Sweet a. and adv.

Forms: 1 swoete, Northumb. suoet, suet, 1–6 swete, 2–6 swet, 3–6 suete, 4–5 suet, Sc. sweyt, 4–8 Sc. sweit, 5–7 sweete, (2 sweote, 3 swiete, 4 suette, swett, squete, sweyte, Kent. zuete, 5 swette, sqwete, swyte, 6 Sc. sweitt, sueit, 7 suiet, 8 Sc. suit), 6– sweet. Comp. 1 swet(t)ra, 3–5 swettere, (1 swoetra, 3 swettre, swetture, 4 -ore, -our, 5 -ir, -ur; 4 squetter, suetter), 4–5 swetter; 4 swetere, Sc. -are, 6 Sc. -ar, suetar, 5– sweeter. Sup. 1–5 swetest, 2–5 -este, 5 -ist, 5– sweetest; also 3–5 swetteste, 4–5 -est, 5 -ist. [Com. Teut.: OE. swéte, = OFris. swêt, OS. swôti, MLG. sote, sute, (LG. söte, söt), MDu. soete, suete (Du. zoet), OHG. suoʓi, swuoʓi (MHG. sueʓe, G. süss), ON. sœtr (Sw. söt, Da. sød):—OTeut. *swōtja-, *swōti-, f. swōt- (whence OE. swóte SOOT adv.):—Indo-eur. swād- (with variant swăd-), in Skr. svādús sweet, svádati to be sweet, Gr. ἡδύς sweet, ἤδεσθαι to rejoice, ἡδονή pleasure, ἁνδάνειν (ἔαδον, ἔαδα) to please, L. suāvis (:—*swādwis) sweet, suādēre to advise (properly, to make something pleasant to). Gothic show’s another grade of the root in sūts.]

  A.  adj.

  1.  Pleasing to the sense of taste; having a pleasant taste or flavor; spec. having the characteristic flavor (ordinarily pleasant when not in excess) of sugar, honey, and many ripe fruits, which corresponds to one of the primary sensations of taste. Also said of the taste or flavor. Often opposed to bitter or sour (so also in fig. senses).

  See also special collocations in C. 1.

c. 888.  Ælfred, Boeth., xxxix. § 9. Þæt is forhwi se gooda læce selle þam halum men seftne drenc & swetne.

a. 1000.  Phœnix, 193 (Gr.). Þa swetestan somnað & gædrað wyrta wynsume & wudubleda.

c. 1250.  Death, 106, in O. E. Misc. Hwer beoð þine dihsches Midd þine swete sonde?

1303.  R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 1398. Delytable, & swete of sauoure.

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. XII. 264. Þe larke … is … swifter þan þe pecok, And of flesch,… fatter and swetter. Ibid. (1393), C. XIX. 60. Somme [apples] ar swettere þan some and sonnere wollen rotye.

c. 1449.  Pecock, Repr., I. xiii. 67. Hony is swettist to him of alle othere metis.

1523.  Fitzherb., Husb., § 23. The yonger and the grener that the grasse is, the softer and sweter it wyll be, whan it is hey.

1574.  Newton, Health Mag., I j b. The fleash that is about the bones is sweeter and better to digest then other.

1594.  Marlowe & Nashe, Dido, II. i. Ile giue thee Sugar-almonds, sweete Conserues.

1596.  Edward III., II. i. 406. A sugred, sweet and most delitious tast.

1667.  Milton, P. L., V. 68. O Fruit Divine, Sweet of thy self, but much more sweet thus cropt.

1765.  Museum Rust., IV. 398. Fine-flavoured, mellow, sweet beef from beasts fed with oil-cakes.

1818.  Scott, Br. Lamm., xi. A tart—a flam—and some nonsense sweet things, and comfits.

1827.  Faraday, Chem. Manip., xxiv. (1842), 629. The liquid will communicate a very aromatic sweet taste to it.

1883.  Cassell’s Dict. Cookery, 772/1. Rose Sauce for Sweet Puddings.

1887.  Bentley, Man. Bot. (ed. 5), 824. Secondary products of metastasis, some of which, as sweet secretions, &c., are necessary for the perpetuation of the species.

  b.  In similative and other proverbial phr.

c. 825.  Vesp. Ps. xviii. 11 [xix. 10]. Dulciora super mel & favum, swoetran ofer huniʓ & biobræd.

c. 1385.  Chaucer, Miller’s T., 20. He hym self as sweete as is the roote Of lycorys.

a. 1400–50.  Wars Alex., 3855. Was neuir na hony in na hyue vndire heuen swettir.

c. 1403.  Lydg., Temple of Glas, 1251. Swete is swettir eftir bitternes.

14[?].  Lat. & Eng. Prov. (MS. Douce 52), lf. 16 b. Hungur makyth harde bonys swete.

1546.  J. Heywood, Prov. (1867), 16. Sweete meate will haue sowre sawce.

a. 1553.  Udall, Royster D., I. iii. (Arb.), 20. Soft fire maketh sweete malte, good Madge.

1600.  Shaks., A. Y. L., III. ii. 115. Sweetest nut, hath sowrest rinde.

1607.  [see SAUCE sb. 1 b].

1671.  T. Hunt, Abeced. Scholast., 79. The sweetest flesh is next the bone.

1697.  Dryden, Virg. Past., vii. 53. Fair Galathea, with thy silver Feet, O, whiter than the Swan, and more than Hybla sweet.

1721.  Bailey, s.v., After sweet Meat comes sowr Sauce.

1898.  W. W. Jacobs, Sea Urchins, Choice Spirits (1906), 90. ‘The meat’s awful.’ ‘It’s as sweet as nuts,’ said the skipper.

  2.  Pleasing to the sense of smell; having a pleasant smell or odor; fragrant. Also said of the smell or odor.

c. 900.  trans. Bæda’s Hist., III. viii. (1890), 174. Hordærn … balsami & þara deorwyrðestena wyrta & þara swetestena þara þe in middanʓearde wæron.

971.  Blickl. Hom., 59. Þa swetan stencas ʓestincað þara wuduwyrta.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 53. Þe sweote smel of þe chese.

c. 1220.  Bestiary, 508. Vt of his ðrote it smit an onde, Ðe swetteste ðing ðat is o londe.

a. 1272.  Luue Ron, 151, in O. E. Misc., 97. Þu art swetture þane eny flur.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 1381. Cipres, be þe suete sauur, Bitakens ur suete [Fairf. squete] sauueur.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Prol., 5. Zephirus … with his swete breeth.

c. 1425.  Cast. Persev., 801, in Macro Plays, 101. Parkys, poundys, & many pens, Þei semyn to ȝou swetter þanne sens.

1542.  Boorde, Dyetary, xx. (1870), 281. Parsley … doth cause a man to haue a swete breth.

1590.  Shaks., Mids. N., II. i. 252. I know a banke … Quite ouer-cannoped … With sweet muske roses, and with Eglantine. Ibid. (1596), Tam. Shr., Induct i. 49. Burne sweet Wood to make the Lodging sweete.

1650.  Fuller, Pisgah, III. ii. § 5. Pillasters … of … Almuggin trees … which, if odoriferous,… made that passage as sweet to the smell, as specious to the sight.

1781.  Cowper, Hope, 290. Sweet scent, or lovely form, or both combined.

1850.  Tennyson, In Mem., lxxxvi. Sweet after showers, ambrosial air.

  † b.  spec. Perfumed, scented. See also sweet-bag, -ball, -powder (in C. 1 a), SWEET-WATER. Obs.

1573–4.  in Feuillerat, Revels Q. Eliz. (1908), 208. Sweete lightes of white wex for the same vii^l.

1592.  Acc.-Bk. W. Wray, in Antiquary, XXXII. 79. A barrell swet sop, xxix s.

1611.  Shaks., Wint. T., IV. iv. 253. You promis’d me a tawdry-lace, and a paire of sweet Gloues.

1656.  Earl Monm., trans. Boccalini’s Pol. Touchstone, 407. The Monopoly of making sweet Gloves to that Nation whose hand did stink insufferably.

  3.  Free from offensive or disagreeable taste or smell; not corrupt, putrid, sour, or stale; free from taint or noxious matter; in a sound and wholesome condition.

