upsey, in the following combinations: Upsey-Dutch, in the Dutch fashion, B. Jonson, Alchemist, iv. 4 (Subtle), whence the phr. to drink upsey Dutch, to drink to excess, Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, iii 1. 3; Upsey-Freeze, in the Frisian fashion, The Shrift (Nares); Dekker, Belman; id., Seven Deadly Sins (Nares); Upsey-English, in the English way, Beaumont and Fl., Beggar’s Bush, iv. 4 (Higgen). [Cp. ‘Drink upsees out’, in the Soldier’s Song in Scott’s Lady of the Lake, vi. 5.] Du. op zyn: op zyn Engelsch, after the English fashion (Sewel, s.v. Op). Du. zyn (now spelt zin) = G. sinn, sense, meaning.
upsitting, a festival when a woman sits up after her confinement. Westward Ho, v. 1 (Mist. Tenterhook); Brome, Jovial Crew, ii. 1 (Oldrents); Beaumont and Fl., Woman-hater, ii. 1 (Valere); ‘Relevailles d’une femme, the upsitting’, Cotgrave.
upspring, the name of a dance. Hamlet, i. 4. 9; ‘An Almain and an upspring’, Chapman, Alphonsus, iii. 1 (Bohemia).
ure, operation, action. Esp. in phr. to put in ure, Ferrex and Porrex, iv. 2 (Porrex); Greene. Alphonsus, Prol. (Venus). OF. ure, eure, L. opera, work, action. See Dict.
ure, destiny; ‘Wherefore he hathe good ure, That can hymselfe assure Howe fortune wyll endure,’ Skelton, Colyn Cloute, 1003. Hence, as vb. to be ured, to be invested with as by a decree of fate, ‘Men nowe a dayes so unhappely be uryd’, Skelton, Magnyfycence, 6. See [eure].
usance, interest paid for money, Merch. Ven. i. 3. 46. A rare meaning of the word; it gen. means the same as ‘usage’. ME. usaunce, custom (Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 683). Norm. F. usance, ‘usage, mise en pratique, exercice d’un pouvoir’ (Moisy).
uses, practical applications of doctrines; a term affected by the Puritans, and ridiculed by the dramatists. B. Jonson, Magnetic Lady, iii. 1 (Needle); Massinger, Emp. of the East, iii. 2 (Flaccilla).
utas, the period of eight days beginning with a festival; hence, merriment, festivity; ‘Utas of a feest, octaves’, Palsgrave; ‘Old utis’ (i.e. high merriment), 2 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 22. ‘Utis’ still survives in prov. use in Worc. in the sense of noise, din: ‘The hounds kicked up a deuce of a utis’ (EDD.). Anglo-F. utaves (Rough List); L. octava (dies), eighth day; for ecclesiastical use see Dict. Christ. Antiq. (s.v. Octave). See Dict. (s.v. Utas).
utter, to put forth, put in circulation, offer for sale, put on the market. L. L. L. ii. 1. 16; Romeo, v. 1. 67; Wint. Tale, iv. 4. 330; Fletcher, Captain, ii. 1 (Jacomo); Sir T. Elyot, Governour, iii. 30, § 2; Stanyhurst, tr. Aeneid, i. 448. Hence utterance, sale, ‘There is no such speedie utterance of rabbets’, Harrison, Descr. of England, bk. ii, ch. 19 (ed. Furnivall, p. 304).
utterance: in phr. to the utterance, to the last extremity, Macbeth, iii. 1. 72. F. à outrance; combat à outrance, a fight to the death; deriv. of outre, L. ultra, beyond.