Obs. or arch. Forms: α. 1 tyrw(i)an, 5 terw-yn; 4–5 terre(n, 4 ter, 4– Sc. terr. β. 4–7 tarre, 5– tar. [ME. terren, app. representing OE. *tęrw(i)an (*tięrw-, tyrw-), collateral form of tęrȝan (tięrȝ-, tyrȝ-) to vex, irritate, provoke. For the phonology cf. TAR v.1 See also TARY v.
OE. tęrȝan (WSax. *tięrȝ-, tyrȝan), *tęrw(i)an (*tięrw-, tyrw(i)an) = OLG. *tęrgan, MLG. tergen, targen, LG. and EFris. targen, Da. tærge, MDu., Du. tergen, to provoke, irritate, exasperate, vex, tease (Kilian, ‘terghen irritare, lacessere, infestare, vexare, provocare ad iram, exacerbare’), mod. Ger. zergen; pointing to an OTeut. *targjan. The phonology of the OE. by-form tęrw(i)an has not been satisfactorily explained. Relationship to Russian dergati ‘to pluck, pull, tweak’ has been suggested.]
1. trans. To irritate, vex, provoke. Now only in tar on (Shakes. tarre on), to incite, hound on.
α. Guthlac, 259 (288). Beoð þa ȝebolȝne þa þec breodwiað, tredað þec and terȝað and hyra torn wrecað.
a. 900. Kentish Gl., 508. Tirhþ, inridet.
10[?]. Lambeth Ps. lxxiii. 10. Usque quo deus improperabit inimicus: gl. hu longe tyrweþ fynd. Ibid., lxxvii. 8. Generatio praua et exasperans: gl. þweor mæȝþ & tyrwiende vel þurhbitter. Ibid., 40. Quotiens exacerbaverunt eum: gl. hu ȝelome hiȝ tyrwedon hine. Ibid., 41. Hiȝ tyrwadon vel gremedon. Ibid., 55. Hiȝ costnadon & tyrwodan god þane healican.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Serm., Sel. Wks. II. 44. To terre [v.r. ter] men for to fiȝte. Ibid. (1383), Deut. iv. 25. That ȝe terren [v.r. MSS. a. 1400 tarre] hym to wraþþe. Ibid., Eph. vi. 4. Ȝe fadris, nyle ȝe terre ȝoure sones to wraþþe.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), V. 355. Þe kynges … sone … gan to tarry [v.r. terre] and to angre [probrosis verbis lacessivit] þe Longobardes.
1395. Purvey, Remonstr. (1851), 18. Thei blasfemen God and terren him to wraththe.
β. a. 1400. Tarre [see quot. 1382 above].
1561. in Three 15th Cent. Chron. (Camden), 119. They came unto me rounde aboute my chamber,… stearde me, and tarde me, and so vexed me as I was never in all my lyffe so soore troubled.
1595. Shaks., John, IV. i. 117. And, like a dogge,… Snatch at his Master that doth tarre him on. Ibid. (1602), Ham., II. ii. 370. The Nation holds it no sinne, to tarre them to Controuersie. Ibid. (1606), Tr. & Cr., I. iii. 392. Pride alone Must tarre the Mastiffes on, as ’twere their bone.
1837. Carlyle, Fr. Rev., I. II. ii. The cries, the squealings of children,… and other assistants, tarring them on, as the rabble does when dogs fight.
1859. Kingsley, Misc., II. v. 225. The selfishness of the memorialists led them to tar on the rival selfishness of the water companies.
† 2. To weary, fatigue. Obs. rare.
[Known only in form terw-yn. The sense in Promp. Parv. corresponds rather to the trans. use of OE. téorian to tire, but was possibly an offshoot from that of ‘vex, harass.’ The same sense-development appears also in the cognate TARY v. 2.]
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 489/2. Terwyn, or make wery or weryyn, lasso, fatigo. Terwyd, lassatus, fatigatus. Terwynge, lassitudo, fatigacio. Ibid., 522/2. Weryyn, or make wery or terwyn, fatigo, lasso.
† 3. intr. Tar and tig, tig and tar, to act forcefully or wantonly; to use force and violence. Sc.
c. 1470. Henryson, Mor. Fab., V. (Parl. Beasts), i. [The fox] That luifit weill with pultrie to tig and tar [Bann. MS. tere].
a. 1568. Balnaves, in Bannatyne Poems (Hunter. Cl.), 391. To tar and tig, syne grace to thig, That is ane pelouss preiss. Ibid., 392. To tig and tar, syne get the war, It is evill merchandyiss.
Hence † Tarring (terring) vbl. sb., provocation.
1382. Wyclif, 2 Kings xxiii. 26. The Lord is not turned aweye fro the wrath of his grete woodnes … for the terryngis in the whiche Manasses hadde terred hym. Ibid. Ps. xciv. 9. As in the terring [1388 the terryng to wroþþe], after the day of tempting in desert.
