graith
Preparation; arrangement; condition.
Noun
- Preparation; arrangement; condition.
- […] tho' foul and tatter'd / In my present garb and graith - 1821, John Stagg, The Cumbrian Minstrel:
- Is your razor in good graith? (B.K.) - 1900, B.K., quoted in The English Dialect Dictionary, page 704
- Accoutrements: clothes, materials, equipment, furniture, etc.
- Item, to James Homel, to buy graith for the King's vellum doublet, 0[L.] 10[s.] 0[d.] - 1797, An Account of Charge and, of John Bishop of Glasow, Treasurer to James III, for the Year 1474, rendered into modern English...
- The Earl of Moray, however, looking very sharply after his royal sister's personal property, came to Sir Robert Melville's house and insisted "on seeing what graith belonging to the Queen he had got there." Among these...
Origin
From Middle English graith, graythe, greithe, from Old Norse greiði (“preparation, arrangement”), from Proto-Germanic *garaidiją (“apparatus, gadget”). Cognate with Icelandic greiðe, greiði (“preparation, arrangement, order, hospitality”), Faroese greiði (“requisite articles”), Norwegian greida (“implements, tackle”), Norwegian greide (“harness”).
Forms
Related
Verb
- To make ready; prepare; put in order; make fit for use.
- Gowden graith'd his horse before, and siller shod behind […] - 1776, David Herd, Collected Songs (reprinted in 1870 as Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs)
- And graith my horse! - 1802, Walter Scott, The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border:
- To dress (someone or oneself) or be dressed.
- At fairs he play'd before the spearmen, All gaily graithed in their gear-men. - 1748, “The Life and Death of the Piper of Kilbarchan; or, the epitaph of Habbie Simson”, in Poems in the Scottish Dialect by several...
- Where didst thou steal that goodly coat of green, That thou art graithed in? - 1820, Wallace; a historical tragedy, in five acts:
- Many a winsome dwarf was seen, graithed in rich attire; - 1903, “The Dwarf King's Court”, in The Masterpieces and the History of Literature:
Origin
From Middle English graithen, greithen, graiden, grathen, from Old Norse greiða (“to make ready, prepare, arrange, disentangle”), from Proto-Germanic *garaidijaną (“to prepare, put in order”). Cognate with Old English ġerǣdan (“to arrange, dispose, order, provide for, harness”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (garaidjan, “to enjoin”).