stymen.
/stʌɪm/, U.S. /staɪm/, Scottish English /stʌim/ Chiefly Scottish and northern.
1. In the phrase not to see a styme: to be unable to see at all.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > disordered vision > of vision: become disordered [verb (intransitive)] > become blind > be blind
not to see a stymea1400
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 19652 Noþer he ete þaa thre dais time, Ne he iwiss moght se a stime.
a1505 R. Henryson Orpheus & Eurydice l. 605 in Poems (1981) 152 To kene the self a styme it [sc. the spirit] may nocht se, For stammeris on eftir effectioun.
1568 A. Scott Poems (1896) xxxiii. 23 Thow [Cupid] markis quhair nevir styme thow seis, Bot hittis be gaiss.
1635 T. Jackson Humiliation Sonne of God viii. iv. 36 If a man cannot see (as we say) a stime, but with one eye, we account it no solecisme to say, hee hath lost the other.
1683 G. Meriton York-shire Dialogue in Pure Nat. Dial. 8 My Neen..are seay Gummy and Furr'd up sometime. I can nut leauke at 'th Leet, nor see a stime.
a1796 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 115 I've seen me daez't upon a time, I scarce could wink or see a styme.
1808 R. Anderson et al. Ballads in Cumberland Dial. (new ed.) 142 Deil a wink cud I sleep, nay nor yet see a steyme.
1841 C. J. Lever Charles O'Malley cvii The night was murthering dark; you could not see a stim.
1901 J. Mollison Poems 94 They feared that never again War their e'en tae see a stime.
2. A glimpse or glance; the least bit or quantity (of anything); a glimmer (of light); a moment (of time).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > sight of something > [noun]
looka1200
sight?c1225
visc1340
visea1450
respection?a1475
viewa1500
prospection?1530
kenningc1540
conspect1548
ken1594
spectacle1625
styme1776
perception1817
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > sight of something > [noun] > glimpse
sightc1275
gliff1570
glemish1576
glent?1577
glimpse1580
interview1610
catch1775
styme1776
vizy1785
peep1793
snatch1816
waff1818
glint1838
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > a small quantity or amount > the smallest amount
tokenworth1631
a nail (also nail's) breadth1637
least1656
styme1776
the world > matter > light > light emitted in particular manner > [noun] > gleam, glimmer, or flicker
blenka1400
blushc1400
gleamc1440
glance?a1513
glinta1542
glish1570
glimpse1603
glimmera1616
glimble1658
blink1717
glent1728
shimmer1821
glisk1824
flicker1849
glist1864
styme1888
the world > time > duration > shortness or brevity in time > [noun] > moment or instant
hand-whileOE
prinkOE
start-while?c1225
twinkling1303
rese?c1335
prick1340
momenta1382
pointa1382
minutea1393
instant1398
braida1400
siquarea1400
twink14..
whip?c1450
movement1490
punct1513
pissing whilea1556
trice1579
turning of a hand1579
wink1585
twinklec1592
semiquaver1602
punto1616
punctilio of time1620
punctum1620
breathing1625
instance1631
tantillation1651
rapc1700
crack1725
turning of a straw1755
pig's whisper1780
jiffy1785
less than no time1788
jiff1797
blinka1813
gliffy1820
handclap1822
glimpsea1824
eyewink1836
thought1836
eye-blink1838
semibreve1845
pop1847
two shakes of a lamb's taila1855
pig's whistle1859
time point1867
New York minute1870
tick1879
mo?1896
second1897
styme1897
split-second1912
split minute1931
no-time1942
sec.1956
1776 D. Herd Anc. & Mod. Sc. Songs (ed. 2) II. 150 And ne'er a blyth styme wad he blink, Until his wame was fou.
1794 Har'st Rig xxiii. 11 To cut their fur, and take their share O' their nane rig. But ony mair? The fient ae stime!
a1807 J. Skinner Amusem. Leisure Hours (1809) 108 Else you may..wiss ye had ne'er seen a styme O' Louse nor Bonnet.
1888 J. M. Barrie Auld Licht Idylls vii. 151 Even with three wicks it [the lamp] gave but a stime of light.
1895 J. Barlow Strangers at Lisconnel vi. 120 You've ne'er a stim of light to be workin' in, sittin' there in the corner.
1897 E. W. Hamilton Outlaws of Marches ix. 102 There's never a styme to choose betwixt him and James Hepburn.
Derivatives
styme v. (intransitive) (see quot. 1808).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > seeing or looking > see [verb (intransitive)] > peer
toot?c1225
porec1300
pirea1393
peer1580
pink1587
under-peer1589
blink1600
to look wormsc1600
squinny1608
pee1673
pore1706
pinker1754
styme1808
speer1866
squint1891
quiz1906
skeeze1922
1808 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. To styme, to open the eyes partially, to look as one does whose vision is indistinct.
1886 J. J. H. Burgess Shetland Sketches 66 I lookit an' stimed inta da black dark aroond me, but I could see naethin'.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1400