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 3302. A funden trew ðor-inne dede Moyses, and it wurð swet on ðe stede.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 6352–4. Þe water was al suete alson, Þe water þat sua fuli stanc, Suetter neuer þai siþen drank.

1501.  Reg. Privy Seal Scotl., I. 100/1. [3¹/₂] lastis of salmond, ful, rede, and swete.

1596.  Harington, Metam. Ajax, E iv b. Because hee had not seene better to the keeping sweet of the streets.

1607.  Dekker, Westw. Hoe, I. Wks. 1873, II. 291. He hath an excellent trick to keepe Lobsters and Crabs sweet in summer.

1655.  Marq. Worcester, Cent. Inv., § 100. [They] furnish Cities with Water … as well as keep them Sweet, running through several Streets.

1681.  Langford, Plain Instr. Fruit-trees, 139. Cyder Fruit … laid upon a sweet and dry floor, in a heap.

1685.  Compl. Servant Maid, 144. You must wash your own Linen, keeping your self sweet and clean.

1754.  Compl. Cyder-man, 114. A sufficient Number of sweet Casks to put it into.

1791.  Trans. Soc. Arts, IX. p. xvii. Preserving Fresh Water sweet, for the use of Seamen during long voyages.

1859.  Jephson, Brittany, v. 55. I question whether the beds would be so clean and sweet.

1861.  Mrs. Beeton, Bk. Househ. Managem. (1880), 385. In choosing a ham, ascertain that it is perfectly sweet.

1883.  Gresley, Gloss. Coal-mining, Sweet, free from fire-damp or other gases, or from fire-stink.

  † b.  spec. Of water: Fresh, not salt. Also of butter: Fresh, not salted. (Cf. G. süsswasser, F. eau douce, etc.) Obs.

c. 1000.  Sax. Leechd., II. 134. Drince weʓbrædan seaw on swetum wætre.

c. 1220.  Bestiary, 320. He lepeð ðanne wið mikel list, Of swet water he haueð ðrist.

a. 1425.  Cursor M., 6349 (Trin.). Þei fond … Watir bittur as any bryne. As bryne hit was & no swettur.

1480.  Caxton, Myrr., XX. 109. Alle watres come of the see; as wel the swete as the salt.

1553.  Eden, Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.), 26. In this deserte are … founde bytter waters: but more often fresshe and sweete waters.

1591.  A. W., Bk. Cookrye, 8 b. In the seething pot put in a peece of sweet Butter.

1661.  Lovell, Hist. Anim. & Min., Introd. Living in rivers and other sweet waters.

1709.  T. Robinson, Nat. Hist. Westmoreld., iv. 23. The subterrene Waters are those sweet Mineral Feeders, which do implete the Body of the Earth.

1796.  Morse, Amer. Geog., I. 84. Animals which … live alternately on land or in sweet water.

  † c.  Of bread (in 16th c. versions of and allusions to Scripture): Unleavened. (Opposed to sour as in SOUR-DOUGH.) Obs.

1526.  Tindale, Mark xiv. 12. The first daye of swete breed.

1535.  Coverdale, Exod. xxxiv. 18. The feast of swete bred shalt thou kepe.

1593.  Nashe, Christ’s T., Wks. 1904, II. 48. The feast of Tabernacles, the feast of sweet Bread, and the feast of Weekes.

  d.  Of milk: Fresh, not sour: see sweet milk in C. 1 a.

1812.  Sir J. Sinclair, Syst. Husb. Scot., I. 105. The milk can be sold sweet, as taken from the cow.

  e.  Old Chem. and Metallurgy. Free from corrosive salt, sulphur, acid, etc.

1666.  Boyle, Orig. Formes & Qual., II. iv. 315. Chymists … terme the Calces of Metals and other Bodies dulcifi’d, if they be freed from all corrosive salts and sharpness of Tast, sweet, though they have nothing at all of positive sweetness.

1881.  Raymond, Mining Gloss., Sweet-roasting.

  4.  Pleasing to the ear; having or giving a pleasant sound; musical, melodious, harmonious: said of a sound, a voice, an instrument, a singer or performer on an instrument.

c. 900.  trans. Bæda’s Hist., IV. iii. (1890), 264. Þa ʓeherde he … þa swetestan stefne & þa fæʓrestan singendra.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 1030. Þar sune es soft and suet sang.

a. 1366[?].  Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 768. In loreyn her notes bee Fulle swetter than in this contre.

c. 1460.  Towneley Myst., xv. 13. A! myghtfull god, what euer this ment, so swete of toyn.

c. 1500.  Melusine, i. 7. He stood styl … to here her swette & playsaunt voyce.

1530.  Palsgr., 278/1. Swetetunyng, modulation.

a. 1548.  Hall, Chron., Hen. VIII., 214 b. iiii. Muses plaiyng on seueral swete instrumentes.

1560.  Bible (Geneva), 2 Sam. xxiii. 1. Dauid … the swete singer of Israel.

1599.  Shaks., etc., Pass. Pilgr., 282. Cleare wels spring not, sweete birds sing not. Ibid. (1602), Ham., III. i. 166. Like sweet Bels iangled, out of tune, and harsh.

1604.  E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, VII. iii. 500. Their tongue and pronountiation is very sweete and pleasant.

1617.  Moryson, Itin., I. 152. A paire of Organs doth make sweet musicke.

1697.  Dryden, Virg. Georg., I. 680. Th’ Infernal Troops … list’ning, crowd the sweet Musician’s side.

1780.  Cowper, Doves, 37. Thus sang the sweet sequester’d bird, Soft as the passing wind.

1836.  Dubourg, Violin, i. (1878), 11. The viol instruments were decidedly sweet, but comparatively dull.

1859.  Tennyson, Marr. Geraint, 329. The sweet voice of a bird.

  5.  Pleasing (in general): yielding pleasure or enjoyment; agreeable, delightful, charming. (Only literary in unemotional use: cf. e.)

  a.  to the mind or feelings.

c. 888.  Ælfred, Boeth., xxxv. § 4. Hi … meahton eaðe seggan soðspell, ʓif him þa leasunga næren swetran.

c. 900.  trans. Bæda’s Hist., V. xxiii. (1890), 482. Me symble swete & wynsum wæs, ðæt ic oþþe leornode oþþe lærde oððe write.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 33. Ac swo þe wowe þinkeð biter, þe hwile þe he lesteð, swo þincð wele þe swettere þan hit cumeð þarafter.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 294. Drauh, ase he dude, þet swete likunge into smeortunge.

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 210. Paradis, An erd al ful of swete blis.

c. 1320.  Sir Tristr., 631. Þe ring was fair to se, Þe ȝift was wel swete.

1362.  Langl., P. Pl., A. Prol. 83. Persones and parisch prestes, askeþ leue … To singe þer for Simonye, for seluer is swete. Ibid. (1377), B. XV. 179. Þough he bere hem no bred, he bereth hem swetter lyflode. Ibid. (1393), C. XXI. 219. He hadde nat wist wyterly wheþer deþ wer soure oþer sweyte.

c. 1449.  Pecock, Repr., I. xiii. 66. In the historial parties of the Oold Testament and of the Newe, is miche delectable and sweete.

1560.  Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 337 b. How swele is y^e name of peace, and how comfortable a thing it is.

1567.  Maplet, Gr. Forest, 4 b. [It] is otherwise effectuous to bring a man in sweete sleepe.

1575.  Gascoigne, Glasse Govt., IV. vi. Although it seeme unto some men a sweete thing to commaunde.

1600.  Shaks., A. Y. L., II. i. 12. Sweet are the vses of aduersitie. Ibid. (1604), Ham., III. iv. 209 (Qo. 2). O tis most sweete When in one line two crafts directly meete.

1609.  [see REVENGE sb. 1].

1638.  Junius, Paint. Ancients, 119. Art, abounding with many sweet vices, drew still the eyes … of unadvised spectators.

1643.  Trapp, Comm. Gen. xl. 3. A sweet providence; that these obnoxious officers should be sent to Joseph’s prison.

1738.  Wesley, Hymn, ‘Let us go forth,’ ii. When He vouchsafes our Hands to use, It makes the Labour sweet.

1784.  Cowper, Task, I. 94. Sweet sleep enjoys the curate in his desk. Ibid., II. 482. Oh, popular applause, what heart of man Is proof against thy sweet seducing charms?

