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nicholas williams njawilliams at gmail.com
Sat Oct 9 15:34:51 BST 2010


Surely the word is ultimately the Latin cista, Greek kiste.

On 2010 Hed 9, at 15:30, Michael Everson wrote:

> On 9 Oct 2010, at 21:14, nicholas williams wrote:
> 
>> Where did the antiquarians get the word from?
>> If they saw it written <kist> they would have pronounced it short.
>> For it to have a long vowel it would have had to be written <keest>.
> 
> Kist is a word used in the North and in Scotland. OED:
> 
> [Northern form of CHEST n.1; either directly from Scandinavian, or owing its form to Norse influence; cf. ON.kista, Sw. kista, Da. kiste; also Du. kist, Ger. kiste. With the various senses, cf. CHEST 1, 3, 4, 5.] 
> 
> 1.a. A chest, box, coffer. (In Sc. the specific term for a servant's trunk.)
> c1300 Havelok 2018 Al þat he milhen [= hy mihten] fynde Of hise, in arke or in kiste. 
> 
> 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 159 Ouerborde bale to kest,..Her kysttes & her coferes. 
> 
> c1420 Sir Amadace (Camden) xliv, Kistes and cofurs bothe ther stode,..fulle of gold precius and gode. 
> 
> 1535 STEWART Cron. Scot. II. 21 All tha buikis tha kist hes brocht till. 
> 
> b. Applied to the ‘ark’ of bulrushes in which Moses was placed; and to Noah's ark. Obs.
> 
> a1300 Cursor M. 5614-17 (Cott.) A rescen [MS. An esscen] kyst [Gött. a kist of rises] sco did be wroght,..In þis kist þe barn sco did. 
> 
> 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 449 ‘Now Noe’, quoth oure lorde, ‘..Hatz þou closed þy kyst with clay alle aboute?’
> 
> 
> 
> Michael Everson * http://www.evertype.com/
> 
> 
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