Chapter L

=laced mutton,= a strumpet. Two Gent. i. 1. 102; B. Jonson, Neptune’s Triumph (Boy). See NED. See =mutton.=

=lachesse,= negligence. Caxton, Hist. of Troye, leaf 74, back, 18. ME. _lachesse_ (Chaucer, C. T. I. 720), OF. _lachesse_, _laschesse_, deriv. of _lasche_, slack. L. _laxus_, lax.

=lack,= to want. _What do y’ lack?_ what will you buy; the constant cry of the shopkeepers. B. Jonson, Magnetic Lady, Induction, l. 1; Barth. Fair, ii. 1 (Leatherhead).

=lackey,= to accompany, like a lackey or foot-boy. Massinger, Virgin Martyr, i. 1 (Harpax). Used _fig._ ‘A thousand liveried angels lackey her’, Milton, Comus, 455. See Dict.

=lad,= led; _pt. t._ of _lead_. Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 4; iv. 8. 2. A Lanc. form, see EDD. (s.v. Lead, 1 (1)).

=ladron,= a thief, robber. Shirley, The Brothers, v. 3 (Pedro). Span. _ladron_, a thief; L. _latro_, a robber.

=lady,= the calcareous substance in the stomach of a lobster, serving for the trituration of its food; fancifully supposed to resemble the outline of a seated female figure; ‘What lady? the lady in the lobster?’ Shirley, Witty Fair One, iii. 4 (Aimwell).

=Lady of the Lake,= a personage in Arthurian romance; hence, a fairy, nymph; ‘This bevie of Ladies bright . . . all Ladyes of the lake behight’, Spenser, Shep. Kal., April, 120. Humorously, a woman of light behaviour. Massinger, New Way to Pay, ii. 1 (Marrall).

=lag,= slow, tardy, habitually late. Richard III, ii. 1. 91; a laggard, Dryden, To Mr. Lee, 43; _lag-end_, latter part, fag-end, 1 Hen. IV, v. 1. 24. See EDD. (s.v. Lag, adj., 1).

=lag-goose,= a personification of laziness, Tusser, Husbandry, §
85. 4. In Norfolk ‘lag-goose’ is in prov. use for the wild grey
goose, see EDD. (s.v. Lag, sb.^{9}).

=lag:= in phr. _lag of duds_, ‘buck’ or ‘wash’ of clothes, Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, v. 1 (Higgen).

=lag,= to carry off, to steal. Tusser, Husbandry, § 20. 15.

=laire;= see =leer.=

=lam,= to beat soundly, to thrash, flog. _Lamming_, a thrashing, Beaumont and Fl., King and no King, v. 3 (Bacurius); Honest Man’s Fortune, v. 2 (Laverdine); ‘_Gaulée_, a cudgelling, basting, lamming’, Cotgrave; _lambed_, pp. beaten, Dekker, Shoemakers’ Holiday, v. 2 (Firk). In gen. prov. and colloq. use (EDD.). Cp. Icel. _lemja_ (pret. _lamði_), lit. to lame.

=lamback,= to beat severely. Rare Triumphs of Love, iv. 1 (Lentulo), in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vi. 204; Munday, Death E. Huntington, v. 1 (Brand), in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, viii. 305.

=Lamia,= a fabulous monster supposed to have the body of a woman, and to suck the blood of children. Burton, Anat. Mel. iii. 2; a witch, sorceress, ‘Where’s the lamia That tears my entrails?’, Massinger, Virgin Martyr, iv. 1. L. _lamia_, a witch supposed to suck children’s blood. In the Vulgate, Isaiah xxxiv. 14, the Heb. _Lîlîth_, ‘the night-hag’, is rendered _lamia_. Gk. Λάμια, a fabulous monster.

=lampas,= a disease incident to horses, consisting in a swelling of the fleshy lining of the roof of the mouth behind the front teeth. Described in Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 81; Tam. Shrew, iii. 2. 52. F. _lampas_ (Cotgr.).

=lamping,= shining brightly. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 3. 1. Cp. Ital. _lampante_, bright, shining (Florio).

=lance-knight,= a mercenary foot-soldier, esp. one armed with a lance or pike. B. Jonson, Every Man in Hum., ii. 4 (Brainworm). Palsgrave has: ‘_Lansknyght_, lancequenet.’ G. _lanz-knecht_, lance-knight, a perverted form of _lands-knecht_ = land’s knight (see Weigand, s.v. Land). See Dict. (s.v. Lansquenet).

=lancepesade,= a non-commissioned officer of the lowest grade, a lance-corporal. Massinger, Maid of Honour, iii. 1; _lance-presade_, Cleaveland, Poems (Nares); _lanceprisado_, Fletcher, Thierry, ii. 2 (Martell). The term was orig. applied to a trooper who having broken his lance (_lancia spezzata_) on the enemy was entertained as a volunteer assistant to a captain of foot, receiving his pay as a trooper until he could remount himself (Grose). See Estienne, Précellence (ed. 1896, p. 353) for account of _Lance-spessade_. See Stanford, and Nares.

=lanch, launch,= to cut, lance, pierce. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 2. 37; Heywood, Eng. Traveller, ii. 1 (Clown). OF. (Picard) _lancher_ (F. _lancier_). In W. Somerset they will ask for ‘a lanch to lanch the cow’, see EDD. (s.v. Lance, sb.^{1} 1). See Dict. (s.v. Launch).

†=land-damn,= to rate severely (?). Winter’s Tale, ii. 1. 143. The word in Shakespeare is of doubtful authenticity. The alleged survival of the word in dialects, with the sense ‘to abuse with rancour’, appears to be imperfectly authenticated. For ingenious conjectures see Nares.

=landlouper,= a runner about the land, a vagabond. Bacon, Henry VII, p. 105; spelt _land-loper_; Howell, Forraine Travell, p. 67 (Arber). Du. _landt-looper_, ‘a vagabond, or a rogue that runnes up and downe the countrie’ (Hexham).

=langdebiefe,= wild bugloss. Tusser, Husbandry, § 39. 16; _langdebeef_, Lyte, tr. of Dodoens, bk. v, c. 15. OF. _lange de beof_, ‘ox tunge’, ‘lingua bovis’, ‘buglossa’ (Alphita, 24).

=langer,= to loiter about; ‘Wandryng and langerynge’, Morte Arthur, leaf 185. 20; bk. ix, c. 20. See Dict. (s.v. Linger).

=langued,= lit. tongued; in heraldry, represented with a tongue of a specified tincture or colour. Butler, Hud. i. 2. 259. Cp. F. _langué_, ‘langued, a term of Blazon’ (Cotgr.).

=lannard,= a ‘lanner’, a species of falcon. Middleton, Span. Gipsy, iv. 3 (Fernando); ‘Lanarde, a hauke, lanier’, Palsgrave. In prov. use in Cornwall for the peregrine falcon (EDD.). See Dict. (s.v. Lanner).

†=lansket,= a shutter, a panel of a door, or a lattice; ‘I peep’d in At a loose lansket’, Fletcher, Woman’s Prize, ii. 6 (Jaques). Only found here (NED.).

=lantedo, lanteero;= ‘Your lantedoes nor your lanteeroes’, Middleton, Blurt, Mr. Constable, iv. 3 (Blurt). See =adelantado.=

=lanterloo,= the old name of the card game now called _loo_. Etherege, She Would if She Could, v. 1 (Sentry). Spelt _Lanterlu_, and used as a name, Wycherley, Country Wife, v. 3 (near the end). See Stanford.

=lap,= a cant term for non-intoxicating drink. Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Song); ‘_lap_, butter-milke or whey’, Harman, Caveat, p. 83.

