Glossary of Dorset dialect words

These are some words which are unique to the Dorset dialect, spoken in Dorset in the West Country of England.

Word	Meaning
A
A-cothed	Disease
A-drawen	Drawing, for example "He be a-drawen a picture."
A-feard	Afraid (Dorset motto, "Who's a-feard?")
Agean	Against, for example "'e be runnin' agean thac strong wind."
Aggy	The act of collecting eggs[1]
Ailen	illness, ailing (verb or noun)[1]
A-lassen	Lest
Alik'	Like
All's	All this
Amper	Pustules "I be all out in an amper!"
Aller	The alder tree
Anby	At a near time, by and by
Annan?	An interjectional exclamation. "What did you say?"
Anewst, or Aniste	At nearest
Anigh	Near, close by[1]
Ankly	The ankle[1]
Any-when	At any time[1]
Archet	Orchard[1]
Arn	A contraction of "e'er a one"
Ash candles	The seed vessels of the ash tree
Asker	Water newt
A-strout	Stretched out[1]
A-stooded	Stood (as a waggon) immovably in the ground
A-stoggd	Having your feet stuck in either clay or dirt
At	To play at, to have at
Athirt	Across
Avore	Before[1]
A-vroze	Frozen[1]
Awaked	Awake
Ax	To ask[1]
Axen	Ashes[1]
Ayer	Air[1]
A-zet	Set or planted
A-zew	1) To be dry of milk; no longer giving suck "The cow's a-zew" 2) To sew a pond, to drain or draw it dry.
B
Backhouse	Outhouse[1]
Backside	backyard or rear of property[1]
Bad	Synonym for ill
Ballyrag	To scold[1]
Bandy	A stick used for beating dung out of the way, usually long and sturdy with a bent end[1]
Bandylags	Crooked/bowed legs
Bankrout	Bankrupt
Barken	Barley[2]
Barry	Borrow[2]
Batch	Hillock[2]
Battenbuoard	A tool for tamping thatch on a roof[2]
Baven	A faggot of untrimmed branches[2]
Beas'	Beast, usually refers to cattle[2]
Beatplough	A tool used for cutting turf[2]
Becall	To deride
Beens	Because, possible contraction of 'being as'[2]
Bee-pot	Beehive[2]
Beknown	Known about
Bennits	The bent tips of grasses and similar[2]
Bibber	Shiver with cold[2]
Bide	Dwell[2]
Biddle	Beetle[2]
Bird-kippy	To keep birds from the corn[2]
Bit-an'-drap	A bite to eat and a drink[2]
Bit-an'-crimp	Every last scrap of something[2]
Blatch	Black or sooty[2]
Blather	An uproar[2]
Blooth	Blossom[2]
Bottom	Steadfast[2]
Brinton	Bold, audacious[3]
Brockle	Broken[3]
Bruckly	Brittle[3]
Budget	A leather pouch for a whetstone[3]
Bumbye	By-and-by[3]
C
Caddie	An uproar or carry-on[3]
Caddle	Muddle[3]
Car	Carry or move: to car hay is to stack hay[3]
Cazelty weather	Extremely bad weather (casualty weather)[3]
Chaw	Chew[3]
Cheese-late	A floor for drying cheese[3]
Chimley	Chimney[3]
Chop	Sell, barter or exchange[3]
Chump	A log of wood[3]
Clavy	Mantelpiece[3]
Clinker	Icicle[4]
Cockle	Tangle[4]
Cowlease	An uncut field, meadow[4]
Cradlehood	Early stages of childhood, infancy, still in the cradle[4]
Cricket	A low stool or chair for a child[4]
Crousty	Grumpy, in a bad mood[4]
Curdles	Hair curls[4]
D
Dabster	Someone who is skilled in something, an expert[4]
Dadder	To confuse or bewilder[4]
Dander	Vex, anger[4]
Dewbit	A bite to eat taken first thing in the morning before breakfast[4]
Doughbiaked	Feeble-minded[5]
Dout	Put out a flame or fire, "Dout the candle" for example[5]
Downdashious	Audacious[5]
Drashel	The strip of wood or concrete at the bottom of a doorway, the threshold[5]
Drawlatcheten	Idle, lazy[5]
Drinky	Having consumed too much alcohol, inebriated[5]
Duckish	Dark, gloomy[5]
Drong	Squeeze or compress[5]
Drongway	A narrow passage or alley; Most commonly a narrow footpath between two fenced fields[5]
Dumbledore	Bumblebee[5]
E
Eet	Yet[5]
Effets	Newts[5]
Emmets	Ants[5]
Evemen	Evening[5]
F
Faddle	To pack or bundle together[6]
Fantod	Fuss[6]
Fess	Pleased with, proud[6]
Flummocks	To scare or frighten[6]
Footling	Something worthless, beneath contempt[6]
Footy	Insignificant, small, trivial[6]
Frith	Thin twigs that have broken off from trees and bushes, historically used to make brushes; brushwood[6]
