Forms: 3–6 trete, 4–5 treete, 4–6 tret, (5 treite, trette, treatte), 5–6 trayte, traict(e, Sc. trait, 5–7 treate, 5–8 Sc. treit, (6 treact, traite, Sc. traitt), 6– treat. Pa. t. and pple. treated (4–6 treted(e, etc.); also contr. 5 trete, 6 Sc. treit, trett, 6–7 Sc. treat, 6– Sc. and n. dial. tret. [a. OF. tretier, traitier (12th c. in Godef.), F. traiter:—L. tractāre to drag, frequentative (intensive) of trahĕre to draw, pa. pple. tractus; cf. Pr. tractar, Sp. tratar, It. trattare.
The chronological order of senses in Eng. does not agree with that of L. tractāre or even of F. traiter. Senses 5 and 7 come nearest to the primary notion of tractāre.]
1. a. intr. To deal or carry on negotiations (with another) with a view to settling terms; to discuss terms of settlement; to bargain, negotiate.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 10383. Þe verste day of octobre þis conseil bigan, Vor to trety of is lond þer was mani a man.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xi. (Symon & Judas), 178. Or ellis ger þi fays be Rycht wondir fayne to tret with þe.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 250. And aftir that of Mariage Thei trete and axen of hir wille.
c. 1430. Lydg., Min. Poems (Percy Soc.), 150. Begyn no trouble whan men trete of pees.
1568. Grafton, Chron., II. 302. They treated for a peace betweene the two kinges, but nothing came to effect.
1617. Moryson, Itin., I. 195. I … was forced to treat with unknowne Merchants for taking money upon exchange.
1647. Sprigge, Anglia Rediv., III. ii. (1854), 140. The governor beat a parley, desiring to treat.
1795. Ld. Auckland, Corr. (1862), III. 353. My private opinion has ever been, that it is right in war to treat at all times.
1838–42. Arnold, Hist. Rome, III. xlv. 306. They began to treat with Marcellus for the surrender of Syracuse.
1895. Times, 16 Jan., 14/2. The railway company … served upon Lord Gerard a notice to treat for certain land.
† b. trans. To handle or discuss (an affair) with a view to settlement; to negotiate, arrange, plan; rarely in bad sense, to plot (quot. 1622). In early use also with obj. cl. Obs.
1357. Lay Folks Catech. (T.), 46. Oure fadir the Ercebishop … Has treted and ordayned for commune profet, Thurgh the consaile of his clergie, That ilkane that vndir him has kepynge of saules,… Teche and preche.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, IV. 177. Quhen þis cunnand þus tretit wes.
1406. Rolls of Parlt., V. 417/1. Come for to trete Pees or Trieues.
1485. Caxton, Paris & V., 52. He trayted that she shold haue of two barons that one.
1533. Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot., VI. 154. Passing to the Newcastell to treit the peace.
1622. Mabbe, trans. Aleman’s Guzman d’Alf., II. 154. Which of vs two treats falsehood, which intends diceit?
1658. Bramhall, Consecr. Bps., v. 133. That these things should be treated, and concluded, and executed all at one meeting.
a. 1715. Burnet, Own Time, an. 1673 (1823), II. 30. He was treating a marriage with the archduchess.
c. With advb. extension: To bring or get (into or out of some position or condition) by negotiation.
1414. 26 Pol. Poems, xiii. 139. While ȝe trete, ay þey gete. Ȝe trete ȝoure self out of ȝoure riȝt.
c. 1440. Lovelich, Merlin, 6554. A gret partye of the lond they hadden j-treted jnto here hond.
1681. Moores Baffled, 3. They … advanced to besiege Tanger, but were violently repulsed, say some; others say, fairly treated off by the Portuguezes.
1882. Schouler, Hist. U.S., II. 111. Eaton … indulged in some indiscreet reflections upon the administration for treating out himself and Hamet.
2. a. intr. To deal with some matter in speech or writing; to discourse. (In quot. 1509 transf. of pictorial representation.) Const. of, formerly also on, upon.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, I. 686 (742). Man maketh ofte a yerde With which þe makere is hym self beten In sondry maneres as þis wyse treten.
1382. Wyclif, 1 Kings iv. 33. [Solomon] tretyde of the beestis, and foulis.
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 215. To trete upon the cas of love,… I finde write a wonder thing.
1509. Hawes, Past. Pleas., IV. (Percy Soc.), 17. The hall was hanged,… With cloth of arras … That treated well of a ful noble story.
