Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To make ready; prepare; dress. '
  • noun Preparation; arrangement; manner of doing a thing; the proper course.
  • noun Apparatus of whatever kind, for work, for traveling, etc.; furniture; equipment.
  • Ready; prepared.
  • Straight; direct; free.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Scot. Furniture; apparatus or accouterments for work, traveling, war, etc.
  • transitive verb See greith

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To make ready; prepare; put in order; make fit for use.
  • verb transitive To deal with; treat; handle (a person); complement.
  • verb transitive, intransitive To dress; get dressed.
  • adjective Ready; prepared.
  • adjective Straight; direct; prompt.
  • adjective Free; clear; available.
  • noun obsolete Preparation; arrangement; manner of doing a thing; proper course.
  • noun Northern England, Scotland An apparatus of any kind; gadget; materials or equipment; tackle; tools or implements.
  • noun Northern England, Scotland Furnishings; furniture; equipment or accoutrements for work, travelling, war, etc.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English graithen, greithen, graiden, grathen, from Old Norse greiða ("to make ready, prepare, arrange, disentangle"), from Proto-Germanic *garaidijanan (“to prepare, put in order”). Cognate with Old English ġerǣdan ("to arrange, dispose, order, provide for, harness"), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (garaidjan, "to enjoin").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English graith, grayth, greith, from Old Norse greiðr ("ready, available, free"), from Proto-Germanic *garaidijaz (“ready, orderly”), from Proto-Germanic *ga- + Proto-Indo-European *rēydʰ- (“to count, order”). Cognate with Old English ġerǣde ("ready, prompt"), German gerade ("straight, direct"), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌳𐍃 (garaids, "exact"). More at ready.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English graith, graythe, greithe, from Old Norse greiði ("preparation, arrangement"), from Proto-Germanic *garaidijan (“apparatus, gadget”). Cognate with Icelandic greiðe, greiði ("preparation, arrangement, order, hospitality"), Faroese greiði ("requisite articles"), Norwegian greida ("implements, tackle"), Norwegian greide ("harness").

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Examples

  • “Neither,” answered Harry Gow; “I should but prevent your rest, and for me this easy chair is worth a down bed, and I will sleep like a sentinel, with my graith about me.”

    The Fair Maid of Perth 2008

  • Sae they began to jeer the Laird, that he saw nae sic graith in his ain poor country; and the Laird, scorning to hae his country put down without a word for its credit, swore, like a gude Scotsman, that he had mair candlesticks, and better candlesticks, in his ain castle at hame, than were ever lighted in

    A Legend of Montrose 2008

  • “There has been Jock Driver the carrier here, speering about his new graith,” said Mrs. Saddletree to her husband, as he crossed his threshold, not with the purpose, by any means, of consulting him upon his own affairs, but merely to intimate, by a gentle recapitulation, how much duty she had gone through in his absence.

    The Heart of Mid-Lothian 2007

  • But how many of her readers realise that she is not out to dizzledazzle with a graith uncouthre-ment of postmantuam glasseries from the lapins and the grigs.

    Finnegans Wake 2006

  • And then he showed how I suld have done, — and that I suld have held up my hand to my brow, as if the grandeur of the king and his horse-graith thegither had casten the glaiks in my een, and mair jackanape tricks I suld hae played, instead of offering the Sifflication, he said, as if I had been bringing guts to a bear.

    The Fortunes of Nigel 2004

  • Here farmers gash in ridin 'graith [complacent, attire]

    Robert Burns How To Know Him William Allan Neilson 1907

  • Then Meg took up her spinnin 'graith, [implements]

    Robert Burns How To Know Him William Allan Neilson 1907

  • An 'ploughmen gather wi' their graith, [implements]

    Robert Burns How To Know Him William Allan Neilson 1907

  • Sae they began to jeer the Laird, that he saw nae sic graith in his ain poor country; and the Laird, scorning to hae his country put down without a word for its credit, swore, like a gude Scotsman, that he had mair candlesticks, and better candlesticks, in his ain castle at hame, than were ever lighted in a hall in Cumberland, an Cumberland be the name o 'the country.' '

    A Legend of Montrose 1871

  • 'Thou rides in strange graith on my lord's business,' he said, as he put the key in the lock.

    St. George and St. Michael Volume II George MacDonald 1864

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  • Usage on carline.

    January 21, 2010