=lapise, lappise,= to yelp. Turbervile, Hunting, c. 29, p. 76; id., c. 33, p. 86; ‘lappyse or whymper’, id., c. 39, p. 108. F. _glappir_, _glappissement_, (Cotgr.).

=lapwing,= said to cry out at a distance from her nest, in order to draw the searchers away from it. B. Jonson, Sejanus, v. 10 (Arruntius); and see Massinger, Old Law, iv. 2 (Simonides); Lyly, Alexander, ii. 2 (Alexander). Very common.

=lare,= a pasture. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 8. 29. A pseudo-archaic use of _lair_, the place where cattle lie, see EDD. (s.v. Lair, sb.^{1} 2, § 3).

=lare,= to fatten. So explained by Dyce, Beaumont and Fl., Wildgoose Chase, iii. 1 (Rosalura).

=Lares,= the household gods in Roman religion. _Lars_, Milton, Christ’s Nativity, Hymn, st. 21; B. Jonson, Poetaster, iv. 2 (Lupus).

=lash:= phr. _in the lash_, in the lurch; ‘To run in the lash’, Tusser, Husbandry, § 10. 15; ‘Leave in the lash’, id., § 63. 20; ‘lie in the lash’, Three Ladies of London, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vi. 254; ‘Gave age the whippe, and left me in the lash’, Mirror for Mag., Shore’s Wife, s. 14; Gascoigne, ed. Hazlitt, i. 446. See NED. (s.v. Lash, sb.^{1} 4).

=lash,= to move violently; ‘Lashing up his heels’ [of a horse], Dryden, tr. of Ovid, Met. xii. 472; ‘’Gainst a rock was lashed in pieces’, Congreve, Mourning Bride, i. 1 (Almeria).

=lash out,= to squander, waste. Tusser, Husbandry, § 23. 18; More, Richard III (ed. Lumby, p. 67).

=latch,= to catch. Spenser, Shep. Kal., March, 93; Macbeth, iv. 3. 195; Mids. Night’s D. iii. 2. 36. An E. Anglian word (EDD.). ME. _lacchen_ (P. Plowman). OE. _læccan_, to seize, catch.

=lato,= a mixed metal; ‘latten’. B. Jonson, Alchem. ii. 1 (Surly); _laton_, Morte Arthur, leaf 44, back, 25; bk. ii, c. 11. ME. _latoun_ (Chaucer, C. T. A. 699). Norm. F. _laton_, ‘laiton, alliage de cuivre et de zinc’ (Moisy), Med. L. _lato_ (Ducange). See Dict. (s.v. Latten).

=launce,= a balance. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 7. 4. L. _lanx_, a scale.

=laund,= a ‘lawn’, a glade. 3 Hen. VI, iii. i. 2; Drayton, Pol. xxvi. 69. ME. _launde_, a grassy clearing, a glade surrounded by trees (Chaucer, C. T. A. 1691). Anglo-F. _launde_, OF. _lande_; probably of Celtic origin, see W. Stokes, Celtic Dict., p. 239.

=launder,= one who washes linen. Tusser, Husbandry, § 83. 2. Hence _laundered_ (landered), thoroughly washed, Butler, Hud. ii. 1. 171. ME. _lawndere_ (Prompt. EETS. 257). See Dict. (s.v. Laundress).

=laundring,= washing gold in aqua regia to extract metal from it. B. Jonson, Alchem. i. 1 (Face).

=lautitious,= sumptuous, excellent. Herrick, The Invitation, 3. L. _lautitia_, magnificence.

=lave,= used of ears: drooping, hanging down; ‘His lave eares’, Wily Beguiled, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, ix. 304; _lave-eared_, having long drooping ears, Hall, Satires, ii. 29 (Nares); ‘Lave eared, plaudus’, Levins, Manip. Still in use in the north country (EDD.). ME. _lave eres_ (Wars Alex. 4748).

=lave,= to droop, said of ears, ‘His ears hang laving’, Hall, Sat. iv. 1. 72. Icel. _lafa_, to droop.

=lavender:= phr. _to lay in lavender_, to pawn; Coles, Dict., 1699; ‘Rather than thou shouldst pawn a rag more, I’ll lay my ladyship in lavender, if I knew where’, Eastward Ho, iv. 279 (Nares); _to lie in lavender_, to be in pawn, ‘a black suit . . . now lies in lavender’, B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of his Humour, iii. 3. In R. Brathwaite’s Strappado for the Devil is an epigram, ‘Upon a Poet’s Palfrey lying in Lavender for the discharge of his Provender’, p. 154 (Nares). _Lavendered_, pp. ‘Your lavendered robes’, Massinger, New Way to Pay, v. 1 (Overreach).

=laver,= drooping, hanging down; ‘this laver lip’, Marston, Sat. v. 97. See =lave.=

=lavolta,= the name of a lively dance, orig. for two people. Hen. V, iii. 3. 33. Ital. _la volta_, the turn, ‘a French dance so called’ (Florio).

†=lavoltetere,= one who dances (and teaches) the _lavolta_. Fletcher, Fair Maid of the Inn, iii. 1 (Host).

=law, to give,= to allow so much start, about twelve-score yards, to a hunted animal. B. Jonson, Sad Sheph. ii. 2 (near the end); Drayton, Pol. xxiii. 337; ‘She shall have law’, Heywood, Witches of Lancs. ii (Shakstone); vol. iv, p. 199.

=lay,= law. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 10. 42; esp. religious law, hence, a religion, creed, a faith; ‘’Tis Churchmans laie and veritie To live in love and charitie’, Peele, Chron. Edw. I, B 3 (NED.). ME. _lay_, religion, faith (Chaucer, C. T. B. 376). Anglo-F. _lei_, ‘loi, loi religieuse, religion’ (Chans. Rol. 85).

=lay,= a ‘lea’, meadow. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 8. 15; adj. fallow, unploughed, ‘Let . . . land lie lay till I return’, Fletcher, Love’s Pilgrimage, iii. 3 (Sanchio). ME. _lay_, ‘lond not tyllyd’ (Prompt. EETS.); _laie_, fallow (Gamelyn, 161). See NED. (s.v. Lea, adj.).

=lay,= a wager. 2 Hen. VI, v. 2. 27; Othello, ii. 3. 330; Cymb. i. 4. 159. In prov. use in Yorks., Midlands, and E. Anglia, see EDD. (s.v. Lay, sb.^{1} 20).

=lay,= to beset with traps; ‘All the country is laid for me’, 2 Hen. VI, iv. 1. 4; Middleton, A Chaste Maid, iv. 1 (near end); iv. 2 (Tim); A Trick to Catch, i. 2. 3.

=lay:= phr. _to lay in_ (or _a_) _water_, to make nugatory, to bring to a standstill, Lyly, Euphues, p. 34; Mydas, iv. 4 (Martius); Gosson, School of Abuse, p. 21. See NED. (s.v. Lay, vb.^{1} 25).

=lay,= to lie; ‘Nature will lay buried a great Time, and yet revive’, Bacon, Essay 38. For exx. of this intrans. use see NED. (s.v. Lie, vb.^{1} 43), and EDD. (s.v. Lie, 16).

=layne,= to conceal. Morte Arthur, leaf 399, back, 13; bk. xx, c. 1. In prov. use in Scotland and the north of England, see EDD. (s.v. Lane). ME. _laynen_, to conceal (P. Plowman, C. iii. 18). Icel. _leyna_, cognate with G. _leugnen_, to deny. See NED. (s.v. Lain).

=laystall,= a place where refuse is thrown aside. Spenser, F. Q. i. 5. 53; _leystall_, Drayton, Moses, bk. i. 115. See Nares. A Kentish word, see EDD. (s.v. Lay, vb. 2 (9a)).

