hething

Middle English

Noun

hething

1. contempt
   • late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Reeve's Tale, The Canterbury Tales, line 4109-4110:

     ‘Allas,’ quod Iohn, ‘the day that I was born!
     Now are we drive til hething and til scorn.’

     ‘Alas,’ said John, ‘the day that I was born!
     Now are we driven to contempt and to scorn.’

Scots

Etymology

From Middle English hething, from Old Norse hæðing (“a scoffing”), from háðung (“scorn, shame, disgrace”).

Noun

hething (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) Contempt; mockery; scorn.

References

• “hething”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.