absolutelyadv.int.
/ˈabsəluːtli/, /ˈabsəljuːtli/, /ˌabsəˈluːtli/, /ˌabsəˈljuːtli/, U.S. /ˈæbsəˌl(j)utli/, /ˌæbsəˈl(j)utli/ (in sense B. 1)Brit. /ˌabsəˈluːtli/, /ˌabsəˈljuːtli/, U.S. /ˌæbsəˈl(j)utli/ A. adv.
I. Of manner or degree: completely, perfectly.
1.
a. To the fullest extent; in the highest degree; entirely, wholly, utterly. In later use frequently as simple intensifier.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > [adverb] > completely, quite, or absolutely
faira1325
quitec1330
full outa1382
straightly1395
absolutely?a1425
quitementa1450
rightc1450
twighta1500
cleara1522
plain1535
flat1577
sincerely1583
clever1664
cleverly1696
sublimely1722
square1862
quaite1864
fucking A1960
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > utterly
allOE
allOE
outlyOE
thwert-outc1175
skerea1225
thoroughc1225
downrightc1275
purec1300
purelyc1300
faira1325
finelyc1330
quitec1330
quitelyc1330
utterlyc1374
outerlya1382
plainlya1382
straighta1387
allutterly1389
starkc1390
oultrelya1393
plata1393
barec1400
outrightc1400
incomparablyc1422
absolutely?a1425
simpliciter?a1425
staringa1425
quitementa1450
properlyc1450
directly1455
merec1475
incomparable1482
preciselyc1503
clean?1515
cleara1522
plain1535
merely1546
stark1553
perfectly1555
right-down1566
simply1574
flat1577
flatly1577
skire1581
plumb1588
dead?1589
rankly1590
stark1593
sheera1600
start1599
handsmooth1600
peremptory1601
sheerly1601
rank1602
utter1619
point-blank1624
proofa1625
peremptorily1626
downrightly1632
right-down1646
solid1651
clever1664
just1668
hollow1671
entirely1673
blank1677
even down1677
cleverly1696
uncomparatively1702
subtly1733
point1762
cussed1779
regularly1789
unqualifiedly1789
irredeemably1790
positively1800
cussedly1802
heart1812
proper1816
slick1818
blankly1822
bang1828
smack1828
pluperfectly1831
unmitigatedly1832
bodaciously1833
unredeemedly1835
out of sight1839
bodacious1845
regular1846
thoroughly1846
ingrainedly1869
muckinga1880
fucking1893
motherless1898
self1907
stone1928
sideways1956
terminally1974
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 155v Þe 3a. quarter [of the mone], fleobotomye is absolutely better [L. melior absolute; Paris alþerbest].
c1454 R. Pecock Folewer to Donet 57 Þat raþir and more he be clepid not oonli ‘a wise methafisicien’..but also absolutli and vttirli þus ‘a wise man’.
1555 N. Ridley Brief Declar. Lordes Supper sig. Bv Whether they..do take awaye simplie and absolutly the presence of Christes body & blood, from the Sacrament.
1570 J. Dee in H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. Math. Præf. sig. diiiv To whom Nature hath giuen such quicke Circumspection, sharpnes of witt, and Memorie, that they may be very absolutely skillfull in Geometrie.
1602 W. Warner Epitome Hist. Eng. in Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) 389 A prince absolutely valerous and vertuous.
1625 N. Carpenter Geogr. Delineated i. ii. 37 The Earth is not Absolutely and Geometrically round.
1655 Ld. Orrery Parthenissa (new ed.) I. i. i. 77 Many other expressions of his Favour, he honour'd me with, which I have now as absolutely forgotten, as I was then unworthy of them.
a1704 T. Brown 1st Satyr Persius Imitated in Wks. (1707) I. i. 77 Surely, Jack, thou'rt absolutely mad.
