Middle English Dictionary Entry
stī n.
Entry Info
| Forms | stī n. Also stie, (early) stih & stei & (error) styze. |
| Etymology | OE stig, (in comb.) stī-; cp. OI svīnstī. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) A pigsty; also, a stall in a pigsty; hogge ~; swin ~ [see also swin n. 1.(e)]; (b) a foxhole, burrow; (c) a place of filth, place of degradation; helle ~, the pit of hell; (d) prisoun ~, ?a prison enclosure; ?a cell [cp. steu(e n.(2) 1.(c)]; (e) in surname.
Associated quotations
a
- c1230(?a1200) Ancr.(Corp-C 402)68/3 : Ancre..ah to leaden heard lif..nawt ase swin ipund isti [Tit: istih] to feattin.
- a1350 When man as mad (Hrl 2253)6 : When mon makes stables of kyrkes & steles castles wyþ styes..Whenne shal þis be?
- (c1395) Chaucer CT.Sum.(Manly-Rickert)D.1829 : He groneth lyk oure boor lith in oure sty.
- ?a1425(c1400) Mandev.(1) (Tit C.16)207/30 : Þei..lyuen eueremore þus in ese as a swyn þat is fedd in sty for to ben made fatte.
- (a1440) Let.Coventry in EHR 55644 : Jtem, for a swynstyze [?read: swynstyȝe].
- (1440) PParv.(Hrl 221)475 : Sty, swynce cote: Ara.
- (?1440) Palladius (DukeH d.2)3.1083 : Her cotes make..& parte hem so bitwene That euery sty a moder wol sustene, That with her wombe her pigges doth from colde.
- a1450 In patras (Sln 2593)p.219 : He sauyd a thef that was ful sly, That stal a swyn out of his sty.
- (1453) Paston2.17 : The swynysty ys doun, and all the tymbyr and the thacche born a-way.
- a1500(?c1378) Wycl.OPastor.(Ryl Eng 86)425 : Loke þat þou..lyue in pouert as baptist dide, not in hye castels of caym & lustful fode as boris in sty.
- a1500 Hrl.1002 Gloss.(Hrl 1002)626 : Ara: stye, or a swyne holke.
- ?a1500 Lndsb.Nominale (Lndsb)803 : Porcatorium: a hogstye.
b
- a1325(c1280) SLeg.Pass.(Pep 2344)1605 : A ffox him may ffynde a stey and a turtle a nest al-so.
c
- a1450 Ch.Feasts (Roy 18.A.10)142 : Þenk on helle stynkyng stye, Where goostis bren in bynde.
- ?a1475 Ludus C.(Vsp D.8)26/323 : Now I am cast to helle sty, streyte out at hevyn gate.
d
- c1330 7 Sages(1) (Auch)27/579 : He louted his maister þat com him bi, As he was lad to prisoun sti.
e
- (1286) Nickname in LuSE 55172 : Joh. Styhog.