gerful
Middle English
Etymology
Compare Old French girer (“to twirl”), English gyrate.
Adjective
gerful
- changeable; capricious
- late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Knight's Tale, The Canterbury Tales, line 1536-1538:
- [...] Right so can gery Venus overcaste
The hertes of hir folk; right as hir day
Is gerful, right so chaungeth she array.- [...] Just so can fickle Venus sadden
The hearts of her folk; just as her day
Is changeable, just so she changes her array.
- [...] Just so can fickle Venus sadden
- late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Knight's Tale, The Canterbury Tales, line 1536-1538:
References
- “gerful”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
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