释义 |
godn.int. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian god, Old Dutch god (Middle Dutch, Dutch god), Old Saxon god (Middle Low German got, (inflected) gōd-, godd-), Old High German got (Middle High German got, German Gott), Old Icelandic guð, goð, Norn (Shetland) go,Old Swedish guþ (Swedish gud), Danish gud (already in early modern Danish), Gothic guþ (usually abbreviated as ḡþ) < a Germanic base of uncertain origin (see note). Further etymology. The further etymology is very uncertain. The underlying Germanic base has been explained as a derivative (with the Germanic base of -ed suffix1) of the zero-grade of either of two possible Indo-European verbal bases: (i) the (unsuffixed) base of yet v. with the underlying meaning ‘pour’ (used here with reference to poured sacrifices or libations), or (ii) a base with the meaning ‘to invoke’. With (i) perhaps compare Sanskrit huta poured in sacrifice, sacrificed and the similarly-formed (or perhaps cognate) ancient Greek χυτός poured (out), fluid. The base of (ii) is apparently reflected by Sanskrit hū- to invoke (a god) (ablaut variant of hve- to call, summon; compare also puru-hūta , lit. ‘much-invoked’ or ‘invoked by many’, epithet of Indra), Old Irish guth voice, Old Church Slavonic zŭvati to call out, invite, name; this interpretation has often been favoured, but it poses phonological problems. Compare also Gaulish gutu- (in gutuater priest), Lithuanian žavėti to charm, practise magic, which may derive in a similar way from either of these Indo-European bases. Inflection in Old English; variation in gender. In Old English both a strong masculine and a strong neuter (the difference in gender apparently being to some extent semantically motivated: see below); a weak genitive plural form godena (Northumbrian godana ) is also occasionally attested, but the word does not otherwise show weak inflection. The Germanic word was apparently originally strong neuter (a -stem), and it has been hypothesized that the change in gender to strong masculine (a -stem) was a direct consequence of its adoption by the Church as a Christian term, in order to distinguish the personal Judaeo-Christian God from the impersonal pagan gods. The inflectional history of the word in the various Germanic languages appears to show a pattern in which the (original) neuter gender tends to be associated with the pagan gods, while the (later) masculine gender is associated with the Judaeo-Christian God. Gothic guþ (plural guda ) preserves the endings of a strong neuter noun, although it has masculine grammatical agreement (except when referring to the pagan gods). Old Icelandic guð (also goð ) can be both neuter and masculine (the nominative form without -r shows its neuter origin, while the plural forms are respectively unchanged (neuter) and with masculine endings -ar , -ir ); it is generally neuter when used of the pagan gods, and masculine when used of the Judaeo-Christian God (in later Icelandic there is semantic differentiation of the phonological variants, with goð (neuter) applied only to the pagan gods, and guð (masculine) reserved for the Judaeo-Christian God). In West Germanic the word is usually strong masculine; Old English god is regularly masculine with reference to the Judaeo-Christian God, and either masculine or neuter when used in the plural (respectively godas and godu ) with reference to the pagan gods; Old High German got is usually masculine even when referring to the latter (masculine plural gota ; however compare the compound helligot (neuter plural), lit. ‘gods of hell’, translating Latin mānēs manes n.). See further D. H. Green Lang. & Hist. Early Germanic World (1998) 14–16. With the use of a neuter noun to denote pagan gods compare classical Latin nūmen (see numen n.). Use in names. The base is a common element in Germanic personal names, compare e.g. Old English Godgifu , Godrīc , Godwine , Old High German Gotafrid , Gotahilt , Old Icelandic Guðmundr , Guðrún , Goðormr , Burgundian Godemund , Gothic (Ostrogothic) Guduin . Form history and euphemistic variation. In Old English the word is often collocated with the formally identical but etymologically unrelated word gōd good adj., good n., and the two words are not always easy to distinguish (compare discussion at good adj., n., adv., and int.). Rare occurrences of the form good in Old English (see β. forms) may result from confusion of this kind. The association of the two words continues in later English, sometimes leading to the deliberate euphemistic substitution of forms of good n. for god n. (frequently in oaths); such substitution is found in several modern regional varieties, especially in Scots (compare good n. 3). It is nevertheless likely that the majority of Middle English (and later) β. forms show a genuine lengthening of the stem vowel, probably arising originally from open syllable lengthening in oblique (disyllabic) forms; pronunciations reflecting the lengthened form gode are attested in modern English regional and nonstandard use, e.g. J. Wright Eng. Dial. Gram. (1905) 464/1 records the pronunciation /ɡoːd/ from east Devon. (The suggestion made in N.E.D. (1900) that the motivation for lengthening may perhaps have been expressive, i.e. ‘from a desire to utter the name of God more deliberately than the short vowel naturally allows’, is unlikely.) A later (early modern English) lengthening is shown by Gawd n. The modern Scots forms goad, gode at β. forms probably represent the half-close realization of short ŏ typical of many varieties of Scots. From Middle English onwards, especially in oaths (see Phrases 3a, Phrases 3b), the word is subject to extensive euphemistic alteration and substitution (a preference for forms and pronunciations originally regional or nonstandard); compare e.g. ad n.2, cock n.6, Cod n.4, cops int., cots n., Cuds n., dod n.1 and int., Gad n.2, gar int., Ged n.2, Gog n.1, goles n., golly int., gom n.3, gosh n., gosse n.1, gud n., gum n.5, od n.1 and int., Ud n., Uds n. Likewise, in oaths sometimes (especially until the 19th cent.) written with dashes representing suppressed letters, so as to avoid the charge of taking God's name in vain. In Jewish contexts often written G-d , in imitation of the non-vocalized spelling of the name of the Jewish God in Hebrew, and in recognition of the prohibition against pronouncing it (compare discussion at Jehovah n.). Modern capitalization patterns for this word (compare notes at A. 1a and A. II.) only became well established during the 18th cent. Other words for ‘god’. For an alternative early word for a (pre-Christian) god compare Old English ōs and its Germanic and Indo-European cognates discussed at Aesir n. With branch A. II. compare (in Judaism) Adonai n., Elohim n., Jehovah n., and (in Islam) Allah n. A. n. I. In uses relating to polytheism, and senses derived from this. 1. the world > the supernatural > deity > [noun] eOE (Mercian) (1965) xcv. 5 Quoniam omnes dii gentium daemonia : forðon alle godas ðioda ðioful. OE Ælfric (Julius) (1881) I. 98 Ge habbað manega godas and manega gydena [L. multorum deorum dearumque], we soðlice wurðian ænne soðne god. OE Ælfric Homily: De Falsis Diis (Corpus Cambr. 