Etymology: < tary v.

Etymology: Middle English tery-yn , tari-en appears to represent in form and sense both Old English tęrgan , *tærg(e)an , tyrian , *tęrian , to provoke, and Old French tarier to provoke, excite, in French dialect to vex, irritate, torment, tease (of doubtful origin). In so far as tary was of Old English origin, it was a doublet of tar v.²The form teryyn (= tery-en , teri-en ) in Promp. Parv., with its derivatives teryare , teryynge , points to Old English tęrgan , with the palatal g reduced to y consonant or i , as in the actually recorded late Old English form tyrian (imperative tyrie , past tense tyrgde , tyrigde , tyride ), giving a Middle English teri-en (tery-yn ), with a variant tary-en , tari-en , perhaps from an Anglian *tærg(e)an , as in weryen , warien , from Old English węrgean , wærgean , więrgan , wyrgean , wyrian , wary v., to curse. The coincidence of tarien in form and meaning with Old French tarier would tend to reinforce it as the leading form. It is noteworthy that Middle English examples of tary- are not known before c1300, and that tery- is cited only from Promp. Parv. As to possible connection with tarry v. see Note to that verb.