Middle English Dictionary Entry
mīren v.(2)
Entry Info
| Forms | mīren v.(2) P.ppl. i)mīred. |
| Etymology | From mīre n.(1). |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) To entrap (sb.); ensnare (sb.) in sin; also refl. enmesh oneself in trouble; ben mired, be confounded or in trouble; (b) to bedung (sb. or sth.), befoul, defile, pollute (cp. mixen v.); (c) ppl. mired, stuck in the mud, bogged down [thus incorporating both sense (a) and sense (b)]; -- in fig. context.
Associated quotations
a
- ?c1400 Rolle Psalter (Sid 89:Bramley)136.4 : Myres [Ld: We sayn that babylone mirischis thaim, and thei are ful of all couetyse and knowes nouȝt gostly song].
- (?1406) Hoccl.MR (Hnt HM 111)355 : Who so passynge mesure desyrith..Him self encombrith often sythe & myrith.
- a1450 Yk.Pl.(Add 35290)223/92 : Sen ye ymagyn a-mys, Þat makeles to myre, Ȝoure rankoure is raykand full rawe.
- ?c1450 St.Cuth.(Eg 3309)4802 : Þe deuel he was þair gyde To bring þaim to be myrid.
- c1460(?c1400) Beryn (Nthld 55)3388 : Nowe we be I-myryd, he letith vs sit aloon!
b
- ?c1475 *Cath.Angl.(Add 15562)81a : To myre: merdare, inquinare stercorare.
c
- a1500(?1451) Petrarch Secret.(Add 60577)26/891 : Thus þou abhorreste þi fylthe and wrecchednesse, But forto wasshe the þou haste noo bysynesse; Thus þou arte myrede in a lane of dyrte and claye, And yitt the lyste nott tourne to chese a better weye.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
Note: Sense (c) added, but perhaps unnecessarily, since it effectively represents a union of senses (a) and (b). Quot. nevertheless adds a usefully specific context (dirt lane) for the 'mire' in question.