178) in J. C. Pope (1968) II. 708 Þar wæs gehende an hæþen tempel, gehalgod þam gode þe wæs gehaten Apollo. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Calig.) (1963) l. 2695 Æðes we sulleð þe swerien..uppen ure godd [c1300 Otho god]..þe is icliped Dagon. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 299 Fogous [MS Fogronis]..ordeyned temples to worschip þe false goddes ynne; þerfore he was acounted a god amonge hem þat worschipped suche goddes. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) l. 780 (MED) Als godds suld ȝee seluen be. a1450 (a1338) R. Mannyng (Lamb.) (1887) i. l. 7357 (MED) When þe kyng herde hym nemne a God, He asked þenne how þey trowd. c1540 (?a1400) (2002) f. 125 Our hegh goddes Wold be wrothe at our werkes. ?1577 J. Northbrooke 71 They conteyne the wicked actes and whoredomes of the Goddes. 1588 T. Hariot sig. E2v They beleeue that there are many Gods which they call Montoac, but of different sortes and degrees. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) ii. ii. 115 That's a braue God, and beares Celestiall liquor. View more context for this quotation 1671 J. Milton 1176 By combat to decide whose god is God, Thine or whom I with Israel's Sons adore. View more context for this quotation 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil 141 Audacious Youth, what madness cou'd provoke A Mortal Man t' invade a sleeping God ? View more context for this quotation 1713 A. Pope in 10 June 488 A Poet should never call upon the Gods for their Assistance, but when he is in great Perplexity. 1752 E. Young Brothers i. i, in (1757) II. 212 I do not think at all; The gods impose, the gods inflict, my thoughts. 1841 M. Elphinstone I. ii. iv. 205 Some changes are made by the Jáins in the rank and circumstances of the Hindú gods. 1842 T. B. Macaulay Horatius in 47 Lars Porsena of Clusium By the Nine Gods he swore That [etc.]. 1870 W. Morris I. i. 300 Surely no man this is, But some god weary of the heavenly bliss. 1903 9 114/2 Oh, dear Sahiba, the gods are very wise and terrible! 1966 E. Amadi iv. 18 Igwe could not collect these things and to ward off the wrath of the gods the villagers ejected him from the village. 2011 C. Lemoy 169 Human sacrifices were necessary to calm the angered gods. eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in W. G. Stryker (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1951) 323 Nec Bachus, ne wines god. eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in J. J. Quinn (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1956) 205 Vlcanus, fyr oððe fyres god, hellesmiþ. a1393 J. Gower (Fairf.) i. l. 124 O thou Cupide, O thou Venus, Thou god of love, and thou goddesse, Wher is pite? 1483 (BL Add. 89074) (1881) 161 A God of batylle, mars. 1545 R. Ascham i. f. 9v Apollo god of learninge. 1590 E. Spenser 315 The God of Seas..strikes the rockes with his three-forked mace. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) i. i. 281 Plutus the God of Gold Is but his Steward: no meede but he repayes Seuen-fold aboue it selfe. View more context for this quotation 1641 T. Heywood xxx. 291 But warres god By sword, nor Hermes with his charming rod Shall ought prevaile. 1656 A. Cowley Pindarique Odes 38 in Apollo is not onely the God of Physick, but of Poetry, and all kinde of Florid Letters. 1731 C. Coffey & J. Mottley i. ii. 11 Come, jolly Bacchus, God of Wine, Crown this Night with Pleasure. 1789 W. H. Brown i. 11 Hail gentle God of Love! Encircled as thou art with darts, torments, and ensigns of cruelty, still do we hail thee. 1807 J. Barlow ii. 89 Hail us children of the God of day. 1885 R. Bridges i. xiv. 6 Her comely boy, The limber scion of the God of War. 1912 E. Pound tr. G. Cavalcanti 117 Meseemed love's god connived at its completeness. 1916 J. Joyce v. 264 Thoth, the god of writers, writing with a reed upon a tablet. 1951 26 43 So strong is his desire for this little ‘primerole’ that he readily swears homage to the God of Love. 1958 C. Achebe iii. 14 I also kill a cock at the shrine of Ifejioku, the god of yams. 2005 Nov. (Flavours of India Suppl.) 4/3 On the first night of Diwali, Yama, the god of death, is welcomed with a solitary flame. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 43 (MED) Sche..lygh and seide þat god Mars hadde i-brouȝt hir wiþ childe [L. a Marte se gravidatam esse mentita est]. c1450 J. Metham Palmistry (Garrett) in (1916) 84 Thales Mylesyes..be the ansqwere off god Appollo, fyrst dyd wryte the syens off cyromancy in the langage of Parce. 1508 W. Kennedy Flyting (Chepman & Myllar) in (1998) I. 216 A monstir maid be god [1568 grit] Mercurius. 1565 B. Googe tr. ‘M. Palingenius’ (new ed.) x. sig. LL.vi God Pluto then tell me quoth I why syste thou here so sad? 1600 W. Shakespeare iii. iii. 130 Like god Bels priests in the old church window. View more context for this quotation 1609 W. Shakespeare i. iii. 169 Yet god Achilles still cries excellent. View more context for this quotation 1694 M. Tindal ix. 32/2 You as much distinguish God the Father from God the Son, or God the Spirit, as ever they did God Jupiter from God Neptune, or God Pluto. 1712 E. Ward 22 Nor can God Bacchus to the World commend A better Vintner, or a truer Friend. 1841 H. D. Thoreau Let. 8 Sept. in (1879) 7 I, who am going to be a pencil-maker to-morrow, can sympathize with God Apollo, who served King Admetus for a while on earth. 1914 Apr. 289 ‘How great art thou, O god Apollo!’ he cried. 1991 M. S. Screech tr. M. de Montaigne ii. ii. 385 To drink in the French style at both meals, but moderately for fear of your health, is too great a restraint on the indulgence of god Bacchus. the world > the supernatural > deity > [noun] > idol eOE (Corpus Cambr. 173) Introd. x. 28 Ne wyrc ðe gyldne godas oððe sylfrene. OE (1992) xii. 228 Þæt wæs dioflum sylfum, for þon þe hie hira godu hæfdon geworhte of treowum & of stanum & of oðrum untimbrum missenlicum. OE (Claud.) xx. 4 Ne wyrc ðu ðe agrafene godas. a1325 (c1250) (1968) l. 3541 He seiden to aaraon, ‘Mac vs godes foren us to gon’. a1382 (Bodl. 959) (1959) Gen. xxxi. 30 Why hast þou stolne my goddis? 1447 O. Bokenham (Arun.) (1938) l. 2344 Hyre fadrys goddys..Off gold & siluyr..Cristyn brak on pecys..And made off hem a distrybucioun To all þat come. 1535 Exod. xxxiv. 17 Thou shalt make ye no goddes of metall. 1638 T. Herbert (rev. ed.) 315 Some Temples..furnisht with wooden gods for politheisme. 1697 J. Potter I. i. xix. 98 The Consecration also of new Gods. 1744 A. Pope iv. 76 Statues, dirty Gods and Coins. 1794 Apr. 364/2 A copper God dwells in that temple of gold. 1838 T. Arnold I. i. 1 They remembered to carry their gods with them, who were to receive their worship in a happier land. 1884 Feb. 167/2 The huge stone god bellowed forth its low rumbling roar. 1941 Jan. 142/1 No more wooden gods, no more morais (temples)—all are destroyed. 