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单词 ever
释义

† evern.

Forms: early Old English aebor- (in compounds), early Old English ebor- (in compounds), early Old English eobor (in compounds), early Old English eobur- (in compounds), early Old English etfor (transmission error), Old English eafor (rare), Old English efer, Old English efor, Old English efyr (rare), Old English eofer, Old English eofor, Old English eofur, Old English eouor (rare).
Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Saxon evur (Middle Low German ēver ), Old Dutch evur- (in place names, Middle Dutch, Dutch ever ), Old High German ebur (Middle High German eber , German Eber ), all in sense ‘(wild) boar’, Old Icelandic jǫfurr king, warrior, (also) wild boar, apparently < the same base as classical Latin aper wild boar, Old Church Slavonic veprĭ wild boar, Latvian vepris castrated boar, although it is unclear whether this is an Indo-European base or a later borrowing from another language (perhaps a Semitic language; compare Arabic ʿifr boar, piglet). Compare everfern n.The following attestation of early Middle English eaueres (plural), translating classical Latin iūmenta ‘beasts of burden’ (Vulgate, Joel 1:17), was formerly regarded as showing this word. However, it is now generally taken as showing aver n. 3:c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) l. 173 Ha in hare wurðinge as eaueres forroteden... Þe ilke sari wrecches..beoð þe deofles eaueres, þet rit ham & spureð ham to don al þet he wule.
Obsolete.
A wild boar.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > order Artiodactyla (cloven-hoofed animals) > [noun] > group Suiformes (hippos and pigs) > family Suidae (swine) > sus scrofa (wild boar and descendants) > wild boar
evereOE
swineOE
boarc1000
wild boar?c1225
wilrone1508
bush-pig1840
wild pig1840
tusker1859
Captain Cooker1879
eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 885 Þy ilcan geare ær middum wintra, forþferde Carl Francna cyning, & hiene ofslog an efor [lOE Domitian A.viii eofer].
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) ii. iv. 182 Sele þu him sealte mettas & haran flæsc & eofores.
OE Paris Psalter (1932) lxxix. 13 Hine utan of wuda eoferas wrotað, and wilde deor westað and frettað.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2020).

everadv.adj.

Brit. /ˈɛvə/, U.S. /ˈɛvər/
Forms:

α. Old English aefre (Northumbrian), Old English æfra (chiefly Northumbrian), Old English æfri (probably transmission error), Old English (rare)–early Middle English æfer, Old English (rare)–early Middle English (in compounds) æfræ, Old English–early Middle English æfre, Old English (rare)–early Middle English efre, late Old English hefre (Kentish), late Old English–early Middle English æure, late Old English (Kentish)–early Middle English effre, late Old English Middle English eure, early Middle English afre, early Middle English auer, early Middle English auere, early Middle English aure, early Middle English æfere, early Middle English æffre, early Middle English æfr- (in a compound, in a copy of an Old English charter), early Middle English æuer, early Middle English æuere, early Middle English æurre, early Middle English eafre, early Middle English eauar, early Middle English eauere, early Middle English eaure, early Middle English efere, early Middle English efr- (in compounds), early Middle English eouere (south-west midlands), early Middle English eue (transmission error), early Middle English– ever, Middle English aver- (in a compound, in a copy of an Old English charter), Middle English eauer, Middle English eeuer, Middle English efer, Middle English eur, Middle English euur, Middle English evur, Middle English evyre, Middle English ewyre, Middle English heuer, Middle English heuere, Middle English hevere, Middle English hevir, Middle English hevyr, Middle English–1500s euir, Middle English–1500s euyr, Middle English–1500s evir, Middle English–1500s evyr, Middle English–1500s hever, Middle English–1600s euer, Middle English–1600s euere, Middle English–1600s evere, 1500s eaver, 1500s euyre, 1500s ewer, 1800s– iver (English regional), 1800s– ivver (English regional); Scottish pre-1700 efer, pre-1700 eiwer, pre-1700 euer, pre-1700 euir, pre-1700 euire, pre-1700 euyr, pre-1700 evare, pre-1700 evire, pre-1700 evyr, pre-1700 evyre, pre-1700 ewer, pre-1700 ewere, pre-1700 ewir, pre-1700 ewyr, pre-1700 ewyre, pre-1700 1700s– ever, pre-1700 1700s– evir, 1700s 1900s– ivir, 1800s– iver, 1800s– ivver; also Irish English 1800s–1900s ivir, 1800s– iver, 1900s– ivver; U.S. regional (chiefly southern and south Midland) 1800s eber, 1800s–1900s ebah, 1800s–1900s ebber (chiefly in African-American usage), 1800s–1900s uver, 1900s iver, 1900s– evah, 1900s– evva.

β. early Middle English ær, Middle English er, Middle English– ere (now rare, nonstandard), 1500s– e'er Brit. /ɛː/, U.S. /ɛ(ə)r/ (now poetic or regional), 1600s e'r, 1600s eare, 1600s–1900s e're (chiefly poetic), 1900s hure (English regional (Lincolnshire)).

γ. early Middle English ȝaure (south-west midlands), 1500s yeffor.

δ. late Middle English ȝer, late Middle English ȝere; N.E.D. (1891) also records a form Middle English yer.

Origin: Apparently formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: o adv., an element of uncertain origin.
Etymology: Apparently < Old English ā o adv. (or its Germanic base) + a second element of uncertain origin, apparently causing i-mutation.There are no recorded cognates in other Germanic languages, but phonological criteria suggest that the compound is likely to have been formed at an early stage. Similar compounds with cognates of o adv. as the first element are found in other West Germanic languages; compare especially Old Saxon iomēr , Old High German iomēr (and their cognates listed at evermoe adv.), and perhaps also Middle Dutch ooit (see yet adv.). Suggested origin of the second element. It has been suggested that the second element is related to the Germanic base of Old English feorh , Gothic fairhw , both in sense ‘life’ (with the underlying u -stem perhaps reflected in the Old English (Northumbrian) form ǣfra ). It is unclear what form the base would have had to account for i-mutation in the first element of the compound, but compare (with i in the first syllable) Old English fīras and its cognates Old Saxon firihos , Old High German firaha , Old Icelandic fírar , all plural in sense ‘people, humankind’ (all only in poetry), apparently reflecting a derivative of the same base. With the possible semantic development compare the Old English phrase ā (also āwa) tō feore forever, lit. ‘ever to life’, and also ǣfre tō feore , in the same sense; compare further (with an unrelated final element) Old High German ne on altre never, lit. ‘never in life’. Variant forms. The β. and δ. forms show contraction (with elision of the weakly pronounced medial /v/); in later use the β. forms appear mostly in regional use and in poetry, and they are also particularly common in the collocation ever a at sense A. 6a(b). The γ. and δ. forms show development of a palatal on-glide.
A. adv.
I. Always, at all times; in all cases. Now mostly replaced by forever adv.
1.
a. Throughout all time, eternally; throughout all past or all future time; forever; perpetually (often hyperbolically or in relative sense: throughout one's life, etc.). Also emphatically ever and ever, †ever ay, †ever and o. Now archaic and literary.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > eternity or infinite duration > [adverb]
always fortha700
alwayeOE
oeOE
everOE
buten endea1000
echelichec1175
till doomsdayc1175
to timea1200
perdurablyc1275
in ayea1300
without endc1330
anytimea1375
for ay and oc1374
continually1382
perpetuallyc1385
ay-forthc1390
everlastinglyc1390
perpetualc1392
eternallyc1393
endlessa1400
in (also for, to) perpetuitya1400
always?c1425
without timec1425
endlesslya1450
sempiternlyc1450
infinitivec1470
aylastinglyc1475
everlastingc1475
incessantly1481
in saecula saeculorum1481
sempiternally1509
all days1533
for altogether1542
constantly1567
interminate?1567
incorruptibly1579
perpetuously1612
in perpetuum1613
eternal1614
unterminably1631
unfadinglya1672
unendingly1674
for a constancy1710
perennially1729
tarnally1790
imperishably1795
indefectibly1837
immortally1858
fadelessly1861
OE Crist I 111 Swa þu, god of gode gearo acenned, sunu soþan fæder, swegles in wuldre butan anginne æfre wære, swa þecnu for þearfum þin agen geweorc bideð þurh byldo.
OE Homily: Sermo Bone Praedicatio (Otho B.x) in A. S. Napier Wulfstan (1883) 302 He sceall his unþances..gan to hylle and þær æfre aa wunian syþþan mid eallum deoflum.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 206 Icc amm gabriæl Þatt æfre & æfre stannde. Biforenn godd.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 173 Þe endelese dai þat is afre abuten ende.
a1225 MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 57 Þet is and wes and efre scal beon iblecced ofer al.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 71 Þe oþre lyue þet eure wyþoute ende ssel yleste.
a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 70 (MED) Euer ant oo, nyht ant day, he haueþ vs in is þohte; he nul nout leose þat he so deore bohte.
c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham Poems (1902) 138 Fader [read Wader] þy[s] worldle euer were, Oþer a some tyme nere, And þo by-gan?
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 13180 Þarfor euer ay worth hir wa! þat god man dos wid tresun sla.
c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure l. 8 (MED) Ewyre to belde and to byde in blysse.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 80 The lyfe that ever sall lest.
1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Firste Daie of Lente f. xxxiiii* That wee may euer liue with thee in the worlde to come.
1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia sig. Gvi It [sc. the island] was not euer compassed about with the sea.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iv. i. 122 Let me liue here euer . View more context for this quotation
1662 Bk. Com. Prayer (1844) 113 He liveth and reigneth ever one God.
1733 J. Barber Let. 6 Aug. in J. Swift Wks. (1841) II. 711/1 A set of great men, who will ever be an honour..to their country.
1834 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus iii. vii. 89/2 Ever must the Sovereign of Mankind be fitly entitled King.
1850 Lancet 10 Aug. 181/1 That Hydropathy, Homœopathy, and Mesmerism..should have found..enthusiastic supporters.., will ever be a cause of wonder and regret.
1906 H. Porter in John Paul Jones: Commemoration at Annapolis (1907) 34 He will ever be an inspiration to his successors.
1927 Amer. Mercury May 66/1 Full in the crescent bay the sea lifts in a hollow curve of chrysoprase, whose edge goes up in smoking foam along the hard packed beaches—ever and ever, disregardful of the nondescript shacks.
2015 J. Took in F. B. Knox & D. Lonsdale Poetry & Relig. Imagination v. 91 The whereabouts of everything that was, is and ever shall be in consequence of the original and abiding fiat.
b. Limited by a following adverb, preposition, or conjunction, as in ever after(-ward), ever before, ever since, ever yet, etc.: throughout all the time before or after a specified point in time.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > [adverb] > for all future time or in perpetuity > after a specific date
everefteOE
ever after(-ward)OE
ever sinceOE
OE Rec. Boundary between Dioceses of Canterbury & Rochester (Sawyer 1564) in N. P. Brooks & S. E. Kelly Charters of Christ Church Canterbury, Pt. 2 (2013) 1215 Þus hyt stynt & æfre gyt stod buton se arcebisceop hwæs geunnon wille of hys dæle þam oðran bisceope.
