Middle English Dictionary Entry
spil(e n.(1)
Entry Info
| Forms | spil(e n.(1) Also (early) spille. |
| Etymology | Perh. from ON (cp. spila tablet & spilda slice) or MDu. spille, spil spindle; if ME vowel is ī, cp. MDu., MScot. spīle. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
Note: Cp. spale n.(2), spalle n., & spel(e n.
1.
(a) A fragment of wood; a splinter; (b) ~ bon, the thighbone, femur; also, a bone of the arm, prob. the radius.
Associated quotations
a
- c1300 SLeg.Becket (Hrl 2277)p.42 : We suspendieth such consail, for hit nis noȝt worth a spille [Ld: fille].
- c1540(?a1400) Destr.Troy (Htrn 388)11119 : Pirrus with payn puld of his brest The spyll of his speire.
b
- (1307) Court R.Wakefield in YASRS 36131 : [Quenylda de Alverthorpe..complains that they assaulted and beat her, and broke the] spilebon [of her arm].
- ?c1425 Chauliac(2) (Paris angl.25)230/23 : Al the hole kittynge of grete bones, ad [read: as] of the adiutorie, i. spylbone, of the þigh, and of þe two fociles..is perilouse.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
Note: Med., etc. (sense (b)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. spile bone.