Middle English Dictionary Entry
contūmelīe n.
Entry Info
| Forms | contūmelīe n. |
| Etymology | L & OF |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) Insolence; (b) humiliation; (c) abusive language.
Associated quotations
a
- (c1390) Chaucer CT.Pars.(Manly-Rickert)I.556 : The synne of contumelie.
b
- a1500 Mirror Salv.(Beeleigh)p.152 : Ouer this, swettest Jhu, ware thi paynes hoegely cressid..And two thefes broght to place to encrees thy contumelye.
c
- ?c1400(1379) Daniel *Treat.Uroscopy (Roy 17.D.1)f.4rb (Prologue) : If so grete men..þat were inspired wiþ þe Holy Goste, myȝt no waies eschewen the cont[um]elez, i. myssayingz or vpbraidinges, of proude men..how shal I inow eschewe euel spekingz & vpbraidyngz?
- (a1460) Bokenham Sts. (Adv Abbotsford B3)142.320 (v.2:p.414) : The deuyl, by the mouth of the woman, brast owt into contumely of Barnard.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
Note: Regarding the example from Henry Daniel, see editor's gloss: 'abusive language'. Roy (R) ms. reads 'conti(line end)nuelez', which Harvey and Tavormina, in correcting to above, footnote as a misinterpretation of minims. BodeMus (M7) ms. reads 'contumuelez'. All other mss. read 'contumelias'.