OE Ælfric Homily (Cambr. Ii.4.6) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1967) I. 363 Þær corn weox æfre [c1175 Bodl. 343 æffre] wynsumlice syððan.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 139 Þis dei is..þe fo[r]meste dei þet eauer ȝiete was iseȝen buuen eorðe.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 15963 Swa hit hafeð ist onde æuer seoððe a þisse londe.
c1300 St. Matthew (Laud) l. 82 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 80 Þat maide was wel a-paid euere-aftur-ward.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 5326 Þe fairest ferde of folk þat euer bi-fore was seie.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 3942 Euer siþen [c1340 Trin. Cambr. euer aftir] halted he.
?c1430 (?1382) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 510 Hevere bifore and evere aftir.
1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. clxxxvi [clxxxii]. 565 He hath assembled toguyder into his house..a great noumbre of menne, and hath kepte them there couertly euersyth the ferst of Whitsontyde.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Isa. li. B Euer and sence the worlde beganne.
1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 84 The Ele being killed & addressed in wine whosoeuer chaunceth to drinke of that wine so vsed, shall euer after lothe wine.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) i. i. 22 My desires like fell and cruell hounds, Ere since pursue me. View more context for this quotation
1660 R. Allestree Gentlemans Calling 71 A Maxim among the Swordmen, That he that has once been baffled, is ever after an incompetent Challenger.
1715 J. Addison Spectator No. 556. ¶7 The Coffee-houses have ever since been my chief Places of Resort.
1782 J. Priestley Hist. Corruptions Christianity I. i. 104 Ever after..the phraseology of the Greeks prevailed.
1865 H. Kingsley Hillyars & Burtons xxxv It must have been raining cats and dogs ever since I had been out.
1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) I. 364 This sign I have had ever since I was a child.
1928 Cent. Mag. Aug. 462/2 She gave up her job, had her children, kept house ‘in the good old-fashioned style’, and was in a fair way to live happily ever after.
2014 Squadron Buzz (Fleet Air Arm Squadron) No. 67. 10 I joined the Britannia Flying Club and have loved aviation ever since.
c. Short for Yours ever at Phrases 1b.
ΚΠ
1833 H. Cockburn Let. 1 Dec. in Lett. Affairs Scotl. (1874) 491 The Anti-patronage party are on the rise, and this case must be fairly met soon. Ever, H. Cockburn.
1842 H. Cockburn Let. 16 May in Mem. Sketch Thomas Cleghorn (1881) ii. 24 Wishing you modesty, patience, success, and much glory, farewell.—Ever, H. Cockburn.
1934 T. E. Lawrence Lett. (1938) 809 It's what I call making use of history. Ever, T. E. S.
1988 I. Murdoch Let. 19 Feb. (2015) 542 Write again soon. Ever, much love, your I.
2. At all times, on all occasions, on each occasion; = always adv. 1. Now regional except (somewhat literary) with be and complement expressing habitual or typical characteristics, e.g. he was ever one to take risks.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > frequency > [adverb] > always or in every case
alwayeOE
aldayOE
everOE
by night and (by) daylOE
ayc1175
algatea1200
alwaysc1225
everylikec1225
stillc1297
evermorea1300
algatesa1325
alikec1330
early and latec1330
at all assaysc1360
universallya1398
likec1400
continuallyc1460
tidely1482
ay-whenc1485
from time to (formerly unto) timea1500
at all seasons1526
at once1563
at every turn1565
throughout1567
still still1592
still1594
still and anona1616
still an enda1616
every stitch-while1620
everlastingly1628
constantly1651
everywhen1655
eternally1670
allus1739
any day (of the week)1759
everly1808
allers1833
every time1854
toujours1902
all (the way) down the line1975
OE Rule St. Benet (Tiber.) (1888) ii. 12 Memor sit semper abbas quia, [etc.] : myndig sig æfre þæt [etc.].
OE Ælfric 1st Let. to Wulfstan (Corpus Cambr. 190) in B. Fehr Die Hirtenbriefe Ælfrics (1914) 128 His weofod beo clæne and wel gescryd æfre, na mid musa tyrdlum ne mid meoxe befiled.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 9 (MED) Efere to þam setteres dei heo comen..to þan sinagoge.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 275 Brutus heom com æfter & æfer [c1300 Otho euere] he heom leide on.
?a1300 (c1250) Prov. Hendyng (Digby) xxxvii, in Anglia (1881) 4 198 Evere comeþ out uvel sponnen wolle.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 770 (MED) Euer whan it neiȝed niȝt noyȝed was he sore.
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1905) II. 351 Þat evur when he lukid þer-vppon, he sulde vmthynk hym of his dead.
1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry Bk. Knight of Tower (1971) lv. 80 Of euyll lyf cometh euer an euylle ende.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. 748 As they passed by, ever the Parisyens enclyned themselfe to them.
1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet i. ii. 162 Your poore seruant euer.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. ii. 49 They were dayly molested and besieged, but the victory fell euer to the Christians.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 54/1 The Prelate of the Garter..is ever the Bishop of Winchester.
a1718 W. Penn Life in Wks. (1726) I. 137 Envy and Railing..almost ever follow.
1771 O. Goldsmith Hist. Eng. IV. 378 He attacked the largest ships, and almost ever with success.
1783 W. Cowper Let. 13 Oct. (1981) II. 170 It is ever the way of those who rule the Earth, to leave out of their reckoning Him who rules the Universe.
1812 R. Woodhouse Elem. Treat. Astron. ix. 70 Longitude is ever measured from the intersection of the equator and ecliptic.
1832 H. Martineau Homes Abroad viii. 113 The rude state which is ever the consequence of a scarcity of knowledge.
1861 R. Browning Prospice 13 I was ever a fighter, so—one fight more, The best and the last!
1885 North Star 1 July 3/2 Lord Randolph..has been a hard hitter, but he has ever hit fair.
1919 P. G. Wodehouse Their Mutual Child i. i. 14 Mrs. Porter broke the silence. It was ever her way to come swiftly to the matter in hand.
1933 C. Miller Lamb in his Bosom ii. 15 Her mother had named her Tillitha Cean, but ever she was called Cean.
1942 J. Thomas Blue Ridge Country 50 Twistin' the end of her apron like she ever did when she was warried.
1978 Guardian Weekly 17 Sept. 24/4 He was ever remarkably free of injury.
1996 C. I. Macafee Conc. Ulster Dict. 117/1 It came from Athlone, so they just ever called it Athlone.
2002 J. E. McKenna Assassin's Edge (2003) 42 Halice was ever one to honor her debts.
3.
a. Constantly, incessantly, perpetually; with continual recurrence. Now literary.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > continuing > [adverb] > in a continuous manner or without stopping
fastlyOE
anonOE
everOE
everylikec1225
continuallyc1305
atreet1340
unceasinglyc1340
perpetuallyc1385
incessably1398
desselya1400
ithandlya1400
dreichlyc1400
restlessc1400
contunely1447
all alongc1450
dessantlyc1460
incessantly1481
still opece1488
uncessantlya1500
continuinglya1513
in ane1513
away1526
incessant1558
restlessly1567
square1570
stintless1598
ceaselessly?1606
residently1609
unrestingly1621
indesinently1651
jugially1654
unintermissively1656
constantly1682
hand to fist1706
forever1753
unintermittingly1784
round the clock1816
continuously1826
unpausingly1831
sustainedly1842
pauselessly1845
remorselessly1845
around the clock1872
play-by-play1889
ball-by-ball1906
non-stop1920
solidly1937
OE Old Eng. Hexateuch: Deut. (Claud.) xxxi. 27 Ða hwile ðe ic mid eow ferde, æfre ge fliton ongean Godd.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1101 His men mycel to hearme æfre gedydon swa hi geferdon.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 45 (MED) Efre forð to domes dei.
c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) l. 37 Babilones folc..weorrið & warpeð eauer towart tis tur.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 640 Þritti dawes & þritti niht heo ferden efer [c1300 Otho efre] forð-riht.
a1325 (c1250) Prov. Hendyng (Cambr.) xlv, in Anglia (1881) 4 190 Þe man þat ever þenchit sceame And turnit his harmis al to grame To þai þat bit him aboute..Sum unsele he scal fonde.
c1453 (c1437) Brut (Harl. 53) 542 (MED) Þen went he toward Cane, brennyng & distrying euer as he went by þe way.
1511 Pylgrymage Richarde Guylforde (Pynson) f. xi There scryuan euer wrytyng oure names man by man as we entred in the presens of the sayd Lordes.
1624 H. Wotton Elements Archit. i. 50 Errors euer occurring more easily in the management of grosse Materials, then Lineall Designes.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 17. ⁋2 Pedants..will ever be carping.
1796 Monthly Mag. July 465/2 Virtues..could alone keep the world from that relapse into savagism to which mankind is ever tending.
1837 J. H. Newman Parochial Serm. (ed. 2) III. vii. 99 We are ever sinning, we must ever be renewing our sorrow.
1876 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (ed. 2) IV. xviii. 186 The same tale..we have ever to tell in the English history of these years.
1902 W. S. Maugham Mrs. Craddock (1974) xv. 147 She could not leave him, she passed with him all day and all night, looking ever at the quiet, restful face.
1985 B. Guest Hensey Defined viii. 78 Writers are ever fleeing the intrigues and sophistications of city life.
2011 E. W. Leider Myrna Loy i. 7 Myrna's wayfaring grandparents, ever on the move as they sought abundance on the western frontier.
b. With a comparative to mark a constant increase or decrease.
(a) Before the correlatives the——the (Old English swā——swā, early Middle English se—se). Esp. in ever the longer, the——: the greater the amount of time that elapses, the——. Now archaic and rare.
ΚΠ
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xxxvii. 312 Æfre swa man hi swiðor hynde, swa þær ma beah to ðam soðan geleafan.
OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.iv) anno 1052 His wered wanode æfre þe leng þe swiðor.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 51 Þis fis [sc. crabbe] is of swulc cunde þet euer se he mare strengðdeð him to sw[i]mminde mid þe watere se he mare swimmeð abac.
c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) l. 398 Ant eauer se hare murhðe, wes mare to ȝederes, se þe sorhe is sarre ed te twinununge.
c1300 St. Dunstan (Laud) l. 29 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 20 Euere þe leng þe more.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 15 (MED) Euere þe þickere þe felde is i-marled, þe better corn it wil bere.
c1425 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Harl.) 110 Er þe lenger þe more.
c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 58 Ȝer þe more þat þey þole, ai þe more schal þe fendis torment.
a1500 (?1382) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 173 Evere þe lenger þat þou lyfest to lyve bi Goddis lawe, evere þe harder it is to þee to come agayne.
a1500 (?a1425) Ipomedon (Harl.) (1889) l. 1883 (MED) Euyr the fayrer that she spake, The fouler braydes gan he make.
1529 T. More Dyaloge Dyuers Maters iv. iii. f. ciii/2 He chaungeth so often, and wryteth euer the longer the more contrary, not to hys aduersary onely, but also to hym selfe.
1610 T. Fitzherbert 2nd Pt. Treat. Policy & Relig. xvi. 218 Euen a sinner not reclaimed, or staid by Gods grace, falleth commonlie from sinne to sinne, and euer the longer the worse, vntil he come (as the wise man saith) in profundum.
1666 E. Reynolds Serm. Westm. 7 Nov. 30 Ever the more Proud, the more Passionate.
1710 M. Henry Expos. Poet. Bks. Old Test. Job vi. sig. C4v The Burthens of Life will be ever the longer the more grievous.
a1973 J. R. R. Tolkien Silmarillion (1977) xvi. 131 She wearied of the guarded city of Gondolin, desiring ever the longer the more to ride again in the wide lands and to walk in the forests.