G
Gake	To stare open-mouthed, gawk, gape[6]
Gallycrow	Scarecrow[6]
Gannywedge	A wide yawn or to spread apart[6]
Gilcup	A small, yellow flower of the family Ranunculaceae, common in meadows and pasture; buttercup[6]
Girt	Large, great[6]
Glene	To joke with[7]
Glutch	To swallow[7]
Greygole	A small, blue woodland flower of the hyacinth family; Bluebell[7]
Gwain	Going[7]
Gwains-on	Rowdy behaviour (goings-on)[7]
H
Halterpath	A path for a horse and rider; Bridleway[7]
Handy	Thereabouts, an approximation, "Ees 6' or somewhere 'andy" for example[7]
Han'pat	Nearby, close at hand[7]
Hatch	A small gate[7]
Heal	To cover over[7]
Hedlen	Headlong[7]
Hethcropper	A horse or pony bred on a heath[7]
Hidy-buck	Children's game, hide-n-seek[7]
Ho	To be anxious or to show caution[8]
Hobby Horse	Woodlouse[8]
Homhle	A duck[8]
Honey-zuck	A climbing plant of the family Caprifoliaceae; honeysuckle[8]
Hoss-stinger	Dragonfly[8]
I
Ice-candles	Icicles[8]
Inon	Onion[8]
J
Joppety-joppety	Anxious, nervous trepidation[8]
K
Keech	To clear a riverbank of weeds[8]
Kit	Friend or family, kin[8]
L
Lamploo	A game of tag in which those caught join hands with the pursuer/s to form a chain[9][10]
Leery	Hungry[9]
Lerret	A traditional, double-ended boat with a flat bottom and high sternposts, which can be launched from a steep bank or beach [9][11]
Limber	Skinny, slim, slender[9]
Limner	Painter and decorator[9]
Lip	Basket[9]
Lippen	Wet weather, rainy, sometimes also referred to as lippy[9]
Lisome	Cheery, happy[9]
Litter	Confusion[9]
M
Magot	An impulse or whim[9]
Main	Strength, power[9]
Mampus	A crowd[9]
Mesh	Moss[9]
Moud	Field mouse[12]
N
Nammet	A light lunch of meat[12]
Near	Parsimonious, miserly[12]
Nicky	Kindling[12]
Nippy	Peckish[12]
Nirrup	Donkey[12]
Not	Flowerbed[12]
Nuncheon	A noon-time meal, luncheon[12]
O
Out ov ban	Instantly, at once[12]
Over-right	Opposite[12]
P
Parrick	A piece of fenced off land, a paddock[12]
Peart	Healthy, vibrant, full of life[13]
Peck upon	Dominate[13]
Pelt	A rage, to feel angry[13]
Piaviours	Flagstones[13]
Piggyback, a pig a back, a pack a back	To carry a child on one's back with their arms around your neck and their legs around your waist.
Pisty poll	To carry a child on one's shoulders with their legs around your neck and their arms around your forehead.
Popples	Pebbles[13]
Prog	Food[13]
Q
Quine	The corner of a wall[13]
Quob	Quiver, shake[13]
R
Rale	Walk[13]
Ramshacklum	Useless[13]
Rap	Swap, barter or exchange[13]
Rathe	Early[13]
Rean	Consume food quickly and greedily[14]
Reaphook	A curved blade for cutting grasses; Sickle[14]
Reddick	Small garden bird with a red breast, commonly known as a robin (Erithacus rubecula)[14]
Reeve	Unravel[14]
Rottletrap	Rickety[14]
S
Satepoll	A foolish or silly person[14]
Scaly	Mean, stingy[14]
Sives	Chives or garlic[14][15]
Smeech	A cloud of dust[16]
Snabble	To snap up quickly; To eat quickly or greedily[16]
Span-new	Clean and shiny, like new[16]
Sprak	Spry, lively[16]
T
Tilty	Grumpy, irritable, ill-tempered[16]
Tinklebobs	Icicles[16]
Torrididdle	A state of bewilderment or confusion[16]
Toyear	This year; as in today, tomorrow etc.[16]
Twanketen	Sad, melancholic[16]
U
Undercreepen	Devious, sly, underhand[17]
Upsydown	Upside down, overturned[17]
V
Vang	To earn[17]
Vinny	Veiny or mouldy, like the Dorset cheese, Blue-vinny[17]
Vitty	Neat and proper[17]
W
Ware	Pond[17]
Welshnut	Walnut[17]
Werret	To concern or worry[18]
Wont	Mole, small burrowing mammal of the family Talpidae[18]
Woppen	Big, heavy[18]
Wopsy	Wasp[18]
Wordle	World[18]
Y
Yakker	Acorn[18]
Yis	Earthworm[18]
Yop	Speak rapidly, jabber[18]
Z
Zeale	Sack[18]
Zet up	To anger, infuriate[18]
Zummat	Something[18]
Zwail	Swagger[18]

See also[]

Wiktionary has a category on Dorset English

• Dorset dialect

Citations[]

References[]