c1200 Ormin 6905 Ȝiff he léte waxenn þær awihht off wiþerrstrenncþe Onnȝæn hiss aȝhenn oferrking.
Ibid. 10227To fihhtenn forr þe leode, To werenn hemm wiþþ wiþerr⁓þeod.
c1205 Lay. 272Witen he wolde þurh þa wiþer-craftes wat þing hit were. [ later text wise craftes]
Ibid. 405Þar aros wale & win & wiðer-heppes feola.
Ibid. 9175Ȝif þe king wolde wið heom wiðer-heolden.
Ibid. 10968Þe hæfde þurh his wiðer-laȝen muchel of þine cunne of-slaȝen.
Ibid. 16318Cuð hit is wide of ure wiðer-deden.
Ibid. 24700Summe heo wræstleden and wiðer-gome makeden.
Ibid. 28669Þa weoren wide to-floȝen: ut of þan wiðer-uehte.
a1225 St. Marher. 5Þe awaride wiðerlahen leiden swa luðerliche on hire leofliche lich, þet hit brec oueral.
c1250 Long Life 12 in O.E. Misc. 156Nis non so strong..Þat mai ago deaþes wiþer-blench.
1340 Ayenb. 137 To..wiþnyme his dedes..and telle, and weȝe, and *wyþerweȝe.
1642 Row Hist. Kirk (WodrowSoc. ) p. xx,A *wodderweght to our bell to mak it ring the better.
1808 Jamieson, Witherweight,..(witherwecht), the weight thrown into one scale, to counterbalance the paper, or vessel, in the opposite scale, which contains the goods bought.
1820 Hogg Wint.Even. T. I. 270She's nae wother-weight nouther.
c1330 Arth. & Merl. 5666 Þis dragoun hadde a long taile Þat was *wiþþerhoked.
1643 in Dalyell Darker Superst.Scot. x. (1834) 459Shoe turnit hirselff thrie severall tymes round *witherwys, about the fyre.
1592 Nashe Strange NewesWks. (Grosart) II. 227The wither-fac'd weather-beaten Mariner.
1821 Milman Fazio 9Like some dry wither-boned anatomy.
wither-weather-, wother-, widder- (Scotland)
Prefix
- now chiefly Britain dialectal, Scotland Prefix meaning: "against", "in opposition to"; "in return"; "counter-"; "contrary (to)"; "in the opposite direction (of or to)"; "backwards".
Etymology
From Middle English, from Old English wiþer (“again, against”, adverb in compounds), from Proto-Germanic *wiþrą (“against, toward”), from Proto-Indo-European *wī-tero- (“further apart”), *wī- (“separate, alone”). Cognate with Low German wedder (“against”), Dutch weer (“again, back”), German wider (“against, contrary to”), wieder (“again”). More at with.