paris angl.25)75b/b : It is the counseil of alle wirchers þat men þat be woundede in the face haue on here hede a coyfe or a lite hatte of lynnen cloth, stronge and wel bounden wiþ the hede, in þe whiche sewe to alle þe byndinges.
c
- (a1399) Form Cury (Add 5016)p.33 : Set it ouere the fires and boile it; and whan the hatte arisith to goon ouere, take it adoun and kele it.
- c1400(?c1390) Gawain (Nero A.10)2081 : Mist muged on þe mor, malt on þe mountez; Vch hille hade a hatte, a myst-hakel huge.
1c.
(a) In cpds.: ~ las, a cord attached to a hat; ~ liner, ?one who lines hats; ~ maker, a maker of hats; (b) in surnames.
Associated quotations
a
- (1325) Coroner R.in Sharpe Cal.Coron.R.Lond.135 : Philip le Hatlynere.
- (1471) Paston (Gairdner)5.122 : I had a promyse of Masteres Elyzabeth of a typet of welvet; but and I myth have a hatlase, I woold thynk me well.
- -?-(1400) Reg.Freemen York in Sur.Soc.96105 : Will. Brigkenhall, hatmaker.
- -?-(1427-8) Reg.Freemen York in Sur.Soc.96141 : Math. Berewynson, hatmaker.
b
- (1168) in Pipe R.Soc.12146 : Randulfus Hat.
- (1301) Sub.R.Yks.in YASRS 2133 : Johanne Hatbake.
- (1313) Sub.R.Bristol(1) in BGAS 19225 : Johannes Hat.
- (1332) Sub.R.Bdf.in Suf.GB 18125 : Henricus Hattenheued.
- (1346) Feudal Aids 2285 : Edwardus Hat.
2.
A clump of trees; a wooded hill; -- chiefly in place names [see Smith PNElem. 1.219, 263].
Associated quotations
- (1164-95) EPNSoc.19 (Cmb.)54 : Hatteleia.
- (c1168) in Mawer PNNhb.& Dur.113 : Het.
- (1198) EPNSoc.19 (Cmb.)54 : Attelee.
- (1199) EPNSoc.19 (Cmb.)54 : Esthatteleia.
- (1259) in Löfvenberg ME Local Surnames94 : Regin. de Hette.
- (1290) EPNSoc.4 (Wor.)76 : De la Hatte.
- (a1300) in Löfvenberg ME Local Surnames94 : Rob. de Hatte.
- (1319) EPNSoc.29 (Der.)732 : Berching Hatt.
- (1327) in Löfvenberg ME Local Surnames94 : Ric. atte Hatte.
- (1369) in Mawer PNNhb.& Dur.113 : Hett in Spen.
- (c1410) York MGame (Vsp B.12)26 : They haunten in strange hattes of wood or in strong hethys and somtyme in Carres.
- (c1410) York MGame (Vsp B.12)65 : Whan a wilde boor is wiþ inne a strong hatte of wood, perauenture of alle þe day he wil not voide þennys for þe rennyng houndes.
- (1456) EPNSoc.19 (Cmb.)54 : Underhatteley. Hungrihatteley.
- (1485) EPNSoc.16 (Wil.)83 : John atte Hatte.
- (1500) EPNSoc.29 (Der.)732 : The Hatt.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- c1450 Yale 163 Cook.Recipes (Yale 163)183.105/4 : [Whelkes boyled] Pyke the fisch out of the shill with a prikke & take of the hatte fro the hedde.
- ?a1475 *Noble Bk.Cook.(Hlk 674)51a [75] : Boile welkes…then…tak out the fische wt a prik and put away the hattes.
Note: This seems to be some structural part of a whelk (along with the 'head'), a sense not elsewhere attested.--per MJW
Note: Re: second quot. 'invented, unapproved stencil - brackets for Napier's p. #'
Supplemental Materials (draft)
Note: Med., etc., see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. hat.