A Dictionary of the English Language
                        A Digital Edition of the 1755 Classic by Samuel Johnson
        Search Transcribed Entries:

Kersey

View Scan · View Transcription · from page 1149

View Scan · View Transcription · from page 1149

Ke'rsey. n.s. [karsaye, Dutch; carisée, French.] Coarse stuff.

Taffata phrases, silken terms precise,
I do forswear them; and I here protest,
Henceforth my wooing mind shall be exprest
In russet yeas, and honest kersey noes. Shakespeare.

His lackey with a linnen stock on one leg, and a kersey boot-hose on the other. Shakes. Taming of the Shrew.

The same wool one man felts it into a hat, another weaves it into cloth, and another into kersey or serge. Hale.

    Thy kersey doublet spreading wide,
Drew Cic'ly's eye aside. Gay.

Sources: Gay, John (51) · Hale, Matthew (49) · Shakespeare's Love's Labours Lost (33) · Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew (71)

Attributes: Dutch (90) · French (385) · Noun Substantive (1269)

Search for this word in: American Heritage · Cambridge · Dictionary.com · The Free Dictionary · Longman · Merriam-Webster · OneLook · Oxford Dictionaries · Vocabulary.com · Wiktionary · Wordnik

Discuss this entry in the forums.

Cite this page: Johnson, Samuel. "Kersey." A Dictionary of the English Language: A Digital Edition of the 1755 Classic by Samuel Johnson. Edited by Brandi Besalke. Last modified: February 22, 2014. https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/kersey/.

Leave a Reply

Disclaimer:
johnsonsdictionaryonline.com is completely free to use. Johnson's dictionary is in the public domain, but please respect the hours of work put into this site by linking to it or crediting it. This site assumes no liability for its content or for the content of external sites linked to it, and has no warranty or guarantee concerning accuracy or availability.