Similar senses are grouped with commas; changes in sense are indicated with semicolons. For example:
gentle > noble; courteous, generous
In this case, an apparently modern form has a different contextual meaning, and so it is glossed; and when the modern sense is also to be understood, this is included in the definition:
dull > dull, lacklustre; blunt
Where the contrast between alternatives is particularly great, words are separated by or, also, etc.
Sometimes the meaning is forced or metaphorical. In these cases the straight "dictionary" meaning of the word is given first, and hence, thus, or so are used to indicate contextual departure from this. For example:
style > literary composition; hence: poem, song (cf. SC,
"Januarie", 10)
In this example, parenthesized editorial comment has also been included.
Editorial comment in entries of this class is either enclosed in round brackets, as above, or set in "italic" type, as in this entry:
bale > torment; infliction of death; also, mainly in northern
usage: great consuming fire, funeral pyre; hence,
perhaps: hell-fire