gaytre

Middle English

Alternative forms

• gaitre

Etymology

See gaiter.

Noun

gaytre (plural gaytres)

1. Some kind of berried tree whose berries have a laxative effect; probably the dogwood or honeysuckle; possibly the buckthorn.
   • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Tale of the Nonnes Preest”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC, folio xcv, recto, lines 195–196, 199:

     A day or two, ye ſhul haue digeſtyues / Of wormes, or ye take your laxatyues, / [...] Of catapuce, or of gaytres beris

     For a day or two you shall have digestive medicine / made up of worms, before you take your laxatives / [...] Of catapuce, or of gaiter's berries

References

• “gaiter, n.²”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “gaitris, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.