Middle English Dictionary Entry
lopster n.
Entry Info
| Forms | lopster n. Also lopi-, lopu-, loppestere, lobstere, -star, lapster & (early) loppestre. |
| Etymology | OE loppestre, loppystre; forms in lob- prob. from OE *lobbestre, cp. OE loppe, lobbe. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) The European lobster (Homarus vulgaris) or other similar marine crustacean, e.g., Palinurus vulgaris; (b) ?a cuttlefish; (c) an ulcer in the nose, the polypus.
Associated quotations
a
- c1225(OE) Wor.Aelfric Gloss.(Wor F.174)543/19 : Polipes: loppestre.
- (1311-12) Acc.R.Dur.in Sur.Soc.999 : In sperling', creuis, lopisters, et pisc. aque dulcis.
- 1381 Pegge Cook.Recipes (Dc 257)p.115 : Nym the Perche or the Lopuster and boyle yt and kest sugur and salt also thereto.
- 1381 Pegge Cook.Recipes (Dc 257)117 : For to make a Lopister. He schal be rostyd in his scalys in a ovyn.
- (1390) Acc.Exped.Der.in Camd.n.s.52153/8 : Clerico coquine..pro ij c vij crabbes et lobsteres ab ipso emptis apud Linne.
- a1425 Roy.17.C.17 Nominale (Roy 17.C.17)642/22 : Polupus: lopstere.
- (?1455) Doc.in HMC Rep.5 App.491b : Payd to William Wayte for ii lapster, 2 d.
- a1475 Herkyn to my tale (Brog 2.1)p.85 : The crabe and the loppysstere [vr. lopster] ȝeyt were thei ther alle.
- ?a1475 Noble Bk.Cook.(Hlk 674)8 : Shrympes, crabs, loppsters, lesches.
- a1500 Ld.Cook.Recipes (LdMisc 553)114 : Nym ye perch other ye loppestere..and boille hit.
- ?a1500 Lndsb.Nominale (Lndsb)764/31 : Polupus: a lobstar.
b
- (a1398) *Trev.Barth.(Add 27944)322a/b : Þe vertu of gendrynge of eyren is in rounde bestes..and in fisshe as in Crabbes and lopsters [L sepijs].
c
- ?a1425 *Chauliac(1) (NY 12)90b/a : It is said forsoþ polipus, i. lopster, to þe maner of þat fish so named s. lopster for it haþ many feete, for it cleueþ fast to þe place in which it is.