1958 J. Barth v. 66 Her expression..was that of the Athenians on the morning they discovered that Alcibiades had gelded every marble god in town. 1998 L. Forbes (1999) 100 The clay rain god that had been wedged into the elbow of a branch in Dad's garden. 3. In extended use. the mind > emotion > love > [noun] > Christian love > (of persons) as objects of adoration the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > majesty, glory, or grandeur > [noun] > person society > authority > power > [noun] > powerful person or body > powerful person > exercising god-like power eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius (Otho) (2009) I. xxvi. 503 Ac swa swa manna goodnes hi ahefð ofer ða menniscan gecynd to ðon þæt hi bioð godas genemde [read genemnede], swa eac hiora [yfelnes a]wirpð hi under þa mennis[can gec]ynd to þon þæt hio bioð yfle [gehat]ene. OE (Claud.) vii. 1 Drihten cwæð to Moyse: Nu ic gesette þe Pharaone to Gode [L. constitui te Deum Pharaonis]. OE Ælfric Homily: De Falsis Diis (Corpus Cambr. 178) in J. C. Pope (1968) II. 681 Þa hæþenan..fengon to wurðianne mislice entas and men him to godum, þa þe mihtige wæron on woruldlicum geþincðum, and egefulle on life. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Calig.) (1963) l. 3496 Blæðgabreat..cuðen al þeos songes. & þat gleo of ilcche londe..swa þat al þis mon-cun..seiden þat he wes god [c1300 Otho king] of alle gleo-cræften. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1872) IV. 31 Bledgaret passede alle his predecessoures in musik and in melodie, so þat he was i-cleped god of glee men [L. deus joculatorum]. 1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach i. f. 1 Yf these goddes of the Earth would suffer me to enioy suche happinesse. 1579 S. Gosson f. 32 Some there are that make gods of soldiers in open warrs. 1597 W. Shakespeare ii. i. 156 Sweare by thy glorious selfe, Which art the God of my Idolatrie. View more context for this quotation a1635 R. Sibbes (1655) 71 A man is a God to a man when he comforts; when he discomforts, and directs, and withdrawes, he is a divell to a man. 1692 S. Johnson 29 Such an Usurper is a God upon Earth, which it is easie for some sort of Men to make. 1716 R. Blackmore 173 Thus he makes Men of his Beasts, and Gods of his Men, and Men of his Gods. 1797 M. G. Lewis tr. F. Schiller iv. iv. 141 The damsel belongs to me! to me, who was once her god; to me, who am now her devil! 1864 Ld. Tennyson Aylmer's Field in 52 Sir Aylmer Aylmer that almighty man, The county God. 1883 Sir F. Pollock in 1 Oct. 537 The ruling gods of the circulating libraries. 1907 10 Mar. 10/2 Was not a great Cardiff football god the hero of the match? 1997 July 120/1 He [sc. Ed Sullivan] was the God of Sunday Night. 2005 2 Oct. 118/2 I wanted to meet Garth. He was the god of the business, the guy you wanted to be. society > authority > power > [noun] > that which has absolute power OE (1992) vii. 135 And gemunað Iudeas þe hira lif eall hyra wambe to forlore forgeafon. Be ðam wæs cweden þæt hyra wamb wære hyra god. c1225 (?OE) (Worcester) (Fragm. D) l. 36 For þin wombe was þin god. 1340 (1866) 248 Þe glotoun and þe to moche nimere of metes makeþ of hare womben hare god, ase zayþ zaynte paul. ?a1425 (Egerton) (1889) 154 Þus þai make þaire godd of þaire wambe, so þat na worthyness ne doghtyness þai vse. a1586 Sir P. Sidney (1590) iii. xv. sig. Rr1 Like a man whose will was his God, and his hand his law. 1640 J. Fletcher & J. Shirley i. sig. B3 The old mans god, his gold, has wonne upon her. 1664 E. Gearle 12 We were resolved to go to Prison, rather then to uphold or maintain his belly (which is his God). 1756 tr. C. Goldoni i. 39 Money is not my god. 1788 H. Cowley ii. i. 22 It is not glory, nor the hope of fame The mercenary feels—his God is plunder. 1852 F. W. Robertson (1859) xlvii. 430 A man's god is that which has his whole soul and worship, that which he obeys and reverences as his highest. 1896 in 30 Dec. 6/2 [He] is convinced there is no God so omnipotent as that of the full purse. 1906 C. Mansfield xix. 222 Self is their god and Selfishness their religion. 1994 P. Baker v. 61 Style was his god. His suede Pumas and sharkskin pants were the joint. 2005 (Univ. Texas) Nov.–Dec. 45/2 I think the great god of quantification and standardization is really problematical. 4. In plural. society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > theatre-going > theatregoer > [noun] > theatre audience > occupants of specific seat or place > collectively 1752 B. Thornton No. 3. 18 The servant whose business it is, as Homer says, ‘To shake the regions of the gods with laughter’. 1806 T. S. Surr II. v. 108 The high regions assigned to that part of the audience called the ‘gods’, namely, the galleries. 1843 W. M. Thackeray I. xii. 227 One young god, between the acts, favoured the public with a song. 1885 4 May 5/3 The wrath of the pittites and the gods was appeased. 1897 G. B. Shaw in 1 May 471/1 These people would not, like the shilling god, expect the drama to be written down to them. 1913 23 Apr. 322/1 The warriors I prefer to hymn Are products of this peaceful age Who, with a courage truly grim, Have scaled the boards and stormed the stage. Here facing fearful ‘gods’ each day, They hold the fort from hour to hour. 2008 S. K. Sagala vii. 124 Regardless how the gods cheered, the critics would fill their columns with personal judgments. 1900 7 Oct. 16/6 Then, perhaps, they would have more thought and consideration for the poor playgoer who goes up in the ‘gods’. 1922 J. Joyce ii. xv. 441 He said that he had seen from the gods my peerless globes as I sat in a box of the Theatre Royal. 1982 H. Rosenthal ii. 13 It was a wonderful experience to be downstairs instead of in the gods. 2013 (Nexis) 19 Sept. (Sport section) 70 Celtic's support was stretched out across the highest tier, way up there in the gods. II. In uses relating to monotheism, and senses derived from this. (Now usually with initial capital.) 5. Especially in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: the Supreme Being, regarded as the creator and ruler of the universe. the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > [noun] the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > [noun] > name of > God as name OE (2008) 930 A mæg God wyrcan wunder æfter wundre. OE Ælfric (Claud.) i. 1 On angynne gesceop God [L. Deus] heofonan & eorðan. OE tr. Theodulf of Orleans (Bodl.) xxix. 351 God, milde beo þu me synfullum. c1175 (Burchfield transcript) l. 623 Godess enngell gabriæl. Comm dun o godess hallfe. I godess hus. wiþþ godess word. a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris (1868) 1st Ser. 15 Þis beoð godes word þe god seolf idihte. ?a1300 (Bodl.) (1916) l. 37 (MED) God leue þe so to speke þat tou in none worde his heste ne tobreke. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) l. 1061 Rightwis he was, and godds freind. c1475 (a1449) J. Lydgate Interp. & Virtues Mass l. 275 in (1911) i. 99 When a man offreth to God hys herte, Rychest oblacion. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart I. clxii. 