Middle English Dictionary Entry
tusk n.(1)
Entry Info
| Forms | tusk n.(1) Also tuske, tux(e, toxe, (early) twuxe; pl. tuskes, etc. & tuskus, toskes, twixes & tuxe. |
| Etymology | OE tux, (oblique) tusc-, tuxc-, twux-, vars. of tū̆sc. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) A long pointed tooth often protruding beyond the mouth of an animal, a tusk;—used chiefly of the boar or the elephant; also, a tooth of a dog, bear, etc., prob. one of the canine teeth, a fang; also, a molar [usu. glossing L mola]; (b) pl. fig. the projecting spears in a triangular battle formation; (c) a tusklike tooth of a human being or giant; also fig. in proverb [last quot.].
Associated quotations
a
- ?a1200(OE) Hrl.HApul.(Hrl 6258B)171/4 : Bewriþe..mid heortes horne & mid hilpenbane & mid bares twuxe.
- ?a1200(OE) Hrl.MQuad.(Hrl 6258B)273/1 : Wið þæt teþ wexon butan sare, hundes tux ȝeberned & smale ȝegnidon & on ȝedeon toðreomera swylas ȝedwæsceþ.
- c1225(?c1200) St.Juliana (Bod 34)61/671 : Þe reue seh hit acwenct & bigon to cwakien..as eauer ei iburst bar þet grunde his tuskes.
- c1230(?a1200) Ancr.(Corp-C 402)145/22 : Þe wildebar ne mei nawt buhen him to smiten..he is carles of his tuskes [Nero: tuxes].
- c1330(?c1300) Bevis (Auch)36/742 : A wilde bor þar was aboute..Wiþ his toskes he al to-schok.
- (a1398) Trev.Barth.(Add 27944:Seymour)1094/32 : A wilde swyne froteþ hemself aȝens trees and here tuskes whetteþ.
- a1400 NVPsalter (Vsp D.7)57.6 : Toskes [L molas] of liouns lauerd breke sal ma.
- c1400(?a1300) KAlex.(LdMisc 622)6113 : Þe selue men of þe londe Weren blake so colowȝy bronde, And teeþ hadden ȝelewe as wax, Euerych as a bores tux [LinI: toxe].
- a1425(?c1350) Ywain (Glb E.9)262 : His browes war like litel buskes, And his tethe like bare-tuskes.
- a1425(c1385) Chaucer TC (Benson-Robinson)5.1238 : Up and doun as he the forest soughte, He mette he saugh a bor with tuskes grete, That slepte ayeyn the bryghte sonnes hete.
- a1425 KAlex.(LinI 150)5271 : A best þer is..ycleped monoceros..Tayl he haþ as an hog, Doked tuxe as adog.
- c1440(?a1400) Morte Arth.(1) (Thrn)791 : The bere..byttes hym boldlye wyth balefull tuskez.
- c1450(?a1400) Wars Alex.(Ashm 44)4114 : Olifants..Come with a carefull crie oure kniȝtis to assaill..sum oure douth sloȝe, Tuke out þe tuskis & þe tethe.
- c1450 Mandev.(4) (CovCRO Acc.325/1)2446 : Queinte beestis also ben there..ben shape lich moch a bere, But his hede is liche a bore With longe tuskis sittinge bifore.
- c1475 7 Sages(1) (Eg 1995)34/897 : Twyxes [Auch: Þe bor..wette his tossches and his fet].
- ?c1475 *Cath.Angl.(Add 15562)132a : A Tuske: Colomellus.
- a1500 Tundale (Adv 19.3.1)499 : They sawe a beste..Betwyx hys tuskus þat were so longe Two grete gyantes sawe he honge.
- a1500 Arth.& M.(Dc 236)345/1115 : The whyte dragon lay by hym þo, Wiþ longhe powes & scharpe al so And wiþ gret tuskes, þat croked were.
- a1500 Hal.Gloss.(Eg 829)8 : Molas: tuskes.
- c1500(?c1450) Wedding Gawain (Rwl C.86)549 : She [Ragnelle] had two tethe on euery syde, As borys tuskes.
b
- (a1460) Vegetius(2) (Pmb-C 243)1930 : The boorys hed is a triangulere Of men, a boorys hed as thaugh it were: If that come on, with tuskys forto breke The breste or egge or wynge or outher horn, A sharre clippe hem of, right by the cheke.
c
- c1440(?a1400) Morte Arth.(1) (Thrn)1075 : Than glopnede þe gloton [giant] and glorede vnfaire; He grennede as a grewhounde, with grysly tuskes.
- c1450(c1400) Sultan Bab.(Gar 140)2197 : He [Alagolofur] hade tuskes like a bore, An hede like a liberde.
- c1460(?c1400) Beryn (Nthld 55)1455 : Yeur wyff woll sikirliche Eche day for angir hir tuskis whet.
- a1475 Asneth (Hnt EL 26.A.13)7 : Ma bele, langage I lakke To parfourme youre plesir, for yt ys ful straunge That broken tuskes shold wel harde nuttis crakke, And kerue out the kernelis..lame and vnlusty now age hath me left..I lakke sapience.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
Note: Med., etc., see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. tusk.