=laystow,= a ‘laystall’. Stanyhurst, tr. Aeneid, iii. 628; ‘In comparison of this present, the ancient gardens were but dunghils and laistowes’, Harrison, Desc. Engl., bk. ii, ch. 20 (ed. Furnivall, 325); ‘Smythfeelde was . . . a layestowe of all order of fylth’, Fabyan Chron. vii. 226 (NED.). A north-country word, see EDD. (s.v. Lay, 2 (12)).

=layte,= lightning. Morte Arthur, leaf 353, back, 30; bk. xvii, c. 11. ME. _leit_, ‘fulgor’ (Wyclif, Matt. xxiv. 27). OE. _lēget_, also _līgyt_ (Matt. xxiv. 27).

=laze,= to be lazy, to be listless. Greene, Alphonsus, i. Prol. (Melpomene); Never too Late (ed. Dyce, 301). In prov. use (EDD.).

=leach,= a dish consisting of sliced meat, eggs, fruit, and spices in jelly; ‘Leche made of flesshe, gelee’, Palsgrave; ‘Caudels, Iellies, leach’, Dekker, If this be not a good Play (Shackle-soul), Works, iii. 285. F. _lèche_, ‘tranche très mince’ (Hatzfeld). See NED.

=lead:= phr. _to lead apes in hell_, the fancied consequence of dying an old maid, Lyly, Euphues (ed. Arber, 87); Taming Shrew, ii. 1. 34; Much Ado, ii. 1. 42; ‘_Mammola_, an old wench . . . one that will lead apes in Hell’, Florio.

=lead,= a pot, cauldron, kettle. Tusser, Husbandry, § 56. 14; ‘Brewyng ledys’, pl., Bury Wills (ed. Camden Soc., p. 101). See EDD. (s.v. Lead, sb.^{1} 6 and 7). In Lanc. ‘lead’ is used for a dyeing-vat; in the north country furnace-vessels, of whatever metal made, are so called, from having been usually made of that metal.

=leaden dart.= Cupid’s _leaden_ dart caused dislike; his _golden_ one incited to love, Massinger, Virgin-Martyr, i. 1 (Antoninus); Roman Actor, iii. 2 (Iphis). From Ovid, Met. i. 470.

=leading-staff,= a staff or truncheon borne by a commanding officer. Farquhar, Constant Couple, i. 1 (Smuggler); i. 2 (Parly).

=leak,= leaky. Spelt _leke_, Spenser, F. Q. i. 5. 35; _leake_, id., vi. 8. 24. OE. _hlece_.

=leally,= truly, verily. Spelt _lelely_, Otway, Soldier’s Fortune, v. 1 (Sylvia); loyally, ‘He sall leallie and trewlie use and exerce his office’, Skene, Difficil Words (1681). Anglo-F. _leal_, loyal (Rough List), O. Prov. _leal_ (Levy).

=lear;= see =lere.=

=leare,= a cheek; _learys_, cheeks, Morte Arthur, leaf 186. 4; bk. ix, ch. 21; spelt _lyers_, Stanyhurst, tr. Aeneid, i. 471. OE. _hlēor_, cheek, face. See =leer.=

=lease,= a pasture. Tusser, Husbandry, § 33. 49; _lees_, Fitzherbert, Husb., § 148. 18; ‘In pastures and leases’, Lyte, tr. of Dodoens, bk. i, ch. 63 (The Place).

=leasues,= ‘leasowes’, pastures, Udall, tr. Apoph., Diogenes, §
103. OE. _lǣs_, a pasture (dat. _lǣswe_). See EDD. (s.v.
Leasowe).

=lease;= _Lease-parol_, a lease by word of mouth, instead of in writing. Greene, Looking Glasse, iii. 3 (1298); p. 134, col. 1.

=lease, lese,= to lie, tell lies. A Knack to know a Knave (Honesty), in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vi. 511. ME. _lesen_, OE. _lēasian_, to tell lies; _lēas_, false.

=leasing,= lying, falsehood, a lie. Twelfth Nt. i. 5. 105; Spenser, F. Q. i. 6. 48; BIBLE, Ps. iv. 2; v. 6; _lesynge_, Coverdale, 2 Esdras xiv. 18. ME. _leesyng_ (Wyclif, Ps. v. 7). OE. _lēasung_.

=leathe-weake,= having the joints flexible, hence, pliant, soft. Ascham, Toxophilus (ed. Arber, 129). A north-country word, written _leathwake_, _lithwake_, _leathweak_ (EDD.). ME. _lithwayke_, ‘flexibilis’ (Cath. Angl.). OE. _leoðuwāc_, _liðewāc_ (BT.).

=leatica,= a red muscatel wine made in Tuscany. Dekker, Honest Wh., Pt. II, iv. 3 (1 Vintner). Ital. _liatico_ (Florio); _aleatico_, an exquisite grape, a wine made therefrom (Fanfani). See NED. (s.v. Liatico).

=leave,= to levy, raise an army. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 10. 31. F. _lever_, ‘to raise, to levy’ (Cotgr.).

=leavy,= leafy, full of foliage. Much Ado, ii. 3. 75; Dryden, Flower and Leaf, 316, 512.

=leden, ledden,= language. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 11. 19; Colin Clout, 744; Drayton, Pol. xii. 303. ME. _leden_ (Chaucer, C. T. F. 435); OE. _leden_ (_lyden_), language, prop. the Latin language, L. _Latinus_; cp. O. Prov. _latin_, ‘langage’ (Levy), OF. _latin_, language, also, the warbling of birds (Bartsch, 581. 34); Ital. _latino_, language (Dante).

=ledger,= resident; esp. in capacity of ambassador; ‘His Ambassadour that was ledger at Rome’, Daus, tr. Sleidane, 113 (NED.); _lieger_, Webster, White Devil (Francisco), ed. Dyce, 18; _legier_, resting in a place, Fairfax, Tasso, i. 70. 15; _leiger_, Shirley, Lady of Pleasure, iv. 2 (Littleworth). See =lieger.=

=Lee.= ‘His corps was carried downe along the Lee’, Spenser, F. Q. v. 2. 19; ‘I looked . . . adowne the Lee’, Ruines of Time (Globe ed. 496). Probably the reference is to the name of a river.

=leefky,= for _leefkyn_, a bodice. _Leefekyes_, pl., Lyly, Euphues (ed. Arber, 116). Du. _lijfken_: ‘_een vrouwen Lijfken_, A womans Bodies [bodice]’ (Hexham); dimin. of _lijf_, a body.

=leefsom,= pleasant. Surrey, Complaint of absence, 23, in Tottel’s Misc., p. 19. Cp. Scottish _leesome_, pleasant, loveable (EDD.). OE. _lēofsum_ (Juliana, 17).

=leek,= like. Middleton, The Witch, i. 2 (Hecate); riming with _cheek_.

=leer,= complexion. As You Like It, iv. 1. 67; Titus, iv. 2. 119; spelt _laire_, Drayton, Harmony Church, Song Sol., ch. i, l. 12; _lere_, Skelton, Phyllyp Sparowe, 1034; El. Rummyng, 12; _leyre_, Magnyfycence, 1573. For the sense, see EDD. (s.v. Leer, sb.^{3} 3, and Lire, sb.^{3}). OE. _hlēor_, face, countenance. See =leare.=

=leer,= tape. Lyly, Euphues (ed. Arber, 79). In Kentish glossaries, see EDD. (s.v. Leer, sb.^{2}). See NED. (s.v. Lear, sb.^{2}).

=leer,= empty. _A leer horse_, a horse without a rider (see Nares); _a leer drunkard_, a drunkard void of self-control, B. Jonson, Barth. Fair, Induction; New Inn, iv. 3 (Lovel). ME. _lere_, empty (Rob. Glouc., p. 81); see Stratmann (s.v. lǣre). OE. _lǣre_; cp. G. _leer_. Very common in prov. use, see EDD. (s.v. Lear, adj.^{1}).