1801.  Wordsw., Sparrow’s Nest, 19. A heart, the fountain of sweet tears.

1876.  Miss Braddon, J. Haggard’s Dau., x. It was sweeter to you to help others than to be happy yourself.

1882.  Serjt. Ballantine, Exper., iv. 41. I received half a guinea, the sweetest that ever found its way into my pocket.

  b.  to the senses; esp. to the sight = Lovely, of charming appearance.

a. 1366[?].  Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 622. And thus he walketh to solace Hym and his folk for swetter place To pleyn ynne he may not fynde.

1375.  Barbour, Bruce, XVI. 66. Quhen byrdis syngis on the spray,… For softnes of that sweit sesoune.

c. 1430.  Chev. Assigne, 44. A seluer cheyne Eche on of hem hadde, a-bowte his swete swyre.

1590.  Spenser, F. Q., II. x. 47. Warlike Cæsar, tempted with the name Of this sweet Island.

1617.  Moryson, Itin., I. 99. The place where the Marchants meete, called la Loggia, lying vpon the sea, is as sweete an open roome, as euer I saw.

1632.  Lithgow, Trav., IV. 137. The sweetest face, the youngest age, and whitest skin was in greatest value and request.

1645.  Symonds, Diary (Camden), 175. His Majestie lay at Mr. Crompton’s howse, a sweet place in a fyne parke.

a. 1700.  Evelyn, Diary, 23 April, an. 1646. This sweete Towne [sc. Vincenza] has more well-built Palaces than any of its dimensions in all Italy.

1812.  Byron, Ch. Har., I. lxxix. On high The corse [of the bull killed in the bull-fight] is piled—sweet sight for vulgar eyes.

1837.  Campbell, Cora Linn, ii. It was as sweet an Autumn day As ever shone on Clyde.

1842.  Borrow, Bible in Spain, xxvi. 282. It is a sweet spot, and the prospect which opens from it is extensive.

  ¶  The phr. sweet in (the, one’s) bed has been used with various implications.

a. 1300.  Havelok, 2927. [He] dide him þere sone wedde Hire þat was ful swete in bedde.

1721.  Kelly, Sc. Prov., 290. Sweet in the Bed, and sweir up in the Morning, was never a good Housewife.

a. 1800.  in Laing, Sel. Anc. Pop. P. Scotl. (1822), xxiii. Introd. A Clown is a Clown both at home and abroad; When a Rake he is comely, and sweet in his bed.

  c.  Of song or discourse, and hence transf. of a poet, orator, etc., with mixture of sense 4: Pleasing to the ear and mind; pleasant to hear or listen to; sometimes implying ‘persuasive, winning’; † or in bad sense, ‘alluring, enticing.’

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Prol., 265. Somwhat he lipsed for his wantownesse To make his english sweete vp on his tonge.

1423.  James I., Kingis Q., iv. His metir suete … full of moralitee.

c. 1480.  Henryson, Mor. Fab., Prol. i. Thair polite termes of sweit Rhetorie.

1526.  Tindale, Rom. xvi. 18. By swete preachynges and flatterynge wordes [they] deceave the hertes of the innocentes.

a. 1533.  Ld. Berners, Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546), E j. He was so swete in his wordes, that many tymes he was harde more than thre houres togyther.

1612.  Brinsley, Lud. Lit., xiii. (1627), 175. Such a one [sc. book] as is most easie, both for the sweetest Latine and choisest matter.

1632.  Milton, L’Allegro, 133. Sweetest Shakespear fancies childe.

1746.  Francis, trans. Horace, Art of Poetry, 113. Whose rapid Numbers, suited to the Stage,… With sweet Variety were found to please.

  d.  ironically: cf. LIVE a. 12 c.

1656.  G. Collier, Answ. 15 Quest., 18. Here’s another sweet inference.

1677.  Miége, Eng.-Fr. Dict., s.v., I should have made a sweet business on’t for my self.

1725.  T. Thomas, in MSS. Dk. Portland (Hist. MSS. Comm.), VI. 133. We had a specimen of the sweet road we were to clamber through … a pretty sharp ascent … full of loose, ragged stones.

1850.  Smedley, F. Fairlegh, xi. Oh! they made a sweet row, I can tell you.

  e.  In colloq. use, an emotional epithet expressive of the speaker’s personal feelings as to the attractiveness of the object.

1779.  Mirror, No. 41, ¶ 7. Miss Betsy bad taken down some sweet copies of verses, as she called them, in her memorandum book.

1782.  Miss Burney, Cecilia, I. iv. ‘I assure you,’ she continued, ‘she has all Paris in her disposal; the sweetest caps! the most beautiful trimmings! and her ribbons are quite divine!’

1840.  Thackeray, Barber Cox, June. Honourable Tom Fitz-Warter, cousin of Lord Byron’s; smokes all day; and has written the sweetest poems you can imagine.

1884.  Boston (Mass.) Jrnl., 22 Nov., 2/5. A new fashion in false hair is quite sweet.

1887.  Jessopp, Arcady, viii. 240. She falls in love with some sweet thing in hats or handkerchiefs.

  6.  In extended use: Having an agreeable or benign quality, influence, operation, or effect. Chiefly technical: see quots.

  a.  Favorable, genial.

13[?].  E. E. Allit. P., C. 236. Styffe stremes & streȝt hem strayned a whyle … Tyl a swetter ful swyþe hem sweȝed to bonk.

1594.  Plat, Jewell-ho., I. 50. Some further & sweeter helps for her barren groundes.

1824.  Loudon, Encycl. Gard., § 3295. After the bed has come to a sweet heat, shut down close at night.

  b.  Of land, products, or the like: Free from bitter or similar deleterious qualities.

1577.  Googe, trans. Heresbach’s Husb., 24. The land … is … called … pleasaunt ground, sweete, blacke, rotten, and mellowed, which are the signes of good ground.

1578.  Lyte, Dodoens, VI. xxiv. 688. Bay … groweth plentifully … by the sea syde in saltishe groundes … and dieth not in the winter season, as it doth in sweete groundes.

1649.  Blithe, Eng. Improv., xxiii. 140. Which sorts of Land if Rich, and Sweet, will lose Advance by Ploughing.

1765.  Museum Rust., III. 239. The land most suitable for this plant [sc. teazel] is that of a thin sweet surface, and marly bottom.

1839.  Murchison, Silur. Syst., I. x. 135. From its sulphureous properties, it is also preferred to coal of the sweetest and best quality.

1840.  Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl., III. 296/2. Iron of an excellent quality, which they term sweet-iron.

  c.  Easily managed, handled, or dealt with; working or moving easily or smoothly.

1673.  R. Head, Canting Acad., 192. The fourteenth a Gamester, if he sees the Hic sweet, He presently drops down a Cog in the street.

1725.  New Cant. Dict., Sweet, easy to be taken in: Also expert, dexterous, clever: As, Sweet’s your Hand, said of one who has the Knack of stealing by Sleight of Hand.

1801.  Strutt, Sports & Past., I. i. 16. Beasts of sweet flight,… the buck, the doe, the bear, the rein deer, the elk, and the spytard.

1883.  Stevenson, Treas. Isl., II. vii. You never imagined a sweeter schooner—a child might sail her.

1915.  Blackw. Mag., Sept., 316/1. She was a sweet ship in a seaway if one knew her idiosyncrasies.

  † d.  Art. Delicate, soft. Obs. (Cf. SWEETEN 8 b.)

1662.  Evelyn, Chalcogr., 66. So sweet, even and bold was his work.

1662.  Faithorne, Graving & Etching, xvii. 21. It is at the first operation, that you are to cover all the faintest and sweetest places.

  7.  transf. (chiefly in phr.) Fond of or inclined for sweet things, esp. in sweet tooth (see C. 1 a).

