gaytre
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
See gaiter.
Noun
gaytre (plural gaytres)
- 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.