Middle English Dictionary Entry
costrel n.
Entry Info
| Forms | costrel n. |
| Etymology | OF costerel |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
A flask or bottle; a wine-skin; a small, portable wooden keg; also fig.; ~ tre, a wine keg.
Associated quotations
- c1380 Firumb.(1) (Ashm 33)510 : By myddel þer hongeþ her a costrel [orig. draft: o botel]..ful of þat bame cler.
- c1380 Firumb.(1) (Ashm 33)742 : Þe costrel þat was with yre y-bounde.
- (a1398) *Trev.Barth.(Add 27944)331a/b : We clepiþ lagena a litil barel or a costrel [L barillum siue costrellum].
- a1425(a1382) WBible(1) (Corp-O 4)Ruth 2.9 : Go to the litil costrils, and drynk watris.
- a1425 *Medulla (Stnh A.1.10)7a/b : Ascopa: a costrel.
- (1432) Invent.Jarrow in Sur.Soc.29100 : In ligatura unius par de costrellez.
- (1440) PParv.(Hrl 221)95 : Costred or costrelle [Win: costreel], grete botelle: Onopherum, aristophorum.
- c1450 Myght wisdom (Add 31042)107 : Blissede by thy breste..Costrellis compluyte with plentuose licour.
- (1454) Will York in Sur.Soc.30173 : A costerell for ale.
- a1500(?a1400) KEdw.& S.(Cmb Ff.5.48)500 : Þou shalle preue furst of a costrell tre..Telle me now, whilke is þe best wyne.
- a1500 Mayer Nominale (Mayer)724/9 : Hic colateralis: a costrille.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- ?c1400(1379) Daniel *Treat.Uroscopy (Roy 17.D.1)f.42va (2.3) : Vryn wiþ smale greyns seiþ a maner of sekenes þat is called 'alchites'..whoso haue þat malady, and one gif him a litil stroke o þe bely, his wombe souneþ lik a costrel or botel þat were but half ful.
Note: Needed for date.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- a1500 Feast Tott.(Cmb Ff.5.48)95/284 : Ther was castrell in cambys And capulls in cullys With blandamets in dorde.
Note: New form: Also..castrel.
Note: OED has this quot. and form under 'kestrel' n., which it derives from Middle English 'castrel,' apparently corresponding to OF 'cresserelle, créecerelle, quercerelle,' (Modern Poitevin 'casserelle') but the only Middle English quot. in that entry is this one. The dishes at this feast always consist of ridiculous objects (such as chamber pots, bell clappers, millstones, etc.) or animals (such as steeds, riding horses, a goat, etc.) served in a legitimate food (such as some sort of soup, sauce, stew, etc.). 'Cambys' also poses a problem: the MED includes it under comb n., sense 8. with the gloss 'meaning unknown.' Perhaps this quot. actually belongs to sense 6., "a honeycomb," actually used in food or drink preparation (e.g. mead) although there are no quots. containing recipes. The nonsensical dish ("castrell in cambys") would thus be a flask, wine-skin, or portable keg served with honeycomb, perfectly in accordance with the other absurdities on this menu.
Note: The AND entry for this word does have a form with -a-: costerel, pl. castrelis.
Note: (If, however, 'castrell' is taken for 'kestrel,' it will be a oncer in a new MED entry, 'castrel.')
Note: The list of variant spellings in the form section is incomplete and needs revision to accord with standards of later volumes of the MED.--all notes per MLL