1579. Fulke, Heskins’ Parl., 527. The Sixtieth Chapter treateth vpon this text.
1652. Needham, trans. Selden’s Mare Cl., 150. Objections … brought out of Writers treating of other matters.
1676. Moxon, Print Lett., 3. The Roman Capitals have … been treated of.
1681. trans. Belon’s Myst. Physick, Introd. 46. The Author of this Discourse … having already … sufficiently … treated on that point.
1732. Berkeley, Alciphr., I. § 3. Certain writings of our divines that treat of grace.
1766. Goldsm., Vic. W., xx. What subject did you treat upon?
a. 1873. Deutsch, Rem. (1874), 173. This book … treating of a most abstruse subject.
b. trans. To deal with (a subject) in speech or writing; to discuss. In mod. use often with mixture of sense 10: to deal with in the way of literary art.
c. 1325. Song of Yesterday, 155, in E. E. P. (1862), 137. Ensaumple here of i wol ȝou trete.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Last Age of Chirche, p. xxiii. Aftir þe opynioun of hem þat trete þis matir. Ibid. (1382), Mark ix. 32. What tretiden ȝe in the weie?
c. 1425. Craft of Nombrynge (E.E.T.S.), 3. Þis boke tretys þe Craft of Nombryng.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. i. 1. I syr John Froissart, wyll treat and recorde an hystory of great louage and preyse.
1590. in Fuller, Ch. Hist. (1655), IX. vii. § 27. That he [Thos. Cartwright] with others in some … Conference … or … Assembly … did treat, and dispute … these six Articles.
1734. trans. Rollin’s Anc. Hist. (1827), I. Pref. 2. I have already treated them at some length.
1860. Tyndall, Glac., I. xii. 86. Questions which shall be treated under their proper heads.
Mod. I wonder how he will treat the subject.
† 3. a. To entreat, beseech, request (trans. and absol.); in quot. 1500–20, to get by entreaty. Obs.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xliv. (Lucy), 16. Hir modyr … Scho tretyt with hire for to ga.
c. 1400. Sowdone Bab., 1923. Thus thay treted him to and fro; At the laste he sayde, he wolde.
c. 1470. Golagros & Gaw., 1047. I trete for na favour. Ibid., 1066. Schir Gawyne tretit the knight to turn his entent.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, xvi. 14. Giftis fra sum ma na man treit.
1515. Barclay, Egloges, IV. (1570), D j/2. To treate a tiran it is but thing in vayne.
1601. [see TREAT sb.1 2].
1630. J. Taylor (Water P.), Laugh & be Fat, Wks. II. 74/2. He from thy labour treats thee to giue o’re.
† b. trans. To speak to, address. Obs. rare.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 5309. Then Teutra þo triet men tretid o þis wise:—‘Ye worshipfull weghes, well be you euer.’ Ibid., 12844. Tretis hom truly all with tried wordes.
† 4. To deal with, apply oneself to, work at, carry on, manage (something). Obs.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, I. 35. Off þaim I thynk þis buk to ma; Now god gyff grace þat I may swa Tret It, and bryng It till endyng.
c. 1450. trans. De Imitatione, III. iii. 67. Write my wordes in þin herte, and trete hem diligently.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, xx. 42. With all thy hart treit bissines and cure.
1562. Winȝet, Cert. Tractatis, ii. Wks. (S.T.S.), I. 21. He intendit to offer the signe onelie, and ȝe, to treit the veritie self of the sacrifice off the Kirk.
† 5. To handle (in literal sense); in quot. 1607, ? to operate upon. Obs. rare.
1382. Wyclif, Col. ii. 22. Nether ȝe schulen touche, nether taste, nether trete with hondis tho thingis.
c. 1440. Pallad. on Husb., I. 75. Loke yf hit be glewy, tough to trete.
1485. Caxton, Chas. Gt., iii. 35. In especyall were ordeyned xij persones … whych shold treate & see the relyques.
1607. Markham, Caval., I. xix. (1617), 83. Those barbarous … Horsemen, which with distempered hands, rough brackes, or t[w]ownd snaffles, doe treate and breake their horses mouthes.
† 6. To manage, rule, govern (a person); to lead, induce (to some course of action); refl. to conduct oneself, behave. Obs.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), VII. 335. Þis Lanfrank tretede [MS. tredede] and bylad kyng William conquerour by an holy craft, nouȝt wiþ grym chidynge.