=leer;= _Leer side_, in B. Jonson, Tale of Tub, i. 2 (Turfe), and ii. 2, ‘Hat turn’d up o’ the leer side.’ Supposed by Nares to be used for the left side. Probably due to the form _leereboard_ (for _lar-board_), see Hakluyt’s Voyages, i. 4.

=leere,= lore. See =lere.=

=leese,= to lose. BIBLE, 1 Kings xviii. 5 (ed. 1611); Shak., Sonnet 5; Fletcher, Faithful Shepherdess, iv. 1. 4. ME. _lesen_ (Chaucer, C. T. A. 1290); OE. _lēosan_.

=lefull,= permissible. Tyndale, Matt. xii. 12; Ascham, Toxophilus, 45. ME. _leveful_ (Chaucer, C. T. D. 37); _leve_, permission (id., C. T. B. 1637). See NED. (s.v. Leeful).

=leg:= in phr. _to make a leg_, to make an obeisance by drawing one leg backward. Tempest, ii. 2. 62; Merry Wives, v. 5. 58; ‘Give him a plum, he makes his leg’, Selden, Table Talk (Thanksgiving). See Nares.

=legacy,= an embassy, message delivered by a legate. Chapman, tr. of Iliad, vii. 349; ix. 220.

=Lege de moy,= supposed to be the name of a dance; ‘Parys of Troy Daunced a Lege de moy’, Skelton, Colyn Cloute, 953; El. Rummyng, 587.

=legem pone,= a cant term for ready money; ‘There are so manie Danaes now a dayes . . . If _legem pone_ comes he is receav’d, When _Vix haud habeo_ is of hope bereav’d’, The Affectionate Shepheard (Halliwell); ‘They were all at our service for the _legem pone_’, Ozell’s Rabelais, iv. 12; ‘Use _legem pone_ to pay at thy day, But use not _Oremus_ for often delay’, Tusser, Husbandry, 29. The origin of the use of this Latin phrase for money is doubtless this: The first great pay-day of the year was March 25, on which day of the month the _Legem pone_ is the first portion of the 119th Psalm read at Mattins, so that these words were easily associated with the idea of payment and ready money. See Nares.

=leger,= light; ‘A hundred leger wafers’, The London Chanticleers, scene 5 (Welcome). F. _léger_.

=legiaunce,= faithful service. Bacon, Henry VII, p. 142. OF. _ligeance_, _legiance_, deriv. of _lige_, _liege_, entitled to feudal service, also, bound to render feudal service, see Didot (s.v. Lige, Ligence). Cp. O. Prov. _litge_, ‘liege’; of Germanic origin, OHG. _ledig_, free; _legiaunce_ was the feudal service of a free man. See NED.

=legier;= see =ledger.=

=legier-booke,= a ‘ledger-book’, i.e. a book containing records, a cartulary, register. Peacham, Comp. Gentleman, c. 6, p. 51. See Dict. (s.v. Ledger).

=legierte,= lightness, agility. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 230. 20; thoughtlessness, id., lf. 311, back, 23. F. _légèreté_, lightness.

=leiger;= see =ledger.=

=leke;= see =leak.=

=lelacke,= lilac. Bacon, Essay 46. Cp. the Lincoln pronunciation _lealock_, see EDD. (s.v. Laylock).

=lelely;= see =leally.=

=lembic,= an ‘alembic’, B. Jonson, Alchem. iii. 2 (Subtle); _limbeck_, Macbeth, i. 7. 67.

=leme,= a flame, light, ray, beam. Sir T. Elyot, The Governour, bk. i, c. 1, § 2; Calisto and Melibæa, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, i. 64; _leames_, lights, Sackville, Induction to Mirror, st. 9. A north-country word, see EDD. (s.v. Leam, sb.^{1} 1). ME. _leme_ (Chaucer, C. T. B. 4120). OE. _lēoma_, light.

=Lemures,= in early Roman religion, the spirits of the departed. Milton, Christ’s Nativity, Hymn, st. 21.

=l’envoy,= the sending forth a poem, hence, the conclusion of a poetical or prose composition; the author’s parting words; _fig._ a conclusion, catastrophe, ‘Long since I look’d for this l’envoy’, Massinger, Bashful Lover, iv. 1 (Martino); v. 1 (Alonzo). OF. _envoye_ (F. _envoi_), a sending.

=lere,= lore, teaching. Spenser, Shep. Kal., May, 261; Drayton, Pol. xxiv. 803; _leare_, Spenser, F. Q. iii, 11. 16; iv. 3. 40; _leares_, lessons, F. Q. iii. 7. 21; _leere_, Lyly, Mother Bombie, ii. 5 (Sperantus). Also, the meaning, sense (as of a Latin phrase), Heywood, Witches of Lancs. iv (Lawrence). In prov. use in Scotland and north of England, see EDD. (s.v. Lear, sb.^{1} 5). ME. _lere_ (Sir Gowther, 231); fr. _leren_, to teach (Chaucer, Tr. and Cr. iv. 441). See =leyre.=

=lere;= see =leer.=

=lerrepoop;= see =liripoop.=

=lerrie,= something said by rote, a set speech, ‘patter’; ‘Man can teach us our lerrie’, Middleton, Blurt, Mr. Constable, iii. 3 (Third Lady). In Kent ‘lerry’ is the part which has to be learnt by a mummer (EDD.). See NED. (s.v. Lurry).

=lesses,= the dung of a ‘ravenous’ animal. Turbervile, Hunting, c. 37; p. 97; Maister of Game, c. 25. F. _laisses_, ‘the lesses (or dung) of a wild Boar, Wolf, or Bear’ (Cotgr.).

=lest,= to listen. Spenser, F. Q. vi. 1. 17. See EDD. (s.v. List, vb.^{3}).

=lest;= see =list.=

=lesynge;= see =leasing.=

=let,= hindrance. Spenser, F. Q. i. 8. 13; vi. 2. 17. ME. _lett_ (Cursor M. 7395).

=Lethe,= a river in Hades, the water of which produced forgetfulness of the past; ‘Lethe the River of Oblivion’, Milton, P. L. ii. 583; ‘Lethe Wharfe’, Hamlet, i. 5. 33. Hence _Lethean_, ‘They ferry over this Lethean Sound’, Milton, P. L. ii. 604 (cp. the ‘Lethaeus amnis’ of Virgil, Aeneid vi. 705). Gk. λήθη, forgetfulness, oblivion; personified in Hesiod; no river is called Λήθη by the ancient Greeks.

=Lethe,= Death, Jul. Caesar, iii. 1. 206. Hence _Lethean_, deadly, mortal. Blount, Glossogr., 1670. F. _Lethe_, ‘masc. Death; _Lethean_, deadly, mortal, death-inflicting’ (Cotgr.). L. _letum_ (on acc. of association with Gk. λήθη, Lethe, sometimes printed _lethum_, an orthography which is not supported by MSS. or Inscriptions), Death.

=lettice,= a kind of whitish grey fur; ‘A robe of Scarlet . . . bordered with Lettice’, Hall, Chron., 25 Hen. VIII (ed. 1809, 803); _a lettice cap_, ‘Bring in the Lettice cap . . . And then how suddenly we’ll make you sleep’, Fletcher, M. Thomas, iii. 1. 9; id., Thierry and Theod. v. 2. 8. F. _letice_, ‘a beast of a whitish gray colour’ (Cotgr.). OF. _letice_, _lettice_, _lettiche_, ‘fourrure ou pelisse grise’ (Didot), see Ducange (s.v. Lactenus). OHG. _illitiso_, the polecat (12th cent.), MHG. _iltis_, _iltisse_, see Weigand and Kluge (s.v. Iltis). See Nares.

