sb. Obs. rare. Also 4 sursaute, 5 soursaut. [a. AF. sursaut, OF. soursaut, -sault, f. sur- = SUPER- 2 + saut leap (:—L. saltu-s).]
a. A sursaut: of a sudden.
1338. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 337. Sursante [? read A sursaute; Langtoft A sursaut] he þam mette, als þei fro kirke cam.
c. 1430. Pilgr. Lyf Manhode, IV. lxii. (1869), 205. Whan … j … hadde leyn þere a while, sodeynliche and a soursaut j sigh an old oon þat was clumben anhy vp on my bed.
b. A start.
1598. Yong, Diana, 71. With a sudden sursault she awaked.
Hence † Sursault v. trans., to attack suddenly.
1598. Yong, Diana, 81. An enamoured hart may be as well sursaulted with a sudden ioy, as with an unexpected sorrow. Ibid. (1600), in Eng. Helicon, T j b. My hart, sursaulted with the fill Of thousand great vnrests, and thousand feares.