199 The lorde Chandos sayd to the prince..this iourney is yours: God is this day in your handes. 1562 Certayn Serm. preached in Lincs. in H. Latimer ii. f. 127v Thou must be sorie for it in thy hearte, and aske god forgiuenes. c1616 R. C. (1871) i. 129 God is an Essence intellectuall, A perfect Substance incorporeall. 1651 T. Hobbes ii. xxxi. 191 God; in which is contained Father, King, and Lord. 1737 R. Challoner ii. 8 A likely Set of Men for bringing back God's Truth..who, so far from having any Orders or Mission, had not so much as Baptism. 1740 S. Richardson II. 388 God, the All-gracious, the All-good, the All-bountiful, the All-mighty, the All-merciful God. 1774 F. Asbury 28 Nov. (1821) I. 133 I do not sufficiently love God, nor live by faith in the suburbs of heaven. 1810 S. Green I. 186 I did not think that London was yet such a sink of depravity, as to openly serve God and Satan on the same day. 1877 E. R. Conder iii. 95 For by this name God we understand an Infinite Mind, everywhere present, the source and foundation of all other existence, possessed of all possible power, wisdom, and excellence. 1902 Oct. 74/1 Come to prayer, come to adore, God is Great! 1956 W. H. Nes ii. 59 Man cannot rest until he sees God. 2012 24 Feb. 22/2 Muslims consider the Koran the literal word of God and treat each copy with deep reverence. OE (Northumbrian) i. 1 In principio erat uerbum et uerbum erat apud deum : in fruma uæs uord & uord þæt is Godes sunu uæs mið God feder. OE 75 An sceal inbindan forstes fetre felameahtig God. OE (Julius) (2002) 102 Sy þu gebletsod, Drihten God. c1175 (Burchfield transcript) l. 13080 Crist iss an. I kinde..Allwældennd godd wiþþ haliȝ gast. & wiþþ hiss faderr baþe. c1225 (?c1200) (Bodl.) (1940) l. 103 Weilawei, ihesu godd, hwuch unwurðe chaffere! 1340 (1866) 99 Godessone hit made to god þe uader ine worde. God þe holy gost þet is þet me acseþ. c1425 (c1400) (Cambr.) (1895) 47 God, fadir of heuene... God þe son... God þe holi gost, haue merci of us! c1440 (?c1350) in G. G. Perry (1914) 48 Powere es appropirde to Godd þe Fadir and wisdom to Godd þe Sonne and gudnes to Godd þe Haly Gaste. 1534 W. Marshall tr. Erasmus f. 23 I beleue in God the father almyghty vnuysyble and vnpassyble. 1573 T. Tusser f. 86 And God the holy Ghost, the soule of man doth winne, By mouing her to waile for grace, ashamed of her sinne. 1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas ii. i. 311 But all-good God..Forbad vs touch that Tree on paine to die. 1645 G. Gillespie 11 That which were a dishonour to God the Son, were a dishonour to God the holy Ghost. 1720 D. Waterland 175 Upon this Occasion,..it pleased God, in the most solemn and pompous Manner to proclaim the high Dignity of God the Son. 1845 G. S. Faber I. i. iii. 36 God the Father..economically declares his high behests through the medium of the Word. a1879 F. R. Havergal (1883) 7 The Love of God the Father,..Be yours aboundingly, I pray, For this and every coming day. 1957 J. Bishop (1959) 203 As God the son, he is equal to and commingled with the Father. 2003 R. Lacey 428 The offer of an open door to Father God. the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > the Trinity > the Son or Christ > [noun] OE Cynewulf 687 Ic þæt geswerige þurh sunu meotodes, þone ahangnan God. OE Ælfric Homily (Cambr. Ii.4.6) in J. C. Pope (1967) I. 357 Þæt is swyðe god spell, þurh Godes tocyme us to gehyrenne þæt we habban moton þa heofonlican wununge mid him sylfum æfre. OE Homily: Ded. Church (Tiber. C.i) in P. Clemoes (1959) 274 On cyricean wyrð gegæderod cristen folc..to underfonne godes flæsc and godes blod. ?c1225 (?a1200) (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 105 Ha..beoreð godes rode. ?1316 Short Metrical Chron. (Royal) l. 630 in J. Ritson (1802) II. 296 Therinne wes closed a nail gret That ede thurh godes fet. c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 1062 By god þt for vs deyde. a1450 (?a1400) J. Wyclif (1871) III. 500 And þan he receyves God gostly. a1500 (?a1475) (Cambr. Ff.2.38) l. 1 (MED) Sythe þe tyme þat god was borne..Mane aventewres hathe befalle. 1609 I. D. 18 As God redeemed the world by his blood, the God of glory was crucified. 6. A being such as is understood by the name ‘God’; a sole divine creator and ruler of the universe. OE St. Eustace (Julius) in W. W. Skeat (1900) II. 190 Ac se mildheorta and se welwillenda God [L. benignus deus], þe simle æghwær to him þa þe him wurðe beoð gecygð, ne forseah his godan weorc. OE Ælfric Homily: De Falsis Diis (Corpus Cambr. 178) in J. C. Pope (1968) II. 695 Ic wille þæt min folc on eallum minum rice anmodlice buge to Daniheles Gode [L. Deum Danihelis]. OE King Ælfred tr. (Paris) (2001) xiii. 1 Se unrihtwisa cwyð on his mode, ‘Nis nan God [L. non est deus] þe þis wite oððe wræce’. a1450 (?c1405) in J. Kail (1904) 29 Þey wene no god þer nys..Or elles, a-noþer heresy þere is. 1495 (de Worde) i. sig. Aiijv/2 How be it that this dyuyne essence..maye not be perfyghtly knowen..yet there is not eny mortall persone. hauynge the vse of dyscrecyon. but that he woll confesse there is a god. 1563 B. Googe sig. C.viiiv A God there is, that guyds the Globe, and framde the fyckle Spheare. 1678 R. Cudworth i. v. 889 To Believe a God, is to Believe the Existence of all Possible Good and Perfection in the Universe. 1785 W. Cowper ii. 161 Happy the man, who sees a God employ'd In all the good and ill that checker life! 1799 S. T. Coleridge Lines in Album in 17 Sept. The God who fram'd Mankind to be one mighty family. 1872 Apr. 251 Against the assertion of the Christian theologian that a God understood would be no God at all is set the protest of the Christian sentimentalist that a God not understood is no God at all. 1877 E. R. Conder Pref. 12 Is there a God? Is there an Infinite, All-wise, All-powerful Spirit? 1951 W. H. Auden (1952) 11 Unable To conceive a god whose temper-tantrums are moral. 2009 N. Cave (2010) viii. 68 Whoever said that there isn't a God is full of shit! the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > [noun] > being such as OE (Claud.) x. 17 Drihten sylf is goda God [L. Deus deorum], mære God & mihtig. OE (1932) cxxxv. 2 Ic andette þam þe ece is ealra godena god. c1384 (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Cor. viii. 4 We witen, for an ydol is no thing in the world, and that ther is no God but oon. ?a1425 (c1400) (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 91 (MED) Þere is no god but on, & Machomete his messager. 1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin i. f. 8 Euen thys is it, to make a shadowishe God, to driue farre away the true God whome we ought to feare and worshyp. 1685 J. Jackson et al. II. sig. 4A3/1 They set up Puppets and Idols of their own devising, in the room of the true God. 1786 F. Gladwin tr. 7 I call him an Islamite, who, on being questioned in the grave, beareth witness that there is no God but God. 1827 W. Scott IV. iii. 85 ‘There is no God but God, and Mahommed is his prophet’. A confession of faith which is in itself a declaration of Islamism. 