1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 84 Rendering our whole government absolutely illegitimate. View more context for this quotation
1820 W. Scott Monastery I. ii. 94 The glen..was not then absolutely void of beauty.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. §10. 66 Escape seemed absolutely impossible.
1905 Baroness Orczy Scarlet Pimpernel xxv. 237 Marguerite, absolutely paralysed with horror, seemed unable even to breathe.
1959 ‘N. Blake’ Widow's Cruise 67 The water's absolutely dreamy. And I bet you're a super swimmer.
1996 D. Brimson & E. Brimson Everywhere we Go ii. 18 Everyone was singing and shouting and when we scored..it was total chaos, absolutely brilliant!
b. In negative constructions: at all, to any extent, whatsoever.
ΚΠ
1565 N. Sanders Supper of Our Lord ii. iv. f. 54 There is absolutely no pure and cleane oblation besides the sacrifice of Christes body and blood.
1655 Ld. Orrery Parthenissa III. iv. 393 Knowing as absolutely none knew it but Phraates and I, as that they receiu'd it not from me, I resolu'd it must come from him.
1675 O. Walker Paraphr. Epist. St. Paul 69 Carnal absolutely none are called but the irregenerate.
1726 Bp. J. Butler 15 Serm. ii. 43 There is absolutely no bound at all to prophaneness.
1798 C. Palmer (title) A treatise on the sublime science of heliography satisfactorily demonstrating our great orb of light, the sun, to be absolutely no other than a body of ice!
1859 J. S. Mill On Liberty iii. 33/2 That people should do absolutely nothing but copy one another.
1897 Times 17 Mar. 3/4 Is President Kruger able..to control the Raad?—Absolutely not. He is only, after all, a constitutional sovereign.
1907 Macmillan's Mag. Jan. 235 There is absolutely no stinting of vivid impressions on first treading Indian soil.
1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 16 Feb. 78/1 America's top authorities confirm there is absolutely no risk with hormonized meat.
1969 J. Singer et al. tr. I. B. Singer Estate i. ix. 120 ‘You believe in God?’ ‘Absolutely not.’ ‘Then who made this swinish world?’
2006 C. Langston Bicoastal Babe xiii. 121 I have absolutely nothing to offer the world, apart from the remote possibility of perpetuating the human race.
2. With exact fidelity to detail; accurately, precisely.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > freedom from error, correctness > exactness, accuracy, precision > [adverb]
rightlyeOE
righteOE
evenOE
evenlya1225
redlyc1275
justicelya1375
justilya1375
justlya1375
redilya1375
trulya1375
properlya1382
precisec1392
preciselyc1392
truec1392
straitlya1395
leala1400
arightc1405
by linec1420
justlyc1425
featlya1450
rule-righta1450
to the letter?1495
exquisitely1526
evenliklya1530
very1530
absolutely1538
jump1539
just1568
accurately1581
punctually1581
jumplya1586
arights1596
just so1601
plumb1601
compassly1606
nicelya1616
squarely1626
justa1631
adequately1632
mathematicallya1638
critically1655
exquisitively1660
just1665
pointedly1667
faithfully1690
correctlya1704
jus1801
jest1815
jes1851
neat1875
cleanly1883
on the nose1883
smack-dab1892
spot on1920
forensically1974
1538 R. Taverner in tr. Erasmus Sarcerius Common Places of Script. Ep. Ded. sig. A.iiiiv He hathe so compendiously, so absolutely & frutfully handeled all the common places of the chrysten religyon.
1566 W. Adlington tr. Apuleius .XI. Bks. Golden Asse To Rdr. sig. Aiiiv I haue not..so absolutely translated euery woorde as it lieth in the prose.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. viii. xlii. 222 Most elegantly and absolutely described by the Poët Virgill.
