† wairn.
Obsolete rare.
A piece of timber two yards long and one foot broad.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > timber in pieces > piece of specific size
quarter1423
batten1658
wair1664
juffer1679
quarter piece1736
ufer1754
two-by-four1868
four-by-two1873
1664 J. Evelyn Sylva xxix. 85 A Tree [an oak]..which yielded of sawn Wair fourteen hundred, and by estimation, twenty Chords of wood. A Wair is two yards long, and one foot broad, sixscore to the hundred: so that, in the said Tree was 10080 foot of Boards.
Hence 1674 T. Blount Glossographia (ed. 4) A Wair of Timber, is two yards long, and one foot broad.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
† wairadj.
Scottish. Obsolete. rare.
? Wild, stormy.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > [adjective] > stormy
reigheOE
stormya1200
wilda1250
troublec1374
rougha1400
stormishc1430
rude?a1439
boistous1470
troublous1482
wair?a1500
tempestuous1509
blusterous1548
rugged1549
stormful1558
troublesome1560
turbulent1573
ruggy1577
rufflered1582
oragious?1590
boisterous?1594
broily1594
unruly1594
procellousa1629
gurly1718
coarse1774
ugly1844
a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Preaching of Swallow l. 1702 in Poems (1981) 67 Bewis bene ar bethit bair off blis Be wickit windis off the winter wair.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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n.1664adj.?a1500