† selcouthadj.adv.n.
Obsolete.
A. adj.
1. Unfamiliar, unusual, rare; strange, marvellous, wonderful.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > quality of inspiring wonder > [adjective] > with quality of strangeness
selcouthc888
uncouthc900
sellya1000
ferly?c1225
strangec1374
nicec1395
ferlifula1400
monsterfulc1460
portentous1553
miraculous1569
vengible1594
strangefula1618
phenomenous1743
phenomenala1850
very like a whale1859
weird and wonderful1859
fourth-dimensional1902
out of this world1941
unreal1965
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > irregularity > unconformity > abnormality > [adjective] > strange > so as to excite wonder or surprise
selcouthc888
strangec1374
fremdc1385
particular1712
c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. xxxv. §7 He wæs oflyst ðæs seldcuðan sones.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 19217 Forr þatt wass wiss sellcuþ mecleȝȝc. & sellcuþ ædmodnesse.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1943 From heouene her com a sulcuð [c1300 Otho selcuþ] flod.
1338 R. Mannyng Chron. (1810) 33 Þis was þe selcouthest cas, þat haf herd neuen.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 452/1 Selkow, or seeldam seyne [v.rr. selcowthe, seelcowth], rarus.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. viii. 75 Yonder I se a selcowth syght.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene iv. viii. sig. G8v She..Wondred much at his so selcouth case. View more context for this quotation
1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iv. xii. 144 Deep import from that selcouth sign, Did many a mountain Seer divine.
2. Various, different, not of one kind.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > variety > [adjective]
sunderlyeOE
manifoldeOE
selcoutha1000
felefoldc1000
mislichOE
alkinOE
manykinOE
fele-kync1175
serekina1300
sundera1325
sundrya1325
serea1340
divers1340
varyingc1340
variantc1380
muchfoldc1384
serelepesa1400
serelepya1400
multifaryc1460
sundryfoldc1460
multiplicate?a1475
variable?a1475
sundrilyc1480
diversea1542
particoloured1591
multifarious1593
Protean1594
daedal1596
choiceful1605
Daedalian1605
multiplex1606
variated1608
diversified1611
multiplicious1617
variousa1634
multivarious1636
mosaic1644
multiple1647
omnigenous1650
chequered1656
plurifarious1656
ununiform1660
variate1677
disuniform1687
Proteusian1689
unsteady1690
unequable1693
inequable1721
variegating1727
varied1733
multitudinous1744
multifold1806
polygeneous1818
unequalized1822
ruleless1836
varicoloured185.
non-uniform1856
omnigener1857
polytypic1858
multiferous1860
variatious1871
variegated1872
polytypical1890
a1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 96 Varias uestes, selcuþe reaf.
a1175 Lamb. Hom. 41 Seofe leies uwil[c]an of seolcuðre heowe.
1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 490 Þer-inne..we sen selcouþe kindus Of þe fletinge fihs [L. ibi varia genera piscium contemplamur].
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 23 Sanges sere of selcuth [Gött. diuers] rime, Inglis, frankys and latine.
c1425 Eng. Conq. Irel. xii. 28 Aftyr many selcouth & dyuers redes [L. post multa variaque consilia].
B. adv.
Wonderfully.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > quality of inspiring wonder > [adverb] > with a degree of strangeness
selcouthlyc1175
ferlyc1230
selcoutha1300
disguisilyc1325
ferlifula1400
ferlilya1400
sellylyc1400
miraculouslya1425
ferlifullyc1425
strangelya1450
strangefully1664
portentously1755
miraculous1781
like magic1783
phenomenally1878
out of this world1941
a1300 Cursor Mundi 1060 Þis abel was a hird for fee, Selcuth hali man was he.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 24093 Mi sun þat was sa selcut suete.
C. n.
a. Something wonderful; a marvel.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > quality of inspiring wonder > [noun] > a marvel, object of wonder
wonderc700
wonderinga1100
selcouthc1175
sellya1200
ferlyc1275
wondernessc1275
wonder thingc1290
adventurec1300
marvelc1300
marvellingc1400
wonderelc1440
signc1450
admiration1490
wonderment1542
wondering stockc1555
miracle-worker1561
singularity1576
stupor mundi1587
miracle1595
marvellation1599
portent1607
astonishment1611
prodigy1616
magnale1623
magnality1646
mirable1646
phenomenon1741
gaping-stock1817
reacher1825
stunner1829
buster1833
caution1834
merry-go-rounder1838
knock-down1843
astonisher1871
marvelry1874
mazer1876
phenom1881
whizzer1888
knock-out1892
whizz1908
doozy1916
doozer1930
heart-stopper1940
blockbuster1942
ooh-ah1957
mind-blower1968
stonker1987
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 16156 & tatt wass wunnderrliȝ sellcuþ. & wunnderrliȝ forrtakenn.
c1220 Bestiary 556 In ðe se senden selcuðes manie.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 2579 Se wich a selcouþ þis semliche best worcheþ.
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xi. 355 Many selcouthes I seygh.
a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Fox, Wolf, & Cadger l. 2064 in Poems (1981) 79 Sic ane selcouth sau I not this seuin ȝeir.
b. In phrases, as what selcouth, no selcouth, what wonder, no wonder. me (him etc.) thinks selcouth, I have selcouth = I wonder.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > lack of surprise [phrase]
it is great, little, small wonderOE
no selcoutha1250
no ferlyc1275
(and) no wonder!1390
no wonder that, if, or though1390
what ferlya1605
what wonder if1667
I shouldn't wonder1836
small wonder that1913
wouldn't you (just) know?1919
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > wonder, be astonished [phrase]
to think wonder971
I have selcoutha1250
marvela1393
to have wondera1400
to have marvela1500
to give oneself wonderc1500
bewondereda1586
to think it wondera1586
estrange1658
to think (it) much1669
flabberdegasky1822
the mind boggles1899
a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 4 Ȝif him þuncheð wunder & selkuð of swuch onswere.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 1238 Adam had pastd nine hundret yere, Nai selcut þof he wex vn-fere.
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xi. 358 And how amonge þe grene grasse grewe so many hewes, And somme soure and some swete, selcouthe me þouȝte.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 13902 Selcut me thinc [Trin. Cambr. Selcouþe I haue] yee hatte me sua.
Derivatives
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or extraordinary > [noun] > rareness
selcouthnessc1440
rareness1545
rariety1566
rarity1566
uncommonness1705
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 452/1 Selcowtnesse [Winch. MS. Selcowthnesses, Seelcowthnesses], raritas.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
† selcouthv.
Obsolete. rare.
transitive. To make wonderful; to show as marvellous.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > quality of inspiring wonder > cause wonder, astonish [verb (transitive)] > make wonderful
selcoutha1300
wondernize1599
a1300 E.E. Psalter iv. 4 And wites þat lauerd his haligh selkouþede [v.r. selcuþed] he [L. mirificavit].
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter xv. 2 He selcouthid alle mi willes [L. mirificavit omnes voluntates meas].
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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adj.adv.n.c888v.a1300