Middle English Dictionary Entry
strai adj.
Entry Info
| Forms | strai adj. Also strei. |
| Etymology | From strai n.; also cp. astrai adj. and OF estraier adj. & estraié p.ppl. as adj. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) Law Of a domestic animal: wandering away from its home or enclosure and subject to impoundment and, if unredeemed, to forfeiture; (b) by extension, of people: homeless and wandering, in exile.
Associated quotations
a
- (1405) Doc.Beverley in Seld.Soc.1416 : Si animal Weyf vel Stray inveniatur ibidem, liberetur ballivo Archiepiscopi Eboraci.
b
- 1448 *Glo.Chron.C (Arms 58:Kooper)f.148v : 'Lo Sires,' quod he [viz., king Ethelred], 'howe strey we buþ iput that while we helde al the monarchie now we buth w[r]ecched flemed bodyes.