Middle English Dictionary Entry
mēsel n.
Entry Info
| Forms | mēsel n. Also meselle, messel, meseil, mezel & (SW) meosel, musel & misel(le, missal. |
| Etymology | OF mesel adj. & n. & ML misellus. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) A leper; one who is afflicted with any of various disfiguring skin diseases, such as, leucoderma, psoriasis, vitiligo, etc.; -- sometimes used as an epithet for a person afflicted with leprosy; coll. lepers; (b) fig. a sinner; gostli ~; (c) a lowly wretched person; (d) ~ hous (hous of meseles), a hospital for lepers; ~ cote, a hovel or hut for lepers; (e) as surname.
Associated quotations
a
- c1300 SLeg.(LdMisc 108)255/16 : With one worde he miȝte helen Meoseles [Corp-C: Museles].
- c1300 SLeg.(LdMisc 108)454/179 : Seint Martin..custe him, and anon aftur-ward þe Musel al hol was.
- c1325(c1300) Glo.Chron.A (Clg A.11)8960 : Þo sete þer in þe chaunbre meseles [vr. myseles] monyon.
- c1330(?a1300) Tristrem (Auch)3175 : Coppe and claper he bare..As he a mesel ware.
- c1330(?c1300) Amis (Auch)1259 : Fouler mesel [vr. lazar] nas neuer non..þan þou schal be!
- c1350(a1333) Shoreham Poems (Add 17376)64/1814 : Meseles mowe y-wedded be, Ȝef hi asenti wylle.
- (1340) Ayenb.(Arun 57)224/6 : Ine zuych stat byeþ ofte beyete þe crokede, þe blynde, and þe mezels.
- (a1382) WBible(1) (Bod 959)4 Kings 7.8 : Þoo ilke meselis [WB(2): leprouse men; L leprosi] weren coomyn to þe begynnyng of þe tentis.
- (c1384) WBible(1) (Dc 369(2))Mat.10.8 : Clense ȝe meselis, cast ȝe out deuelis.
- (a1398) *Trev.Barth.(Add 27944)23a/b : Of infeccioun & corrupcioun of þe humours of þe brest & of þe brestplate & bon, as hit is I-seye a-mong mesels and leprous men.
- a1400(c1303) Mannyng HS (Hrl 1701)4125 : Meseles þey waxe þan to pyne; Here lemes roted before here yne.
- a1400(a1325) Cursor (Vsp A.3)13106 : Messels [Frf: Mesels; Göt: Meseles] er hale, cripels gas right.
- ?a1400(a1338) Mannyng Chron.Pt.2 (Petyt 511)p.140 : Baldewyn þe meselle..Noble kyng & lele..Neuer in his lyue he lese a fote of lond.
- c1400(a1349) Rolle MPass.(1) (Cmb Ll.1.8)21/67 : So lothly and so wlatsome þe Jues han þe mad, þat a mysel art þou lyckere þan a clene man.
- c1400(a1376) PPl.A(1) (Trin-C R.3.14)3.122 : She [Meed] is..As comoun as þe cartewey to knaue..To mynstrelis, to messangeris, to myselis [vrr. myssales, meseles, mesels, messeles, mesalles, meseyls].
- c1400 *Bk.Mother (Bod 416)63/17 : Wolde God þat þei dwelde wiþoute toun as oþer meselis don.
- c1410 Trev.Higd.(Add 24194)4.461 : Me seiþ þat he was Symon leprous, þe mesel, þat Crist helede.
- a1425(c1395) WBible(2) (Roy 1.C.8) : Is.53.4: We arettiden hym as a mesel [WB(1): leprous; L leprosum].
- a1425 St.Anthony (Roy 17.C.7)129/33 : Fywe mesylles come & besoght saynt Antony of helpe.
- ?a1425 Mandev.(2) (Eg 1982)67/10 : Crist..gafe sight to þe blynd and heled meselles [Man.(1): lepres; F meselez].
- ?c1430 Wycl.Tract AMaria (Corp-C 296)205 : Þei ben..lemmans of foule sathanas, þat is foulere þan ony mesel or leprous.
- a1450(c1400) Wor.Serm.(Wor F.10)29/239 : Þe art more vowler..e þe sith o God þanne euer was any mesel.
- a1450 Yk.Pl.(Add 35290)86/317 : Like mesellis makis it man and wyffe.
- (a1464) Capgr.Chron.(Cmb Gg.4.12)95 : He kissid a mysel, and sodeynly the mysel was hol.
- c1425(a1400) Wycl.Conf.(Dub 245)343 : Crist bad þe mesels go and shewe hem to prestis.
- a1500(?a1400) SLChrist (Hrl 3909)6574 : Ihesu..helet mesel, halt, and blinde.
- a1500(a1450) Gener.(2) (Trin-C O.5.2)4237 : I haue A thing shall lye vppon your face That ye shall seme a mesell certayn.
- a1500 *Nicod.(4) (Hrl 149:Hulme)270b : The Meselles that y haue made, he hath heled hem only by hys worde.
- a1475 *Sidrak & B.(Lnsd 793)1226 : May any man with kunnyng of clergie Hele a mesel of his meselrie?
- c1525(1473) Oak Bk.Sou.Ordin.in Sou.RS 1087 : The mesell of the mawdlens shall haue almes of the bretheren of the gilde.
b
- a1400(c1303) Mannyng HS (Hrl 1701)11466 : He þay ys yn dedly synne, Gostely he ys a mesyl with-ynne.
- c1400 *Bk.Mother (Bod 416)63/11 : Gostliche meselis..ben alle þo þat durre not speke..aȝenus Goddis enemyes..so þicke of whelkes and bladdres in here soules.
c
- c1450(a1400) Orolog.Sap.(Dc 114)370/37 : Haue mervaile inwardly..þat so grete a lorde to so litil vnworthy seruaunte..and so worthy a mageste to so vile a meselle vouchþsafe to come.
- c1450 Capgr.Rome (Bod 423)143 : Þis holi man was councelled of cristen men for reformacioun of his helth to dwelle for a tyme a mongis myselles.
d
- ?a1400(a1338) Mannyng Chron.Pt.2 (Petyt 511)p.136 : To meselle houses of þat same lond, þre þousand mark vnto þer spense he fond.
- (1402) *Will Neve (Somerset Ho.) [OD col.] : Les meselcotes in Kentstrete.
- c1450(?c1425) St.Mary Oign.(Dc 114)152/6 : She garte gadir herbes..atte she myghte make hir potage of hem, leste she ȝete almes þat raueynours and vsurers vse to gif to houses of mesels, þat are callid spitellis.
e
- (1239) Lib.R.Hen.III.1 (PRO C 62)430 : Gyra le Mesel.
2.
(a) Leprosy or some skin disease with symptoms similar to those of leprosy; ?a case of leprosy; (b) fig. affliction, misery.
Associated quotations
a
- a1400 Cursor (Frf 14)11827 : Ouer alle he [Herod] was with mesel [Trin-C: was he mesel] playne.
- (a1470) Malory Wks.(Win-C)1002/18 : There happened on her a malodye, and whan she had lyene a grete whyle, she felle unto a mesell.
b
- a1425 Primer (Add 36683)108 : We preien thee..That thou fouche saaf to biholde and releeue the meselis of pore men and thrallis [L Miserias].
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- ?c1425 Chauliac(2) (Paris angl.25)79/1 : Pustules..ben smale apostemes and exitures..as glandules, i. kornede, varioles, i. mesellis, or bothores
Note: New sense "pustule"
Note: !Quot. already taken under māsel n. (b) 'a pustule or skin eruption characteristic of or as in measles.'--JL