†(b) With an emphatically doubled comparative. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1137 Ðat lastede þa xix wintre wile Stephne was king, & æure it was uuerse & uuerse.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 14441 And ȝeit troud noght þaa felun..Bot eur mistroud mar and mare.
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 4 (MED) Sho had made a grete pakk of all hur synys..and euer þis pakk wex les & les.
1531 W. Tyndale Expos. 1 John (1537) 6 They..haue promysed..to waxe euer lower and lower, and euery daye more seruant then another.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene vi. v. sig. Cc7v She..Day and night did vexe her carefull thought, And euer more and more her owne affliction wrought.
(c) Modifying an adjective or adverb in the comparative.
ΚΠ
1823 J. G. Percival Poems (new ed.) 235 Whence the deep Exhaustless fountain of their blended hearts Flows ever deeper, and has ever more Of music in its flow.
1833 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus i. xi in Fraser's Mag. Dec. 681/1 Ever higher and dizzier are the heights he leads us to.
1863 M. Howitt tr. F. Bremer Greece & Greeks II. xvi. 144 In the north the mountain masses ascend ever more rigidly.
1941 C. Beaton Diary Apr. in Self Portrait with Friends (1979) xi. 87 The engines rev up ever more furiously.
1986 R. Bakker Dinosaur Heresies (1988) xv. 345 The duckbills actually divided into four different subclans evolving ever greater cranial specialization.
1995 Guardian 27 July ii. 24/3 As growing numbers of impoverished people press ever harder on overloaded environments.
2015 N.Y. Mag. 2 Nov. 46/3 In an ever more brutal, if technically sleek, world where the skies are filled with killer drones.
†4. Used with distributive force.
a. With expressions of quantity or time: in every case or instance. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
OE Homily: Sunnandæges Spell (Corpus Cambr. 419) in A. S. Napier Wulfstan (1883) 208 And cornteoðung [sy agifen] be emnihte oððe latest be ealra halgena mæssan, and æfre þone teoðan æcer, ealswa seo sulh hit gega.
c1330 Short Metrical Chron. (Auch.) l. 1334 in PMLA (1931) 46 133/1 (MED) Euer on of ous anoþer of hem Togider schul we sitten atte mete.
a1350 in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 7 Euer þe furþe peni mot to þe kynge.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Miller's Tale (Ellesmere) (1870) Prol. l. 3155 Euere a thousand goode ayeyns oon badde.
1447 in L. Morsbach Mittelengl. Originalurkunden (1923) 40 (MED) The sayd Nicholas schall pay..euer a yer a hundreth schelyng.
b. Preceding indefinite pronouns or adverbs, giving a distributive sense. Also: preceding distributive words so as to emphasize this function.For ever each see α. forms at every adj. and pron. For ever ywhere see everywhere adv., n., pron., and adj.
(a) ever either (also outher): each of the two respectively. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 2150 Leoue heom wes bi-twune, þet æuere eiþer oðer luuede alse is broþer.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Prov. xxii. 2 The werkere of euer either is the Lord.
1444 Close Roll, 23 Henry VI (P.R.O.: C 54/295) m. 27 dorso And euerawther of þe said Priour and Geffrey..was bownden in xl li.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 8 But if [= unless] euereither of tho premissis be trewe, the conclusioun is not trewe.
(b) ever aywhere: everywhere. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > here, there, etc. > [adverb] > everywhere
aywherec1000
ywhereOE
overallOE
everywherec1225
ever aywherec1330
algatesa1393
over-allwhere1395
eachwherea1400
ouerwhere?a1400
universally?a1430
all overc1440
allwherec1450
atoura1475
all wheresc1515
universal1524
everywheres1834
algate1843
everyplace1854
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 18 Auauntages þai hauen þare Freynsch and Latin eueraywhare.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 13873 Iesus went him forth here and þar, And did meracles euer-ai-quar.
(c) ever all: every part of, every one of. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > [adjective] > not specified > of every kind > each or every
eacheOE
anyOE
allOE
everyOE
ilkc1175
ilkac1175
ilkinc1175
all and sundry1389
ever alla1513
all sundry1562
a1513 J. Irland Meroure of Wyssdome (1990) III. 41 Quhen þis sacrament is resauit deuotlie it remittis the payn þat the persoune is oblist to susteyn nocht euir all the payn bot part of it.
1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. ccxvi. f. cclxxvv/2 He toke euer all their gyftes, but alwayes the rancour abode styll in his hert.
1592 (?a1425) Chester Plays (BL Add.) (1843) I. 192 Prophescied..to ever all mankinde.
c. With a numeral: for each. Obsolete. rare. [After German je for each, at a time, respectively (see o adv.).]
ΚΠ
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Judges xv. 4 Samson..catched thre hundreth foxes..and put euer a fyre brande betwene two tayles [Ger. eyn brand ia zwischen zween schwentze].
II. At any time; in any case, in any degree. Primarily in negative and interrogative sentences and in conditional and subordinate clauses.
5.
a. At any time; (hence) on any occasion; in any circumstances.Sometimes added pleonastically to adverbs expressing infrequency: see rarely adv. Phrases 2a, seldom adv. b. Cf. also never ever (see never adv. 1c(c)).
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > particular time > [adverb] > at any time or whenever
everOE
onceOE
whensoc1175
whenc1200
whensoeverc1320
wheneverc1380
whensomevera1425
soever1517
still asa1656
anytime1822
anywhen1834
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xiii. 15 Hig..hyra eagan beclysdon þe læs hig æfre [c1200 Hatton afre] mid eagum geseon.
OE Christ & Satan 170 Þæt ic..ne sceal æfre geheran þære byrhtestan beman stefne!
c1175 ( Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 138 Ðe deofel..iseah..þæt he [sc. Jesus]..wæs unilic ælle oðre monnum þe he on middænearde eafre imette, & þæt on him næs nare synne wem.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 183 Aweilewei þu fule hold þat ich auere was to þe iteied.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 170 Al þet dude iob. eauer he nom leaue þerof ed ure lauerd.
c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) l. 1180 (MED) Ich not ȝef þu were ȝaure prest.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 7146 He wes þe bezste latimer þat ær [c1300 Otho euere] com her.
?a1300 Thrush & Nightingale (Digby) l. 127 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 105 (MED) Come þou heuere in here londe, Hy shulen don þe in prisoun stronge.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) John i. 18 No man euere syȝ God, no but the oon bigetun sone.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 15116 Þei bicoom soriere: þen euer eer þei were.
c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 99 It is scham to hem to sey þus, þat ere kirk erriþ, sin he and his kirk is o persone.
1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) i. 198 Yat Scottis-men mycht do na thing Yat euer mycht pleys to yar liking.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection i. sig. Biv More..pleasaunt to beholde, than euer it was..before.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iv. f. 165v Hortensus..was the fyrst that euer killed Peacocke for the table in Rome.
1612 T. Shelton tr. M. de Cervantes Don-Quixote: Pt. 1 viii. 187 Whence I have no hope ever to return.
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) iii. v. 29 If euer..You meet in some fresh cheeke the power of fancie. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) iv. ii. 137 It hath bin the longest night That ere I watch'd, and the most heauiest. View more context for this quotation
1660 S. Pepys Diary 8 July (1970) I. 195 The first time that ever I remember to have heard the..singing-men in Surplices in my life.
1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ iii. ii. §17 We deny that ever his Atoms with all their occursions would ever produce those things which are in the Universe.
1692 tr. Sallust Wks. 28 For who..would ere endure, that they should wallow in wealth...while we are pinch'd?
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 37. ¶1 One of the prettiest Grotesque Works that ever I saw.
a1777 S. Foote Trip to Calais (1778) ii. 57 You are the most artificial, cunning, hypocritical, mischievous minx that ever I met with.
1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) xi. 101 For who could ever gaze on Mr. Pickwick's beaming face without [etc.].
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. III. xcix. 387 The criticisms of an outspoken press rarely assail their [sc. English Judges'] ability, hardly ever their fairness.
1939 G. Greene Confidential Agent (1971) i. ii. 61 That was the longest interval there ever was between raids.
2013 Vanity Fair Mar. 388/2 No one would ever question our father's devotion or skill as a parent.
b. Originally U.S. Following a superlative (usually an adjective), used elliptically for ‘ever known’, ‘ever experienced’, etc.; on record.See also best-ever adj. at best adj., n.1, and adv. Compounds 2a, first-ever adj. at first adj., adv., and n.2 Compounds 1b(b).
ΚΠ
1903 W. M. Bickley Slang-Dict. 28 The swaggerest ever.
1906 ‘O. Henry’ Four Million (1916) 71 Anna and Maggie worked side by side in the factory, and were the greatest chums ever.
1924 Westm. Gaz. 12 Aug. Mr. Coolidge is expected to reach the largest audience ever in his acceptance address as Republican candidate.
1960 Sunday Express 11 Sept. 1/4 Mr. Matthews had not expected to be able to see his son become the youngest-ever champion.
1969 Guardian 6 Sept. 9/1 The biggest ever postbag of telegrams.
2015 P. B. Wignall Worst of Times iii. 83 Similarly, the agglutinating forams suffered their worst ever crisis at the end of the Permian.
6. Used for emphasis: on any supposition, by any chance, at all.Also appended to relative pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs, giving to them a generalized or indefinite force. These combinations are now always written as single words: see whoever pron., whosoever pron., however adv., whatever pron., etc.
a. Preceding an indefinite determiner.
†(a) ever any: any at all. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > any, however small
eacheOE
anyOE
leastOE
ever anyOE
smallc1330
a blind1938
OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.iv) anno 994 Hi ða þanon ferdon & worhton þa mæstan yfel þe æfre ænig here don meahte.
lOE tr. Honorius Augustodunensis Elucidarium in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 140 Eall þæt æfre ænig man deð to synne, eall hit gewænt ure Drihtene to wurðmynte.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 43 (MED) Heo wes wurse to þolien þenne efreni of alle þa oðre pine.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Bodl.) (1934) 24 Muche deale blackre þen eauer eani blamon.
c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Laud) (1901) l. 14 (MED) Brict so euere any glas.
(b) ever a: any at all. Also in form e'er a (see also arra adj.). Cf. never a at never adv. 6a, ne'er a adj., nary adj. Now English regional, Irish English, and North American regional.
ΚΠ
α.
1581 B. Rich Farewell Militarie Profession sig. Dd.jv If there bee euer a Deuill of theim bothe, I knowe it is she.
1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus ii. 14 Here is policie, but pietie scarce euer a whit.
1697 J. Vanbrugh Relapse v. 104 Prithee Loveless dost know of ever a Mad Doctor hard by?
1708 T. Baker Fine Lady's Airs iv. 48 D'you know ever an amorous Lady that would present me with a hundred Guineas to oblige her?
1713 J. Gay Wife of Bath iii. ii. 33 Dog...Those white Teeth, that grace your pretty Mouth... Alis. Let me die, if I have ever a one in my Head.
1796 T. Butler Diary 6 Sept. (?1919) 73 He would not part with the Houses for ever a Man in England and we might Kiss his A—se.
1827 in W. Motherwell Minstrelsy 333 Had you ever a brother?
1851 M. C. Clarke Girlhood of Shakespeare's Heroines (1974) I. v. 408 She's as good a housewife as ever a wife in Windsor.