1868 J. B. Lightfoot (1873) 94 He determined to overthrow the worship of the one true God. 1911 ‘M. Field’ Messiah i. i, in 158 The Muéddin: God is great, there is no God but God. 1939 A. Toynbee VI. 44 The One True God whose alter ego Allāh was now proclaimed to be. 1999 R. M. Hannula xii. 77 His mother told him about the one true God who reigns on high. OE (Northumbrian) Liturgical Texts (Durham Ritual) in A. H. Thompson & U. Lindelöf (1927) 13 Pacem habete, et deus dilectionis et pacis erit uobiscum : gie sibb habbað & god lufsumnis' & sibbes bið iuih mið. c1175 (?OE) Instr. for Christians 27 in (1964) 82 12 Lytle hwile on þissere leana dagum witena eanig winnað for Criste, and eft swa ðeah in ecnesse gewunað in wuldre mid weroda Godd. c1384 (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Cor. xiii. 11 Haue ȝe pees, and God of pees and loue [L. deus dilectionis et pacis] schal be with ȝou. a1425 (a1400) (1916) Rom. xv. 5 Alle thynges þat ben writen..in holy bokys..god of pacience and of solace [L. Deus autem patientiae et solacii] gife ȝou to sauere þat same. 1535 Rom. xv. 5 The God of pacience and consolacion. 1593 R. Hooker i. iii. 54 Who the guide of nature but only the God of nature? 1608 S. Hieron 88 O Eternall God, the God of prouidence, the orderer and the disposer of all things. 1611 1 Sam. ii. 3 The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. View more context for this quotation 1738 J. Wesley (new ed.) v. ii On Thee, O God of Purity, I wait for hallowing Grace. 1756 tr. F. X. de Oliveira 3 He is, also, the God of Strength, the God of Vengeance. 1785 T. Lindsey ix. 153 To return to and acknowlege the God of nature, and the God of revelation, Jehovah. 1796 tr. J. B. Duvoisin viii. 65 The God of Christianity is more present to the mind and the heart than the God of philosophy. 1813 W. Hurn 283 The God of truth his church has bless'd. 1827 J. Keble II. xcv. 172 O God of Mercy, God of Might. 1852 O. W. Wight tr. V. Cousin I. i. 117 I could accumulate quite as many passages against the God of pantheism. 1905 15 90 In the same degree as the God of Judaism differs from all other deities. 1960 25 Apr. 125/3 (advt.) Perhaps this..must involve a relationship with a God of truth—and of love, of mercy, of justice. 2001 4 Oct. 27/4 And should the God of love and mercy be given credit for the anopheles mosquito, the schistosomiasis parasite, anthrax, smallpox, bubonic plague? B. int.1898 H. Macfall xxxiii. 341 Gahd! it are kind o' skeery here. 1898 June 510 It's their lives or ours. God! I hope Ericsson is on the kee vee. 1912 R. Brooke (1916) 10 God! I will pack, and take a train, And get me to England once again! 1914 L. Woolf xvi. 321 God! what a fool I've been. 1938 K. O'Brien ix. 264 God! Was he taking leave of his senses? 1986 D. Potter v. 201 God! They all think they can write, don't they? 2011 S. Tyler & D. Dalton iv. 121 Oh, fuck! Not this song again! God! Let's go snort some blow! Phrases P1. Exclamatory and parenthetic phrases expressing feeling or desire. a. Phrases expressing dependence upon or grateful recognition of God's providence. eOE (Kentish) Charter: Lufu to Christ Church, Canterbury (Sawyer 1197) in F. E. Harmer (1914) 7 Ic Ceolnoð mid Godes gefe ercebiscop mid Cristes rode tacne ðis festnie. OE (Corpus Oxf.) Prol. 4 Swa eac Paulus þurh his mæran bodunge him sylfan nanes lofes ne tilade.., ðus cweþende: ‘Þurh Godes gife [L. Gratia Dei] ic eom þæt þæt ic eom.’ OE Charter: Bp. Oswald to Wulfgar (Sawyer 1327) in W. de G. Birch (1893) III. 532 Ic on him be Godes bletsunga & be ure ægþer ge wuda ge on felda swa his boc him wisaþ. a1225 (c1200) (1888) 35 Of hire we willeð sumdæl keðen be godes grace. c1330 (?c1300) (Auch.) l. 412 (MED) Y nam no truant, be godes grace! ?a1475 (1922) 37 Forsothe, sere, be goddys grace I xal me kepe from all trespace. a1513 W. Dunbar (1998) I. 124 I sall, with Goddis grace, Keip his command. 1539 Bk. Ceremonies in J. Strype (1721) I. ii. App. cix. 287 Then followeth the offertory, wherby we be learned to prepare our selves by Gods grace to be an acceptable oblation to him. 1622 R. Sanderson i. 5 I shall by Gods assistance proceed..to enquire how farre the differences..agree with the present case. 1647 T. May ii. iv. 74 The most necessary effectual Means, through God's blessing, of removing those Iealousies and Differences. 1662 Catechism Yes verily; and by Gods help so I will. 1748 S. Richardson III. li. 255 She has a poor opinion of the purity she compliments me with, if she thinks, that I am not, by God's grace, above temptation from this sex. 1771 T. Smollett I. 123 With God's assistance, I shall take care that my tail shall never rise up in judgment against me. 1828 Aug. 225/2 They will have acquired that, for which they will, through God's grace, thank you. 1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in 19 Here, by God's grace, is the one voice for me. 1886 R. L. Stevenson xx. 197 It was only by God's blessing that we were neither of us sun-smitten. 1935 T. S. Eliot i. 22 Rebellious bishops..would have intercepted our letters... By God's grace aware of their prevision I sent my letters on another day. 1987 A. Djoleto vii. 36 This is Ghana, but I'm still alive by God's grace. 2001 J. Boyle 216 I'll be away to Ameriky soon with God's help, and I'll have a big public house in Boston or Chicago, maybe. the mind > emotion > gratitude > [adverb] > thanking divine providence eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory (Hatton) (1871) Pref. 9 Uncuð hu longe ðær swæ gelærede biscepas sien, swæ swæ nu Gode ðonc wel hwær siendon. OE tr. Abbo of St. Germain Sermo in Cena Domini (Corpus Cambr. 190) in D. Bethurum (1957) 372 And ge, Gode þanc, nu todæg beoð eft underfangene on cyrcan swylce into neorxnawange for eowre behreowsunge. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris (1873) 2nd Ser. 11 (MED) Unbileue..is aiware aleid and rihte leue arered, godeðonc. c1300 St. Mary of Egypt (Laud) l. 175 in C. Horstmann (1887) 266 I-blessed be god þat bringueth þe soule bote. c1300 (Laud) (1868) 2005 Þus wolde þe theues me haue reft, But god-þank, he hauenet sure keft. a1425 (c1333–52) L. Minot (1914) 3 Bot, loued be God, þe pride es slaked Of þam [etc.]. a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) cxii. §2. 398 Louyd be god fra this tyme of grace, that now is, whils this warldis standis, & withouten end. c1515 Ld. Berners tr. (1882–7) xciii. 303 Syr, thanked be god we haue vaynquysshed the Emperoure. 1600 W. Shakespeare v. i. 183 You breake iests as braggards do their blades, which God be thanked hurt not. View more context for this quotation 1607 12 The fellowe told him God be praised his good Landlord was well recouered. 1645 J. Howell ii. i. 1 Thanke God I..am recovering and picking up my crummes apace. 1668 in A. Agnew (1864) 372 I Sir Andrew Agnew of Lochnaw Knyht Barronett, being, praised be God, in health and perfect memories. 1753 July 320/2 Most of the landholders have now, thank God! abandoned that..religion. 1778 F. Burney I. xvi. 103 ‘Is not Madame Duval then with you?’ ‘With me! No,—thank God.’ 1842 Ld. Tennyson Lady Clare in (new ed.) II. 196 ‘O God be thank'd!’ said Alice the nurse, ‘That all comes round so just and fair.’ 1888 W. H. H. Murray i. 11 God be praised that I reckoned the course aright. 1898 H. Macfall xxxi. 329 ‘Thank Gahd!’ she muttered, ‘the Lord have delivered she into my hands.’ 1916 J. Buchan xxii. 305 Oh, god be thanked, it's our friends! 1963 E. Hyams vii. 116 It is not, thank God, in the English character to face the fact that a man is a dismal failure and kick him out. 1986 B. Fussell iii. xii. 210 I have made them perforce hours ahead and they were still, praise God, delicious. 1991 R. Davies ii. xxi. 89 God be praised, Anna has made it! the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > activities of God > [adverb] > second to God 1314 ( Royal Charter: William I to Bp. Herman, Beorhtwig, Scewine, & all his Thegns in Dorset in D. Bates (1998) 112 Ic cyðe eow ðæt se abbod æt Abbodesbyrig & ða gebroþra & ða land & ða men & æle [read ælc] ðara ðinga ðæt ðe hyrþ in to sancte Petres mynstre to Abbodesbirig ðæt hit ys eall on minne munde & on minan fullan gehealde under God, swa full & swa forþ swa hit ðeder in furþ Orc leg on Eadwardes dæge kyneges mines meges. a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iii. l. 619 O. Influences of þise heuenes hye. Soth is þat vnder god ye ben oure hierdes. 1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Love in W. W. Skeat (1897) 43 We men..arn a fayr parcel of the erthe and holden the upperest degree, under god, of benigne thinges. 1570 J. Kello sig. A.viv I desyre nathing mair vnder God then to be separate fra the contagioun of this wickit flesche. 1607 10 Yet, quoth he, vnder God, I will doe him some good. 1619 in R. F. Williams (1848) (modernized text) II. 170 The blessedness of this good work, under God, is to be attributed to the king alone. 1719 D. Defoe 23 He..thank'd me that had, under God, given him and so many miserable Creatures their Lives. 1777 H. H. Brackenridge i. i. 14 Thus, under God, we haply may succeed. 1867 Jan. 568 Every soul, under God, is to interpret Scripture for itself. 1944 J. R. R. Tolkien 30 Apr. (1995) 76 Probable under God that we shall meet again, ‘in hale and in unity’, before very long. 1985 Apr. 13/2 One of its [sc. Government's] functions is, under God, to restrain evil. 2006 M. Novak & J. Novak vi. 114 He felt deep within himself the pull, under God, of America's universal mission. (d) the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > subject to outside forces [phrase] the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > activities of God > [adverb] > God willing c1300 St. Julian Hospitable (Laud) l. 76 in C. Horstmann (1887) 258 Ȝif god wole [a1325 Corpus Cambr. Ȝif Crist wole], þe ȝwyle we a-liue beoth, ne schulle we departi atwo. c1330 (Auch.) (1933) l. 1540 (MED) I wil do bi þe, ȝif god wil. 1488 (c1478) Hary (Adv.) (1968–9) iv. l. 770 Will god I sall eschape this tresoune fals. 1542 T. Becon xlvi. sig. R.ijv Monstures, Monckes I woulde haue sayd, & other religious parsons, and God wyll as they desyre to be called. 1790 A. Wheeler 46 Ise feend tea a Maister a goddil. 1825 J. Jamieson Suppl. Gothill, An Gothill, if God will... ‘In Gothill I'll be there’. 1893 J. Rhoades 23 You hear The guest knock loud for entrance; and anon The host will open, and to no mean fare Of iron entertainment, if God will, Give him such welcome as may pierce his heart. 1911 E. Nesbit 72 Bear up, my mother, yet a little while, And we shall see each other, if God will. 1994 4 July 46/2 Holyfield said his retirement soon might end. ‘If God will, I will,’ he added. the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > activities of God > [adverb] > God willing 1438 in W. Fraser (1874) II. 67 Jhone Stewart,..God wylland, sall haff to wyff..Margaret off Mongomry. 1507 in J. Stuart (1844) I. 77 The said Richerd sall, God willing, mend and reforme the stepill forsaid ennowe, and vteucht sufficiently and substanciusly in ale thingis as efferis. 1526 T. Wolsey in (1830) I. 184 The said realme may yet, God willing, be preserved and releved. 1588 ‘M. Marprelate’ 30 Naye (quoth Penrie) neuer so long as I liue godwilling. 1604 W. Shakespeare i. v. 187 What so poore a man as Hamlet is, May doe t'expresse his loue..God willing shall not lack. View more context for this quotation c1688 H. Herbert in R. Warner (1818) 1st Ser. 72 We both intend, God willing, to set forward for London on Munday next. 1706 W. Wycherley Let. to Pope in (1735) 25 Afterwards to spend two Months (God willing) with you, at Binfield. 1776 L. Carter 26 Apr. (1965) II. 1027 This night I shall, god willing, part with my under waistcoat. 1835 J. W. Carlyle I. 25 Next year, God willing, I shall see you all again. 1880 Ld. Tennyson 119 The swine, lay-men, lay-women, who will come, God willing, to outlearn the filthy friar. 1944 C. Beaton Diary in (1979) xiv. 140 Tomorrow, God willing, is our last day of truck travel after banging over 700 miles in this old crock. 2010 2 Aug. 55/1 We love it here. God willing, I'll die here. God willing, not too soon. the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > activities of God > [adverb] > with God's help a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer (Pierpont Morgan) (1881) i. l. 1042 And dredles yf þat my lyf may laste And god to-forn, lo som of hem shal smerte. a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer (Hunterian) (1891) l. 7196 They shal neuere haue that myght And god to forne for strif to [perh. read ne] fight That they ne shal ynough fynde That petres lawe shal haue in mynde. ?c1450 tr. (1906) 14 Diuerse exsaumples, the whiche, and God before, ye shall take hede of. c1500 (1895) 128 For god before we tende & purpose to gyue bataylle to the Sawdan. 1533 J. Heywood sig. B.iv I wyll neuer come hether more Whyle I lyue and god before. 1594 T. Kyd tr. R. Garnier iii. E 4 b Els (god to fore) my selfe may liue to see His tired corse lye toyling in his blood. 1600 W. Shakespeare i. ii. 307 For God before, weell check the Dolphin at his fathers doore. 1607 M. Drayton 36 For in my skill his sound recouerie lies, Doubt not thereof if setting God before. the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > activities of God > [adverb] > with God's help 1590 E. Spenser i. i. sig. A7 So forward on his way (with God to frend) He passed forth. 1823 W. Tennant iv. i. 97 Accuser, I, with God to friend, appeal From this convention. 1874 A. C. Swinburne iii. i. 248 Your heart of hope is great; with God to friend, A man could speed no better than your hope. 1901 D. Ainslie ii. 108 With the young, new god to friend all golden-haired prosperities may on my kingdom come again. the mind > language > speech > request > [phrase] > earnest expressions eOE tr. Bede (Tanner) iv. iii. 266 Ic þa la halsie & bidde fore Godes lufan [L. obsecro], þæt þu me gesecge hwæt se song wære. OE Ælfric (Cambr. Gg.3.28) Pref. 2 Nu bidde ic and halsige on godes naman gif hwa ðas boc awritan wylle, þæt he hi geornlice gerihte. ?a1300 Fox & Wolf l. 36 in G. H. McKnight (1913) 26 Be stille, ich hote, a godes nome! c1325 (c1300) (Calig.) 