1591.  Shaks., Two Gent., III. i. 330. She hath a sweet mouth.

  8.  Dearly loved or prized, precious; beloved, dear.

a. 900.  Cynewulf, Juliana, 94 (Gr.). Ðu eart dohtor min seo dyreste & seo sweteste.

c. 1275.  Passion our Lord, 64, in O. E. Misc., 39. Vor vuele he dude god, Þer-vore hi at þen ende schedden his swete blod.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 14401. God luued þe Iuus lang beforn Þat his suct [Fairf. squete, Gött. suete, Trin. swete] sun was born.

c. 1375.  Lay Folks Mass Bk. (MS. B.), 449. Swete ihesu make me saue.

c. 1385.  Chaucer, L. G. W., 1042, Dido. Whom schulde he louyn but this lady swete? Ibid. (c. 1386), Prol. Melibeus, ¶ 18. By goddes sweete pyne.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 11381. All sweire þai, full swiftly, vpon swete haloues.

c. 1425.  Seven Sag. (P.), 2080. Thou wylt by schent, by swyte Jhesus.

a. 1533.  Ld. Berners, Huon, ii. 3. I … render grace … to god my swet creatore.

1579.  Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 74. He will be … readie to offer himselfe a Sacrifice for your sweete sake.

1583.  Earl Northampton, Def. agst. Prophecies, Pp iv b. Policarpus, the sweete Martir of our Lorde.

1591.  Shaks., Two Gent., II. vi. 30. Ayming at Siluia as a sweeter friend. Ibid. (1591), 1 Hen. VI., IV. vi. 55. Thy Life to me is sweet.

1780.  Mme. D’Arblay, Diary (1842), I. 359. Ah, how different and low superior our sweet father.

  b.  In forms of address, freq. affectionate, but formerly also (now arch.) respectful or complimentary.

a. 1225.  Leg. Kath., 1536. Mi swete lif, se swoteliche he smecheð me … þet al me þuncheð … þet he sent me.

c. 1330.  Spec. Gy de Warw., 555. Swete lord, forȝiue þu me.

c. 1350.  Will. Palerne, 4579. Swete sire,… Wharfore was al þis fare formest bi-gunne?

1593.  Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., II. v. 137. Nay take me with thee, good sweet Exeter. Ibid. (1605), Lear, I. v. 50. O let me not be mad, not mad, sweet Heauen.

1617.  R. Fenton, Treat. Ch. Rome, 145. Sweet Jesus, had it not beene for these and these, we had neuer beene enabled to preach thy Gospell.

1693.  Humours Town, 31. Ah sweet Mr. Jovial, you mistake me quite.

1782.  Cowper, Parrot, iii. ‘Sweet Poll!’ his doting mistress cries, ‘Sweet Poll!’ the mimic bird replies.

1807–8.  Syd. Smith, Plymley’s Lett., i. (ed. Cassell), 10. In the first place, my sweet Abraham, the Pope is not yet landed.

1833.  Tennyson, Miller’s Dau., iii. Give me one kiss: My own sweet Alice, we must die.

1849.  Faber, Hymn. Sweet Saviour, bless us ere we go.

1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 25. Be cheerful, sweet sir, and give your opinion.

  c.  absol. in affectionate address: Beloved, dear one; also in superlative. Cf. SWEET sb. 4.)

c. 1300.  K. Horn, 465 (Harl. MS.). Help me þat ych were Ydobbed to be knyhte, Suete, bi al þi myhte.

13[?].  Sir Beues (A.), 279. ‘Haue,’ a seide, ‘ber þis sonde Me leue swet!’

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Frankl. T., 250. Haue mercy sweete or ye wol do me deye.

a. 1400–50.  Wars Alex., 2826. Here send I þe, my swete, salutis & ioy.

1588.  Shaks., L. L. L., V. ii. 373. Gentle sweete, Your wits makes wise things foolish. Ibid. (1590), Mids. N., III. ii. 247. Sweete, do not scorne her so.

a. 1658.  Lovelace, To Lucasta, going to the Wars, i. Tell me not, sweet, I am unkind.

1814.  Shelley, To M. W. Godwin, v. We are not happy, sweet! Ibid. (1818), Rosal. & Helen, 73. Thou lead, my sweet, And I will follow.

1885.  ‘Mrs. Alexander,’ At Bay, x. I would give my life to buy peace for you, sweetest.

  d.  Dear to the person himself; usually sarcastically, ‘pet,’ ‘precious’: chiefly qualifying self or will. At one’s own sweet will: just as one likes.

1621.  Chas. I’s Answ. to Petit. Comm., in Rushw., Hist. Coll. (1659), I. 49. Let us not so far wrong the Jesuites, as to rob them of their sweet Positions and practice in that very point.

1746.  Francis, trans. Hor., Sat., II. v. 61. Bid him go home, of his sweet self take care.

a. 1774.  Tucker, Lt. Nat. (1834), II. 401. Nor yet need he be too secure against all damage to his own sweet person.

1803.  Wordsw., Sonn., Westm. Bridge, 12. The river glideth at his own sweet will.

1846.  Tennyson, Lit. Squabbles, iii. The petty fools of rhyme … Who … strain to make an inch of room For their sweet selves.

1862.  Whittier, Amy Wentworth, 151. Love has never known a law Beyond its own sweet will.

1873.  Symonds, Grk. Poets, xi. 344. The monk Planudes … remodelled the Greek Anthology of Cephalas at his own sweet will.

  9.  Having pleasant disposition and manners; amiable, kindly; gracious, benignant. a. Of persons, etc.

c. 825.  Vesp. Ps. xxiv. 8. Dulcis et rectus Dominus, swoete & reht dryten.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 1258. Cullfre iss milde, & meoc, & swet.

c. 1275.  Moral Ode, 381, in O. E. Misc., 71. God is so swete & so muchel in his godnesse.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 4088. Ou iesu þat þulke day worþ me suete & god.

1375.  Barbour, Bruce, I. 390. Quhen he wes blyth, he wes lutly, And meyk and sweyt in cumpany.

1382.  Wyclif, Ps. xcix. [c.] 5. Preise ȝee his name, for swete is the Lord.

1553.  Respublica, I. i. 108. I doubte not a shewete Ladye I shall fynde hir.

c. 1610.  Women Saints, 176. She was a verie courteous and sweete woman.

1693.  J. Edwards, Author. O. & N. Test., 350. Very good-natur’d, sweet, and benign persons.

1799.  Wordsw., Lucy Gray, ii. The sweetest thing that ever grew Beside a human door!

1859.  Tennyson, Marr. Geraint, 393. Seeing her [sc. Enid] so sweet and serviceable.

1905.  Elin. Glyn, Viciss. Evangeline, 157. At luncheon she was sweet to me at once.

  ironical.  1608.  Armin, Nest Ninn., D ij. His report making no bones of the sweet youth gaue his doings thus.

1644.  Prynne & Walker, Fiennes’s Trial, 26, note. Was not this a sweet Governour, that professeth he had no more charge of his chiefest Fort, then of any house in the Towne?

  b.  Of personal actions or attributes.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 20086. He þat nam of hir his flexs, Als his suet will al wess.

c. 1330.  Spec. Guy de Warw., 998. Þo seide anon þe profete To þe widewe wordes swete.

c. 1400.  Laud Troy Bk., 18657. God … graunte vs of his swete grace Ther-In to haue a swete place!

1473.  Rental Bk. Cupar-Angus (1879), I. 177. The ourman quhilk the Abbot assignis for kepyn of gud and suet nichtburhed.

1546.  J. Heywood, Prov. (1867), 44. To see his sweete lookes, and here hir sweete wurdes.

1590.  Shaks., Com. Err., II. ii. 112. I, I, Antipholus, looke strange and frowne, Some other Mistresse hath thy sweet aspects.

1647.  Herrick, Noble Numb., Almes, 1.

a. 1661.  Fuller, Worthies, Westmoreld. (1662), II. 140. One of a sweet nature, comely presence, courteous carriage.

1705.  Stanhope, Paraphr., II. 265. His Temper and Conversation is sweet and obliging.

1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., viii. II. 321. His person was pleasing, his temper singularly sweet.

1886.  ‘Ouida,’ House Party, v. (1887), 92. How are your children? Do they still care for me? That is very sweet of them.

  † c.  Gentle, easy. Obs.

1607.  Markham, Caval. (1617), II. iv. 50. A smooth Cannon … is of all bytts the sweetest. Ibid., IV. viii. 39. You shall … carrie an euen and sweet hand vpon him.

