airt1
/ɛːt/Chiefly Scottish, Irish English (northern ) and English regional (northern )
noun
A quarter of the heavens; a point of the compass; a direction. Hence more generally: a quarter, a locality.
- all airts and pairts: all directions..
Origin
Late Middle English; earliest use found in Cursor Mundi: a Northumbrian poem of the 14th century. Probably from Irish aird compass point, quarter, direction and its cognate Scottish Gaelic àird (Early Irish aird point, especially compass point), perhaps from the same Indo-European base as ancient Greek ἄρδις spearhead.
airt2
/ɛːt/Scottish and Irish English (northern )
verb
1 [with object] To direct, guide (a person or thing) to a place; to point or set moving in a certain direction.
2 [no object] To direct one’s way to or towards, to make for. Also of a wind: to blow (from a certain quarter).
Origin
Late 18th century; earliest use found in John Sinclair (1754–1835), agricultural improver, politician, and codifier of ‘useful knowledge’. From airt.