Middle English Dictionary Entry
tē̆r n.(2)
Entry Info
| Forms | tē̆r n.(2) Also ter(r)e, ther, (early infl.) tirwan & tar(re, thar & (error in cpd.) ta. |
| Etymology | OE teoru, teru, taru, (infl.) tyrwe. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) Tar, the viscous liquid produced in the breakdown of an organic substance, usu. wood or coal, and used as a salve, a caulking agent, or an incendiary material; barels de ~; piche and ~; (b) a related bituminous substance: bitumen, asphalt; (c) ~ barel; ~ boket; ~ bolle (boiste, box, poughe), a small container used primarily by shepherds to store tar used as a salve for sheep; ~ piche, pitch; ~ rop, ?a rope for hoisting tar barrels; ?a rope coated with tar.
Associated quotations
a
- ?a1200(OE) Hrl.HApul.(Hrl 6258B)155/7 : Nim þisse wyrte croppas mid tyrwan ȝesode.
- ?a1200(OE) Hrl.MQuad.(Hrl 6258B)245/4 : Wið wifa earfodnyssa..foxes liþu & his smeru mid ealden ele & mid tyrwan wyrc him to sealfe; do an wifa stowe.
- a1225(OE) Vsp.A.Hom.Init.Creat.(Vsp A.22)225 : Wrec þe nu an arc..and iclem hall þ[e] seames mid tirwan.
- (1295) Acc.Shipbuilding in Ant.J.7429 : Uno barillo de Thar, iibus barillis picis emptis pro eadem galia, xviii s., viii d. sicut continetur ibidem.
- (1296) Newcastle Galley in Archaeol.Ael.4.2164 : In xj Barillis de Ter..precium Barilli iii s., xxxiij s.
- (1302-3) in Gras Eng.Cust.Syst.296 : De Johanne de Holdefar pro boghestaves, teer, et pice..iiii s. vi d.
- a1325(c1250) Gen.& Ex.(Corp-C 444)662 : Nembrot gat hise feres red, For ðat he hadde of water dred, To maken a tur wel heg & strong Of tigel and ter for water-gong.
- (1355-6) Acc.Abingdon in Camd.n.s.519 : In tarr et rubea petra, xx d.
- (1391) Acc.Exped.Der.in Camd.n.s.5241/6 : Nicholao Sprank, carpentario, pro pixe, tar et lini..j marc. vij scot.
- a1400(a1325) Cursor (Vsp A.3)2245 : Þe wark þai raised in a stund Wit tile and ter, wit-vten stan Oþer morter was þer nan.
- a1400(a1325) Cursor (Vsp A.3)2870 : Men findes lumpes o þe sand, O þer [Trin-C: teer] nan finer in þat land.
- c1400(?a1387) PPl.C (Hnt HM 137)10.262 : The tarre is vntydy þat to þyne sheep by-longeþ; Hure salue ys of supersedeas in someneres boxes.
- 1409(1338) Doc.in Nicolas Navy 2476 : xxiii barrell de tarre, £ iii.
- a1425(c1395) WBible(2) (Roy 1.C.8)Ex.2.3 : Sche took a leep of segge, and bawmede it with tar and pitch, and puttide the ȝong child with ynne.
- ?a1425 *MS Htrn.95 (Htrn 95)187b/a : For ycche and scabbe: Take butter, foure pounde; vyneger, foure pounde; terre, a pounde; schepis talwe, [etc.].
- (?1440) Palladius (DukeH d.2)12.239 : Rubrike and taar [L pice liquida] wormys & auntis sleth, Doon esy on for harmyng of the tre.
- a1450(1408) Vegetius(1) (Dc 291)164/22 : Loke þou haue redy plente of botyn, of brymston, of pyk & tar, of talwȝ grece and oyle..redy to brenne and to fire, ȝif nede be, þe gynnes & þe ordenaunce of thyn aduersarie.
- a1450 Diseases Women(2) (Sln 2463)166 : To suche women we put þe medecyn forsaid of þe lynnen clout with þe tarre.
- (a1460) Vegetius(2) (Pmb-C 243)2315 : Glew, tar, & picch and oyle incendiary, And sulphour herwithal to brenne engyne.
- (1473-4) Acc.St.Edm.Sarum15 : In ij galons of tarre bought for the tarryng of the hempon cabul, ij s.
- a1480(c1450) Barlaam (2) (Peterh 257)24/807 : Þe oþer chestis..were dawbyd without with pich & terre.
- a1500(a1460) Towneley Pl.(Hnt HM 1)26/127 : Anoynt thi ship with pik and tar, without & als within, The water out to spar, this is a noble gyn.
- a1500(a1460) Towneley Pl.(Hnt HM 1)31/282 : Thre ches chambre thay ar well maide; Pyk & tar full sure ther apon laide.
- ?a1500 Henslow Recipes (Henslow)23/1 : Take flour of ryȝe, and clene hony, and tere, and make a dow þer-of.
- 1591(?a1425) Chester Pl.(Hnt HM 2)126/33 : Here is tarre in a pott to heale them from the rott.
b
- ?a1425 *MS Htrn.95 (Htrn 95)193b/a : Aspaltum, Tarre of ynde: it is an erþe þat comeþ out of ynde heuy and stynkynge of broun coloure h. & d. in þe 3 degree.
- ?c1475 *Cath.Angl.(Add 15562)126a : Ter: Bitumen.
- ?a1500 Lndsb.Nominale (Lndsb)814/8 : Butumen: a tere.
c
- (1388) Inquis.Miscel.(PRO)5.57 : [A] tarboket [worth 1 d.].
- (1399) Fabric R.Yk.Min.in Sur.Soc.3515 : Et in evacuacione dicti toralis calcis per operarios conductos cum iij terbarell emptis.
- a1400 Mirfeld Sinonoma (Pmb-O 2)34 : Pix liquida, Picula: idem, terpiche.
- (1448) in Salzman Building in Engl.322 : j rope, j tarre rope, iij par slynges pro petris exaltandis et gubernandis.
- a1450(a1400) Titus & V.(Add 36523)2945 : Aboute þe toun sette þei engynes To destruyen all her wynes; And ofte to þe toun þei caste And shete with bowes and alblaste, With tarbarelx [vr. taberellys] and with wildefyre.
- c1500(?a1475) Ass.Gods (Trin-C R.3.19)326 : By her sate..The rewde god Pan..With a gret tar box hangyng by hys syde.
- 1591(?a1425) Chester Pl.(Hnt HM 2)128/78 : Hemlocke, and hayriffe—take keepe—with tarreboyste must bene all tamed, penyegrasse and butter for fatt sheepe; for thys salve am I not ashamed.
- 1591(?a1425) Chester Pl.(Hnt HM 2)133/175 : Tarboyste and tarboll yee shall here; nettle, hemlock, and butter abydinge, and my good dogge Dottynolle, that is nothinge cheeffe of his chydinge.
- c1600(?c1395) PPl.Creed (Trin-C R.3.15)618 : And þerfore of þat blissinge trewlie, as y trowe, Þei may trussen her part in a terre powȝe!