1622.  T. Scott, Belg. Pismire, 37. To know the natures of all people, and to be able to carry a sweet hand, wherewith to manage them easily.

1655.  Fuller, Ch. Hist., IX. vii. § 24. That he was made a Cardinall of purpose to be sent then into England for the sweet managing of those Affairs.

  10.  To be sweet on (upon): † a. To behave affectionately or gallantly towards, treat caressingly.

1694.  Echard, Plautus, Pref. a 7. This Stripling began to be sweet upon her, and waggish upon me too.

a. 1700.  B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, To be Sweet upon, to coakse, wheedle, entice or allure.

1716.  Addison, Freeholder, No. 44, ¶ 5. What still gave him greater offence, was a drunken bishop, who reeled from one side of the court to the other, and was very sweet upon an Indian queen.

1754.  Connoisseur, No. 7, ¶ 11. I would recommend it to all married people, but especially to the ladies, not to be so sweet upon their dears before company.

  b.  To have a particular fondness or affection for (one of the opposite sex); to be enamored of or smitten with. Also transf.

1740.  trans. De Mouhy’s Fort. Country-Maid (1741), I. 42. He … is very sweet upon her; but I shall watch him so narrowly, that he’ll not find an Opportunity of speaking to her, but when I am by.

1844.  Dickens, Mart. Chuz., xi. I think he is sweet upon your daughter.

1853.  ‘C. Bede,’ Verdant Green, I. xii. The bar was presided over by a young lady, ‘on whom’ he said ‘he was desperately sweet.’

1862.  Whyte-Melville, Inside Bar, iii. (ed. 12), 256. If he should see any gentleman rather sweet upon the nag.

  B.  adv. Sweetly; so as to be sweet (lit or fig.).

  1.  = SWEETLY adv. 1. (Chiefly with vb. smell.)

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 2443. Iosep dede hise lich … riche-like smeren, And spice-like swete smaken.

1362.  Langl., P. Pl., A. VII. 20. Þei schule soape þe swettore whon þei han hit deseruet.

a. 1425.  Cursor M., 1014 (Trin.). Floures þat ful swete smelles.

1592.  Shaks., Rom. & Jul., II. ii. 44 (Qo. 1). Whats in a name? That which we call a Rose, By any other name would smell as sweet.

c. 1640.  Shirley, Cont. Ajax & Ulysses (1659), 128. Onely the actions of the just Smell sweet, and blossom in their dust.

1667.  Flavel, Saint Indeed (1754), 21. When the salt of heavenly-mindedness is again cast into the spring, the streams will run clearer and sweeter.

1745.  Francis, trans. Hor., Ep., I. xix. 6. Soon the tuneful Nine At Morning breath’d, and not too sweet, of Wine.

  2.  = SWEETLY adv. 2.

15[?].  Christ’s Kirk, 39, in Bann. MS. (Hunter. Cl.), 283. He playit so schill and sang so sweit.

1592.  Shaks., Rom. & Jul., II. ii. 166. How siluer sweet, sound Louers tongues by night.

a. 1708.  T. Ward, Eng. Ref., I. (1710), 96. She Psalms wou’d often sing in Meeter Like Hopkins, but a great deal Sweeter.

1851.  Tennyson, E. Morris, 113. Then low and sweet I whistled thrice.

1891.  Farrar, Darkn. & Dawn, xxii. ‘I think,’ said Nero, savagely, ‘that swans sing sweetest before they die.’

  3.  = SWEETLY adv. 4.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 15186. Þe lauerd … ansuard þam ful suete.

1338.  R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 275. Doun Sir Richard went, & spak to þam lufly, Many of þam he knewe, so fair spak & so suete.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Miller’s T., 119. He kist hite sweete.

c. 1520.  Skelton, Magnyf., III. xxvii. 1802. So I wolde clepe her! so I wolde kys her swete!

1535.  Stewart, Cron. Scotl. (Rolls), I. 517. Beseikand thame richt sweit to cum him to.

1592.  Shaks., Rom. & Jul., II. iii. 32. Good morrow, Father. Fri. Benedicite. What early tongue so sweet saluteth me?

  b.  = SWEETLY adv. 4 d.

1846.  Holtzapffel, Turning, II. 689. The generality of other saw-files are single or float-cut, that kind of file tooth being considered to ‘cut sweeter.’

1862.  Pycroft, Cricket Tutor, 26. There is one way … to make the ball fly away like a shot, going so clean off the bat that you scarcely feel it; and this is the test of clean hitting—of the ball going off ‘sweet.’

  4.  = SWEETLY adv. 3.

1592.  Shaks., Rom. & Jul., II. ii. 188. Sleepe dwell vpon thine eyes, peace in thy brest. Would I were sleepe and peace, so sweet to rest. Ibid. (1596), Merch. V., V. i. 54. How sweet the moone-light sleepes vpon this banke.

1757.  Gray, Bard, 118. Her lyon-port, her awe-commanding face, Attemper’d sweet to virgin-grace.

1813.  Shelley, Q. Mab, VI. 73. The stars, Which on thy cradle beamed so brightly sweet.

  C.  Combinations and special collocations.

  1.  of the adj. a. With sbs.: † sweet-bag, a small bag or sachet filled with a scented or aromatic substance, used for perfuming the air, clothes, etc.; occas. transf. of the honey-bag of a bee; † sweet-ball, a ball of scented or aromatic substance; † sweet-blanch, a dish made with the flesh of chickens and almond milk; sweet bone(s dial., ‘a griskin of pork’ (Miss Baker, Northampt. Gloss., 1854); sweet-cake, a kind of cake made with a specially large proportion of sugar; † sweet-cheese (see quot.); † sweet-love, a term of affection for a beloved person; sweet-mart, a name for the pine-marten, as distinguished from the foulmart, FOUMART, or polecat (see MART sb.¹); sweet milk, fresh milk having its natural sweet flavor, as distinct from skimmed milk, or from ‘sour milk,’ i.e., buttermilk; also attrib., as sweet-milk cheese, cheese made from unskimmed milk; sweet oil, any oil of pleasant or mild taste, spec. olive oil; † sweet-powder, perfumed powder used as a cosmetic; sweet-spittle Path., an increased secretion of saliva having a sweetish taste; sweet-stuff, sweetmeats, sweets, confectionery; also attrib. and Comb.; sweet tooth (TOOTH sb. 2 a), a taste or liking for sweet things; sweet wine, wine having a sweet taste (as distinguished from dry wine); wine in the manufacture of which ‘sweets’ or syrup is added. See also SWEETMEAT, SWEET SINGER, SWEET WATER.

1615.  in Foster, Lett. E. India Co. (1899), III. 16. Some pillow *sweetbag or other like thing of the rockwork used lately in England.

1626.  Bacon, Sylva, § 385. When Bodies are Moved or Stirred, though not Broken, they Smell more; As a Sweet-Bagge waved.

1648.  Herrick, Hespr., The Bag of the Bee, 1. About the sweet bag of a Bee, Two Cupids fell at odds.

1707.  Cibber, Double Gallant, I. Her Sweet-bags, instead of … Musk and Amber, breathe nothing but … Hart’s-horn, Rue and Assafœtida.

1821.  Scott, Kenilw., xx. Hast thou no perfumes and sweet bags, or any handsome casting bottles, of the newest mode?

1617.  Janua Ling., 76. The Queene with her courtiers that weare feathers, smell of *sweete-balls.

1637.  Heywood, Pleas. Dial., ii. Wks. 1874, VI. 130. This sweet-Ball, Take it to cheare your heart.

1650.  W. D., trans. Comenius’ Gate Lat. Unl., § 587. Sweet-powders, sweet balls, and besprinklings out of sweet-glass bottles.

c. 1430.  Two Cookery-bks., 112. *Sweteblanche.—Nym chikons or hennes, skald hem … & seth hem with good beofe.

1826.  Han. More, in W. Roberts, Mem. (1835), IV. 304. The spare-rib, *sweet-bone, ears, and snout [of a pig].

1726.  Swift, Gulliver, II. iii. I … sat down … to eat a piece of *sweet-cake for my breakfast.

1825.  T. Hook, Sayings, Ser. II. Man of Many Fr. (Colburn), 112. The fruits, sugars, wines, creams, and sweet-cakes [after dinner].

a. 1881.  M. Clarke, in Mem. (1884), 143. He … got a big piece of sweet-cake, and put it in the pocket of his little jumper.