=lettuce,= in proverbial sayings: _Like lips, like lettuce_, i.e. things happen to a man according to his deserts, Greene, Orl. Fur. i. 1. 318 (Orgalio, p. 93, col. 1); _Like lettuce, like lips_, New Custom, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, iii. 23; _Such lips, such lettuce_, Heywood’s Proverbs, 80. Cp. the Latin Proverb, ‘Similes habent labra lactucas’, see Ray’s English Proverbs (ed. Bohn, 111). See NED.

=level-coil,= a rough game, in which each player is in turn driven from his seat and supplanted by another, hence, riotous sport. B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, iii. 2 (Dame Turfe); ‘_Jouër à cul-leve_, to play at level-coyl’, (Cotgrave). Also used as adv. for turn and turn about, alternately, ‘The mother’s smile Brought forth the daughter’s blush, and levell coyle, They smil’d and blusht’, Quarles, Argalus (ed. 1629, 18). F. _lève-cul_, see Littré (s.v. Lever). See Halliwell.

=lever,= rather, more gladly. Spenser, F. Q. i. 9. 32; _me lever were_, it would be more agreeable to me, id., iii. 2. 6. In gen. prov. use in the British Isles. ME. ‘me were lever’ (Chaucer, Tr. and Cr. i. 1034). OE. _lēofre_, comp. of _lēof_, dear, ‘lief’.

=leveret,= a mistress, a courtesan. Shirley, Gent. of Venice, i. 1 (Malipiero); Gamester, i. 1; Honoria. i. 1 (Alamode). F. _levrette_, ‘A Greyhound bitch, also, a most lascivious and incontinent wench’ (Cotgr.).

=levet,= a trumpet-call, to awaken soldiers, &c., in a morning; ‘Trumpets sound a levet’ (stage-direction), Fletcher, Double Marriage, ii. 1; Butler, Hud. ii. 2. 611. Ital. _levata_, a march upon a drum and trumpet (Florio); orig. pp. fem. of _levare_, to raise.

=levigate,= lightened, made easier. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 3, § 1. Late L. _levigare_, to lighten; _levigatio_, a lightening (Rönsch, 81).

=leyre,= lore. Drayton, Pastorals, Ecl. 4; Ballad of Dowsabel, l. 11. See =lere.=

=leystall;= see =laystall.=

=liam, lyam,= a leash for hounds. Spelt _liom_, Sir Thos. More, i. 4. 143; Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. ii, ch. 13, § 5; Drayton, Muses’ Elysium, Nymphal 6, 65. O. Prov. _liam_ (Levy), Béarnais Dial., _liam_ (Lespy), Norm.-F. _lian_, ‘lien’ (Moisy), L. _ligamen_, a band, anything to tie with, fr. _ligare_, to tie. See NED. (s.v. Lyam), and EDD. (s.v. Leam, sb.^{2}). See =lym.=

=lib,= to sleep. (Cant.) Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Song). Hence, _libkin_, a house to sleep in, a lodging, B. Jonson, Gipsies Metamorphosed (Jackman); _lib ken_, Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Tearcat); ‘A _lypken_, a house to lye in’, Harman, Caveat, 83.

=lib;= see =glib.=

=libbard,= leopard. Spenser, F. Q. vii. 7. 29; Milton, P. L. vii. 467. [The form ‘libbard’ occurs in modern poets: ‘The lion, and the libbard, and the bear’, Cowper, Task, vi. 773; ‘On libbard’s paws’, Keats, Lamia, ii. 185.] ME. _libarde_ (Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 894). OF. _lebard_ (Godefroy); see NED.

=libbat,= a short thick stick, chiefly for throwing at cocks, &c.; a billet of wood. Warner, Alb. England, bk. iv, st. 21, st. 12; id., prose add. to bk. ii, § 22. In prov. use in Kent, Surrey, Sussex, and Dorset, see EDD. (s.v. Libbet, sb.^{1}).

=libecchio,= a south-west wind. Milton, P. L. x. 706. An erroneous form for Ital. _libeccio_ (Florio), deriv. of L. _Libs_, S.W. wind; Gk. Λίψ.

=libel, libell,= a little book, a short treatise. Gascoigne, Works, i. 42; a written statement. North’s Plutarch, Life of Octavius, § 25 (in Shaks. Plut., p. 277, note 1).

=liberal,= licentious, gross. Much Ado, iv. 1. 93; Merch. Ven. ii. 2. 194; Othello, ii. 1. 165. _Liberally_, licentiously; City Gallant, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, xi. 194.

=libration,= oscillation, swaying to and fro; ‘The bounds of thy libration’, Dryden, Conq. of Granada, ii. 3. 1 (Almanzor). L. _librare_, to balance.

=licket.= Meaning doubtful; perhaps a flap of some kind; ‘Wear your coif with a London licket’, Eastward Ho, i. 1 (Gertrude). In the west country ‘licket’ is in use for ‘a shred, rag’ (EDD.).

=lidderon,= a rascal. Skelton, Against Ven. Tongues, 29; Garl. of Laurell, 188. A Sc. prov. word, see Jamieson, Suppl. ME. _lyderon_ or _lydron_, ‘lydorus’ (Prompt. EETS. 262), (_lydorus_ = Gk. λοίδορος).

=lieger,= an ordinary or resident Ambassador; ‘A Lieger (differed) from an extraordinary Ambassador’, Fuller, Ch. Hist. iii. 5. 22; Fletcher, Love’s Cure, ii. 2 (Alvarez); a commissioner, an agent, spelt _leiger_, Meas. for M. iii. 1. 59; Butler, Hud. ii. 3. 140. See =ledger.=

=lie-pot,= a vessel to hold ‘lye’ for use as a hair-wash. Middleton, Five Gallants, i. 1. 12 (_or_ 14).

=lifter,= a thief, cheat. Tr. and Cr. i. 2. 129; Greene, James IV, iii. 1 (near the end).

=lig, ligge,= to lie, lie down. Spenser, F. Q. vi. 4. 40; Shep. Kal., May, 217; Oct., 12. In common prov. use in the north country and E. Anglia, see EDD. (s.v. Lie, vb.^{2} 1 (4)). OE. _licgean_ (_liggan_).

=lightly,= usually, commonly. Richard III, iii. 1. 91; Massinger, Bondman, iii. 3 (Gracculo); ‘There’s lightning lightly before thunder’, Ray’s English Proverbs (ed. Bohn, 110); given as a Kentish saying (EDD.).

=lightmans,= a cant term for day. Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Song); Harman, Caveat, p. 84. See =darkmans.=

=like,= to please; ‘The music likes you not’, Two Gent. iv. 2. 56; esp. in the phrase of courtesy, _an’t like your Grace_, if it please your Grace, Hen. VIII, i. 1. 100 (for exx. see Schmidt). ME. _lyke_, to please; _it lyketh yow_, it pleases you (Chaucer); OE. _līcian_, to please.

†=lilburne,= heavy stupid fellow; a term of abuse. Udall, Roister Doister, iii. 3 (Merygreek).

=lill,= to let the tongue loll out, to thrust forth the tongue. Spenser, F. Q. i. 5. 34; ‘I lylle out the tonge’, Palsgrave. In prov. use in Berks. and Wilts., see EDD. (s.v. Lill, vb.^{2}).

=limbeck;= see =lembic.=

=limiter,= a friar licensed to beg within certain limits. Spenser, Mother Hubberd, 85. ME. _limitour_ (Chaucer, C. T. A. 209). See Nares.

=limmer,= a ‘limber’; the shaft of a cart or carriage. North, tr. of Plutarch, Coriolanus, § 14 (in Shak. Plut., p. 26); ‘_Timone_, the limmer or beam or pole of a wagon’, Torriano, Ital. Dict. (1688). ‘Limmer’ is in prov. use in various parts of England, see EDD. (s.v. Limber).

