† firmancen.
Scottish. Obsolete.
1. The state or condition of being confined; confinement, imprisonment; chiefly in phrase: (to keep, put) in firmance. Also concrete. An enclosure.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > [noun]
prisonOE
wardc1290
prisoning1344
keepingc1384
imprisonment1389
prisonment1422
jail1447
fasteningc1460
warding1497
firmancea1522
incarcerationc1540
imprisoningc1542
limbo1590
limbus?a1600
endurance1610
jailing1622
restraint1829
carceration1870
holiday1901
Paddy Doyle1919
bird1924
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > enclosing or enclosure > [noun] > an enclosed space or place > an enclosed piece of ground
hawc825
towneOE
purprisea1275
hainc1275
wick1301
cerne1393
firmancea1522
haining1535
haya1640
pena1640
park1658
a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1960) xii. Prol. 176 Within fermans and parkis cloyss of palys.
c1565 R. Lindsay Hist. & Cron. Scotl. (1728) 63 Himself to be put in sicker Firmance.
1613 P. Forbes Comm. Rev. xx. 221 The surenesse is cleered in the person apprehender, and manner of fermance.
1679 in G. Hickes Spirit of Popery (1680) 64 We..do Command..all Sheriffs..to Search for..the Persons afternamed..and put them in sure Ward and Firmance.
1721 R. Wodrow Hist. Sufferings Church of Scotl. (1829) II. ii. xiii. 485 Three men in firmance for robbery.
1752 J. Louthian Form of Process (ed. 2) 137 The Rebels..put them in sure Ward, Firmance and Captivity.
2.
a. Assurance, confidence; also, a source of confidence. to make firmance to: to give a pledge of faithfulness to.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > absence of doubt, confidence > [noun]
sickerlaika1225
sickerness?c1225
sickerheadc1250
boldness1330
certaintya1340
traistc1340
assurancec1374
certain138.
sureness1419
surancea1450
affiancec1460
certitude?a1475
resting?a1475
security1535
firmancec1540
confidence1555
assuredness1561
resolution1590
plerophory1598
reliance1606
undoubtfulness1619
positiveness1711
positivity1741
decidedness1800
positivism1842
undoubtingness1857
inexpugnability1864
c1540 J. Bellenden in tr. H. Boece Hyst. & Cron. Scotl. sig. Aiij So lang I swomit in hir seis deip That sad auising with hir thochtfull lance Couth fynd na port to ankir hir firmance.
c1540 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Hyst. & Cron. Scotl. ii. i. f. 10/2 For the fame of ane nobyll prince is ane grete firmance to his realme.
c1540 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Hyst. & Cron. Scotl. ii. xvi. f. 21/1 Als sone as Gillus was maid kyng..to stabil the realme to him with sickir firmance, he tuk ye aithis of his pepil.
b. Firmly established condition, stability.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > absence of change, changelessness > stability, fixity > [noun]
stablenessa1300
tack1412
steadfastnessc1450
surenessc1450
stability1470
radicationa1500
constance1509
steadiness1530
certitudea1533
firmance1533
staidness1556
establishment1561
settledness1571
settling1582
state1597
groundedness1601
inviscerationa1631
setness1642
unmalleableness1644
fixedness1647
poise1649
inveteracy1716
well-foundedness1735
fixity1791
unmalleability1828
deep-rootedness1860
instatement1877
steady state1885
hard and fastness1897
1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1822) 107 The Romanis..ar brocht to sic firmance, that they may..sustene the plesand frute of libertie.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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n.a1522