1688.  R. Holme, Armoury, II. 173/1. *Sweet-Cheese, Fleeting strained through a fine Cloth and Sugared.

a. 1560.  Phaër, Æneid, VIII. Y iv. O husbande *sweetloue most disierd.

1788.  W. Marshall, Rural Econ. Yorks. (E.D.S.). *Sweet-mart, the marten.

1847.  Halliwell, Sweet-mart, the badger. Yorksh.

1905.  Athenæum, 26 Aug., 262/1. Cumberland had its almost distinctive sports, such as foulmart hunting and sweetmart hunting.

c. 1420.  Liber Cocorum (1862), 17. Take *swete mylke and put in panne.

1787.  Burns, Holy Fair, vii. Wi’ sweet-milk cheese, in mony a whang.

1820.  Hogg, Tales & Sk. (1836), II. Welldean Hall, 224. That whining sweet-milk boy.

1844.  Stephens, Bk. Farm, II. 713. Hard-boiled picks of porridge, with a little sweet-milk in the dish.

1877.  Encycl. Brit., VII. 649/2. Edam … gives its name to a well-known description of ‘sweet-milk’ cheese.

1895.  Oracle Encycl., I. 556/1. Butter-Milk, the liquid which remains after the churning of cream or sweet-milk for the preparation of butter.

a. 1585.  in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1914), XXIX. 519. All our wolle oyles and *swete oyles.

1757.  Bromfeild, Eng. Nightshades, 74. The red oil, produced by distillation from bitter almonds, after the sweet oil had been expressed.

1776.  Pigou, in Gentl. Mag. (1792), Jan., 14/2. We found relief by rubbing the parts with sweet oil.

1857.  Miller, Elem. Chem., Org., iii. 158. If this liquid [sc. sulphethylic acid] be boiled, sweet oil of wine mingled with sulphurous acid passes over.

1867.  Bloxam, Chem., 580. Salad oil, or sweet oil…, is obtained by crushing olives.

1573–4.  in Feuillerat, Revels Q. Eliz. (1908), 208. *Sweete powder made of Musk & Amber.

1709.  Steele, Tatler, No. 52, ¶ 1. The Expence of Sweet Powder and Jessamine are considerably abated.

1710.  C. Shadwell, Fair Quaker Deal, II. 25. He’s for turning the Gun powder into Sweet-Powder, and the Iron Balls into Wash-Balls.

1820.  Good, Nosology, 13. Apocenosis, ptyalismus, mellitus … *Sweet-spittle.

1851.  Mayhew, Lond. Labour, I. 204/1. The *sweet-stuff maker (I never heard them called confectioners).

1862.  Sala, Accepted Addr., 96. The back parlour of the little sweetstuff shop.

1911.  J. H. Hart, Cacao, ii. 18. The bean may be used in the same way as almonds, and boiled to sweetstuff with sugar.

1390.  Gower, Conf., I. 14. Delicacie his *swete toth Hath fostred.

1580.  Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 308. I am glad that my Adonis hath a sweete tooth in his head.

1625.  B. Jonson, Staple of N., II. Interm. I haue a sweet tooth yet.

1710.  Addison, Tatler, No. 255, ¶ 2. A liquorish Palate, or a sweet Tooth (as they call it).

1904.  P. Fountain, Gt. North-West, x. 96. Americans have the sweet-tooth highly developed, and resemble children in their fondness for sweets.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Wife of Bath’s Prol., 459. When I had dronke a draughte of *swete wyn.

1430–1.  Rolls of Parlt., IV. 369/1. Every Tonne of swete Wyn … commyng in to this saide Roialme, be weye of Merchandise.

1542.  Boorde, Dyetary, xxiv. (1870), 296. Swete wynes be good for them the whiche be in consumpcion.

1797.  Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), XII. 202/1. The white of an egg, milk, and sweet-wine.

1857.  Miller, Elem. Chem., Org., II. 118. The liquid … acquires a ropy consistence as is sometimes observed when sweet wines are kept for a time.

  b.  spec. in distinctive names of sweet-scented or sweet-flavored species or varieties of plants, fruits, etc., as sweet almond, † ballocks, basil, bent, birch, calabash, calamus, cane, cassava, cicely, clover, coltsfoot, gum (-tree), horse-mint, locust, marjoram, maudlin, navew, oleander, orange, pepper-bush, pine-sap, pishamin, potato, sorghum, † stones, sultan, tea, trefoil, violet, virgin’s bower, woodruff (see also these words); sweet-apple, a name for the SWEET-SOP, also called sugar-apple; sweet bay, (a) the bay laurel, Laurus nobilis; (b) in N. America applied to Magnolia glauca, also called white bay; also attrib. and in comb., as sweet bay laurel = (a); sweet-bay (-leaved) willow, Salix pentandra; sweet broom, (a) ? some species of broom (Cytisus or Genista); (b) a name for Scoparia dulcis (N.O. Scrophulariaceæ), also called sweet broom-weed; sweet chestnut, the common or Spanish chestnut, Castanea vesca, as distinguished from the bitter inedible HORSE-CHESTNUT; sweet-corn U.S., a sweet-flavored variety of maize; sweet fern, a name for two plants with fern-like leaves and aromatic scent: (a) locally in England, the sweet cicely, Myrrhis odorata (N.O. Umbelliferæ); (b) in N. America, the shrub Comptonia asplenifolia (N.O. Myricaceæ); sweet flag, a rush-like plant, Acorus Calamus (N.O. Araceæ or Orontiaceæ), widely distributed in the North Temperate zone, growing in water and wet places, with an aromatic odor, and having a thick creeping rootstock of a pungent aromatic flavor; sweet milk-vetch, Astragalus glycyphyllus, with sweet-flavored leaves; sweet plum, (a) see quot. 1796; (b) the Queensland plum, Owenia cerasifera; (c) a species of hog-plum, Spondias pleigyna; sweet scabious, Scabiosa atropurpurea; also applied to the N. American Erigeron annuus (N.O. Compositæ); sweet sedge = sweet flag; sweet vernal grass, Anthoxanthum odoratum (see VERNAL 3 c); sweet willow (a) = sweet-bay willow (see WILLOW); (b) = SWEET-GALE. See also SWEET-BRIER, SWEET-GALE, SWEET-PEA, SWEET-WILLIAM, etc.

1719.  Quincy, Compl. Disp., 114. *Sweet Almonds.—These are of a soft, sweet, grateful Taste.

1760.  J. Lee, Introd. Bot., App. 305. *Apple, Sweet, Annona.

1597.  Gerarde, Herbal, I. cii. 169. Testiculus odoratus.… Ladies traces:… of some *sweete Ballocks, sweete Cods, sweete Cullions.

1647.  Hexham, I. (Herbs), *Sweete Basill, Wilde Christus oogen, ofte Gernettekens.

1820.  Keats, Isabella, lii. She … o’er it set Sweet Basil, which her tears kept ever wet.

1716.  Petiveriana, I. 246. Barbadoes *Sweet-Bay.

1766.  J. Bartram, Jrnl., 9 Jan., in Stork, Acc. E. Florida, 29. On it grew great magnolia, sweet-bay, live-oak, palms.

1858.  Baird, Cycl. Nat. Sci., s.v. Lauraceæ, The common, or sweetbay laurel, Laurus nobilis.

1857.  Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., V. 78. S[alix] pentandra (*Sweet Bay-leaved Willow).

1796.  Nemnich, Polygl.-Lex., *Sweet birch, Betula nigra.

1861.  Bentley, Man. Bot., 652. The bark of B[etula] lenta, known in the United States as Sweet Birch or Cherry Birch.

1736.  Bailey, Househ. Dict., 554. *Sweet-Broom.

1884.  Miller, Plant-n., Scoparia dulcis, Sweet Broom.

1890.  Cent. Dict., s.v. Scoparia, S[coparia] dulcis is used as a stomachic in the West Indies, and is called *sweet broomweed and licorice-weed.