1879 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. (at cited word) ‘Drink or cider’..‘ever-a-one’, ‘I dunna car w'ich’.
1884 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester (1886) (at cited word) Have you ever a shilling as you could lend me?
1897 A. H. Cocks Local Words S. Bucks. in Rec. Bucks. 7 291 Ever, in the sense of ‘at all’, as, ‘I ar'n't got ever a one.’
β. 1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 ii. iv. 274 I loue thee better then I loue, ere a scuruy yong boy of them all. View more context for this quotation1601 B. Jonson Every Man in his Humor iii. iv. sig. G4v They should haue beene damn'd e're they should haue come in, e're a one of them. View more context for this quotation1653 H. Cogan tr. F. M. Pinto Voy. & Adventures xxxviii. 151 If there were ere a one amongst you that could find out any device or stratagem of war.1657 Earl of Monmouth tr. P. Paruta Politick Disc. 200 Nor..have [they] made me ere a whit more happy then I was at first.1706 I. Watts Horæ Lyricæ i ‘Happy the hours’, Angels, assist my doleful song, If you have e'er a mourning string.1724 A. Ramsay Mouldy-mowdiwart in Health (new ed.) 40 O cou'd I bear my Wealth alang, Nae Heir shou'd e'er a Farthing fang.1746 Fool (1748) I. 232 A Man of my Turn enjoys a Holiday with as high a Relish as e'er a Prentice-Boy..within the Bills of Mortality.1802 J. Bentham Wks. (1843) X. 387 I don't know whether you have e'er an one.1835 R. M. Bird Hawks of Hawk-hollow II. xix. 221 ‘Amen,—or e'er a one of 'em,’ said Lingo, with solemn utterance.1900 F. P. Dunne Mr. Dooley's Philos. 251 The man..that wud dhraw a soord or a pome on e'er a man alive.1916 W. T. Grenfell Tales Labrador 168 Not a whelpin'-pan to hold e'er an old harp to have her young on.1930 W. Faulkner As I lay Dying 13 I mislike undecision as much as ere a man.1986 T. Murphy Bailegangaire i, in Plays: 2 (1993) 118 Did they buy e'er a thing.
b. In comparative clauses introduced by as or †than. Formerly also in relative clauses, introduced by that (in Old English the), modifying a superlative or all (obsolete). Now somewhat archaic.
ΚΠ
OE Riddle 40 66 Ic mæg fromlicor fleogan þonne pernex oþþe earn oþþe hafoc æfre meahte.
OE Wulfstan Last Days (Hatton) 136 Crist wæs ealra bearna betst geboren þe æfre geboren wurde.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 274 Me schal fuldo flesches pine, ase forð as eauer euene mei þolien.
?a1300 Iacob & Iosep (Bodl.) (1916) l. 200 Al þat euere Eue brac in paradis Oure leuedi hit bette.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 5391 King alfred..Lawes he made riȝtuolore & strengore þan er were.
c1330 (?c1300) Bevis of Hampton (Auch.) l. 614 (MED) Were ich alse stiþ in plas Ase euer Gii, me fader, was, Ich wolde..Fiȝte wiþ ȝow euerichon.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 1046 (MED) Þis day is schorter to siȝt þan it semed euere!
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 4298 Hert of stele and bodi of bras, Stranger þan euer samson was.
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Canon's Yeoman's Tale (Ellesmere) (1875) l. 1248 I wol be youre in al that euere I may.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) i. l. 171 (MED) Iason..was as servisable, As diligent in chambre and at table, As euere was any childe or man.
tr. Palladius De re rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) iii. l. 40 (MED) As ofte as ere hit kest is.
1469 J. Aubrey in Paston Lett. & Papers (2005) III. 178 Attendid as wurshepfully as euir was quene a-forn hir.
c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) l. 169 As naked as ever he was borne.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. 746 All that ever the kyng..coude do coude never tourne them fro that opinyon.
a1533 Ld. Berners tr. Arthur of Brytayn (?1560) lxxxxix. sig. D*i Rode forthe as fast as euer they myght.
1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. M5 [They] runne..from towne to towne..till they haue spent al that euer they haue.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) i. iv. 71 As lowd as e're thou canst, cry.
1681 J. Dryden Spanish Fryar ii. iii. 23 As like him as ever he can look.
1776 G. Semple Treat. Building in Water 9 Piles..driven in as close together as ever they can stick.
1777 S. Johnson Let. 18 Feb. (1992) III. 9 She will accommodate you as well as ever she can in the old room.
1835 J. W. Carlyle Lett. I. 43 Try all that ever you can to be patient.
1859 G. W. Dasent tr. P.C. Asbjørnsen & J. Moe Pop. Tales from Norse 19 All she wanted was to get above ground as fast as ever she could.
1885 ‘F. Anstey’ Tinted Venus 25 Can't you see I'm as anxious to get that statue again as ever you can be?
1934 P. Lynch Turf-cutter's Donkey (1988) iii. 19 The donkey lifted his head and hee-hawed as loudly as ever he could.
1944 M. Irwin Young Bess (1956) xxv. 242 There were more men left alive in England as covetous, ambitious, and seditious as ever the Admiral had been.
2000 S. Harrigan Gates of Alamo (2017) xxiii. 353 Report to Bowie and Baker and get one as quickly as ever you can.
c.
(a) Following interrogative adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, and conjunctions (e.g. how, what, when, where, who, why), to intimate that the speaker has no idea of what the answer will be.Now usually written as single words: see however adv. 3, whatever pron. 3, whenever adv. 1, wherever adv. and conj. 1, whoever pron. 4, whyever adv. 2.
ΚΠ
OE St. Pantaleon (Vitell.) in J. E. Cross et al. Via Crucis (2002) 77 Hwa æfre þeosne m[an] gehælde?
a1450 (?1420) J. Lydgate Temple of Glas (Tanner) (1891) l. 267 It was a meruaile, hou euer þat nature Coude in hir werkis make a creature So aungellike, so goodli on to se.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid vi. viii. 51 How euir wes ony suffirit the so to dycht?
1607 R. C. tr. H. Estienne World of Wonders i. xxix. 240 I shal desire him to consider how euer it was possible to get from these Priests..a pertinent answer.
1660 Scutum Regale: Royal Buckler 333 Why ever had we any Kingdoms?
1793 N. B. Halhed Imitations Epig. Martial 15 Old gentleman, rich.., Why grudge to unpocket a few, Why ever agog after more?
1833 J. K. Paulding Banks of Ohio III. iii. 40 Who ever heard of a spook eating?
1859 G. W. Dasent tr. P.C. Asbjørnsen & J. Moe Pop. Tales from Norse 12 Where ever in the world have you been?
1902 J. K. Jerome Paul Kelver 101 ‘Where ever did you get her from?’ asked Mrs. Florret.
1953 L. P. Hartley Go-between xv. 174 Why ever not, you sewer-rat?
2013 Vanity Fair Nov. 90/3 What ever happened to style?
(b) colloquial (originally and chiefly North American). As an intensifier in an interrogative clause expressing an exclamation.
ΚΠ
1934 F. Pickersgill Let. 29 May (1948) ii. 9 Was I ever glad to get off the beastly boat!
1945 S. Lewis Cass Timberlane (1946) vii. 46 I thought they were all so nice, and oh boy! are they ever learned!
1949 Canad. Forum Aug. 113/2 Do you remember it George?..Do I ever!
1977 Rolling Stone 30 June 73/3 She thinks they just make money, but let me tell you, she's the one, is she ever.
2002 D. Aitkenhead Promised Land xi. 117 Oh, were we ever on the edge.
d. Added for emphasis to the temporal conjunctions as soon as, so soon as, before, ere (see ere conj. 1d).when ever (just as soon as): see whenever conj. 2.
ΚΠ
c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 328 Schal I efte forgo hit er euer I fyne?
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) v. l. 511 His herte hym wel byhight, She wolde come as soone as euere she myghte.
c1440 (a1401) Life Bridlington in Neuphilol. Mitteilungen (1970) 71 145 (MED) Als sone as euer þe bel rang To messe or matyns or euynsang..To þe kirk he went.
1575 G. Gascoigne Noble Arte Venerie lix. 164 As soone as euer she [sc. the hare] hearde the horne, she starte.
1630 Bp. J. Hall Occas. Medit. §xv So soone as euer he heares the noyse of a Fly a farre off, how hee hastens to his doore.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. i. 38 Most part of all which M. Arthur and I saw, before euer we either eate, drunke, or tooke our lodging in Venice.
1718 Mem. Life J. Kettlewell i. xxiii. 46 So soon as ever he commenced Master.
1844 E. B. Barrett Drama of Exile in Poems I. 48 Or ever she [sc. the Earth] knew sin!
1872 G. W. Dasent Three to One II. 256 I know what is to happen, before ever I get up-stairs.
1926 A. A. Milne Winnie-the-Pooh x. 150 As soon as ever they had sat down he began to talk.
1984 C. Kightly Country Voices v. 133 We'd start as soon as ever the harvest was fit.
2001 N. Gaiman Amer. Gods (2002) xx. 605 I was a god before ever I was a kobold.
†7. Followed by the and a comparative: at all the (better, etc.), in any degree, to any extent. Cf. never adv. 3 (now much more common). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > degree or relative amount of a quality, action, etc. > [adverb] > in any degree or at all
anythingeOE
aughteOE
oughtsOE
anywisea1225
anyc1300
anywaya1400
at all1476
ever1548
anywhat1576
anyways1673
earthly1833
aughtways1878
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Mark iv. f. xxxiiiv Neither let this make you euer the slacker or worse wyllynge to distribute the gyftes of faythe.
1609 J. Hall No Peace with Rome in Wks. (1808) IX. ii. §3. 58 Let no man fear that harmful creature ever the less, because he sees the apostle safe from that poison.
1612 Bp. J. Hall Contempl. I. i. 60 Was Cain euer the farther from a blessing?
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 364 For none are ere the wiser for them.
1657 A. Sparrow Rationale Bk. Common Prayer (new ed.) 172 The Primitive Christians did not like the Jewish Rites ever the worse because they were Theirs.
a1679 T. Hobbes Στιγμαι in Wks. (1845) VII. 386 Do you think..the opinion of your judgment would have been ere the less?
1689 J. Collier Moral Ess. conc. Pride 9 A Mine undiscovered, for which neither the owner of the Ground, or any Body else are ever the richer.
a1716 R. South Serm. Several Occasions (1744) X. 290 There goes a person for whom no one breathing was ever the better.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. xii. iv. 219 I might have kept every Farthing, and no Body ever the wiser.
1779 F. Burney Evelina (ed. 2) I. 105 But instead of my being ever the better for it..down we both came together, all in the mud.
1809 Parl. Deb. 1st Ser. 14 735 Sure he was that no country was ever the worse for adhering to moral principles.
†B. adj.
