Middle English Dictionary Entry
mẹ̄le n.(2)
Entry Info
| Forms | mẹ̄le n.(2) Also mēle, mel, miele; pl. meles & mel, miel. |
| Etymology | OE; cp. Merc. mēle, WS -mǣle. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) A container; basin, bucket, tub, etc.; (b) a measure (of lime).
Associated quotations
a
- c1300 SLeg.Nich.(LdMisc 108)6 : Þat child..Ase it was in ane mele i-baþed, al one upriȝt it stod.
- (c1330) Acc.R.Dur.in Sur.Soc.100518 : Cheseclathe, Meles, et Skeles emp. pro Deyria..3 s. 2 d..In 3 Meles empt. pro Bracino, 9 d.
- (1357-8) Acc.R.Dur.in Sur.Soc.99124 : In j mele empt. pro carbonibus portandis.
- (1362) Invent.Monk-Wear.in Sur.Soc.29159 : Item, in bracina sunt..iij tubbes, ij tynæ, j bona et alia debilis..iij meles bonae.
- (1370-1) Acc.R.Dur.in Sur.Soc.99263 : In una mele lingnea pro pedibus lavandis.
- (1385) Acc.R.Dur.in Sur.Soc.99265 : In duobos melys empt. pro infirmis.
- (a1393) Gower CA (Frf 3)6.590 : Thei..Of wyn let fille full a Miele And dronken til..That thei her strengthes losten.
- a1400(a1325) Cursor (Vsp A.3)3306 : Þou..And þine camels sal drinc..For wantes vs here na uessell, Ne mele [Göt: Bolle] ne bucket ne funell.
- (1412) Chart.in Capes Hereford Cath.269 : Pro ij melys..ad jactandum aquam.
- a1450(1408) *Vegetius(1) (Dc 291)47b : They had tool to dyke and delve with, as pikforkis..and rakes, bokettis, meles, and payles..to bere awey erþe when it was digged.
- (1459-60) Acc.R.Dur.in Sur.Soc.9989 : j caldrun, ij skelez, j kyrn, j meyle, ij chesfattez.
b
- (1327) in Salzman Building in Engl.150 : [At York lime was bought by the] mele [defined..as containing 2 quarters and costing 10 d.].
- (1371) Fabric R.Yk.Min.in Sur.Soc.357 : Et in 206 mel' calcis emptis de Hugone..8 1. Et in 144 mel' calcis cariandis, dando pro la mel' 2 d., et 6 d. ad potum, 30 s. 6 d. Et in 90 mel' calcis remanentibus in compoto precedenti cariandis, dando ut supra, 18 s. 9 d.
- (1404-5) Fabric R.Yk.Min.in Sur.Soc.3526 : In lxvij miell calcis emptis, cum portagio, 4 1. 16 s. 9 d.
- (1421) Doc.in Rogers Hist.Agric.3358/3 : 45 miell..60 qrs.
- (1440) Acc.R.Dur.in Sur.Soc.100410 : Et in 8 meel calcis extincte.