Obs. exc. dial. Forms: 4 langald, langhalde, 6 langhold, 8 langel(l, 8, 9 dial. langle. [Of obscure origin; both form and sense appear to point to an OF. *langle, *lengle:—L. lingula thong, strap, dim. of lingua tongue; but the word is app. not recorded in French. Cf. LINGELL.] A thong, rope, or other contrivance used to confine the legs of an animal in order to prevent its straying; a hobble. Also fig.
1394–5. Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees), 599. In 3 Tethirs cum paribus de langalds 22d.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVIII. xiv. (1495), 774. An oxe herde fedeth and nouryssheth oxen: and byndeth their fete with a langhaldes.
1600. J. Pory, trans. Leo’s Africa, III. 137. Certaine langols or withs, which the Africans put upon their horses feete.
1737. Ramsay, Sc. Prov. (1797), 95. Ye ha’e ay a foot out o’ the langle.
1880. Antrim & Down Gloss., s.v., A ‘sheep’s langle’ is a short piece of any kind of rope, with a slip knot at each end. The loops are passed over the fore and hind leg of a sheep.