Everlasting, constant, perpetual. Frequently with agent nouns or nouns of action. Cf. Compounds 1c. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > eternity or infinite duration > [adjective]
echec825
echelichc825
endlessc888
lastinga1225
everlastingc1225
perdurablec1275
perpetuala1325
unendeda1325
incorruptiblea1340
ay-lastingc1340
inlastingc1340
eternec1366
interminablec1374
unstanchablec1374
ever-duringa1382
eternalc1386
sempitern1390
never-failinga1400
sempiternal14..
ever-being?a1425
ever-durable?a1425
immarcescible?a1475
perennal?c1500
deathless1547
everlastable1548
incessant1557
unperishing1561
undeterminable1581
evera1586
unendlya1586
inexterminable1592
never-ending?1592
aeviternal1596
dateless1597
undecaying1599
entombless1601
perishless1605
ageless1609
continual1610
perpetuous1612
imperible1614
ne'er-endinga1616
out-date1623
undated1624
perennious1628
immortal1630
imperishable1648
birthless1651
fadeless1652
sempiternous1653
evergreen1655
intemporal1656
indefectible1659
inconclusible1660
unending1661
aeonian1664
unfading1665
sempervirent1668
amaranthal1674
ne'er-dying1693
perennial1717
timeless1742
indefeatablea1754
amaranthine1782
aeonial1800
unterminating1821
unevanescent1827
ay1845
forever1879
sempervirid1909
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) v. sig. Ss2v But the time of my euer farewell approcheth.
1605 R. Verstegan Restit. Decayed Intelligence Ded. I take my leaue, desyring Almightie God..to bee your maiesties euer protector.
1605 R. Verstegan Restit. Decayed Intelligence ii. 42 They haue bin the only and euer possessors of their countrey.
1607 S. Rowlands Diogines Lanthorne 29 I know thy euer care For winters want..In Sommer doth prepare.
1609 Epist. in W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida (2nd issue) sig. ¶2 A neuer writer, to an euer reader.

Phrases

P1. In sense A. 1.
†a. Proverbial phrase. long is ever. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 9406 Longe beoð æuere [c1300 Otho euere] dæd ne bið he næuere.
a1400 (c1300) Serm. on Gospels (Coll. Phys.) in J. Small Eng. Metrical Homilies (1862) 103 Ful lang es euer, lang es euer.
1601 Hels Torments sig. Axi Where damned tortures dreadfull shall persever, So long as God is God, so long is ever.
b. Yours ever: used formulaically at the end of a letter (cf. yours pron. 4).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > correspondence > letter > letter or note [phrase] > concluding phrases
your (affectionate, very, etc.) friend1454
aggradation1533
Yours ever1564
yours faithfully1564
I (will) remain1600
pro bono publico1640
sincerely1702
regards1775
yours respectfully?1777
yours truly1788
1564 W. Bullein Dialogue against Fever Pestilence Ep. Ded. sig. A.iij This .xij. of Marche. 1564. Yours euer William Bulleyn.
1611 T. Heywood Golden Age To Rdr. sig. A2 As this is receiued, so you shall find the rest: either fearefull further to proceede, or encouraged boldly to follow. Yours ever T.H.
1713 New Acad. Complements (new ed.) 51 Yours ever, in Constancy and Service.
1763 J. Boswell Let. 28 July (1924) I. 38 My kind service to Bob. Yours ever, with most sincere affection, James Boswell.
1807 Ld. Byron Let. 6 Mar. (1973) I. 112 Poetic fame is by no means the ‘acme’ of my Wishes. Adieu yours ever Byron.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Let. to W. C. Bennett 22 Oct. Believe me, tho penny-post maddened, yours ever, A. Tennyson.
1914 T. E. Lawrence Lett. (1938) 169 Yours ever, T. E. Lawrence.
1954 A. S. C. Ross in Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 55 28 People who know each other really well..sign Yours ever.
1992 A. Lambert Rather Eng. Marriage (1993) ii. 37 Thank you again for your kind message, yours ever, Reggie.
c. †for all ever: = forever adv. 1a. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1583 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. on Deuteronomie ii. 9 The Doctrine which is set forth in the name of God, serueth not for our age onely, but for all euer[Fr. pourtousiours].
P2. In sense A. 2.
†a.
†(a) ever among: every now and then, repeatedly; (also) in many places, here and there, . Obsolete.
ΚΠ
c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Cambr.) (1901) l. 1527 (MED) Make we vs glade Eure among.
c1330 (?c1300) Amis & Amiloun (Auch.) (1937) l. 860 (MED) Euer swore hir moder among, ‘Certain, it was nouȝt so!’
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 7 Elsynus bisshop of Wynchestre evere among fondede to have þe see.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) iii. l. 4790 (MED) And euere amonge wern emeraudis grene.
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) ix. l. 86 Ere among ther be Wellis wel cold.
a1500 (?a1400) Morte Arthur (1903) l. 3038 Hys fader dred he euyr A-monge.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 v. iii. 22 Lusty laddes roame here and there so merely, and euer among so merily.
1619 F. Rous Arte of Happines iii. vii. 382 Thus shall the soule continue her flight towards heauen, if euer among shee anoynt her feathers with this Oile of the Spirit.
†(b) ever and among: = ever and anon at anon adv. Phrases 3. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1596 Z. Jones tr. M. Barleti Hist. G. Castriot i. 32 In the middest of his preparations he would euer and among vse exhortations and good encouragements.
1606 P. Holland tr. Suetonius Hist. Twelve Caesars 26 Admonishing his soldiers ever and among, to observe and have an ey unto him.
1631 M. Drayton Batt. Agincourt 307 From the Church the new Bride entertaine With Weeping Nenias, euer and among, As at departings be sad Requiems song.
†b. ever between: repeatedly; = ever among at Phrases 2a(a). Obsolete.
ΚΠ
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) II. 785 And ever betwene sir Trystram resorted unto Joyus Garde.
†c. ever and often: with constant reiteration, continually. Also ever and oft. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 14336 Honurd be þou, fader, euer and oft.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. ii. 46 Dalmatians..by Sea with Frigots and Brigantines did euer and often vexe the Venetian Commerce.
1882 W. Hoyle in Onward Reciter 11 120 Devils pass by him and leer; And ever and oft with agony He shook and saw them leer.
1917 E. W. Wilcox Poet. Wks. 501 But ever and often, and more and more, They are dragged down earthward by little things.
d. ever now and then (also †ever now and now, †ever now and then among): = now and (also †or) then at now adv., conj., n.1, and adj. Phrases 4b.
ΚΠ
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 286 And ever now and now com all the knyghtes home.
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 250v Who when he had clene beggered hymself wt expenses, would euer now and then thus saie vnto the birde [etc.].
1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 207 Besides these written ordinaunces of the law, he did ever now and then among, rayse uppe Prophetes unto them.
1608 B. P. Prentises Practise in Godlinesse ii. v. f. 35v Esteeming our olde bookes as olde friends, which must euer now and then be visited.
1684 tr. S. Blankaart Physical Dict. 5 Adephagia is the greediness of children, who ever now and then fall to fresh feeding before their former victuals are digested.
1687 A. Lovell tr. C. de Bergerac Comical Hist. i. 71 Ever now and then I looked upwards.
1716 Weekly Remarks 10 Mar. 88/1 Then they were ever now and then domineering and speaking in slight Terms of the Emperor.
1834 Morning Chron. 14 July One poor..little creature..was observed to turn round ever now and then, during Lord Grey's address.
1930 Moravia (Iowa) Union 9 Jan. I suffered from indignation ever now and then.
2005 P. E. C. Hiatt Memories of Many Moons Ago 18 Dad stayed gone a lot and got on the chain gain ever now and then.
†e.
(a) ever umbestound: every now and then, every so often, from time to time. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
OE Battle of Maldon (1942) 270 Hwilon he on bord sceat, hwilon beorn tæsde, æfre embe stunde he sealde sume wunde.
c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) l. 490 Þrof is heuinesse heard sar eauer umbe stunde.
(b) ever umwhile (also ever umbewhile): = ever umbestound at Phrases 2e(a). Obsolete.
ΚΠ
?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1137 Hi læiden gæildes on the tunes æure um wile.
c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) l. 393 Nawt ane on ende, Ah eauer umbe hwile.
f. ever and again: see again adv., prep., and conj. Phrases 5. ever and anon: see anon adv. Phrases 3.
P3. In sense A. 3.
a. ever as: (with verbs expressing continuous, repeated, or incremental action) as often as, whenever, wherever; as long as; the more that. Cf. as conj. 22. Now rare (chiefly poetic).
ΚΠ
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1104 Æfre ealswa se cyng for, full hergung þurh his hired uppon his wreccea folc wæs.
a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 134 And ðe deouel bloweð to from ðet hit erest kundleð and mucheleð his beli bles euer ase hit waxeð.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 3974 Þe kynge..ȝef hom large ȝiftes, euere as hii worthe were.
c1390 (c1300) MS Vernon Homilies in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1877) 57 310 (MED) Euere as his tonge out schot, hit glowed as a synder clot.
c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) ii. §12. 24 & euere as the sonne clymbith vppere & vppere, so goth his nadir downere & downere.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) II. 639 And ever as he somte [read smote] downe knyghtes, he made them to swere, [etc.].
1530 W. Tyndale Expos. 1 Cor. 308 And ever as he grew in promotions and dignity, so gathered he unto him of the most subtle-witted.
?1530 J. Rastell Pastyme of People sig. *Eiii His armye..euer as they went wan dyuers stronge holdes & townes.
c1571 E. Campion Two Bks. Hist. Ireland (1963) i. xv. 57 He subdued the land thoro and thorow, ever as he went pyling uppe castles and fortresses.
1594 2nd Rep. Dr. Faustus xxvii. sig. I4v Euer as they came vp to the breach the Cannon heaued them of.
1614 G. Markham Cheape & Good Husbandry ii. xxiv. 126 Ever as you knead it, sprinkle into it the graines of small Chilter-wheat.
1631 J. Weever Anc. Funerall Monuments 139 These..haue beene diuers times reformed, euer as they did degenerate from their primitiue sincerity.
1698 L. Milbourne Notes Dryden's Virgil 221 And ever as the rising scum appears, He with a Bough the foaming Copper clears.
a1795 S. Bishop Poet. Wks. (1796) I. 89 And ever as they meet, their ire Sets the whole Fairy-Court on fire.
1825 W. Scott Betrothed iii, in Tales Crusaders I. 59 March and October have witnessed me ever as they came round, for thirty years, deal with the best barley in Shropshire.
1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise: Pt. III 183 And ever as the shadows fell, More formless grew the unbreaking swell Far out to sea.
1936 Peace in Desert in L. E. Sweet Peoples & Cultures Middle East (1970) 244 And ever as there came coffee-bibbers to Zeyd's menzil, they asked for Khalîl.
1952 H. T. Wilkins Secret Cities Old S. Amer. (1998) i. 11 Ever as the night draws on..old ocean's waters..return with a sad and ghostly moaning.
b. †ever forth: continually henceforth, constantly from a specified time onwards.
ΚΠ
c1300 St. John Baptist (Laud) l. 123 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 33 Þis Abbod hire siwede euere forth.
c. ever in one: see one adj., n., and pron. Phrases 2b(b), Phrases 2b(c).
P4. In sense A. 5.
a. ever again: (usually in negative contexts) on any future occasion.
ΚΠ
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) ix. l. 802 Quhill [Wallace] thar maid promys be his hand, Gyff euir agayn he thocht to leyff Scotland To cum till him.
1566 T. Becon New Postil i. f. 125v Thou knowest not..whether thou shalt euer again haue such oportunitie & occasion to heare it.
a1618 W. Bradshaw Medit. Mans Mortalitie (1621) 59 There were no hope or expectation, that hee would ever againe shew himselfe mercifull.
1678 V. Alsop Melius Inquirendum i. i. 73 When the Act comes out against Metaphors, I hope there will be a clause in't, that no Rhetorician shall ever again use an Argument.
