Middle English Dictionary Entry
milner(e n.
Entry Info
| Forms | milner(e n. Also mulner(e, melner(e & miller(e, muller(e, meller(e & (errors) milla, (sg. gen.) meller. |
| Etymology | From milne n. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) A miller; one who runs a mill; (b) ~ belles, ?household bells of some kind; milneres thume, a kind of fish, the English bullhead (Cottus gobio); ~ pit, a millpond; (c) in surnames.
Associated quotations
a
- (1381) Let.Ball in Robbins Hist.Poems (Roy 13.E.9)1 : Iohan þe mullere haþ y-grounde smal, smal, smal.
- (c1390) Chaucer CT.Rv.(Manly-Rickert)A.3865 : Ful wel koude I thee quyte With bleryng of a proud milleres eye.
- (c1390) Chaucer CT.Rv.(Manly-Rickert)A.4096 : Yet kan a millere make a clerkes berd.
- (c1390) Chaucer CT.Rv.(Manly-Rickert)A.4204 : He has the milleris doghter in his arm.
- (c1390) Chaucer CT.Rv.(Manly-Rickert)A.4266 : I haue thries..Swyued the milleris [vrr. meller, mellers, melleris] doghter.
- c1400(a1376) PPl.A(1) (Trin-C R.3.14)2.76 : In witnesse of whiche..was..Munde þe myllere [vrr. myllar, Mellere, mylnere, Mulnere].
- c1400(a1376) PPl.A(1) (Trin-C R.3.14)5.161 : Hikke þe hakeneyman & hogge þe myllere [vrr. melnere, mylner].
- a1425 Roy.17.C.17 Nominale (Roy 17.C.17)650/22 : Hic molendinarius: mylur.
- (1440) PParv.(Hrl 221)337 : Myllare: Molendinarius.
- (1440) PParv.(Hrl 221)496 : Tollynge of myllarys: Multura.
- a1450 Cat.Plays Yk.p.xxv : Tielmakers, Milners, [etc.].
- a1450 Terms Assoc.(1) (Rwl D.328)604 : A franchype of Millers.
- c1450 When the son (Frf 16)167 : Myllers that tyllyth not twyes yn a myle.
- a1475 Godstow Reg.(Rwl B.408)287/9 : Iordan, the said myller of karsynton yaf..iij half acres.
- ?a1475(?a1425) Higd.(2) (Hrl 2261)4.319 : Pila, doghter to a mylner callede Athus.
- a1500 Mayer Nominale (Mayer)686/13 : Hic molendinarius: a milner.
- a1500 The krycket (Pen 356B)18 : Þe mylner sedet o-pon the hull and all þe hennes off the town drew hym tyll.
- c1500(?a1475) Ass.Gods (Trin-C R.3.19)698 : Double tollyng myllers, Gay ioly tapsters.
- a1525(1430) Cov.Leet Bk.130 : They orden that..ȝeue ony mylner take ony corne or tolle..he make amendes.
- a1525(1474) Cov.Leet Bk.397 : The syse of a Millar is þat he schall not haue no Mesures at his mille But thei be sysed and sealed accordyng to the kynges standard.
- -?-(1366) Reg.Freemen York in Sur.Soc.9660 : Willelmus de Burghbrigg, milner.
b
- (1433) in Rec.B.Nottingham 2140 : vij milnerbelles..cum aliis utensilibus domus.
- (1440) PParv.(Hrl 221)337 : Myllarys thowmbe [vr. millathowme]: fysche.
- a1500 Mayer Nominale (Mayer)725/8 : Hic assicus: a mylnerpyt.
c
- (1230) Close R.Hen.III574 : Willelmum le Mulner.
- (1259) Close R.Hen.III2 : Hugo le Milner.
- (1262) Close R.Hen.III27 : Adam le Melnere.
- (1266) Pat.R.Hen.III552 : Hugh Melner.
- (1296) Sub.R.Sus.in Sus.RS 1041 : Rado Muller.
- (1325) Court R.Lan.in LCRS 41147 : Alexander le Milnerstepson.
- (1327) Sub.R.Sus.in Sus.RS 10173 : Regino Miller.
- (1334) Court R.Colchester 1119 : Will. le Milnere.
- (1364) Reg.Edw.Blk.Pr.4.527 : Nicholas Mulnere.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- a1400 Trin-C O.9.39 Recipes (Trin-C O.9.39) 22/16 : Make þy bagge so large þat þy saflour may ligge þerynne al plat þe þiknesse of þe gode myllers cake.
- ?a1500 Lndsb.Nominale (Lndsb)788 : Hic panis subverucius, a meleres cake.
Note: New combination milneres cake. We know from the recipe that 'miller's cake' is a flat cake of some kind; the Nominale appears to identify it specifically as a cake baked in ashes (trusting DMLBS, which refers ''subverucius' to 'subcinericius' , glossed as 'baked beneath or among hot ashes'). Clarke's gloss ("myllers cake n. = 'pressed linseed'") corresponds to modern agricultural usage, in which apparently 'Miller's cake' can denote concentrated animal fodder formed from linseed (so, for example, the County Council of Northumberland's Sixth Annual Report on Experiments with Crops and Stock at the County Demonstration Farm, Cockle Park, Morpeth (Newcastle, 1902), p. 23, or the Journal of the Board of Agriculture 10 (1904), p. 34); but we know of no evidence that "Miller's cake" meant compacted linseed fodder in the 14th century, or even that "miller" in the modern phrase refers to an occupation, as opposed to the name of a manufacturer. Hence MED's gloss: 'a flat cake ?baked in ashes.'