=limmer,= a scoundrel, rascal, rogue. B. Jonson, Sad Sheph. ii. 1 (Earine); Dalrymple, tr. Leslie’s Hist. Scot. ix. 219; _lymmer_, Holinshed Hist. Irel. (Nares). In common prov. use in the north country (EDD.).

=limp,= a ‘limpet’. Drayton, Pol. xxv. 189. A Cumberland word (EDD.).

=lin,= a pool. Drayton, Pol. v. 118; vi. 22. In Scotland and the Border country _linn_ is used for the pool at the base of a waterfall, see EDD. (s.v. Linn, sb.^{1} 2). Gael _linne_; Irish _linn_; Welsh _llyn_, a pool.

=lin,= to cease. Spenser, F. Q. i. 5. 35; Puritan Widow, iii. 5. 110; B. Jonson, Staple of News, iv. 1 (Tat.); Mirror for Mag. 77 (Nares). In prov. use in the north country (EDD.). ME. _linne_ (King Horn, 1004); OE. _linnan_.

=line,= the lime or linden. Holland, Pliny, i. 541; _line-grove_, grove of lime-trees, Tempest, v. 1. 10. OE. _lind_ and _linde_. See NED. (s.v. Lind).

=lingel,= a shoemaker’s waxed thread. Beaumont and Fl., Knt. of the B. Pestle, v.3 (Ralph); Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 142; ‘Lyngell that souters sowe with, _chefgros_’, Palsgrave. ‘Lingel’ (or ‘lingle’) is the ordinary word for shoemaker’s thread in Scotland (EDD.). F. _ligneul_ (Cotgr.).

=linsel, lynsel,= a sheet, a winding-sheet. Kyd, Cornelia, iii. 1. 83. F. _linceul_, a sheet; L. _linteolum_, dimin. of _linteum_, a linen cloth.

=lint,= flax, flaxen cloth; ‘Robes that brooke no lint’, admit of no flax; being of costly material, Warner, Albion’s England, bk. ii, ch. 9, st. 68. In prov. use in Scotland and north of Ireland (EDD.).

=lint-staff,= a lint-stock or linstock, a staff with a forked head to hold a lighted match. Heywood, Challenge for Beauty, iii. 1 (Valladaura); vol. v, p. 35. See Dict. (s.v. Linstock).

=lion-drunk,= drunk as a lion. Massinger, Bondman, iii. 3 (Gracculo). The four degrees of drunkenness were to be drunk as a sheep (good-humoured); as a lion (noisy); as an ape (foolish); and as a swine (bestial). See note to Chaucer (C. T. H. 44), in Complete Works.

=liquor,= to lubricate; to anoint with grease. Bacon, Nat. History, § 117; Butler, Hud. i. 3. 106.

=liripoop,= chiefly in phrases _to know_ or _have_ (one’s) _liripoop_, _to teach_ (a person) _his liripoop_. It means something to be learned and acted or spoken; _lyrypoope_, Newton, Lemnie’s Complex. vii. 58 (NED.); ‘I will teach thee thy lyrripups’, Stanyhurst, Desc. Irel. in Holinshed, ii. 35; _lerripoope_, Lyly, Mother Bombie, i. 3 (Prisius); _leerypoope_, Sapho, i. 3 (Cryticus). Used in the sense of a trick, _lerrepoop_, Beaumont and Fl., Wit at Several Weapons, i. 1 (Sir Gregory); London Prodigal, iv. 1. 2. Cp. ‘lerry’, Linc. word for a trick (EDD.). See =lerry.=

=lirrypoope,= a silly person, Fletcher, Pilgrim, ii. 1. See Nares (s.v. Liripoop). A Devon word, see EDD. (s.v. Lirripoop).

=list,= a stripe of colour. Butler, Hud. ii. 3. 306; Sir T. Browne, Vulgar Errors, bk. vi, c. 11. Hence _listed_, striped, Milton, P. L. xi. 866. In prov. use, see EDD. (s.v. List, sb.^{1} 3). F. _liste_, a list or selvedge (Cotgr.).

=listeth, list,= _impers._ it is pleasing to; ‘Ys yt not lawfull for me to do as me listeth with myne awne’, Tyndale, Matt. xx. 15; ‘Me list . . . This idle task to undertake’, Peele, Arraignm. Paris, i. 2; ‘When me lest’, World and Child, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, i. 247.

=litch-owl,= the ‘lich-owl’, screech-owl, whose cry portended death; ‘The shrieking Litch-owl that doth never cry But boding death’, Drayton, The Owl, 302; _like-owle_, Holland, tr. of Pliny, bk. x, c. 23 (i. 283c). See EDD. (s.v. Lich). ME. _liche_, a body, a dead body (Chaucer). OE. _līc_.

=lithe, lythe,= a joint; _out of lythe_, out of joint, Morte Arthur, leaf 58, back, 10; bk. iii, c. 13. ME. _lyth_, a limb (Prompt.). OE. _lið_.

=lither,= pliant, supple, yielding; ‘The lither skie’, 1 Hen. VI, iv. 7. 21; see NED. ‘Lither’ is used in this sense in Kent and Sussex, see EDD. (s.v. Lither, adj.^{2}). Probably the same word as ‘lither’, lazy, sluggish. OE. _lȳðre_, bad (morally and physically).

=little-ease,= pillory, stocks; a very small compartment in a prison. Middleton, Family of Love, iii. 1. 9. Also called _small-ease_. See Nares.

=little-son,= a grandson. North, tr. of Plutarch, Octavius, § 22 (in Shak. Plut., p. 271).

=liver.= Supposed to be the seat of love; to which idea allusions are common. Temp. iv. 56; Merry Wives, ii. 1. 121. Also, the seat of courage; Twelfth Nt. iii. 2. 22. To be _lily-livered_, or _milk-livered_, or _pigeon-livered_, or _white-livered_, is to lack courage, to be cowardly.

=livery,= a suit of clothes bestowed on retainers or servants, 2 Hen. IV, v. 5. 11; _instance of livery_, badge of service; Ford, Broken Heart, iv. 1 (Nearchus). Hence _liveried_, ‘A thousand liveried angels lackey her’, Milton, Comus, 455. F. _livrée_, ‘a delivery of a thing that’s given, the thing so given, hence, a livery; ones cloth, colours, or device worn by servants or others’ (Cotgr.); Med. L. _liberata_ (Ducange). See Dict.

=loave ears,= drooping ears. Lady Alimony, ii. 6 (Morisco).

=lob,= a lubber, a clown. Mids. Night’s D. ii. 1. 10; Westward Ho, ii. 3 (Birdlime). Cp. Du. _lobben_, ‘a lubbard, a clowne’ (Hexham). A Lancashire word, see EDD. (s.v. Lob, sb.^{2}).

=lobcock,= a lubber; a term of abuse. Udall, Roister Doister, iii. 3 (Merygreek); Gascoigne, Supposes, ii. 3 (end). In prov. use in the north country and in E. Anglia (EDD.).

=Lob’s pound,= prison; also _fig._ a state of great difficulty or entanglement; a fix. Massinger, Duke of Milan, iii. 2 (Officer); Digby, Elvira, ii. 1 (Chichon); Butler, Hud. i. 3. 910. Also _Hob’s pound_. See Nares.

=lodam,= the name of a game of cards; ‘_Carica l’asino_, the play at cards that we call, Load him’ (Florio); in one form, called _losing loadum_, the loser won the game, ‘_Coquimbert qui gaigne pert_, a game at cards, like our losing Lodam’, Cotgrave; Shirley, The Wedding, ii. 3 (Lodam).

