frist

noun

1. (countable, obsolete, uncountable)A certain space or period of time; respite.
2. (UK, countable, dialectal, uncountable)Time allotted for repayment; a term (in which a debt is to be repaid); a delay; respite; suspension.

   “His was a short frist (He had a short life).”

   “All Ills are good a frist.”

   “My time is short, my frist is o'er, and I have much to say.”

3. (UK, countable, dialectal, uncountable)Credit; trust.

   “Sald tham to fryst to a man of the Hag, […] Sold them to frist to a man of The Hague, […]”

   “Ane dyvour coffe, that wirry hen, / Distroyis the honor of our natioun, / Takis gudis to frist fra fremmit men, / And brekis his obligatioun. One bankrupt rouge , that wirry hen, / destroys the honor of our nation / takes goods to frist from fremd men, / and breaks his obligation.”

   “Credit and frist is quyte away, / No thing is lent bot for usure; […]”

verb

1. (UK, dialectal)To grant respite; especially, to give a debtor credit or time for payment.
2. (UK, ambitransitive, dialectal)To defer; postpone.

   “Now, in the strength of Jesus, dispatch your business; that debt is not forgiven, but fristed: death hath not bidden you farewel, but hath only left you for a short season.”

   “Na, na, lassie. Dinna be too confident. “What's fristed is no forgotten."”

   “Alexander's early backsliding, when "he thrawed his mouth" at the minister — a sin beside which the modern lèse majesté seems venial, —had been fristed but not forgiven, and again he was summoned to appear before the session.”