1730 C. Coffey Female Parson iii. ii. 49 If ever again I do marry, May Beasts my Associates be.
1788 Oswald Castle II. 47 Leave me, my lord duke, you have no right to expect I shall ever again suffer my doors to be opened to you.
1847 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) xiv. 130 Nor did he ever again face the doughty Mrs. Pipchin.
1893 G. Gissing Odd Women III. x. 307 When once a woman has lied, how can she ever again be believed?
1940 S. Lewis Bethel Merriday xiii. 108 Their rudeness had made her less likely ever again to mistake insolence for good manners.
2003 Sugar Aug. 24/2 Although I'd told myself I wouldn't touch drugs ever again, I thought half a pill wouldn't do any harm.
b. colloquial. as ever is (also was): (originally with comparative force) (as good, bad, etc.) as any that exists or existed; subsequently also used merely to add emphasis to a statement (now rare).
ΚΠ
1530 W. Tyndale Pract. Prelates sig. Kix Nor spareth to persecute the bloude of Christ in as cleare lyght as euer was.
1566 J. Studley tr. Seneca Agamemnon v. i Within a reuell rexe is kept, as sore as euer was.
1631 B. Jonson New Inne ii. ii. 36 There is a chare-woman..a poore silly foole, But an impertinent, and sedulous one, As euer was.
1654 E. Burrough Warning to Inhabitants Underbarrow 38 And here is the ground of all the Saints Imprisonment, now as ever was, the envie of the Devil working in Fallen man.
1708 in Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. (1870) X. 78 Bad riding as ever was.
1754 H. Walpole Mem. George II (1822) I. 328 As un-British an age as ever was.
1842 Knickerbocker 20 96 I am seventy-two as ever was this very spring.
1849 C. Dickens David Copperfield (1850) xxi. 216 She has been as good a girl as ever was.
1890 S. Hale Lett. (1919) 248 Louis Church..a dear as ever was, aged twenty-one.
1919 F. M. Ford Let. 2 Sept. (1965) 98 If..you wd. care to adventure either next Week End as ever is or next but one, a train leaves Victoria at 3:40 p.m.
1950 C. Carswell Lying Awake (1997) 197 We are off—all being well next Sunday as ever is.
2007 J. McCourt Now Voyagers vi. 264 As to the others, there they sit, as hapless a lot of grounded coryphées as ever was.
c. colloquial. if ever there (also if there ever) was (one): an assertion that the person or thing referred to is a perfect or undoubted example of its kind.
ΚΠ
1681 S. Grenadine Homais 15 But Caragus a peaceful Man, if ever there was one, chose rather to deprive Himself of that Pleasure.
1729 N. Tindal tr. P. Rapin de Thoyras Hist. Eng. VIII. xvi. 92 And yet Doctor Burnet, an exact Historian, if ever there was one.., mentions only three Articles.
1822 T. Carlyle Let. 12 Jan. (1886) II. 30 In composition with ‘fence’ to be sure, and not governing ‘shrubs’, but still a preposition if there ever was one.
1872 T. Hardy Under Greenwood Tree I. ii. v. 189 Geoffrey Day is a clever man if ever there was one.
1912 T. Dreiser Financier xix. 213 A great young man, if there ever was one.
1929 G. Goodwin Conversat. with G. Moore xxvi. 161 Richard Wormald was..a large-hearted millionaire if ever there was one.
1969 Guardian 21 May 10/4 The Playboy Club—an example of how ‘architecture can help to solve the social, visual, technical, and economic problems of the twentieth century’ if ever there was one.
2012 Wall St. Jrnl. 27 Nov. d4/5 But in Act II, Ms. Cabell was allowed to open up..in her ecstatic double-suicide duet with Romeo—an applause-trap if there ever was one.
d. colloquial. did you ever?: used elliptically for ‘did you ever see or hear the like?’; would you believe it? Similarly did anybody ever?, if ever!, was there ever?, who'd ever? Cf. well, I never! at never adv. and int. Phrases 3. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1818 Ld. Byron Beppo lxxxviii. 45 Did I ever? No, I never Saw a man grown so yellow!
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan I. 150 ‘My stars!—well, if ever!’—wiping her fat hands very carefully.
1828 T. Creevey Let. 6 Dec. in J. Gore Creevey's Life & Times (1934) xiii. 294 Lady Louisa..believed Papa would not have come..if I had not been coming. Was there ever?
1840 Spirit of Times 21 Nov. 447/3 What a fib! did you ever? well, I never did hear the beat of that.
1844 G. E. Jewsbury Let. 24 June (1892) 136 He..found that the surgery-boy had..given calomel instead of ipecacuanha! Did you ever?
1854 J. E. Cooke Virginia Comedians I. xiv. 77 ‘Did anybody ever!’ said Miss Alethea.
1861 C. Reade Cloister & Hearth II. xvii. 294 So then, if they take us to task we can say, alack we knew nought; we thought no ill; now, who'd ever? and so forth.
1892 Peel City Guardian 23 Jan. 3/3 ‘And where is she now?’ ‘In a studio.’..‘Did you ever!’ said Mrs. Fanshaw.
1909 J. Masefield Trag. Nan iii, in Trag. Nan & Other Plays 61 Fifty pou-und. Fifty pou-und. Did you ever.
1939 C. A. Porter Well, did you evah? in Noel & Cole (1992) 183 Have you heard it's in the stars Next July we collide with Mars?..Well, did you evah! What a swell party this is.
P5. In sense A. 7.
a. ever so.
(a) In hypothetical and concessive clauses preceding adjectives or adverbs: in any conceivable degree. Now somewhat archaic.Probably substituted, on the grounds of being thought more logical, for the much older never so: see never so at never adv. 4a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > very
tooc888
swith971
wellOE
wellOE
fullOE
rightc1175
muchc1225
wellac1275
gainlya1375
endlyc1440
hard?1440
very1448
odda1500
great1535
jolly1549
fellc1600
veryvery1649
gooda1655
vastly1664
strange1667
bloody1676
ever so1686
heartily1727
real1771
precious1775
quarely1805
murry1818
très1819
freely1820
powerfula1822
gurt1824
almighty1830
heap1832
all-fired1833
gradely1850
real1856
bonny1857
heavens1858
veddy1859
canny1867
some1867
oh-so1881
storming1883
spanking1886
socking1896
hefty1898
velly1898
fair dinkum1904
plurry1907
Pygmalion1914
dinkum1915
beaucoup1918
dirty1920
molto1923
snorting1924
honking1929
hellishing1931
thumpingly1948
way1965
mega1966
mondo1968
seriously1970
totally1972
mucho1978
stonking1990
1686 G. Burnet Lett. Present State Italy iii. 123 When it hath rained ever so little..the Carts go deep, and are hardly drawn.
1739 J. Richards Annuities on Lives 96 This is often the Case, let the Covenants of the Lease be ever so strict and binding.
1764 T. Reid Inq. Human Mind vi. §3 His eyes, though ever so perfect.
1777 H. Cartwright Lett. Female Educ. 61 On every occasion continue stedfast and immoveable in the cause of duty, though ever so much provocated to forsake it.
1800 Locke's Some Thoughts conc. Educ. (rev. ed.) §189. 213 Not to take an answer, though ever so [1692 and subsequent eds. read never so] full and satisfactory.
1816 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. (1828) II. xix. 142 If ever so many queens are introduced into a hive.
1856 Pop. Lecturer New Ser. 1 314 Those two classes adopt two different forms of a very old proverb, which sets forth that home is home, be it ever so homely.
1881 A. Trollope Ayala's Angel I. xx. 243 The chimes must be heard at midnight, let a young man be ever so well given to the proprieties.
1918 R. Frost Let. 24 Oct. (2014) I. 632 If you bounce ever so little with the skid you'll tip up onto your crank shaft.
1941 P. Faxon in N.Y. Herald Tribune 29 June (This Week section) 9/3 Be it ever so humble your living room is a ‘lounge’.
1997 A. Barnett This Time iii. 92 The symbolic representative of each one of us, be he ever so lowly.
(b) colloquial. Used in affirmative contexts as a vague intensive, often expressing enthusiasm or gratitude: to an indefinite or unlimited degree; very.
ΚΠ
1793 J. Trapp tr. A. Rochon Voy. Madagascar (rev. ed.) Prelim. Disc. p. xxviii Tacamacca, stinking-wood, and ever so many other valuable trees.
1848 A. B. Evans Leicestershire Words (at cited word) I met him swanking along the road, ever so genteel.
1858 N. Hawthorne Fr. & Ital. Jrnls. (1872) I. 13 Ever so little to their credit.
1870 A. D. T. Whitney We Girls i. 3 Ever so many years ago.
1885 ‘F. Anstey’ Tinted Venus 79 Thank you ever so much, Leander dear!
1918 V. Woolf Diary 4 July (1979) I. 117 The first walk we've had for ever so long.
1962 P. Bracken I hate to housekeep Bk. xi. 140 Using the eyeliner ever so carefully.
2011 T. Ronald Becoming Nancy (2012) viii. 113 Your hair looks ever so nice today, Moira!
(c) Used elliptically.
(i) colloquial (chiefly British). Short for: ever so much. Now chiefly in expressions of gratitude; thanks ever so: see thank n. Phrases 1b.
ΚΠ
a1816 R. B. Sheridan School for Scandal (rev. ed.) ii. ii, in Wks. (1821) II. 54 Though Sir Peter's ill-humour may vex me ever so, it never shall provoke me to [etc.].
1843 W. M. Thackeray Jérôme Paturot 349 If..the caricaturist had made fun of me ever so, I would..have put up with the insult.
1877 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. (at cited word) She fret ever so when Harry 'listed.
1891 All Year Round 4 July 21/2 ‘You can't see Mabel, not if you want ever so,’ he said, standing there shoeless and ruffle-headed.
1915 Pearson's Mag. May 530/2 You're a brick... Thank you ever so.
1923 E. Gepp Essex Dial. Dict. (ed. 2) 44 Drawed out ever so she was.
1949 K. Ferrier Let. 18 May (2004) iii. 79 Ta ever so for doing all the donkey work.
2002 E. Wooff Mud Puppy xx. 197 ‘You're in luck. That's where I'm going too’. ‘Ta ever so’.
(ii) English regional (now archaic and rare). if it was ever so: however great the need might be.
ΚΠ
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words I. 215 ‘I wouldn't do it if it were ever so,’ i.e. nothing should induce me to do it.
1858 C. M. Yonge Christmas Mummers viii. 115 I couldn't lead the worship if it was ever so!
1882 E. L. Chamberlain Gloss. W. Worcs. Words (at cited word) ‘I wunt ax 'im for bread, not if it was ever so’.
1973 P. O'Brian HMS Surprise (1996) iv. 74 When I nursed Moss on his death-bed, he was that cross and fractious! No goose-pie, no mandragore, no posset, not if it was ever so.
1995 J. M. Sims-Kimbrey Wodds & Doggerybaw: Lincs. Dial. Dict. 93/2 Yon doctor ast me ter show 'im me chist, but A cunt, not even if it wus ever so. Tint daycent, it int, a man seein' me chist!
b. ever such.
(a) In hypothetical and concessive clauses preceding adjectives or adverbs: to any degree, however much. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1722 Bibliotheca Biblica II. vi. 81 If he were to multiply Sensible Miracles ever so Often, ever so Variously, and with ever such Astonishing Circumstances.
