Middle English Dictionary Entry
pōke n.
Entry Info
| Forms | pōke n. Also pok, poc, puke & (in cpd.) pucs-. |
| Etymology | OE pohha (Nhb. poha, pocca) & ON (cp. OI poki); also cp. AL poca, puka, from Gmc. & OF poche (var. poke, Norman pouque), from Gmc. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) A sack, pouch, bag [in some quots. perhaps a measure of quantity, but see quot.: a1500]; pissinge ~, provande ~, sond ~ [see pissinge, provende, sond]; (b) a full, elongated type of sleeve; (c) the stomach; also fig. the bottom of a fish trap; (d) pokes netes, ?nets shaped like a pouch or bag; pokes ende, the end of a bag; ?error for prikes ende; (e) in proverbs; (f) in surnames.
Associated quotations
a
- (1228) in Gras Eng.Cust.Syst.157 : i poke de alum, i d.
- (1275-6) in Gras Eng.Cust.Syst.225 : xl sackes et i poke de laine.
- (1276) Hundred R.Tower 1388 : lx sacci lane & j puke.
- (c1300) Havelok (LdMisc 108)555 : In a poke ful and blac, Sone he caste him on his bac.
- (1347-8) RParl.2.215b : Lambert Yonge..ait fait avenir en Engleterre xi pokes de madder a Lenn.
- (c1375) Peace R.Lin.in Lin.RS 30233 : kj sarplers et vnum poke lane.
- (c1390) Chaucer CT.Mil.(Manly-Rickert)A.3780 : In a poke [vrr.pool,purs] nobles al vntold Thow sholdest haue.
- a1400(c1300) NHom.(1) Knt.PW (Phys-E)p.140 : Poc no sekk no hauid he nan, Quar in he moht this quete do.
- c1400(c1378) PPl.B (LdMisc 581)14.245 : Pouerte hath but pokes to putten in his godis, Þere auarice hath almaries and yren-bounde coffres.
- (1404) in Rec.B.Nottingham 220 : ij pokus de canevas, ob.
- (1425) RParl.4.290a : The which Cokett contenes the hool nombre of sarplers and pokes and the just poys that they holden.
- (1440) PParv.(Hrl 221)407 : Pooke: Sacculus.
- (1446) Will York in Sur.Soc.45102 : De canvas pokez, vj d..De j poke, iiij d.
- a1400 Siege Jerus.(1) (LdMisc 656)1303 : For þritty penyes in a poke [vrr. purse, bagge], his postel hym solde.
- c1450 Med.Bk.(1) (Med-L 136)192/605 : For the mygreyne. Take peletre of spayn & stanescarre in a littell poke..and chew it.
- (1451) Pet.Hen.VI in Archaeol.Ael.n.s.3184 : j quarter of wolle in a poke.
- c1475 *Mondeville (Wel 564)158a/a : Þanne distille it ofte tymes þoruȝ a poke as men distille.
- a1500 Weights in RHS ser.3.41 (Vsp E.9)16 : Also Woll ys sold by numbre and schipped to, as by sacks, sarplers, and pokys; ii sacks make a sarpler, and x sarplers make a laste, and the poke ys att no serteyne, butt aftre as ytt weys.
b
- (1402) Topias (Dgb 41)p.69 : The pokes of purchace hangen to the erthe, and the cloith of oo man myȝte hele half a doseyne.
- (c1425) Vita Ric.II in PMLA 52 (Tbr C.9)901 : Manicis vocatis vulgariter Pokys ad modum Bagpipe formatis.
- a1450(?1409) Vision Staunton (Roy 17.B.43)63 : I saw also fendes drawyng down þe skynne of here shulders like to pokes and kittyng hem of.
- ?a1475(?a1425) Higd.(2) Ctn.(Hrl 2261)514 : Grete insolence of vesture began to encrease in the begynnynge of this kynge, and specially of gownes with longe pokus, made in the maner of a bagpype.
c
- a1325 Gloss.Bibbesw.(Trin-C O.2.21)529 : Poke [vrr. poke or bothom; the bothem, the boke; glossing AF (Cmb): Le gurget de nace revercez].
- c1350 Cmb.Ee.4.20.Nominale (Cmb Ee.4.20)10* : Et ou la gurget ne troue queche: in the poke but tundre.
- c1450 Hrl.Cook.Bk.(2) (Hrl 4016)114 : Chauudon of fissh. Nym ye livere & ye poke.
- a1475(?a1430) Lydg.Pilgr.(Vit C.13)12856 : I [Glotonye]..efft ageyn do my labour (As an vngry wolff, certeyn) ffor to ffylle my pook [vr. pawnche] ageyn.
- ?a1475 Noble Bk.Cook.(Hlk 674)74 : To boile gurnard..Draw a gurnard at the belly..and slit the pok.
d
- (1442) *Acc.R.Witham : [Poacher] cum canibus pucsnetts.
- a1400 Siege Jerus.(1) (LdMisc 656)910 : On þat tronchoun with his teþ, he toggeþ & byteþ Tille hit was piked at þe poynt as a pokes [vrr. prikes, prikke] ende.
e
- (c1390) Chaucer CT.Rv.(Manly-Rickert)A.4278 : In the floor with nose and mouth tobroke, They walwen as doon two pigges in a poke.
- a1425 Wycl.Serm.(Bod 788)2.358 : Þan shulde pees be in þe Chirche Wiþouten strif of doggis in a poke; Anticrist haþ put diverse doggis in þe poke of his obedience.
- c1425(a1400) Wycl.Pseudo-F.(Dub 245)319 : Þus þei faren ofte as don doggis in a poke.
- a1500(c1450) Idley Instr.(Arun 20)2.S.160 : For women in a howse and neyls in a poke Can no more be closyd þen of fyer þe smoke.
f
- (1299-1300) Nickname in LuSE 55110 : Alex. Haripok.
- (1300-2) Nickname in LuSE 55110 : Will. Haripok.
- (1323) Nickname in LuSE 55184 : Rob. Wasshepoke.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- (1349-50) Acc.Chester in LCRS 59133 : [2 1/2 quarters of oats of a certain rent called] Pykton poke [collected in Lent].
Note: New combination for sense 1.(a): Picton ~, q.v.
Note: See this quot. in Picton-pōke n. = "a rent paid in grain." Etymology: [From Picton, Cheshire & pōke n.]--per MLL
Supplemental Materials (draft)
Note: Med., etc., see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. poke.