=lodesman,= a pilot, guide; ‘Lodesman of a shippe, Pilotte’, Palsgrave; ‘A lodes-man’, Song in Tottel’s Misc., p. 184. ME. _lodesman_, pilot (Chaucer, Leg. G. W. 1488). OE. _lādmann_.

=lodesmate,= (?) a travelling companion. Only in Gascoigne, Glasse Govt. v. 3 (Phylocalus), in Poems (ed. 1870, ii. 77).

=loffe,= to laugh. Mids. Night’s D. ii. 1. 55. In EDD. _loff_ (_lough_) is given as the infin. of ‘laugh’ in many parts of England (western from Lanc. to Cornwall). In Lanc. they say ‘he lough’ for ‘he laughed’. ME. _lough_, pret. of _laughe_ (Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 248); OE. _hlōh_, laughed.

=loft,= uplifted, elated; ‘In neyther fortune loft, nor yet represt’, Surrey, Of the death of Sir T. W., ii. 27, in Tottel’s Misc., p. 29; and see the same Misc., p. 235, l. 11.

=loggats,= a game in which thick sticks are thrown to lie as near as possible to a stake fixed in the ground or a block of wood on a floor. Hamlet, v. 1. 99. See EDD.

=lol,= that which lolls; the tongue. Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, iii. 442. See EDD. (s.v. Loll, vb.^{2}: Loller, ‘the tongue’).

=lollard,= lazy, idle, sluggish; ‘The lolearde Asse’, Turbervile, That all things have release, st. 3. The word ‘lollard’ for a lazy person is used in Cumberland (EDD.).

=Lombard,= a native of Lombardy; ‘A Lumbarde, _longobardus_’, Levins, Manip. 30; a Lombard engaged as a money-changer or pawnbroker, Greene, Mourn. Garm. 44 (NED.); also, a money-lender’s office, a pawnshop, Northward Ho, v. 1 (Kate). Norm. F. _lombard_, _lumbart_, ‘usurier, prêteur sur gages’ (Moisy). See =lumber.=

=lome,= a bucket. Mirror for Mag., Godwin, st. 55. ‘Loom’ is in use in many parts of Scotland for a vessel of any kind, see EDD. (s.v. 4).

=long,= to belong. World and Child, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, i. 254. ME. _longen_, to belong (Chaucer, C. T. A. 2278); OE. _langian_.

=longee,= a ‘lunge’, a complimental bow to a lady. Butler, Hud. iii. 1. 159. See Dict. (s.v. Lunge).

=longtails;= see =Kentish long-tails.=

=loos,= praise, fame. Spenser, F. Q. vi. 12. 12. ME. _los_, praise (Chaucer, Leg. G. W. 1514); OF. _los_, _loos_; O. Prov. _laus_, praise; L. _laudes_, pl. of _laus_, praise.

=loose,= the act of discharging an arrow. Middleton, Family of Love, iii. 2. 5; Ascham, Toxophilus (ed. Arber, 146).

=lope,= to run. Middleton, Span. Gipsy, iv. 1 (Sancho’s Song); Greene, James IV, Induction (Bohan); Gascoigne, Fruites Warre, lii (NED.). They say in Essex, ‘He went lopin’ along’, see EDD. (s.v. Loup, vb.^{1} 8). Du. _loopen_, ‘to runne or to trot’ (Hexham).

=lopeman,= a runner. Fletcher, Noble Gentleman, iii. 4. 8.

=lorel,= a worthless person, rogue, blackguard; ‘I am laureate, I am no lorelle’, Skelton, Against Garnesche. See NED. ME. _lorel_, ‘Lewede lorel!’ (P. Plowman, A. viii. 123). See =Cock Lorel.=

=loring,= instruction. Spenser, F. Q. v. 7. 42. (A rime-word; formed fr. _lore_.)

=lote,= in Chapman, tr. of Odyssey, iv. 802, represents Gk. λωτός, some kind of clover or trefoil, see NED. (s.v. Lote, sb.^{1} 2).

=lought,= loath. Heywood, Fortune by Land and Sea, i. 1 (Old Forrest); vol. vi, p. 364. ‘Loft’ is in prov. use in Oxfordsh. and Kent as a pronunc. of ‘loath’ (EDD.).

=loup-garou,= a werwolf, a man changed into the form of a wolf. North, tr. of Plutarch, Alcibiades (Story of Timon). F. _loup-garou_; F. _loup_, wolf + _garou_, a werwolf, cp. MHG. _werwolf_, man-wolf; OE. _werewulf_, so that in _loup-garou_ there is a tautological repetition of two words for ‘wolf’—one of Latin and the other of Teutonic origin. See Hatzfeld.

=lour, lowre,= money (Cant); ‘Lour to bouze with’, Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, ii. 1 (Prigg); Harman, Caveat, p. 85.

=lourdain,= a general term of opprobrium, a sluggard, vagabond. Puttenham, English Poesie, bk. i, ch. 13; Drayton, Sheph. Garl. (ed. 1593, K 2), see Nares; ‘Let alone makes mony lurdon’, Ray’s English Proverbs (ed. 1678, p. 383). See EDD. (s.v. Lurdane). ME. _lordayne_ (_lurdayn_), ‘lurco’ (Prompt. EETS. 269 and 272); OF. _lourdein_, ‘sot, stupide’ (Roquefort), deriv. of _lourd_, heavy, dull.

=loute,= to bend, bow, make obeisance. Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 30; v. 8. 50. In prov. use in Scotland and in various parts of England, see EDD. (s.v. Lout, vb.^{2} 1). ME. _loute_ (Chaucer, Tr. and Cr. iii. 683); OE. _lūtan_, to stoop.

=louver,= an aperture with a shutter or flap; ‘He put abrode the louvres of the tente’, Udall, tr. of Apoph., Antigonus, § 10; spelt _lover_, Spenser, F. Q. vi. 10. 42. A north-country word still in use (EDD.). ME. _lovere_, ‘lodium’ (Prompt. EETS. 271, see note, no. 1294); OF. _lover_, _lovier_ (Godefroy).

=lover-hole,= an opening in a ‘louver’, Shirley, Honoria, iii. 4
(Alamode).

=love,= to praise, to appraise; ‘I love, as a chapman loveth his ware that he wyll sell’, Palsgrave. ME. _loven_: ‘_lovon_ and bedyn as chapmen’ (Prompt. EETS. 277); OE. _lofian_, to praise, to value; cp. G. _loben_.

=lovery,= a ‘louver’. Marston, Scourge of Villainy, Sat. v. 72.

=loves.= The phrases _for all loves_, _of all loves_ (or _love_), _upon all love_, _for love’s sake_, are all phrases indicating strong entreaty, like our _for my sake_, _for his sake_. ‘Speake of all loves’, Mids. Night’s D. ii. 2. 153. ‘Of all loves’ is a Derb. form of entreaty, see EDD. (s.v. Love, sb.^{1} 3).

=low-bell,= a hand-bell used in fowling, to make the birds lie close; ‘Take a low-bell which must have a deep and hollow sound’, Gentleman’s Recreation, Fowling, 39 (Nares); ‘As timorous larks amazed are With light and with a low-bell’, St. George for England, st. 5 (written in 1688), in Percy’s Reliques (ed. Bohn, ii. 329). It is probably this kind of bell which Petruchio means when he says to Maria: ‘Peace, gentle low-bell!’, Fletcher, Woman’s Prize, i. 3.

=low-men,= loaded dice that produced low throws. London Prodigal, i. 1. 218.

=lubric, lubrick,= incontinent, wanton. Ford, Witch of Edmonton, iii. 2 (Win.); Dryden, Ode to Mrs. Killigrew, 63; B. Jonson, Poetaster, v. 1 (Crispinus). Med. L. _lubricus_, ‘impudicus, salax’ (Ducange).