1796.  Nemnich, Polygl.-Lex., *Sweet calabash, Passiflora laurifolia.

1818.  Scott, Hrt. Midl., xxxii. Large *sweet-chesnut trees and beeches.

1874.  A. Gray, Man. Bot. (ed. 5), 128. Melilotus,… Melilot. *Sweet Clover. Ibid., 227. Nardosmia, *Sweet Coltsfoot.

a. 1817.  T. Dwight, Trav. New Eng., etc. (1821), I. 49. At New-Haven the *sweet corn may be had in full perfection for the table by successive plantings from the middle of July to the middle of November.

1787–9.  Withering, Brit. Plants (1796), II. 306. Scandix odorata … Sweet Cicely … *Sweet Fern.

1849.  Balfour, Man. Bot., § 1037. The leaves of Comptonia asplenifolia, Sweet Fern, are found … to contain peculiar glands.

1796.  Withering, Brit. Plants (ed. 3), III. 917. *Sweet Flag.

1858.  Simmonds, Dict. Trade, Sweet-flag … is … employed to scent aromatic baths, perfumery, and hair-powder.

1717.  Petiveriana, III. 195. *Sweet-gum. Because in the Spring it yeilds a fragrant Gum, upon cutting its Bark or Wood, of great use in Tetters, Scurfs, Inflammations, etc.

1867.  Aug. J. E. Wilson, Vashti, iii. The trunk of a decayed and fallen sweet-gum.

1856.  A. Gray, Man. Bot. (1860), 148. Liquidambar, Sweet-Gum Tree.

1863.  Chambers’s Encycl., Honey Locust Tree … also known as the *Sweet Locust and Black Locust.

1565.  Cooper, Thesaurus, Amaracus … *sweete [1545–52 Elyot, soote] maioram.

1601.  Shaks., All’s Well, IV. v. 17. Indeed sir she was the sweete Margerom of the sallet, or rather the hearbe of grace.

1860.  Chambers’s Encycl., I. 504/1. The *Sweet Milk-vetch, or Wild Liquorice.

1886.  Yule & Burnell, Hobson-Jobson, *Sweet Oleander,… the common oleander, Nerium odorum.

1796.  Nemnich, Polygl.-Lex., *Sweet orange, Citrus aurantium sinense.

1861.  Bentley, Man. Bot., 495. The rind of the Sweet Orange is an aromatic stimulant and tonic.

1846–50.  A. Wood, Class Bk. Bot., 373. Clethra alnifolia. *Sweet-pepper Bush.

1874.  A. Gray, Man. Bot. (ed. 5), 304. Schweinitzia, *Sweet Pine-sap.

1829.  Loudon, Encycl. Plants, 1286. Carpodinus, *Sweet Pishamin … produces green flowers.

1796.  Nemnich, Polygl.-Lex., *Sweet plumb, Prunus americana.

1874.  Treas. Bot., Suppl. 1324/2. Owenia cerasifera is called the Sweet Plum or Rancooran.

1889.  Maiden, Usef. Pl. Australia, 599. Spondias pleiogyna,… ‘Sweet Plum,’ or ‘Burdekin Plum.’

1796.  Nemnich, Polygl.-Lex., *Sweet scabious, Scabiosa atropurpurea.

1856.  A. Gray, Man. Bot. (1860), 198. Erigeron annuum … (Daisy Fleabane. Sweet Scabious).

1857.  Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., V. 323. Acorus (*Sweet Sedge).

1697.  Ray, in Phil. Trans., XIX. 635. They tasted somewhat like the Root of Seleri, or *Sweet Smallage.

1597.  Gerarde, Herbal, I. cii. 167. The first kind of *Sweete stones is a small, base, and lowe plant.

1706.  J. Gardiner, trans. Rapin’s Gardens, I. 34. *Sweet-Sultans nam’d from the Byzantine King.

1859.  Mayne, Expos. Lex., *Sweet Trefoil, common name for the Trifolium cæruleum.

1845.  Lindley, Sch. Bot., 143. Anthoxanthum odoratum (*Sweet Vernal Grass).

1597.  Gerarde, Herbal, III. lxviii. 1228. Myrtus Brabantica, siue Elæagnus Cordi, Gaule, *sweete Willow, or Dutch Myrtle tree.

1800.  J. E. Smith, Eng. Bot., XI. 755. Asperula odorata. *Sweet Woodruff or Woodroof.

  c.  Parasynthetic, as sweet-beamed, -blooded, -breathed, † -conditioned, -dispositioned, -eyed, -faced, -flavored, -flowered, -leafed, -minded, -natured, † -numbered (NUMBER sb. 18 b), -savored (cf. ME. swote sauoured), -shaped, † -smelled (= SWEET-SMELLING), -souled, † -sounded (= sweet-sounding), -tasted, -tempered, -toned, -tuned, -voiced adjs.; see also sweet-breasted, etc. in 3 below. Also SWEET-SCENTED.

1730–46.  Thomson, Autumn, 29. Attempered suns arise, *Sweet-beamed.

1859.  Geo. Eliot, Adam Bede, I. v. Those large-hearted, *sweet-blooded natures that never know a narrow or a grudging thought.

1617.  Drumm. of Hawth., Forth Feasting, 34. *Sweet-breath’d Zephyres.

1623.  Webster, Devil’s Law-Case, I. ii. O sweet-breath’d monkeys, how they grow together!

1814.  Wordsw., Excurs., VII. 731. The sweet-breathed violet of the shade.

1624.  Massinger, Renegado, V. ii. Our *sweet-conditioned princess. fair Donusa.

1646.  W. Bridge, Saints Hiding-Place (1647), 30. We have a meek and *sweet disposition’d Saviour.

1812.  W. Tennant, Anster F., I. xxxi. *Sweet-eyed lass.

1590.  Shaks., Mids. N., I. ii. 88. Piramus is a *sweet-fac’d man.

1612.  Beaum. & Fl., Coxcomb, III. i. Good sweet fact serving-man!

1885.  ‘H. Conway,’ Slings & Arrows, 168. A pale, sweet-faced woman,… who was dressed as a Sister of Charity.

1611.  Cotgr., Sequinant, the *sweet-flowred Rush tearmed Squinant.

a. 1586.  Sidney, Arcadia, II. (1912), 225. Whom yet with a *sweete-graced bitternes they blamed.

1749.  Shenstone, Ode after Sickness, 30. The *sweet-leaft eglantine.

a. 1586.  Sidney, Arcadia, II. (1912), 169. The *sweete minded Philoclea.

1650.  R. Stapylton, Strada’s Low C. Wars, VI. 23. A plaine and *sweete-natured man.

1876.  Geo. Eliot, Dan. Der., lviii. The sweet-natured, strong Rex.

1598.  Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. ii. II. Babylon, 590. *Sweet-numbred Homer.

1530.  Palsgr., 326/2. *Swete savoured, aromaticq.

1590.  Shaks., Com. Err., II. ii. 119. That neuer words were musicke to thine eare,… That neuer meat sweet-sauour’d in thy taste.

1632.  Rutherford, Lett. (1862), 1. 82. The sweetest-smelled flowers.

1747.  Shenstone, Lett., xlv. (1777), 120. That *sweet-souled bard Mr. James Thomson.

1790.  Wolcot (P. Pindar), Ep. to Sylv. Urban, Wks. 1812, II. 262. Each sweet-soul’d Stanza.

1659.  O. Walker, Oratory, 25. Words, smooth and *sweeter-sounded … are to be used.

1807.  T. Thomson, Chem. (ed. 3), II. 74. A *sweet-tasted salt, called muriate of glucina.

1632.  Massinger & Field, Fatal Dowry, III. i. *Sweet-tempered lord, adieu!

1749.  Fielding, Tom Jones, XI. ii. She’s a sweet-tempered, good-humoured lady.

1845.  Dickens, Chimes, iv. 145. The sweetest-looking, sweetest-tempered girl, eyes ever saw.

1870.  Bryant, Iliad, I. IX. 274. A *sweet-toned harp.

1598.  Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. i. I. Eden, 129. The Nightingal’s *sweet-tuned voice.

1760–72.  H. Brooke, Fool of Qual. (1809), IV. 119. A well-known and sweet-tuned voice.

