Now only dial. Also 6, 9 dial. smoult, 6 Sc. smowt. [OE. smolt, = MDu. smolt, smout (WFris. smout sheltered), Da. smult; cf. OS. smultro quietly, calmly, MSw. smultna (Sw. dial. smyltna) to become calm. A commoner form in OE. was smylte.]
† 1. Of weather: Fair, fine, calm. Obs.
Halliwell’s ‘Smoult, hot; sultry. Kent.’ is not otherwise certified. In Norfolk dial., smoultin’ is used to denote the calming down of a stormy sea during the ebb-tide.
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. xvi. 2. [ʓe] cueðas, ‘smolt bið, read is … heofon.’
c. 1160. Hatton Gosp., Matt. xvi. 2. On æfen ʓe cweðeð, ‘to-morʓen hit beoð smolt weder.’
1513. Douglas, Æneid, XIII. viii. 30. Makand the hevynnis fayr, cleyr, and scheyne, The weddir smowt, and firmament serene.
a. 1550. Peblis to Play, vi. in Pinkerton, Sc. Ballads (1783), II. 4. Mirrie Madinis, think not lang; The wedder is fair and smolt.
† 2. Pleasant, agreeable, affable. Obs.
13[?]. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 1763. With smoþe smylyng & smolt þay smeten in-to merþe.
1553. Respublica, III. iii. 80 (Brandl). Respub. This ys Honestee. People. A gaye smoult smirking howrecop tis, zo mot I þee!
3. Bright, shining; smooth, polished.
1837. Wilson’s Tales Borders, III. 304/2. He saw their smolt spirits scour awa to heaven like fire flaughts!
1852–. in dial. glossaries (Sussex, Hants.).
