Middle English Dictionary Entry
scant adj.
Entry Info
| Forms | scant adj. Also scante, skant(e. |
| Etymology | From ON: cp. OI skammr, (neut.) skammt. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) Limited or insufficient in number or amount; barely sufficient, scarce; (b) limited in space or time; (c) reluctant to give or receive, niggardly, sparing.
Associated quotations
a
- c1390 Treat.Mass (Vrn)308 : He wrot so faste til þat he want, ffor his parchemyn-skin was so scant.
- ?a1425(?a1350) Castleford Chron.(Göt Hist 740)19778 : Tresor for þam he had ful scant, So litel firste he had in hend.
- ?c1425(c1412) Hoccl.RP (Roy 17.D.6:Furn.)2032 : Though that my livelode and possession Be skant, I riche am of beneuolence.
- (1428) Doc.in Sur.Soc.853 : To thys he answerd and sayd yat he perceyved wele yat iren waxed skant and dere.
- (c1449) Pecock Repr.(Cmb Kk.4.26)530 : Thei lyueden streitli and in scant mete and drinke.
- c1450 Brut-1431(1) (Eg 650)450/27 : xxiiij Days, brede was ryght skantt in London, in-so-moch þat vnneth Any myght be gete.
- c1475(c1450) Idley Instr.(Cmb Ee.4.37)2.A.1101 : Bysshoppe therof may geve noo dome Ne assoille hym in noo maner of wyse, But oonly oure hooly fadre, the pope of Rome; It is full scant, if that may suffise.
- a1500(?c1450) Merlin (Cmb Ff.3.11)253 : Thei playned gretly for defaute of vitaile that was scant in the hoste.
b
- c1450 Marion ABC (Arun 168)66 : Goode lady..So scoure þe wayes þat be so full of drede, So scant, so scharpe; make þem to me in brede, That I all easly may passe thoroughe them clere.
- a1475 *Sidrak & B.(Lnsd 793)10574 : If a man shulde þe eir wante, His lyf sone shulde be scante.
c
- c1450(c1370) Chaucer ABC (Benson-Robinson)175 : Now, ladi ful of merci, I yow preye, Sith he his merci mesured so large, Be ye not skant [vr. skante].
- c1450 Cato(2) (Sid 63)172 : It, þat is dere, þou þenke it vile, And þing vile þing [read: þenk] So þat þou ne holden be Gredi, skant, ne ȝit to fre.
- c1475 MEccles.(Trin-C R.3.21)p.695 : To receue grace þey ought nat to be scant But opyn inwarde redy to take gostly instruccion.