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airt

[airt; Scot. eyrt]Chiefly Scot.
noun
  1. a direction.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to point out the way; direct; guide.
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Also airth [airth; Scot. eyrth] /ɛərθ; Scot. eɪrθ/.

Origin of airt

1400–50; late Middle English (Scots) a(i)rt < Scots Gaelic àird point, quarter of the compass; cognate with Greek árdis arrowhead. The borrowing of Scots airt from Scots Gaelic àird is exact since Scots Gaelic d is totally voiceless and àird sounds like English arch
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for airt

Historical Examples

  • There's a gude and a bad side to everything; a' the airt is to find it out.

    The Proverbs of Scotland

    Alexander Hislop

  • It used to come our airt, but we seem to have lost the knack o't!

  • We know not in what airt to look for him, for who knows but it may now be afternoon?

  • I telt ye the wind was shiftin' its airt, an' that ye wad ha'e a bla' doon.

    Betty Grier

    Joseph Waugh

  • But in what direction shall we go, callants—towards what airt shall we turn our faces?

British Dictionary definitions for airt

airt

airth (ɛəθ, Scottish erθ)

noun
  1. Scot a direction or point of the compass, esp the direction of the wind; quarter; region
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Word Origin

C14: from Scots Gaelic aird point of the compass, height
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012