1612 J. Brinsley Ludus Lit. xxi. 249 This helpes memory..to haue the text most absolutely.
1771 F. Vesey Cases High Court Chancery 2 31 William East intended the will of Goff should be performed absolutely.
1872 Trans. Amer. Philol. Assoc. 1871 118 Our numeral ten does not absolutely reproduce the name of the distinguished French critic.
1895 Littell's Living Age 16 Nov. 391/2 An international rail-way ticket, telegraph, sleeping-car, postage stamp, these can be absolutely translated, for the same things pass from land to land.
1939 C. Seymour Notre-Dame Noyen in 12th Cent. i. vi. 86 The values of the mouldings were not all absolutely reproduced.
1988 Christian Sci. Monitor 26 May 1 The piano is a ‘mechanical monster’ whose sound cannot be reproduced absolutely.
3. Conclusively, decisively; categorically; completely.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > [adverb] > completely or to the end or conclusively
afinec1325
absolutely1550
supernaculum1592
1550 R. Sherry Treat. Schemes & Tropes sig. Dvi Definicio, definicion, wherby ye proper effect of any thynge is declared briefely & absolutely.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iv. i. 162 To heare, and absolutely to determine. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iv. ii. 208 This shall absolutely resolue you. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 1156 Why didst not thou the Head Command me absolutely not to go. View more context for this quotation
1704 J. Swift Tale of Tub viii. 157 Whether the System here delivered, was wholly compiled by Jack,..I shall not absolutely determine.
1758 S. Hayward Seventeen Serm. v. 141 Many absolutely deny Deity to the Son.
1843 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 54 652/1 An Idealist who absolutely denies the existence of an independent material world.
1860 W. Collins Woman in White (new ed.) II. 289 He himself absolutely forbade her, on account of her health, to join us in the bedroom that night.
1928 D. H. Lawrence Lady Chatterley's Lover xv. 265 I'd wipe the machines off the face of the earth again, and end the industrial epoch absolutely, like a black mistake.
1993 S. Fried in Philadelphia Mag. Apr. 114/1 There is no way to absolutely prove cause and effect.
4. Modifying a noun or noun phrase: in the strictest sense of the word. rare.
ΚΠ
1649 J. Milton Εικονοκλαστης xv. 145 And not be absolutely a Tyrant.
1860 Proc. Royal Geogr. Soc. 5 9 Although not absolutely a range of mountains, there was a tract of elevated country.
1879 E. Davidson in Cassell's Techn. Educator I. 163 Not professors in name only, but absolutely professional men of the highest position.
2001 Federal News Service (Nexis) 13 July It's not absolutely a deadline, in other words?
II. Without doubt, condition, or mental reservation.
5. Unreservedly, wholeheartedly, unconditionally.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > absence of doubt, confidence > [adverb]
trulyOE
boldlyc1175
sickerlyc1275
tristly1340
redelya1375
redilya1375
surelyc1380
tristilyc1380
certainc1384
faithfullyc1384
trustilyc1390
certainlya1400
trustlya1400
undoubtinglyc1400
absolutely?a1425
positivelyc1443
assuredly1508
traist1508
traistfully1508
crousea1525
constantlya1538
resolutely1540
suredly1551
trestly1568
cocksure1579
resolvedly1610
assurantly1619
emphatically1629
decretorily1660
convincedly1812
unmisgivingly1842
solid1937
society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > freedom of action or from restraint > [adverb] > without conditions
barelyc1400
purely1420
simply1420
simpliciter?a1425
frankly1582
unreservedly1611
absolutely1644
unconditionally1649
unconditionately1670
?a1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. iv. pr. ii. 220 So graunte I wel forsothe that vicyous folk ben wikkid, but I ne may nat graunten absolutly and symply that thei ben.
1489 W. Caxton tr. C. de Pisan Bk. Fayttes of Armes iv. x. 257 Noon oughte to swere absolutly for a thinge but that by his owne eyen he be sure and certeyn that it is soo.