1751 tr. G.-S. de Mainvilliers Beau-philosopher 193 Was it to be attended with ever such difficult Circumstances, there is nothing that a great mind will not undertake.
1846 Athenaeum 25 July 766/1 Had the author of this work invited us with ever such pert provocations down from the noble lists where our previous encounter took place, we should have left him unnoticed.
1874 Naut. Mag. June 468 Chains will have to be sent..to Glasgow, to be tested.., before they can be legally sold, if a ship be in ever such dire want.
(b) colloquial. Used in affirmative contexts as a vague intensive: to an indefinite or unlimited degree; very much.
ΚΠ
1802 M. Charlton Wife & Mistress IV. v. 97 ‘Lord bless me, no Ma'am!’ replied she: ‘its ever such a way off.’
1895 Pick-me-up 22 June 186/2 She talked in this strain all the way, with ever such a delicious, distracting little plain in her voice.
1918 L. A. Harker Children of Dear Cotswolds xiii. 183 We'll have ever such nice times while I'm here.
1933 ‘E. M. Delafield’ Gay Life ii. 32 My Pops says I'm ever such a lucky girl to have such heaps of friends.
1992 K. Charles Snares of Death xxxvii. 289 They make ever such a handsome couple.
2011 J. Finnis Shadows in Night xii. 119 Ever-such-tasteful statuary dotted about.

Compounds

C1. In senses A. 1 – A. 3.
a.
(a) With adjectives and past participles used attributively or as postmodifiers, as ever-abiding, ever-angry, ever-blooming, ever-changeful, ever-dear, ever-esteemed, etc.Usually hyphenated. Forming an unlimited number of compounds.
ΚΠ
c1390 Talkyng of Love of God (Vernon) (1950) 32 Wiþ euerlykynde loue to regnen in blisse.
1447 O. Bokenham Lives of Saints (Arun.) (1938) l. 831 (MED) O lord euere regnyng, haue mercy on me!
c1450 Speculum Christiani (Harl. 6580) (1933) 42 (MED) Thou schalt possesse lyf euer-endurynge.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) ii. x. sig. V3 The euer-noble nature of Leonatus.
1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 49 Philosophie..is..to lead vs to the eternall fruition of our supreme and euerabiding good.
1590 T. Watson Poems (1870) 159 Yee seaunfold flames, whose euer-circling fires maintain this earth.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. i. sig. A8v Cynthia still doth steepe In siluer deaw his euer-drouping hed.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost i. i. 257 My euer esteemed duetie prickes me on. View more context for this quotation
1599 T. Moffett Silkewormes 46 The Vulture gnawing stil That euer-dyingeuer-liuing wretch.
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion i. 2 O euer-happie Iles..By Nature stronglie fenc't.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) iii. iii. 466 Witnesse you euer-burning lights aboue. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. ii. 290 Thy grones Did..penetrate the breasts Of euer-angry Beares. View more context for this quotation
1641 J. Milton Reason Church-govt. 21 God..brought forth..that beneficent and ever distributing office of Deacons.
1646 R. Crashaw Musicks Duell in Steps to Temple 105 Panting murmurs, still'd out of her Breast That ever-bubling spring.
1648 in S. R. Gardiner Hamilton Papers (1880) 174 My ever honored Lord.
a1649 W. Drummond Wks. (1711) 32/2 Ethereal Princes, ever-conquering Bands.
1659 (title) Golden remains of the ever memorable Mr Iohn Hales.
1685 J. Dryden Misc. ii. 72 To treat thy evercraving Mind With ev'ry Blessing.
a1687 E. Waller Wks. (1729) 183 What our earth, and what our heav'n denies, Our everconstant friend, the sea supplies.
1703 N. Rowe Fair Penitent ii. i Oh! hear me, hear your ever faithful creature!
a1711 T. Ken Hymnotheo in Wks. (1721) III. 74 Their drink from ever-dropping Trees is rain'd.
1714 A. Pope Rape of Lock (new ed.) ii. 14 The Skies, Where Light disports in ever-mingling Dies.
1715 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad I. ii. 1019 The fierce Pelasgi..March from Larissa's ever-fertile Ground.
1740 S. Richardson Pamela II. 388 My ever-dear and ever-honour'd Father and Mother.
1742 F. Blyth Serm. Every Sunday II. 281 The immense Sea of God's ever-flowing Mercy.
1744 J. Armstrong Art of preserving Health iii. 86 Th' ever-varying circle of the day.
1744 J. Thomson Autumn in Seasons (new ed.) 166 The melting Snows, and ever-dripping Fogs.
1786 R. Burns Poems 189 O'er the Harp pale Misery moans, And strikes the ever-deep'ning tones.
1797 A. Radcliffe Italian I. i. 4 The city and bay of Naples, an ever-moving picture.
1808 H. More Cœlebs in Search of Wife II. xxvi. 50 Its versatile temper, and its ever-new resources.
1812 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Cantos I & II i. li. 33 The ball-pil'd pyramid, the ever-blazing match, Portend the deeds to come.
1827 J. Keble Christian Year I. xxiii. 90 Brightening in ever-changeful bloom.
1846 W. Hamilton in T. Reid Wks. 798/2 No answer could be afforded to the ever-recurring questions.
1852 Ld. Tennyson Ode Wellington 79 Ever-echoing avenues of song.
1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake II. xxii. 372 A life literally new, ever-renewing, ever-expanding and eternal.
1866 J. H. Newman Dream of Gerontius ii. 14 Fainter and more faint the accents come, As at an ever-widening interval.
1868 C. Darwin in F. Darwin Life & Lett. C. Darwin (1887) III. 75 My ever-recurrent uncomfortable sensations.
1901 W. James Let. 17 May (1920) II. 146 Plane rising behind plane of flat dark relieved against flat light in ever-receding gradation.
1909 E. Pound Exultations 39 This ever-flowing monotony.
1937 R. H. Lowie Hist. Ethnol. Theory viii. 109 An ever-recurring principle.
1979 Dædalus Summer 157 A child sitting in the classroom is offered an ever-widening dominion.
2012 Financial Express (Bangladesh) (Nexis) 3 Feb. I urge all to remain ever-vigilant and alert against any kind of heinous attempt to hinder the country's democratic process.
(b)
ever-changing adj.
ΚΠ
1645 W. Lithgow True Relation Siege Newcastle 29 That sudden clappe Of ever changing Tyme.
1777 C. Anstey Familiar Epist. C. W. Bampfylde (ed. 2) 7 Ever changing forms which sight deceive.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Def. Poetry in Ess. & Lett. (1840) I. 26 Like the alternations of an ever-changing wind over an Æolian lyre, which move it by their motion to ever-changing melody.
1946 National Geographic Mag. July 65/2 The low-growing mat plants, such as bistort, king's crown, mountain sunflower, and golden avens, present a constant and ever-changing array of color.
2014 Science 22 Aug. 859/1 Behind China's vaunted system of Internet censorship are throngs of specialized police officers, fake commentators, and ever-changing technologies.
ever-increasing adj.
ΚΠ
1570 T. Norton tr. A. Nowell Catechisme ii. f. 29v The onely, holy, and euer encreasing noble fountaine.
1635 R. Sibbes Soules Conflict xxviii. 443 An everlasting ever-encreasing intercourse betwixt God and the soule is maintained.
1799 tr. Hist. Jrnl. in Brit. Mercury 30 Apr. 18 Goaded by ever-increasing wants.
1855 A. L. Phillipps Mahometanism vi. 249 Anarchical and revolutionary outbreaks, that..have, with ever-increasing force, shaken..the civilized world.
1939 M. Spring Rice Working-class Wives iii. 50 Years of ever-increasing toil.
2014 C. Seife Virtual Unreality x. 178 You have the option to buy an ever-increasing variety of crops, animals, and doodads that allow you to customize your farm.
ever-shifting adj.
ΚΠ
1789 H. L. Piozzi Observ. Journey France I. 16 Our serpentine walk; which still presents, either to sight or expectation, some changes of variety in the ever-shifting prospect.
1890 Chambers's Jrnl. 12 July 433/1 The ever-shifting bars and sandbanks of our river estuaries.
1959 E. Pound Thrones xcvii. 29 Earth under Fortuna, each sphere hath its Lord, with ever-shifting change, sempre biasmata.
2015 N.Y. Mag. 5 Oct. 14/3 Over the years, right-wing discontent has sundered the party into a number of ever-shifting sub-factions.
b. With to be, followed by a past participle, forming attributive adjectives. Cf. never adv. and int. Compounds 1a.
ΚΠ
1628 R. Markham (title) The description, of that euer to be famed knight, Sir Iohn Burgh, Colonell Generall of his Maiesties armie.
1778 F. Burney Evelina III. ii. 22 He wrote the ever-to-be-regretted letter.
1815 M. Pilkington Celebrity II. 91 This dear and ever-to-be-lamented parent.
1815 W. Wordsworth Poems I. 366 If Names are more acceptable than images, where is the ever-to-be-honoured Chaucer?
1917 Automotive Industries 4 Oct. 584/1 This is the unforeseen, but ever-to-be-expected feature of an ambulance driver's life.
2002 R. P. Crease in B. E. Babich Hermeneutic Philos. Sci. 35 The ever-changing and always historical laboratory environment with all its ever-to-be-updated instrumentation and technologies.
c. With nouns denoting an action or state related to verbs or adjectives. rare.
ΚΠ
1665 J. Sergeant Sure-footing in Christianity 76 The Proper Cause must be an ever-delivery.
1665 J. Sergeant Sure-footing in Christianity 106 The ever-continuance or uninterruptedness of Tradition.
1892 Church Times 14 Feb. 144 The ever-virginity of the Mother of Christ was never called in question until the 4th century.
2007 R. Grossinger N. Y. Mets 165 They encompass a fearful, anxious part of me, a self that is troubled by the danger of the streets at night.., the ever-nearness of disaster and loss.
C2.
ever-bearer n. a plant or plant variety that produces flowers and fruit continuously throughout the growing season.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > flower or flowering plant > [noun] > flowering or blossoming > plant characterized by time, duration, or order of
precoque?1440
serotine1598
night-flower1648
precoce1660
winter flower1664
everbloomer1850
ever-bearer1855
nudiflor1885
1855 Rep. Commissioner Patents 1854: Agric. 319 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (33rd Congr., 2nd Sess.: Senate Executive Doc. No. 42) X. I suppose it is the same as that known by the name of ‘Ohio Ever-bearer’. The growing shrub can scarcely be distinguished from the common wild raspberry.
1929 J. E. Weaver & F. E. Clements Plant Ecol. xiii. 326 While..most plants have a comparatively short period of flowering and fruiting each year..reproductive activity in some continues through several months. The latter are known as ever-bloomers or ever-bearers.
2010 Independent 30 June 47/2 A range of strawberries.., some June-bearers and others ever-bearers.
everbearing adj. producing flowers and fruit continuously throughout the growing season; also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by age or cycles > [adjective] > evergreen or ever-blooming
evergreen1593
everbearing1597
everblooming1600
still-green1603
perennialc1660
sempervirent1668
evergrowing1843
sempervirid1909
1597 T. Middleton Wisdome of Solomon Paraphr. iii. sig. D3v They are the righteous which enioye this earth, The figure of an euer-bearing birth.
1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. i. iii. §8 46 Abundance of high Cedars, and other stately trees casting shade,..euer bearing, and at all times beautified with blossome and fruit.
