Middle English Dictionary Entry
overt adj.
Entry Info
| Forms | overt adj. Also uverte. |
| Etymology | From OF overt, ppl. of ovrir. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) Of clothing: unfastened; of a book: open; (b) of a passage: unobstructed; of a refuge: accessible; (c) of a face: uncovered; of a text: clear, manifest; -- quasi ppl.: of falsehood: revealed.
Associated quotations
a
- c1330 Degare (Auch)791 : He hadde on a sorcot ouert, Iforred wiȝ blaundeuer apert.
- c1440(a1400) Eglam.(Thrn)1283 : A surcott vuerte þe knyght tase.
- (c1452) Arms Oxf.in Antiq.37 (Hrl 2259)210 : Ye armys of Oxforth: They ber asur a boke overt wt vij clospys gold betwyx iij crownys.
- c1450(a1400) Libeaus (Clg A.2)126 : Hys surcote was ouert.
- a1500 Degrev.(Cmb Ff.1.6)648 : Sche come in a vyolet, With whyȝth perl ouerfret And saphyrus þerinne i-sett..And ouert for pryde.
b
- a1450 Walton Boeth.(Roy 18.A.13:Schümmer)107 : Here is the port of pees and restfulnesse To þeim þat stonde in stormes of desese, Refut ouert to wrecches in distresse And all confort of myschief and mysese.
- c1450(c1380) Chaucer HF (Benson-Robinson)718 : The way therto ys so overt And stant eke in so juste a place, That every soun mot to hyt pace.
c
- c1400(?c1380) Pearl (Nero A.10)593 : In Sauter is sayd a verce ouerte Þat spekez a poynt determynable: 'Þou quytez vchon as hys desserte, Þou hyȝe kyng ay pretermynable.'
- c1460(a1449) Lydg.2 Merch.(Hrl 2255)519 : To hym Fortune hir falsnesse hath overt..For he is ffallen and plonget in povert.
- a1450(c1410) Lovel.Grail (Corp-C 80)45.513 : And whanne that here vesages weren Overt, he knew hem Openly thanne Apert.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- a1500 Degare (RwlPoet 34)107 : Houertt [Auch: He hadde on a sorcot ouert].
Note: New spelling