1591 E. Spenser To Lady Carey in Complaints sig. T2 I haue determined to giue my selfe wholy to you, as quite abandoned from my selfe, and absolutely vowed to your seruices.
1644 F. Quarles Barnabas & Boanerges 145 Though life bee not absolutely granted, yet death is but conditionally threatned.
c1680 W. Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 374 This first and grand promise was absolutely made to all mankind.
1724 A. Collins Disc. Grounds Christian Relig. 69 Tho' absolutely speaking, the promise of the Messias might be fulfilled without it, yet hypothetically it could not.
1770 B. Franklin Cravenstreet Gaz. 25 Sept. in Papers (1973) XVII. 221 Miss Dorothea Blount had made a Vow to marry absolutely him of the two, whose Wife should first depart this Life.
1822 J. T. Bigge Rep. State Colony New S. Wales 119 The unexpired term of transportation of the convict is absolutely remitted to him.
1876 G. Grote Fragm. Ethical Subj. 162 Happiness..consists in the perfect employment and active exercise of virtue: and that absolutely..—not under limitation.
1920 D. H. Lawrence Women in Love xix. 295 Only on condition that he, her lover, loved her absolutely, with complete self-abandon.
1966 Times 22 Feb. 3/5 The Judge did not find that she had absolutely refused to have sexual relations with him.
2007 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 24 June ii. 23/4 The rallying cry that turned a popular country singer into one who was absolutely beloved.
6. Actually, in truth; positively, assuredly. (Modifying the statement as a whole.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > [adverb] > in fact, actually
in, of feata1400
in effectc1405
effectually1420
really?a1425
literallyc1429
(by) matter in deed1447
indeed1535
in fact1592
merely1596
de facto1602
essentially1604
in point of fact1628
upon1644
in point of event1650
effectively1652
in matter of fact1709
absolutelya1712
substantially1753
actually1762
positively1800
in actual fact1824
factually1852
as matter of fact1871
fair dinkum1891
dinkum1894
'smatter of fact1922
basically1927
a1712 W. King tr. P. de la Croix Persian & Turkish Tales (1714) I. 131 You fill me with Desire to see the Lady, and I will absolutely go along with you by and by when you go to see her.
1756 Mem. Young Lady of Quality I. ii. 140 What did you think, one certain Day, when M. de St Preuil, finding you alone in Bed, absolutely attempted to undoe your Waistcoat?
1757 W. Franklin Let. in London Chron. 17–20 Sept. 276/2 The whole Story of the Bill's not passing..is absolutely a malicious and notorious Falshood.
1820 W. Irving Legend Sleepy Hollow in Sketch Bk. vi. 96 An old gentleman..parried a musket ball with a small sword, insomuch that he absolutely felt it whiz round the blade, and glance off at the hilt.
1839 C. Darwin in R. Fitzroy & C. Darwin Narr. Surv. Voy. H.M.S. Adventure & Beagle III. xi. 234 I saw a place where one of these naked men had slept, which absolutely offered no more cover than the form of a hare.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. xlvii. 432 Three young ladies of the half-breed, absolutely with frocks on.
1863 F. A. Kemble Jrnl. Resid. Georgian Plantation 59 She absolutely embraced him.
1913 J. Conrad Chance i. 19 The idea that I was absolutely going to sea..hadn't got quite into my head yet.
1925 F. S. Fitzgerald Great Gatsby v. 103 Is this absolutely where you live, my dearest one?
1992 J. Sack in E. J. Schroeder Vietnam 18 I identified with them. I absolutely saw everything as they would.
III. Independently, autonomously; not relatively.† 11. Essentially, fundamentally. Obsolete.
7. In absolute terms; without comparison with others; with reference to a fixed standard, rather than to other things of the same kind. Opposed to comparatively or relatively.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > one > condition of being alone > [adverb] > without reference to anything else
nakedlya1425
absolutelyc1443
per se1574
lonely1664
an sich1846
c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 299 (MED) But he first and bifore knowe and juge his owne worþines in godis absolutely, wiþoute refering it to an oþer mannys worþines in godis.
