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"a proud and very profane yonge man."

This quote is from here. What does yonge mean in this context? A search to the dictionary came up with:

Charlotte M(ary). 1823–1901, British novelist, whose works reflect the religious ideals of the Oxford Movement. Her best-known book is The Heir of Redclyffe (1853)

I can't seem to relate a word used to describe a person in the quote to be explained by naming a person (definition as given in the dictionary).

  1. What does yonge mean?

  2. Could you paraphrase this quote too?

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    If you are struggling to understand the dictionary definition for yonge: it is saying that the only "yonge" it has ever heard of is someone's name, i.e. Charlotte M Yonge. You'll find something similar if you search for Shakespeare. I believe this is not a very good way to write a dictionary - someone's name is not a word. If they really have to put it in, it should call it a proper noun not just a noun.
    – AndyT
    Oct 12, 2015 at 8:31

2 Answers 2

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This is 17th century English, a time when spelling was slightly different and, above all, less standardized than today. "Transcribed" in modern English you'd get:

"a proud and very profane young man."

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  • On the linked page, the quote is actually set off in quotation marks as a sign that it was a "direct" quote which wasn't fully translated.
    – JPhi1618
    Oct 12, 2015 at 20:49
  • Heh heh. Spell checkers in those days were very slow. And did not get updated very often.
    – puppetsock
    Mar 17, 2020 at 14:11
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  1. Swiss term for a female who can yodel through a valve, or more so a / her flange. YO(del)nge / yo(fla)NGE.

  2. Someone who has perfected all instrumentation technique in a brass ensemble.

  3. Onomatopoeia of the audible sound made by a brass instrument. i.e, flugelhorn, tuba, trombone etc.,

  4. Simile. 'Oom-pah'

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  • Hello, Please note that this is a very old question, and your answer doesn't take into account the context. As such I think your answer is incorrect. Please take a look at some more recent and unanswered questions, and make sure that you use all the context from the body of the question.
    – James K
    Aug 12, 2020 at 7:52

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