serpentin, a kind of cannon. Skelton, ed. Dyce, i. 124; l. 159; ‘Serpentine, the artillery called a Serpentine or Basiliskoe’, Cotgrave.
serpigo, a general term for creeping or spreading skin diseases, esp. ringworm, Meas. for M. iii. 1. 31 (variously spelt in the edd.). Medical L. serpigo, ‘teter’ (Alphita, 167), deriv. of serpere, to creep.
servant, a professed lover, one who is devoted to the service of a lady. Two Gent. of Verona, ii. 1. 106, 114, 140. Very common. Cp. Ital. cavaliere servente; see Fanfani.
servulate, to serve obsequiously. Beaumont and Fl., Elder Brother, i. 2 (Egremont). From L. servulus, dimin. of servus, a slave.
sesama, oil from the seeds of a plant, sesame, one of the ingredients of a perfume. B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels, v. 2 (Perfumer). Gk. σησάμη.
sesarara; see [sasarara].
sess, seiss, to assess. Pt. t. sessyd, Fabyan, Chron., p. vii, ann. 1257-8 (ed. Ellis, p. 344); pp. seissed, North, tr. of Plutarch, Antonius, § 33 (in Shak. Plut., p. 204). In prov. use (EDD.).
set out the throat, to set up a noise, cry out. B. Jonson, Alchem. v. 2 (Face); Middleton, Blurt, Mr. Constable, ii. 1 (Hippolito).
setter, a confederate of sharpers or swindlers, employed as a decoy (Cant). Nashe, Strange Newes, 1592; see Aydelotte, p. 86; Butler, Hud., Lady’s Answer, 153. One who marks down travellers to be robbed by thieves, 1 Hen. IV, ii. 2. 53.
settle, a long bench, with a very high back. Albumazar, i. 1 (Ronca). In prov. use, see EDD. (s.v. Settle, sb.2).