1541 T. Elyot Castel of Helthe (new ed.) 1 Rather erthy, watry, airy, and fyry, than absolutely erth, water, ayre, & fyre.
1593 G. Harvey New Let. Notable Contents sig. A3v Surely the Onely-wise (for whosoeuer is comparatiuely wise, He is absolutely wise) ordaineth all for the best.
1625 N. Carpenter Geogr. Delineated i. v. 117 The Globe of the Earth may be considered two waies; either Absolutely in it selfe, or Comparatiuely in respect of the heauenly Bodies.
1651 R. Baxter Plain Script. Proof Infants Church-membership & Baptism 11 Though none be small absolutely, yet many are very small in comparison of greater.
1701 J. Norris Ess. Ideal World I. v. 243 The essence of God may be considered either absolutely or relatively.
1795 W. Paley View Evidences Christianity (ed. 3) II. ii. ix. 251 Not only absolutely, but..relatively, in comparison, that is, with those amongst whom they exercise their office.
1839 C. Darwin in R. Fitzroy & C. Darwin Narr. Surv. Voy. H.M.S. Adventure & Beagle III. viii. 169 A series of undulations, in themselves perhaps not absolutely great, but as compared to the plains of St. Fe, real mountains.
1874 J. L. Motley Life John of Barneveld I. i. 8 Somewhat larger resources absolutely, though not relatively, than the Seven Provinces.
1953 Western Polit. Q. 6 194 Both relatively and absolutely, a larger number of sincere objectors were imprisoned on technical grounds than in World War I.
1994 K. Perry Business & European Community vi. 110 Farm incomes were maintained in the 1960s and 1970s but fell both absolutely and in relation to other groups in the 1980s.
8. In a manner detached from other things; without reference to, consideration of, or dependence upon anything external, circumstantial, or accidental.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > [adverb] > existing independently
absolutelyc1450
positively1597
abstractedly1656
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical syllogism > logical argument > [adverb] > without using comparison
simply1599
absolutely1618
c1450 ( J. Walton tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Linc. Cathedral 103) 330 (MED) All absolutely then betideþ it, Noþing compelleth of necessite.
1532 T. More Confut. Tyndales Answere iii. p. clxxxvi Yf he speke of hym absolutley, wythout mencyon of any speache before had wyth hym.
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 67 Of all things then that be in the world, some have their essence and being of themselves absolutely and simply.
1618 Bp. J. Hall Righteovs Mammon 88 Nothing is, nothing liues absolutely, but he; all other things by participation from him.
1686 R. Boyle Free Enq. Notion Nature 384 How great a Difference there may be between a Body consider'd absolutely, or by itself, and the same Body consider'd in such Circumstances, as it may be found in.
1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. Introd. p. iii It cannot but be discerned absolutely as it is in itself.
1739 D. Hume Treat. Human Nature I. iii. 145 An object that exists absolutely without any cause, certainly is not its own cause.
1870 Outl. Hamilton's Philos. 170 We cannot think a quality existing absolutely, in or of itself; we are constrained to think it as inhering in some basis, substratum, hypostasis, subject or substance.
1877 E. R. Conder Basis of Faith iv. 146 We may say that God exists absolutely, or is the Absolute Being, if we are careful to explain that we oppose ‘absolute’ to ‘dependent’. God alone has being in Himself.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 285/2 Unlike Plato, he [sc. Socrates] recognized no self-beauty..existing absolutely and out of all relation to a percipient mind.
1960 Jrnl. Philos. 57 733 Only God exists in total non-dependence; he alone exists absolutely as sheer unconditioned, self-existent being.
2006 Artforum Internat. (Nexis) 1 Nov. Geneses exist absolutely because the body of truth itself is a genetic composition that occurs in the world.