1425. Paston Lett., I. 21. The seyd priour and his brether, and I also, willen gladdely in these matieres be treted by yow.
1436. Rolls of Parlt., IV. 501/2. The more sufficient that men be of liflode … þe more unlikly they are … to be treated or moeved to perjurie.
1496. Dives & Paup. (W. de W.), I. xlii. 82/1. We may not treaten god ne put hym to no lawes.
a. 1500. in Dunbar’s Poems (S.T.S.), 309/34. Treit weill thy self, and stand content.
7. To deal with, behave or act towards (a person, animal, etc.) in some specified way; to ‘use’ (well, ill, properly, reverently, etc.).
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, V. 134. And þat ye me wolde as youre broþer trete.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, I. 222. Alas! þat folk, þat euir wes fre,… War tretyt þan sa wykkytly, Þat þar fays þar Iugis war.
c. 1450. St. Cuthbert (Surtees), 552. Sho walde haue trete him all a mys.
1572. Satir. Poems Reform., xxx. 79. Thy houshald trim and treit weill, thay confest.
1632. Lithgow, Trav., VII. 332. There are many Turkish and Moorish slaues, very rudely treat.
1711. Steele, Spect., No. 53, ¶ 2. That Mahometan Custom … of treating Women as if they had no Souls.
1746. Francis, trans. Horace, Epist., I. ii. 15. Paris treats this Counsel with Disdain.
1816. J. Wilson, City of Plague, I. iv. 299. Treat his grey hairs with reverence.
c. 1850. Arab. Nts., 604. The caliph … spoke to the young man, whom he had seen treat his mare so ill.
† b. intr. To deal with in a specified way. Obs.
c. 1400. Rule St. Benet, 441. Þai þat wil hir lare despise … With þam aw hir for to trete With preson & with penance grete.
1707. Curios. in Husb. & Gard., 242. He treats with Aristotle, as one might do with Moses.
c. trans. To consider or regard in a particular aspect and deal with accordingly. (Often with as.)
1456. Sir G. Haye, Law Arms (S.T.S.), 122. Gif thare be ony thing … possible to be done, he sall nocht trait it to be impossible.
1844. Thirlwall, Greece, VIII. lxii. 147. The loss of so many captives was treated as a happy riddance.
1868. M. Pattison, Academ. Org., ii. 35. The clergy are often treated as obstacles to the diffusion of knowledge.
1886. Law Times, LXXXII. 94/1. Rules of judicial discretion … are not to be treated as hard and fast rules that can never be broken.
† 8. spec. To deal kindly with; to show kindness or respect to; to indulge, favor; to honor, Obs.
c. 1440. Alphabet of Tales, 128. Þe thrid confessur hard hym mekelie & spak frendlie vnto hym, & tretid hym.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, lxxvii. 60. Hir for to treit thai sett thair haill ingyne.
1549. Compl. Scot., xi. 92. He vil tret, cheris, and promes grit reches til ony of ȝou that vil adhere til hym.
1556. Lauder, Tractate, 27. To ponysche Vice, and treit virtew.
1581. Satir. Poems Reform., xliii. 134. Gif he did gud, God wald he sould be tret.
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot., II. (S.T.S.), I. 136. He mekle delyted in hunting … he trett mekle the seikeris of wylde beistes.
9. To entertain, esp. with food and drink; to show hospitality to; to regale, feast, esp. at one’s own expense, by way of kindness or compliment, or spec. of bribery, as at an election (see TREATING vbl. sb. 5).
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, lxxxii. 64. Thairfoir strangeris and leigis treit, Tak nocht ouer meikle for thair meit.
a. 1578. Lindesay (Pitscottie), Chron. Scot., XX. (S.T.S.), I. 9. Schir patrick gray satt downe to his denner and the erle treatit him and maid him guid cheir.
1644. Evelyn, Diary, 27 Feb. At an inn in this village is an host who treats all the greate persons in princely lodgings … but they pay well for it.
1682. Luttrell, Brief Rel. (1857), I. 162. The Morocco ambassadors attendants were treated yesterday by sir Thomas Boles, in Graies Inn.
1695. Prior, Prol. in Westminster Sch., 16. Our generous scenes are for pure love repeated, And if you are not pleas’d, at least you’re treated.
1709. Steele, Tatler, No. 95, ¶ 1. She had been searching her Closet for something very good to treat such an old Friend as I was.
