† reordiadj.
Origin: Of uncertain origin. Probably a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: dreary adj.
Etymology: Origin uncertain; probably a transmission error for dreary adj. N.E.D. (1906) suggests that the reading wel reordi of the Caligula manuscript is perhaps an error for elreordi , the reflex of Old English elreordig barbarous, lit. ‘foreign-speaking’ ( < el- foreign (see else adv.) + reird n. + -y suffix1). More plausibly O. Arngart ( Eng. Stud. 36 (1955) 3) proposes that reordi should be emended to dreori dreary adj. (compare dreary adj. 2); this emendation is now generally accepted.
Obsolete.
rare.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Calig.) (1978) 12805 Þer wes icumen a scaðe liðe of westward Spaine, wel reordi [c1300 Otho loþliche] feond.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2009; most recently modified version published online June 2021).