testate, a witness. Heywood, Witches of Lancs., v (Generous); vol. iv, p. 251; Iron Age, Part II (Orestes); vol. iii, p. 422.
testy, witness; ‘Gives testies of their Maisters amorous hart’, Faire Em, ii. 1. 100. Cp. L. teste, the word which began the last clause of a writ, and signifying ‘witness’; being the abl. of L. testis, a witness. See NED. (s.v. Teste, sb.2 2 c).
tetchy, teachy, quick to take offence, short-tempered, testy. Spelt teachy, Earle, Microcosm., § 34 (ed. Arber, 56); teachie, Romeo, i. 3. 32 (1592). See NED.
tetragrammaton, the Greek name of the Hebrew ‘four-lettered’ word, written YHWH, vocalized YaHWeH by modern scholars; in the Bible written Jehovah (Exod. vi. 3), but gen. rendered by ‘the Lord’; ‘Our English tongue as well as the Hebrew hath a Tetragrammaton, whereby God may be named; to wit, Good’, Wither, Lord’s Prayer, 17 (NED.); Greene, Friar Bacon, iv. 3. Gk. τετραγράμματον (Philo, 2. 152).
tettish, teatish, peevish, fretful. Beaumont and Fl., Wit without Money, v. 2 (Valentine); Woman’s Prize, v. 1 (Bianca).
tew, a set of fishing-nets, nets. Warner, Alb. England, bk. vi, ch. 29, st. 27; spelt tewgh, Fletcher, Mons. Thomas, i. 3 (NED.). ME. tewe, fishing tackle (Prompt. EETS. 477), OE. (ge)tǣwe, getāwe, tackle, equipment.
tew, to convert hide into leather; ‘I tewe leather, je souple’, Palsgrave; to prepare for some purpose, ‘The toiling fisher here is tewing of his net’, Drayton, Pol. xxv. 139; to beat, thrash, Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, iii. 2 (Clause); to tew hemp, Ray’s Country Words, A.D. 1691. In prov. use for dressing leather and beating hemp, see EDD. (s.v. Tew, vb.1 1 and 2). ME. tewyn lethyr, ‘frunio, corrodio’ (Prompt.).
tewly, scarlet. Skelton, Garl. of Laurell, 798. Silk of this colour is often referred to by earlier writers, as in Richard Coer de Lion, 67, 1516, Syr Gawayne, Beves of Hamtoun (Halliwell, s.v. Tuly); tuly, colowre, ‘puniceus’ (Prompt. EETS. 494). OF. tieulé, of the colour of a tile, i.e. red (Godefroy), deriv. of tieule (F. tuile), a tile, L. tegula.
teyle; see [teil-tree].
teyned. ‘In shape of teyned gold’, Golding, Metam. v. 11. ME. teyne, a slender rod of metal (Chaucer, C. T. G. 1225, 1229, 1240). Icel. teinn, rod, gull-teinn, a rod of gold.