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                  Your Scottish Archives Glossary

                  The Your Scottish Archives Glossary defines archaic words and phrases, mostly Scots law terminology, commonly found in documents and records in Scotland’s archives. If you think a word or phrase should be added to the glossary, or an existing entry could be defined better, please contact us at your@scottisharchives.org.uk.

                  You can also use the Dictionary of the Scots Language as a further resource at https://dsl.ac.uk/ for Scots words and phrases (including legal terminology).

                  To find a term within the glossary, click on the initial letter of the word you are looking for, then select the relevant syllable segment displayed below.

                  Example: to find the term “roup” select section “R” then sub-section “Ro”

                  A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y
                  Pa Pe Pi Pl Po Pr Pu
                  Pup Pur

                  pupil

                  (1) a school pupil (see also scholar) (2) In law, a child younger than 12 if female or 14 if male.  Pupils might have their affairs administered by a tutor. See also minor.

                  purpresture/purprision

                  Purpresture was a delinquency (a feudal crime) as a result of which a feuar could suffer forfeiture of his lands, for the offence of encroaching on streets, highways or commons belonging to his superior; purprision is generally the illegal encroachment on (or enclosure of) lands or property belonging to another.