9. Chiefly Grammar. Without any logical qualification or syntactic dependent; in an absolute construction.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > syntax or word order > syntactic relations > [adverb] > without qualification
absolutelyc1525
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > syntax or word order > syntactic relations > [adverb] > other specific relations
absolutelyc1525
apo koinou1892
c1525 T. Linacre Rudimenta Grammatices sig. C 3 The ablatiue, whiche cometh after verbes, and without prepositions, is taken absolutely as The serpent bresteth beyng enchaunted.
1579 W. Fulke Heskins Parl. Repealed in D. Heskins Ouerthrowne 101 Aliud in the Neuter gender put absolutely.
1656 tr. T. Hobbes Elements Philos. ii. viii. 82 As Magnitude is by Philosophers taken absolutely for Extension, so also Velocity or Swiftness may be put absolutely for Motion according to Length.
1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) ii. Introd. 85 The middle Venter or Belly termed Thorax the Chest, and by some absolutely Venter.
1778 Ann. Reg. 1777 Misc. Ess. 157 (note) Whenever the word sex is used absolutely and irrelatively, it is always to be understood of the female.
1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1766 I. 282 [Johnson:] You seem to use genus absolutely, for what we call family.
1878 Trans. Amer. Philol. Assoc. 9 38 If the preposition be absent, the noun is to be taken absolutely, as defining the verb simply by the expression of the idea.
1892 L. Kellner Hist. Outl. Eng. Syntax §255 (heading) The Comparative and Superlative used absolutely.
1942 E. Partridge in New Statesman 1 Aug. 75/1 It may be used absolutely..or in reference to a person.
1995 Jrnl. Rom. Stud. 85 125 The verb may be used absolutely in this sense.
10. With unrestricted or unlimited authority or ownership; despotically.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > oppression > [adverb] > despotically or autocratically
absolutely1549
despotically1681
despoticly?1692
autocratically1772
1549 W. Thomas Hist. Italie f. 131 v Nowe he was made gouernour absolutely of the common wealth.
1599 J. Rainolds Overthrow Stage-playes 98 These rules are to bee understoode of those generals that absolutely command.
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion v. 75 Now Sabrine, as a Queene, miraculouslie faire, Is absolutelie plac't in her Emperiall Chaire.
1660 Trial of the Reg. 11 It is one..thing to have an Imperial Crown and another thing to govern absolutely.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 185 I was not to dispute his Sovereignty, who..had an undoubted Right by Creation to govern and dispose of me absolutely.
1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. 234 A monarchy absolutely and despotically regal.
1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) xi. 84 She ruled absolutely within the rectory, wisely giving her husband full liberty without.
1875 H. J. S. Maine Lect. Early Hist. Inst. ix. 254 The spear [was] the symbol of property held absolutely and against the world.
1956 Amer. Hist. Rev. 61 645 The clique in control of the organization ruled as absolutely within the party as the party within the country.
1993 Accountancy Oct. 108/3 A pecuniary legacy to be held as to income for the testator's wife for life and thereafter for the three sons absolutely.
2004 S. M. Katz Jihad 16 Leaders ruled absolutely, often with little regard for the welfare and civil rights of their people.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > essence or intrinsic nature > [adverb]
formlyc1374
virtuallya1398
essentially1398
pithily1434
substantial1447
in substance1460
quidditativelyc1600
absolutely1654
constitutionally1766
essential1827
substantively1828
1654 J. Bramhall Just Vindic. Church of Eng. ii. 9 If one part of the Universal Church do separate itself from another part, not absolutely, or in Essentials, but respectively.
12. Mathematics. With regard to the absolute values of component quantities; absolutely convergent adj. (of an infinite series) such that the series of absolute values of its terms converges; (of an integral) such that the integral of the absolute value of the integrand is finite; cf. absolute convergence n. at absolute adj. and n. Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1814 T. Leybourn Math. Repository New Ser. III. iii. 13 The second [integral] seems, at first, to depend on functions of the third species; but by a very simple substitution, it will be found absolutely integrable by circular arcs, or by logarithms.