=lubrican,= the ‘leprechaun’; in Irish folk-lore, a pigmy sprite who always carries a purse containing a shilling (NED.); ‘Your Irish lubrican’, Dekker, Honest Wh., 2nd Pt. iii. 1 (Hippolito); Drayton, Agincourt. For full particulars of this tricky little sprite, see Joyce, English as we speak it in Ireland, 284. Irish _lupracán_ (also, _lughracán_, _lugharcán_) a ‘leprechaun’ (Dinneen, p. 450). See EDD. (s.v. Leprechaun).

=lucern,= a lynx. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, iii. 3 (Hubert); _lucerns_ (= θῶες), Chapman, tr. of Iliad, xi. 417; id., Bussy D’Ambois, iii (Bussy); _luzern_, Peele, Device of a Pageant. Cp. early mod. G. _lüchsern_, pertaining to the lynx, deriv. of _luchs_, a lynx (NED.).

=lug,= the ear. B. Jonson, Staple of News, v. 1 (P. Canter); Return from Parnassus (last scene); hence, _lugg’d_, furnished with ‘lugs’ or flaps, Marston, Scourge of Villainy, Sat. xi. 174. ‘Lug’ is very common in the north country and E. Anglia, see EDD. (s.v. Lug, sb.^{2} 1).

=lug,= a measure of land. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 10. 11. In prov. use in the Midlands and south-west counties from Warwicksh. to Somerset, see EDD. (s.v. Lug, sb.^{3} 5).

=lug,= to pull, drag about. Hamlet, iii. 4. 212; 1 Hen. IV, i. 2. 83; ‘Head-lugged bear’, King Lear, iv. 2. 42. In common colloq. use (EDD.).

=lugge,= a stiff bow. Ascham, Toxophilus, p. 28; ‘_Vastus arcus_, a lugge or mighty bigge bowe’, Cooper.

=lull,= pleasant soothing drink; ‘A Cup of blessed lull’, The London Chanticleers, scene 9 (Heath). Not found elsewhere.

=lumber,= a pawnbroking establishment; ‘_Mónte de piedád_, a lumber or bancke to lend money for a yeare, for those that need, without interest’, Minsheu, Span. Dict. Phr. _to put to lumber_, to put in pawn, ‘To put one’s Clothes to Lumbar, _pignori dare_’, Skinner. See =Lombard.=

=Luna,= an alchemist’s name for silver. B. Jonson, Alchem. ii. 1 (Subtle). ME. ‘Sol gold is, and Luna silver we threpe’ (Chaucer, C. T. G. 826).

=lunary,= moonwort, the fern called _Botrychium Lunaria_. Drayton, Nymphidia, st. 50; Lyly, Endimion, ii. 3 (End.); iv. 3 (Gyptes); Sapho, iii. 3 (Ismena); B. Jonson, Alchem. ii. 1 (Surly). ME. _lunarie_ (Chaucer).

=lune,= a ‘loyn’ or thong for a hawk. Morte Arthur, leaf 104, back, 12; bk. vi, c. 16. ME. _loigne_ (Rom. Rose, 3882). OF. _loigne_, a cord. Med. L. _longia_, ‘lorum’ (Ducange). See NED. (s.v. Loyn).

=lunes,= fits of frenzy, mad freaks. Winter’s Tale, ii. 2. 30. F. _lune_, humour, whim; ‘_Il y a de la lune_, he is a foolish, humorous, hare-brain’d, giddy-headed fellow’ (Cotgr.); cp. G. _laune_, whim, humour; fr. L. _luna_, the moon.

=lungis,= a long, slim fellow; one who is long in doing anything. Beaumont and Fl., Knight B. Pestle, ii. 3. 4; ‘_Longis or a long slymme_, _lungurio_’, Huloet; ‘_Lungis_, a slim slow-back, a drowsy or dreaming Fellow’, Phillips (ed. 1706). F. ‘_Longis_, nom propre d’un personnage légendaire, qui aurait percé de sa lance le flanc de Jésus Christ; le sens est dû à l’influence de _long_: Celui qui est long à faire qqch.’ (Hatzfeld). Longinus was said to have been the soldier who pierced the Lord’s side with his lance (λόγχη); his martyrdom at Caesarea in Cappadocia was commemorated March 15; see Dict. Christ Antiq. (s.v.).

=lupus est in fabula,= there is a wolf coming to interrupt our talk. A proverb used on the occasion of a sudden silence; from the idea that a man becomes dumb if a wolf happens to see him before the man sees the wolf. Greene, Orl. Fur. i. 1. 322 (p. 93, col. 1); see Sir T. Browne, Vulgar Errors, bk. iii, ch. 8. The superstition is referred to by Virgil, Ecl. ix. 54. The proverb occurs in Terence, Adelphi, iv. 1. 21. See Büchmann, Geflügelte Worte (ed. 1905, p. 441).

=lurch,= to remain in or about a place secretly, esp. with an evil design. Merry Wives, ii. 2. 26; to be beforehand in getting something, to get hold of by stealth, Middleton, Chaste Maid, iii. 2; to deprive, rob, Coriolanus, ii. 2. 106. A north-country word (EDD.).

=lurden,= a term of reproach, Greene, Friar Bacon, ii. 4. See =lourdain.=

=lush,= luxuriant, succulent. Temp. ii. 1. 52. In prov. use in Lakeland and Glouc., see EDD. (s.v. Lush, adj.^{1}). ME. _lusch_ or slak, ‘laxus’ (Prompt.).

=lusk,= to lie idle, to indulge in laziness. Warner, Alb. England, bk. vi, ch. 30, st. 15. Cp. ‘lusk’, a Linc. word for an idle worthless fellow (EDD.). Hence _luskye_, lazy; ‘Thy luskye nest’, Drayton, The Owl, 111; _luskishness_, sluggishness, Spenser, F. Q. vi. 1. 35.

=lustick, lustique,= merry, jolly. All’s Well, ii. 3. 47; ‘Rusticke and lusticke’, Dekker, Sir T. Wyatt (Clown), ed. Dyce, p. 193. Du. _lustigh_, pleasant (Hexham); deriv. of _lust_, pleasure. See NED.

=lustihead,= jollity. Spenser, Shep. Kal., Oct., 51.

=lustless,= listless, feeble. Spenser, F. Q. i. 4. 20; Gascoigne, Jocasta, iii. 4. 2. ME. _lustles_ (Gower, C. A. ii. 2024; iv. 3455).

=luxur,= an incontinent man. C. Tourneur, Revenger’s Tragedy, i. 1. 9.

=luxury,= lasciviousness. Middleton, A Game at Chess, ii; A Mad World, iii. 2 (Mis. H.); Hamlet, i. 5. 83. ME. _luxurie_ (Chaucer, C. T. B. 925). Late L. _luxuria_ (in Vulgate = ἀσωτία, Eph. v. 18).

=luzern;= see =lucern.=

=lyam;= see =liam.=

=lycanthropi,= persons suffering from _lycanthropia_, or wolf-madness. Middleton, The Changeling, iii. 3 (Franciscus); Ford, Lover’s Melancholy, iii. 3 (Corax). Gk. λυκάνθρωπος, a wer-wolf, a man who thought he was changed into a wolf, or who was thought by others to be so changed.

=lyers;= see =leare.=

=lylse-wulse,= linsey-woolsey. Skelton, Why Come ye nat to Courte, 128. _Lylsey_ is an older form of Linsey (Suffolk), where cloth was once made. _Wulse_ furnishes a pun on the name of Wolsey.

=lym,= a lyam-hound, or one held by a leash. King Lear, iii. 6. 72. Short for _lyam-hound_. See =liam.=

=lymiter;= see =limiter.=

=lythe;= see =lithe.=