meinie

plural meinies · alternative mayne · alternative mayné · alternative meiny · alternative meynee · alternative meynie

1. IrelandScotlandarchaicA household, or family.

   1 more example

   And whanne they in the caſtel wyſte hou ſire Palomydes had ſped there was a Ioyeful meyny / and ſoo ſir Palomydes departed / and came to the caſtell of Lonaȝep "And when they in the castle wist how Sir Palomides had sped, there was a joyful meiny; and so Sir Palomides departed, and came to the castle of Lonazep."

   1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum lxiv”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book X, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, →OCLC, page 525

2. archaichistoricalA retinue.

   And in the evening they went with their simple captain to his lodging; but a certain of his simple and rude meinie abode there all the night [...].

   1965, Jack Robert Lander, The Wars of the Roses

   1 more example

   His speech thus spake the Moor, and took his leave, he and his meiny where the bátels lay: formal farewells to chief and crews he gave, exchanging congees with due courtesy.

   1880, Richard Francis Burton, Os Lusíadas, volume I, page 23

3. ScotlandA crowd of people; a rabble.

   For the mutable ranke-ſented Meynie, / Let them regard me, as I doe not flatter, / And therein behold themſelues.

   c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]