middensteadn.
/ˈmɪd(ə)nstɛd/, U.S. /ˈmɪd(ə)nˌstɛd/, Scottish English /ˈmɪd(ə)nstɛd/ Chiefly Scottish and English regional (northern).
The place where a dunghill is formed; a dunghill, a midden. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirty place > [noun] > dunghill
mixenOE
dung heap?a1300
miskinc1300
muckhilla1325
dunghillc1330
muck-heapa1400
middena1425
modyngstretea1500
dung mixenc1500
laystowa1513
mixhill1552
muck midden1552
laystall1553
middenstead1583
layheap1624
dung pile1658
midden lair1692
thurrock1708
stercorary1759
midden stance1844
1583 in R. Renwick Abstr. Protocols Town Clerks Glasgow (1899) VIII. 81 Ane half of the ovir end of the midding sted.
1607 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Glasgow (1876) I. 273 To tak in the stanis of the vttir syd of his midinge sted.
1654 in Court Leet Rec. Manch. (1887) IV. 131 Mr. Nicholas Mosley of Collyhurst for not repaireing the middinge stidd in the Toadlane.
1705 Kirkcaldy Burgh Rec. (1908) I. 223 A great part of the loan is taken up with midden steads.
1828 J. Ruddiman Tales & Sketches 69 The destroyer..was permitted to flaff his wings, and to craw on the midden-stead of carnal victory.
1861 F. Nightingale Notes on Nursing (new ed.) ii. 21 One of the most common causes of disease in towns is having..middensteads close to the houses.
1889 A. C. Swinburne Study of Jonson i. 77 A very middenstead of falsehood and of filth.
1928 A. E. Pease Dict. Dial. N. Riding Yorks. 82/2 Gan thoo ti t'middensteead, an' tak a spāăd wi' tha.
1992 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 28 May 24/3 She translates Cumberland words for him! sneck..keshes..midden-steads for the manure heap in the farmyard.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1583