ie", 10)

In this example, parenthesized editorial comment has also been
included.

Editorial comment in entries of this class is either enclosed in
round brackets, as above, or set in "italic" type, as in this
entry:

bale > torment; infliction of death; _also, mainly in northern
usage_: great consuming fire, funeral pyre; _hence,
perhaps_: hell-fire

A question-mark, as may be expected, indicates doubt, usually
about words which are not found in the _OED_ but whose meaning
might be inferred from the context. For example:

mill > ?mill-wheel; ?cogs of the mill (or because the sallow
grows by water)

(b) Definitions

An entry in curly brackets should be read as a dictionary
definition of the quoted text which cannot be directly fitted
into the syntax of the original line. For example:

scrine > {Casket or cabinet for archival papers}

(c) Notes

Entries in round brackets should be read as if they were
footnotes, typically giving background information or editorial
speculation. For example:

Muse > (The nine Muses are usually represented as the
daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne (Memory); each goddess
presides over an area of the arts and sciences and gives
inspiration to its practitioners)

and:

chief > chief, first; best (here Spenser is addressing either
Clio, the Muse of history, or Calliope, the Muse of epic
poetry; probably Clio. Clio is the first of the nine Muses
in Hesiod's _Theogony_, and is usually represented with an
open roll of paper or a chest of books. Spenser calls her
"thou eldest Sister of the crew" at _TM_ 53. See 111.5:6-
8, 303.4:6, 706.37:9, 707.1:1)

It should be added that on occasion the distinction between a
"note", requiring round brackets, and a "definition", requiring
curly brackets, is somewhat moot.

(d) Hints and expansions

Entries in square brackets are hints or expansions to make the
quoted text more intelligible, and can be thought of as being
preceded by the qualifications "that is", "in other words", or
"what Spenser appears to mean is". For example:

in his help > [to help him; in his armoury]

Such entries can be mentally substituted for the quoted word or
phrase in order to aid comprehension.

Sometimes square brackets are employed in other sorts of
definitions to indicate words which should be understood. For
example:

mask > {Disguise