1839. Thackeray, Fatal Boots, Feb. They gave me plenty of cakes and barley-sugar … I’d no need to spend my own money, for they would insist upon treating me. Ibid. (1848), Van. Fair, xxxvi. Rebecca … ordered a bottle of sherry and a bread cake … to treat the enemy’s lawyers.
b. To treat (a person, etc.) † with or to: To entertain with (food or drink, or any enjoyment or gratification); also fig. (sometimes ironically).
a. 1500. in Dunbar’s Poems (S.T.S.), 308/6. Sa mony ar thair ladeis treitis With triumphand amowres balleitis, And dois thair bewteis pryiss so he.
1662. J. Davies, trans. Olearius’ Voy. Ambass., 168. Some of the Caravan had been so treated with Aquavitæ, that being all dead asleep [etc.].
1711. Budgell, Spect., No. 161, ¶ 3. The Squire … treats the whole Company … with a Hogshead of Ale.
1712. Arbuthnot, John Bull, III. viii. I treated the Lawyers, their wives, and daughters, with fiddles, hautboys, drums, and trumpets.
1735. Johnson, Lobo’s Abyssinia, Descr., xiv. 134. He treated us with the most opprobrious Language.
1852. Thackeray, Esmond, III. iii. I treated her to the fiddles twice.
1897. ‘Tivoli’ (H. W. Bleakley), Short Innings, xiv. Dick had treated himself to two ices and a strawberry squash.
c. absol. or intr. To give, or bear the expense of, a treat or entertainment; to stand treat.
1710. Swift, Jrnl. to Stella, 11 Oct. I dined to-day with Dr. Garth and Mr. Addison, at the Devil Tavern, by Temple Bar, and Garth treated.
1720. Prior, Prol. to Orphan, 6. Our generous scenes for friendship we repeat; And if we don’t delight, at least we treat.
1771. Smollett, Humph. Cl., 23 June. The ladies treat with tea in their turns.
10. trans. To deal with in the way of art (literary, pictorial, musical, etc.); to handle or represent artistically, esp. in a specified manner or style.
1695. Dryden, Observ. Art Paint., Wks. 1822, XVII. 493. Zeuxis and Polygnotus … treated … their subjects in their pictures as Homer did in his poetry.
1762–71. H. Walpole, Vertue’s Anecd. Paint. (1786), II. 134. Familiar subjects … treated with great lustre and fullness of colouring.
1848. Mrs. Jameson, Sacr. & Leg. Art (1850), 318. The life of St. Stephen … has been treated in mural frescoes.
1889. Parry, in Grove, Dict. Mus., IV. 27/1. The choral part [of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony] … treats the theme in the form of variations apportioned to the several verses of the poem.
11. To deal with in order to some particular result. a. To deal with or operate upon (a disease or affection, a part of the body, or a person) in order to relieve or cure. Const. with a remedy or remedial process, for a disease, etc.
1781. Med. Jrnl., March, 150. The second class [of symptoms] are to be treated in the manner just now directed. Ibid., June, 427. Seven patients in this disorder treated with mercury.
1797. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), XI. 347/1. A new-born infant, instead of being treated with syrups, oils, etc., ought to be allowed to suck the mother’s milk. Ibid., 352/1. Cutaneous eruptions have been successfully treated with electrization.
1800. Misc. Tracts, in Asiat. Ann. Reg., 327/2. The most adviseable method of treating the bite of a serpent.
1843. R. J. Graves, Syst. Clin. Med., xxviii. 359. We were treating the woman for the pains I have … alluded to.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 12. If his eyes are to be cured, his head must be treated.
1912. Times, 19 Oct., 8/2. Making the necessary allocation of the insured persons to the doctors who will treat them.
b. To subject to chemical or other physical action; to act upon with some agent.
1816. Accum, Chem. Tests (1818), 66. To treat the mineral water with the re-agents.
1845. McCulloch, Taxation (1852), 334. Potato-starch when treated with sulphuric acid becomes sugar.
1903. Times, 7 March, 7/5. These roads … should … be treated with a steam roller.
Hence Treated ppl. a. in various senses of the vb.
1710. Steele, Tatler, No. 195, ¶ 5. Three Times in Four the treated Persons have been Males.
1893. Outing (U.S.), XXII. 113/2. A glossy black substance,… which I concluded was highly treated asphaltum.
1897. Daily News, 5 July, 3/3. They were similar in all respects, except that one was made of ‘treated’ timber and the other of ordinary timber.
1905. Daily Chron., 10 Feb., 8/3. It is in shades that these treated metals are most effective.