1807–8[?].  Wordsw., Somnambulist, 17. A Bird of plumage bright, *Sweet-voiced.

  d.  with sbs., forming adjs. having the sense of parasynthetic combinations, as sweet-breath (= sweet-breathed); sweet-throat, sweet-voiced; also † sweet-lips, a delicate eater, epicure.

1648.  Herrick, Hesper., Meddow Verse, 8. While *sweet-breath Nimphs, attend on you this Day.

1580.  Hollyband, Treas. Fr. Tong, Vn friand, friolet, a licorous felow, a *sweete lips.

1870.  Morris, Earthly Par., IV. 74. The bright-billed *sweet-throat bird.

  2.  Combinations of the adv. (or in which sweet is in adverbial relation to the second element). a. with pples. and ppl. adjs., as sweet-bleeding, -breathing, -complaining, -flowering, -flowing, -looking, -murmuring, † savouring, -set, -singing, -smiling, -sounding, spun, -suggesting, -touched, -whispered: see also sweet-recording, sweet-spoken in 3 below, and SWEET-SMELLING, b. with adjs. (chiefly poetic, denoting aa combination of sweetness with some other quality), as sweet-bitter, -bright, -chaste, sad, -sour.

Combs. of this class were much favored by Sylvester, who has sweet-charming, -piercing, -rapting, -sacred, -sweating, warbling.

1591.  Sylvester, Du Bartas, I. vi. 133. He doth discharge On others’ shoulders his *sweet-bitter charge.

1690.  Dryden, Amphitryon, III. i. The stern goddess of sweet-bitter cares.

1590.  Spenser, F. Q., I. i. 9. The Mirrhe *sweete bleeding in the bitter wound.

a. 1586.  Sidney, Arcadia, II. (1912), 176. It might seeme that Love … was there to refreshe himselfe betweene their *sweete-breathing lippes.

1819.  Shelley, Cyclops, 524. Pied flowers, sweet-breathing.

1856.  Vaughan, Mystics (1860), I. 23. The sweet-breathing air.

1598.  Barnfield, Remembr. Eng. Poets, ii. Daniell, praised for thy *sweet-chast Verse.

1591.  Shaks., Two Gent., III. ii. 86. The nights dead silence Will well become such *sweet complaining grieuance.

1596.  Edw. III., III. ii. 47. *Sweete flowring peace.

1721.  Ramsay, Petition to Whin-bush Club, i. *Sweet-flowing Clyde.

1784.  Cowper, Poplar Field, 12. The scene where his melody charm’d me before, Resounds with his sweet-flowing ditty no more.

1845.  Dickens, Chimes, iv. 145. The *sweetest-looking, sweetest-tempered girl, eyes ever saw.

1742.  Blair, Grave, 100. In grateful Errors thro’ the Under-wood *Sweet-murmuring.

1382.  Wyclif, Ezek. xxvii. 19. *Swete sauerynge spice.

1596.  Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot., I. 44. Sueit sairing flouris.

1592.  Arden of Feversham, III. v. 146. How you women can insinuate, And cleare a trespasse with your *sweete set tongue!

1593.  Marlowe, Hero & Leander, II. 162. *Sweet singing Meremaids, sported with their loues.

1740.  Mrs. Delany, in Life & Corr. (1861), II. 131. Do you ever hear from sweet-singing Birch?

1625.  Milton, Death Fair Infant, 53. Wert thou that *sweet smiling Youth?

1595.  Locrine, I. i. 239. Plaidst thou as sweet, on the *sweet sounding lute.

1743.  Francis, trans. Hor., Odes, IV. iii. 17. Goddess of the sweet-sounding lute.

1594.  Daniel, Cleopatra, IV. Wks. (1717), 286. To have eat the *sweet-sower Bread of Poverty.

1707.  Mortimer, Husb. (1721), II. 352. It will taste a little Sweet-sour, from the Sugar and from the Currant.

1649.  G. Daniel, Trinarch., Hen. V., ccclxxx. Nor lov’d Court-Sweets, nor *Sweet-Spun Dialects.

1591.  Shaks., Two Gent., II. vi. 7. O *sweet-suggesting Loue.

a. 1593.  Marlowe, Ovid’s Elegies, III. xi. 40. *Sweet toucht harpe that to moue stones was able.

1843.  G. P. R. James, Forest Days (1847), 209. Many a *sweet-whispered word.

  3.  Miscellaneous Special Combinations: sweet-and-twenty, a Shakespearian phrase (see TWENTY A. 2), misunderstood by later writers to mean ‘a sweet girl of twenty years old’; sweet-breasted a. [see BREIST sb. 6], sweet-voiced; sweet-lipped, -lipt a., having sweet lips; usually, speaking sweetly; sweet-mouthed a., † (a) fond of sweet-flavored things, dainty; (b) speaking sweetly (usually ironically); † sweet-recording a. [RECORD v. 3], singing sweetly, tuneful; sweet-seasoned a., ‘seasoned’ or imbued with sweetness; sweet-spoken a., speaking sweetly, using pleasant language (cf. plain-spoken); sweet-tongued a., having a sweet tongue or utterance, sweet-voiced, sweet-spoken; sweet-toothed a., having a ‘sweet tooth,’ fond of sweet things or delicacies.

1601.  Shaks., Twel. N., II. iii. 52. Then come kisse me *sweet and twentie.

1887.  J. Ashby Sterry, Lazy Minstrel (1892), 76. I love the eyes of peerless blue, And nameless grace of Sweet-and-Twenty!

1901.  G. K. Menzies, Prov. Sk. (1902), 43. When one’s special sweet-and-twenty Is enshrined in one’s Canader on the Cher.

a. 1623.  Fletcher, Love’s Cure, III. i. A proper man,… *Sweet breasted, as the Nightingale, or Thrush.

a. 1644.  Quarles, Sol. Recant., Sol. viii. 81. And Candle-light devotion, trim’d and straw’d With *sweet-lipt Roses.

1783.  W. Gordon, Livy, III. lxviii. The embellishments of a sweet-lipped tribune.

a. 1845.  Hood, Lamia, v. 1. Nay, sweet-lipped Silence, ’Tis now your turn to talk.

1542.  Udall, Erasm. Apoph., 45. For that he was so *sweete mouthed, and dround in the voluptuousness of high fare.

1611.  Cotgr., Leschard, a lickorous, or sweet-mouthed slapsawce.

1623.  Middleton & Rowley, Sp. Gipsy, II. (1653), D 1. This cherry-lip’d, sweet-mouth’d villaine.

a. 1722.  Lisle, Husb. (1757), 409. Nuts, being so sweet, would make them So sweet-mouthed, that [etc.].

1886.  J. F. Maurice, in Lett. fr. Donegal, Pref. p. vi. The class which Mr. Parnell never speaks of except as the ‘felon’ landlords, just as his sweet-mouthed friends speak of The Times.

1598–9.  E. Forde, Parismus, I. (1661), 10. They heard the sound of most *sweet recording musick which made Dionysius wonder.

1601.  Chester, Love’s Mart., etc. (1878), 123. The sweete recording Swanne Apolloes ioy.

c. 1600.  Shaks., Sonn., lxxv. So are you to my thoughts as food to life, Or as *sweet season’d shewers are to the ground.

1632.  Lithgow, Trav., I. 9. A bitter pleasant tast, of a sweete-seasoned sowre.

1716.  Addison, Drummer, IV. i. You are such a *sweet-spoken man, it does one’s heart good to receive your orders.

1798.  Observer, 7 Oct., 1/1. To be disposed of, remarkably cheap, … a very *sweet-toned small Harp.

1598.  Marston, Pygmal., Sat., v. *Sweet tongu’d Orpheus.

c. 1758.  Ramsay, in Evergreen, Contents vii. Sweit tungd Scot, quha sings the welcum hame.

1837.  Carlyle, Fr. Rev., II. V. viii. Beautiful sweet-tongued Female Citizens.

1615.  Markham, Eng. Housew., II. ii. (1668), 51. She must not be butter-fingred, *sweet-toothed, nor faint-hearted.

1682.  Wheler, Journ. Greece, II. 203. The Turks are very sweet-tooth’d and love all Kind of sweet Meats.

1808.  Jamieson, s.v. Slaik, Our use of the word seems indeed to have been borrowed from the nasty habits of sweet-toothed cooks.