1660 T. Watson Beatitudes 609 This Tree of life was ever bearing; and he brought forth several sorts of Fruit, Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification &c.
1795 Heads of Disc. in R. South Beauties of South 205 The apple tree, denotes his excellence and superiority... To contemplate the subject at large, we might consider..Its abiding verdure: it is ever green and ever bearing.
1892 Jrnl. Columbus Hort. Soc. 7 32 An ever-bearing variety, bearing continuously from May to October.
1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 13 Oct. 15/1 Evergreen blackberries and everbearing strawberries are coming in but in small quantities.
2016 Reader's Digest Quintessential Guide Gardening 143 To prune everbearing raspberries, cut all canes that have borne fruit back to 4 feet.
ever-being adj. and n. (a) adj. that always is; always existing; (b) n. an eternally existing being.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > eternity or infinite duration > [adjective]
echec825
echelichc825
endlessc888
lastinga1225
everlastingc1225
perdurablec1275
perpetuala1325
unendeda1325
incorruptiblea1340
ay-lastingc1340
inlastingc1340
eternec1366
interminablec1374
unstanchablec1374
ever-duringa1382
eternalc1386
sempitern1390
never-failinga1400
sempiternal14..
ever-being?a1425
ever-durable?a1425
immarcescible?a1475
perennal?c1500
deathless1547
everlastable1548
incessant1557
unperishing1561
undeterminable1581
evera1586
unendlya1586
inexterminable1592
never-ending?1592
aeviternal1596
dateless1597
undecaying1599
entombless1601
perishless1605
ageless1609
continual1610
perpetuous1612
imperible1614
ne'er-endinga1616
out-date1623
undated1624
perennious1628
immortal1630
imperishable1648
birthless1651
fadeless1652
sempiternous1653
evergreen1655
intemporal1656
indefectible1659
inconclusible1660
unending1661
aeonian1664
unfading1665
sempervirent1668
amaranthal1674
ne'er-dying1693
perennial1717
timeless1742
indefeatablea1754
amaranthine1782
aeonial1800
unterminating1821
unevanescent1827
ay1845
forever1879
sempervirid1909
?a1425 tr. Catherine of Siena Orcherd of Syon (Harl.) (1966) 59 (MED) Sche felte in hirsilf þe feelyng of her soule so wondirfully renulid in þat euerebeynge godheed.
1655 W. Gouge & T. Gouge Learned Comm. Hebrewes (i. 8) i. 73 The Greek word here translated ever, (αἰῶνα), according to the notation of the Greek word it signifieth ever-being (ἀεὶ ὤν).
1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge 24 Gods whole eternity rightly taken..is..one only everbeing now.
1677 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. III ii. iv. 284 So also the Poets stile their fictitious Gods..ever-beings.
1845 P. J. Bailey Festus (ed. 2) 232 A bride of God, And handmaid of the Everbeing One.
1967 Synthese 17 115 Parmenides was the first philosopher who introduced abstract concepts in his philosophy—the semata in terms of which the aion (the ever-being One) was described.
1988 A. Hofstadter tr. M. Heidegger Basic Probl. Phenomenol. (rev. ed.) ii. i. 303 Ancient philosophy defines as the being that is in the truest sense, the aei on, the ever-being.
ever-beingness n. rare the state of always existing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > infiniteness > [noun]
endlessness1340
everbleving1340
infinityc1374
everlastingnessa1382
immensityc1450
infiniteness1534
infinition?1605
illimitation1610
immenseness1610
incomprehensibleness1611
incircumscriptibleness1615
boundlessnessa1619
indefinity1623
unlimitedness1631
unboundedness1640
infinitude1641
incomprehensibility1650
incircumscription1651
ever-beingness1674
extendlessnessa1676
indefinitudea1676
uncircumscribedness1679
interminability1681
interminableness1682
illimitedness1703
limitlessness1839
illimitability1841
illimitableness1845
uncircumscription1852
unconditionedness1854
unbeginningness1862
beginninglessness1865
ever-duringness1868
1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge 13 Such words to set forth Gods ever-beingness by, as may be sure to shut out formerness and afterness.
1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge 20 An inward ever-beingness, that is neither cleavesome, nor on and on.
2006 K. P. Sastry Space-Time Continuum v. 220 In poems like the above, space and time are looked at..as instruments..for bringing into ever-beingness in the Being.
† everbleving n. [ < ever adv. + bleving, variant of beleaving n.] Obsolete everlastingness, eternal existence.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > infiniteness > [noun]
endlessness1340
everbleving1340
infinityc1374
everlastingnessa1382
immensityc1450
infiniteness1534
infinition?1605
illimitation1610
immenseness1610
incomprehensibleness1611
incircumscriptibleness1615
boundlessnessa1619
indefinity1623
unlimitedness1631
unboundedness1640
infinitude1641
incomprehensibility1650
incircumscription1651
ever-beingness1674
extendlessnessa1676
indefinitudea1676
uncircumscribedness1679
interminability1681
interminableness1682
illimitedness1703
limitlessness1839
illimitability1841
illimitableness1845
uncircumscription1852
unconditionedness1854
unbeginningness1862
beginninglessness1865
ever-duringness1868
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 105 Þet uerste word [sc. Pater] ous sseweþ þe langnesse of his eurebleuinge.
everbloomer n. a plant or plant variety that produces flowers throughout the growing season.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > flower or flowering plant > [noun] > flowering or blossoming > plant characterized by time, duration, or order of
precoque?1440
serotine1598
night-flower1648
precoce1660
winter flower1664
everbloomer1850
ever-bearer1855
nudiflor1885
1850 Midland Florist 4 390 Fulgens,..in form and brilliancy of colour, is identical with the old favourite summer rose of that name, but which differs from it in the very desirable quality of being an ever-bloomer.
1921 U.S. Dept. Agric. Yearbk. 1920 394 The violet behaves as a true everbloomer only when..the appropriate length of the daylight period is held approximately constant.
2016 Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) (Nexis) 8 Oct. a17 Everbloomers..do not usually need pruning but may be cut to shape almost any time of year.
everblooming adj. producing flowers throughout the growing season; (also figurative) continuously flourishing or in its prime.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by age or cycles > [adjective] > evergreen or ever-blooming
evergreen1593
everbearing1597
everblooming1600
still-green1603
perennialc1660
sempervirent1668
evergrowing1843
sempervirid1909
1600 T. Storer in W. Vaughan Golden-groue sig. A8v Thy Golden-groue, thy euer-blooming spring.
1774 T. Hull Henry II iii. 36 Receive me to thy arms, enfold me there, Where ever-blooming sweets perpetual rise.
1798 C. Marshall Introd. Knowl. & Pract. Gardening (ed. 2) xix. 353 An ever blooming pink, price 2s 6d.
1857 National Mag. Jan. 44/2 Had not man tasted the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge, it is probable that his existence had been perpetuated in ever-blooming youth by means of the tree of life.
1893 J. S. Van Voorhis Old & New Monongahela 29 The western wilds and sandy deserts have been converted into fields of ever-blooming flowers.
1959 Times 7 Feb. 1/5 (advt.) Golden Showers, the new ever-blooming climbing rose,..with a shower of golden flowers from early summer to late autumn.
2006 Saltscapes (Canada) May 84/1 Look for long-season or everblooming perennials, workhorse plants that bloom more or less continuously throughout the growing season.
everbrown n. [humorously after evergreen n.] now rare a plant that is always brown.
ΚΠ
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby ii. 7 The scanty box, and stunted everbrowns, and broken flower-pots..are scattered mournfully about.
1869 Judy 13 Jan. 125/1 The ivy had withered and the evergreens turned to everbrowns.
2006 J. Couper Long & Winding Road 183 The pine beetle and the spruce budworm are killing the evergreens that shoulder the road and turning them into everbrowns.
ever-crescent adj. always growing.
ΚΠ
1650 J. Bulwer Anthropometamorphosis 172 The Organs of the Practique Intellect are to rectifie and regulate the excrescent, supercrescent, and ever-crescent parts.
1828 Morning Chron. 18 Mar. New beauties rise In Nature's ever crescent qualities.
1920 Methodist Rev. Sept. 790 Truth waxes as dogma wanes, and ever crescent life pushes through decadent forms.
2009 R. Orsato Sustainability Strategies vii. 169 The ever-crescent car population can generate another self-inflicted wound on the automotive industry.
ever-durable adj. that lasts for ever, or for an indefinitely long time.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > eternity or infinite duration > [adjective]
echec825
echelichc825
endlessc888
lastinga1225
everlastingc1225
perdurablec1275
perpetuala1325
unendeda1325
incorruptiblea1340
ay-lastingc1340
inlastingc1340
eternec1366
interminablec1374
unstanchablec1374
ever-duringa1382
eternalc1386
sempitern1390
never-failinga1400
sempiternal14..
ever-being?a1425
ever-durable?a1425
immarcescible?a1475
perennal?c1500
deathless1547
everlastable1548
incessant1557
unperishing1561
undeterminable1581
evera1586
unendlya1586
inexterminable1592
never-ending?1592
aeviternal1596
dateless1597
undecaying1599
entombless1601
perishless1605
ageless1609
continual1610
perpetuous1612
imperible1614
ne'er-endinga1616
out-date1623
undated1624
perennious1628
immortal1630
imperishable1648
birthless1651
fadeless1652
sempiternous1653
evergreen1655
intemporal1656
indefectible1659
inconclusible1660
unending1661
aeonian1664
unfading1665
sempervirent1668
amaranthal1674
ne'er-dying1693
perennial1717
timeless1742
indefeatablea1754
amaranthine1782
aeonial1800
unterminating1821
unevanescent1827
ay1845
forever1879
sempervirid1909
?a1425 tr. Catherine of Siena Orcherd of Syon (Harl.) (1966) 76 Ȝe myȝte ascape ouer þe flood and come to þe liif þat is euere durable.
1664 H. More Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity 386 A third Angel..denounces most direfull and ever-durable torments to those that worship the Beast and his Image.
1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farming iii. 44 Placing these sort of growing or ever durable Stones at the proper Places.
1819 Sunday Visitant (Charleston, S. Carolina) 9 Jan. 5 The ever-durable advantages he possesses, whose mind is amply stored.
1901 Photographic Dealer Dec. 140/2 It is rather a barren honor to feel that one's country is pre-eminently able to meet the rush of the million into photography with an ever durable mahogany box.
2003 T. White Justice Denoted 134 A lawyer serving indefinite suspension from legal practice, in a long-running series involving capers and clients similar to the ever-durable Mason series.
ever-glooming adj. rare perpetually gloomy.
ΚΠ
1592 T. Kyd Spanish Trag. i. sig. A2v Through dreadfull shades of euer-glooming night.
1891 Hampshire Advertiser 22 Aug. 5/4 One shadow there is, ever present, ever glooming, ever menacing.
1911 New Eng. Mag. Jan. 436 The silver light of eventide Slips from the ever glooming pines.
2013 J.-P. Breton Unexpected War x. 132 There was the ever-glooming threat of me not making it back one day.
† evergrow n. Obsolete rare a plant which produces new growth throughout the year.
ΚΠ
1682 N. Grew Anat. Plants iv. i. v. 156 And an Evergrow, is a degree above an Evergreen: here, the Buds and young Sprigs, do only live; there, they grow and are put forth.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.eOEadv.adj.OE
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