8968 Madame he sede uor godes loue is þis wel ido Þat þou þes vnclene limes handlest. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) l. 4798 Ga we alle, In godds nam. a1400 (a1325) (Gött.) l. 4800 I ȝou pray for goddes sake. c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 854 What wel come be the Cut in goddes name. 1548 W. Patten K viij These a Gods name wear their targettes again the shot of our small artillerie. 1583 C. Hollyband 15 For God sake let not my tutor know it. 1597 W. Shakespeare ii. i. 252 But what a Gods name doth become of this? View more context for this quotation 1612 B. Jonson v. iii. sig. L4 For Gods sake, when will her Grace be at leasure? View more context for this quotation 1650 A. Weldon 103 For God's sake, tel me, said the King. 1706 J. Stevens tr. M. de Cervantes (ed. 2) II. lxx. 408 Sleep o'God's Name..if thy Twitching, Pinching, and Pin-pricking will give thee leave. 1735 A. Pope Prol. to Satires in II. 101 Hold! for God-sake—you'll offend. 1799 C. B. Brown x. 108 What, in God's name, did she want with him at that hour? Could she not wait, at least, till he had done his supper? 1859 Ld. Tennyson Elaine in 173 For God's love, a little air! 1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in 28 For God's sake,..let it be at once. 1883 R. L. Gilchrist vi. 60 For God's sakes what is the matter? 1955 E. Hillary 175 For God's sake, Charles, keep an eye on John! 1995 I. Banks (1996) xiv. 234 Well, then, God's sakes, Isis!.. All the more reason to tell Salvador to take a hike! 2004 A. Levy ii. 22 Gilbert, what in God's name have you done? c. Phrases expressive of a strong wish, chiefly for the benefit or injury of some person. (a) With God as subject followed by a verb in the subjunctive. God bless, forbid, forfend, give, help, preserve, save, send, shield, speed, etc.: see the verbs. God rest you merry: see rest v.1 Phrases 3b. God give you good day, good even, etc.: see the noun phrases.In such phrases as have remained current, God is often omitted, as bless you, damn you, preserve us (see the verbs).OE Scribble (Tiber. B.v) in N. R. Ker (1957) 255 God me helpe. OE Ælfric Let. to Wulfsige (Corpus Cambr.) in B. Fehr (1914) 34 God geunne eow, þæt ge hit moton swa aredigan, swa eower þearf sy. lOE (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 1066 Syððon comen ealle dræuednysse & ealle ifele to þone mynstre. God hit gemyltse! c1240 ( Writ of Edward the Confessor, Wells (Sawyer 1115) in S. E. Kelly (2007) 231 And gyf anig man syg þat mine gyfe awendan wyllen, awende hine God almihgti fram his ansyne & fram ælre cristenne manna. 1389 in C. Innes (1837) 449 Dauid kyng qwhilom of Scotland, that god assoillie. 1447 in J. D. Marwick (1871) 68 Oure progenitouris of noble mynde quham God assoille. c1480 (a1400) St. Theodora l. 201 in W. M. Metcalfe (1896) II. 105 God þe forȝelde, & fra wikyt forton þe schelde. 1487 (a1380) J. Barbour (St. John's Cambr.) xiii. l. 708 God grant that thai..maynteyme the land, And hald the folk weill to warrand. c1525 J. Rastell sig. Aiv God reward the for thy gentyll intendyng. 1612 in R. F. Williams (1848) (modernized text) I. 194 God keep them from base courses! 1649 3 God grant, that every good Christian may give his helping hand for the subverting the same. 1775 R. Challoner in E. H. Burton (1909) II. xxviii. 116 God reward the good Lady, our benefactrix. 1824 W. S. Landor II. xiii. 245 I wear an habitual sneer upon my face, God confound them for it! 1948 M. McLaverty in 4 37 But God grant he'd return to her in better form! 2010 J. O'Connor (2011) vii. 107 God keep your innocence, Miss. That it might always be your blessing. c1300 ( Royal Charter: William I to Bp. Æðelmær, Earl Ralph, & all his Thegns in Norfolk & Suffolk in D. Bates (1998) 197 God be mid ihu. 1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine f. ccccxxix/1 Thys poure man departyng and sayeng god be wyth you and at your helpe. 1573 W. Smith vii. sig. D.iiii Then farewel honycombe til I se you againe, God be with you, and shield you from the raine. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) iii. i. 45 While then, God be with you . View more context for this quotation 1637 T. Heywood iv God be with you good Captaine. 1797 T. Holcroft IV. v. 38 His parting reply was, ‘God be with you, wherever you go! Perhaps you may see me again sooner than you think for.’ 1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage II. iv. viii. 180 A profusion of farewells and god-be-with-you's. 1868 20 Oct. 4/5 As each railful of communicants quitted the Communion-table..he used to address to them..‘God be with you, my children’. 1936 M. R. Anand iv. 188 Go through there as if you were an ordinary person. God be with you. 1976 Mar. 39/2 When the time came for him to leave, his mother gave him a blessing and said, ‘God be with you’. 2005 J. M. Coetzee xvi. 121 She has said her goodbyes, goodbyes are over with. Goodbye: God be with you. 1596 J. Harington sig. Mvi God damne me if I loue them not, I feare more to be damned for louing them too well. 1680 T. Blood 3 Is that the Blood that stole the Crown? God damn him, we will have nothing to do with him, for he is a great Friend of the Duke of Buckingham's. 1697 D. Defoe 242 Go among the Gamesters, and there nothing is more frequent than, God damn the Dice, or God damn the Bowls. 1794 J. Kirkpatrick 4 You..most wickedly and obscenely expressed yourself in the following words..God damn Lady Hannay. 1861 A. G. Frick Let. 14 Feb. in H. Holzer (1993) x. 341 Abe Lincoln..goddam you. 1864 4 Mar. 2/5 God damn you, I led this whole thing. 1938 ‘C. S. Forester’ 51 God damn and blast all you hamfisted yokels. 1964 J. Thompson xiii. 71 Goddam him to hell, anyway! 1993 J. Mowry i. xi. 162 God damn that dogfuckin ole peckerwood bastard! (b) In forms with the verb (and sometimes other elements) abbreviated or altered. See also goodbye n., int., and adj.1535 D. Lindsay 4319 Gif ȝe be King, God ȝow gude day. 1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius (1858) II. 636 The Thane of Caldar, Schir, God ȝow gude morne! 1597 W. Shakespeare i. ii. 57 Godgigoden, I pray sir can you read. View more context for this quotation 1597 W. Shakespeare ii. iii. 102 Nur: God ye goodmorrow Gentlemen. Mer: God ye good den faire Gentlewoman. Nur: Is it godyegooden I pray you. Mer: Tis no lesse I assure you, for the baudie hand of the diall is euen now vpon the pricke of noone. View more context for this quotation 1598 W. Shakespeare iv. i. 42 God dig-you-den al. View more context for this quotation 1605 S. Rowley sig. D2 Godyegodnight and twentie syr. 1611 G. Chapman i. 8 Godge you God morrow Sir, godge you God morrow. 1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre i. iv. 7 in II By your leaue, Gentlemen, with all my heart to you: and god you good morrow. 1640 N. Richards iv. sig. E5v Godge godden I'le come agen anon. 1651 T. Randolph et al. iv. iii. 33/2 Goddy-godden, good father: pray which is the house where Plutus lives. 