carse

See also: Carse

English

Etymology

From Middle English kerrs, cars, of uncertain origin. Perhaps Celtic: the term is "first found in a semi-Gaelic form", Carsach (c. 1143); compare Welsh cars (“bog, fen”), carsen (“reed”), Armoric kars, korsen (“bog plant, reed”). Alternatively, perhaps related to carr (“bog, march, swampland”) (perhaps suffixed with a variant of -ish, -sæ); compare Swedish kärr (“fen; bog”).

Pronunciation

• (US, Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑɹs/, (in Scotland, also) /ˈkɛɹs/

Noun

carse (plural carses)

1. (Scotland) Low, fertile land; a river valley.
   • 1799, James Robertson, General View of the Agriculture in the County of Perth:

     In the Carse of Gowrie to all the flat land , which is a great proportion of the district , is a deep rich clay

   • 1842, The Topographical, Statistical, and Historical Gazetteer of Scotland, page 214:

     […] and the parish of St. Madois, now in the carse of Gowrie, is said to have been once on the southern side of the river. Such parts of the carse as are called inches, are elevated above the flat ground which has been covered with water. The soil of these eminences is […]

   • 1846, Henry Stephens, The Book of the Farm ...: To which are Added, Explanatory Notes ..., page 66:

     A carse is a district of country, consisting of deep horizontal depositions of alluvial or diluvial clay, on one or both sides of a considerable river; and may be of great or small extent, but generally comprehends a large tract of country […]

Further reading

• “carse”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• CERAs, Cares, Ceras, Cesar, Crase, Creas, Races, SERCA, acers, acres, cares, caser, ceras, crase, e-cars, races, sacre, scare, serac, sérac