> great, as in "big?"
That occurred to me too -- a case of the metathesised "r"?
It occurs in Scots:
DSL - DOST Girt, a.
[Var. of Grit a., also in mod. Eng. dialects.] Great. -
Suppois girt drouth cum in ?our mouth; Balnavis Bann. MS. 138 a/7.
God wait gif scho was girt and fat; (Dunb.) Maitl. F. xxxiii. 7.
In to hell girt rowme he tuik; Ib. l. 114.
Thrie girt kye and ane stirke; 1655 Soc. Ant. XXX. 18.
DSL - DOST Grit, a., n., and adv. Also: gritt.
[Var. of Gret, Grete, and Gryt(e, with unusual change of vowel,
occurring also in mod. Eng. dialects. Not found before 1500, but common from
c 1535. Cf. also Girt a.] 1. Great in size, amount, degree, importance,
etc. a. (1)
The grit he gait one the est syd the colpottis; 1512 Wemyss Chart. 139.
Robin
> At 02:48 PM 1/7/2009, you wrote:
>>I'd be grateful if anyone on this list could tell me the meaning of
>>the English dialectical word "girt".
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