grucche

grucche

Middle English

Etymology

See grudge.

Verb

grucche (third-person singular simple present grucches, present participle grucching, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle grucched)

1. To murmur; to grumble.

   1387, Geoffrey Chaucer, Canterbury Tales‎, Clerk's Tale, pages 351-4:

   I seye this, be ye redy with good herte
   To al my lust, and that I frely may,
   As me best thynketh, do yow laughe or smerte,
   And nevere ye to grucche it nyght ne day,
   And eek whan I sey ye, ne sey nat nay,
   Neither by word, ne frownyng contenance?
   Swere this, and heere I swere oure alliance.

   I say this, be ye ready with good heart
   To all my lust, and that I freely may
   As me best thinketh do you laugh or smart,
   And never ye to grudge it, night nor day,
   And eke when I say "Yea", ye say not "Nay",
   Neither by word, nor frowning countenance?
   Swear this, and here swear I our alliánce.

Descendants

• English: grutch, grudge

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for grucche in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913)