1845 Penny Cycl. Suppl. I. 537/2 The following expression is absolutely integrable, independently of all relation between x and y, if [etc.].
1884 Ann. Math. 1 51 This is not an allowable formula, for it is not absolutely convergent for any value of z, as may be readily shown.
1916 Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 17 395 The elements of the infinite sequence of matrix products..will certainly converge absolutely and uniformly to the elements of a limit matrix if [etc.].
1965 J. W. Dettman Appl. Complex Variables viii. 365 In the Fourier integral theorem we are dealing with functions which are absolutely integrable, that is ʃ∞−∞|f(t)|dt < ∞.
1989 W. Gellert et al. VNR Conc. Encycl. Math. (ed. 2) xviii. 396 The series ∑an converges absolutely.
2007 Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey) (Nexis) 30 Mar. 8 Then came calculus. Such terms as ‘absolutely convergent’ absolutely confused him.
B. int. colloquial.
1. Yes, certainly, definitely; without a doubt.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > affirmation and denial > [adverb] > as an emphatic affirmative
absolutely1825
rather1836
a thousand times, yes1896
definitely1931
deffo1940
damn straight1964
1825 tr. B. de Molleville in A. Thiers & F. Bodin Hist. French Revol. I. 523 ‘Is it permitted me to ask your majesty whether the opinion of the queen is conformable to that of your majesty?’ ‘Yes, absolutely; she will tell you so herself.’
1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre III. xi. 294 ‘Is such really the state of matters between you and Rivers?’ ‘Absolutely, sir!’
1878 H. James Watch & Ward v. 101 ‘And to accept the consequences?’ ‘Absolutely.’
1892 ‘M. Twain’ Amer. Claimant xxiv. 154 ‘Do you mean to say that if he was all right and proper otherwise you'd be indifferent about the earl part of the business?’ ‘Absolutely.’
1917 A. Waugh Loom of Youth iii. i. 154 ‘But, sir, was it true to Harrow life?’ ‘Absolutely; and it's as true to the life of any other Public School.’
1937 R. Stout Red Box ix. 136 ‘I trust that we are still brothers-in-arms?—’ ‘Absolutely. Pals.’
2005 Metal Hammer Dec. 44/2 So you're happy with it, then? ‘Yes, of course. Absolutely.’
2. With an expletive infixed for humorous emphasis, as abso-blessed-lutely, abso-bloody-lutely, abso-blooming-lutely, etc.
ΚΠ
1909 R. E. Beach Silver Horde xi. 147 ‘Did you rustle this money without any help?’ he demanded. ‘Abso-blooming-lutely!’
1912 A. M. N. Lyons Clara xxiv. 265 His Information was abso-blessed-lutely good and all the very latest; right Up-to-Date.
1914 W. L. George Making of Englishman iii. v. 299 Oh, don'tcher care, it's all over, absoballylutely.
1935 E. Weekley Something about Words i. 24 This natural tendency to add body and content to words is possibly prehistoric... A crude example of this persisting instinct is offered by the contemporary abso-bloody-lutely.
1947 Amer. Mercury Feb. 183/1 An Englishman who wishes to be very positive will exclaim, ‘Abso-bloody-lutely!’
1985 D. Bodey F.N.G. 224 ‘Like, don't it seem like the time has gone fast now?’ ‘Abso-fuckin'-lutely.’
1993 Homemaker's Mag. (Toronto) Jan.–Feb. 102/1 Can a pot of tulips, daffodils or hyacinths help banish February funk? Abso-bloomin'-lutely.
2001 F. North Fen xlv. 302 ‘We should celebrate,’ Otter said... ‘Abso-bloody-lutely,’ Matt agreed.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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