1671 tr. A. H. de Mendoza ii. 64 Zel. Yow (th'unkent Knight) Godyegudmora! Fel. (The Time of day thou dost mistake). the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous the mind > mental capacity > expectation > surprise, unexpectedness > exclamation of surprise [interjection] 1570 T. North tr. A. F. Doni iii. f. 62 But hearest thou me, Gods my bones not a word for thy life [no direct equivalent in It. original]. 1595 G. Peele sig. Bv Gods me bones who comes here? 1600 W. Shakespeare iv. i. 201 Gods my life! Stolne hence, and left mee a sleepe. View more context for this quotation 1601 B. Jonson iii. iv. sig. G4v God's my life; did you euer heare the like? View more context for this quotation 1605 G. Chapman iii. i. E 3 b Gods my deare soule, what sudden change is here! 1606 J. Day sig. D4 Godsme, my mothers stealing of a nap. 1607 T. Heywood sig. Fv Gods me: no such dispatch. 1640 tr. G. S. du Verdier ii. 191 Gods me, said Trasiclea. 1950 W. Graham i. iii. 48 ‘God's my life,’ said Francis. ‘What a pesky wind. One is blown down this alley like a pea down a pipe.’ 1992 P. O'Brian (1993) iv. 112 God's my life, Stephen, you absolutely turned a somersault. 1575 W. Stevenson v. ii. sig. Ei Baily. God blesse you gammer Gurton. Gammer. God dylde you master mine. 1579 G. Harvey Let. to Spenser in (1884) I. 24 Youre Latine Farewell is a goodly braue yonkerly peece of work, and goddilge yee, I am alwayes maruellously beholding vnto you, for your bountifull Titles. 1592 T. Nashe (Huntington Libr. copy) sig. L3 No forsooth God dild you hee would not that hee would. 1608 G. Chapman v. (ad fin.) Marry God dild him. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) i. vi. 13 How you shall bid God-eyld vs for your paines. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) iv. v. 41 How do ye, pretty Lady? Ophe. Well, God dil'd [1603 yeeld] you. d. In phrases referring to God's omniscience. (a) God (†it) wot: God knows. Cf. goddot int. [Compare Dutch godeweet (interjection) truly; compare also early use as a surname: Thomas Godwot (1328), John Godwot (1371).] the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > that which is unknown > [phrase] > expressing lack of knowledge OE 8 God ana wat hwæt him weaxendum winter bringað. a1400 in F. J. Furnivall (1903) 263 (MED) Deȝe we ssulin sikerliche, bot god wot wanne & were. 1489 (a1380) J. Barbour (Adv.) i. l. 586 Oft failȝeis the fulis thocht And wys mennys etling Cummys nocht ay to that ending That thai think it sall cum to For God wate weill quhat is to do. 1569 R. Grafton II. 765 Sent, no man wist whether, to be done wyth, God wot what. 1646 G. Buck iii. 85 Their bodies were bestowed God wot where. the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > truthfulness, veracity > [adverb] > as emphasis OE (Julius) (2002) 84 God wat þæt ic heora forhtige.] ?c1225 (?a1200) (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 93 God hit wat þe put deð muche god. moni ancre. c1300 (Laud) (1868) 2527 Þer-of held he wel his oth, For he it made, god it woth. a1400 (a1325) (Gött.) l. 4473 God wat..I sal vndo þe wele þi sueuen. a1529 J. Skelton (?1545) sig. A.vii Than renne they in euery stede God wot with dronken nolles. 1568 (a1500) Freiris Berwik 61 in W. T. Ritchie (1930) IV. 263 He went fra hame god wait on weddinsday. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) ii. iii. 18 Stood the State so? No, no, good friends, God wot [1597 not so]. a1617 P. Baynes (1643) i. 214 Commonly the most Christians are counted good men godwot, but simple soules, of no parts. 1859 Ld. Tennyson Elaine in 157 God wot, his shield is blank enough. 1893 T. E. Brown My Garden in 177 A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot! 1905 A. C. Swinburne III. 134 For all my subtle wiles, perdie, God wot I loved him well enow. 1938 K. A. Porter 21 Nov. (1990) 168 A provincial Rotary-club-minded University is a fearsome spot, God wot. 1996 19 Jan. 11/1 The idea that a bishop is an awesome thing God wot. (b) God knows. [Compare post-classical Latin novit Deus (14th cent. in British sources).] a1485 H. Baradoun in F. J. Furnivall (1903) 289 In the courte, is many noble Roome; But god knowith, I can noon soche cacche. a1555 N. Ridley in M. Coverdale (1564) 77 It is impossible to set forth..al yt was (God knoweth) tumultuously spoken. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) v. i. 230 The Chaine, Which God he knowes, I saw not. View more context for this quotation 1664 S. Pepys 25 Nov. (1971) V. 330 God knows, this is only a scare to the Parliament, to make them give the more money. 1752 C. Lennox I. ii. xi. 156 God knows I never thought of such a Thing! 1788 R. Burns 21 Jan. (2001) I. 215 Lately I was a sixpenny private; and, God knows, a miserable soldier enough. 1805 E. Cavanagh Let. 4 Oct. in M. Wilmot & C. Wilmot (1934) ii. 185 An Army, God knows, might live unknownst in the House! 1915 H. James Let. 23–24 Mar. in H. James & E. Wharton (1990) vi. 331 The money is, God knows, assistingly spendable here! 1930 W. S. Maugham ii. 101 God knows, it's been an uphill job, but I've done my best. 2008 1 Apr. 3/2 We are not prudes, God knows, and we have no problem with vigorous language, where appropriate. 1532 T. More Pref. sig. Bb.iv And what wyll ferther come theron god knoweth. 1548 F. Bryan tr. A. de Guevara xv. sig. L.ii God knowes what suche libertie costeth them. 1569 R. Grafton II. 98 The sayd John was had after in great suspicion, whether iustly or vniustly God knoweth. 1584 A. Munday f. 13 Priuilie thus murdered, their bodies cast God knowes where. 1595 G. Aleyn Let. 21 Sept. in G. Ungerer (1976) II. 42 Promising to send him the reste God knowes when. 1659 85 They may inherit, true; but God knowes when. 1665 A. Cowley Let. 21 May in S. Johnson (1779) I. 35 What this signifies, or may come to in time, God knows. a1708 T. Ward (1710) i. 86 His Soul departed, God knows where. 1793 C. Smith II. xi. 255 God knows what will become of your unhappy brother. 1877 Nov. 582 [The sisters] now forlornly resident in the house of a merchant banker in Bucharest..—outraged by God knows what ruffiandom of uncounted Bulgarians. 1899 E. Robins xxxvi. 522 ‘You who wanted to go to China and Persia, and God knows where!’ ‘Well, I am going—God knows where.’ 1920 S. Lewis iv. 50 These suffragettes and God knows what all buttinskis there are that are trying to tell a business man how to run his business. 1940 ‘N. Shute’ 198 ‘How long have they been doing this?’ ‘God knows. We've only just cottoned on to it.’ 2005 D. Nicholls 193 He wears these annoying aviator sunglasses all the time... God knows why. 1801 May 356/1 Forming God knows what, and consisting of God knows whom! 1822 Ld. Byron iv. i. 51 The country..Is over-run with—God knows who. 1823 Ld. Byron lxvii. 38 They fell in love;—She with his face, His grace, his God-knows-what. 1939 N. Monsarrat i. 35 A crusade against God-knows-what which would finish up God-knew-where. 1971 K. Tynan 21 May (1994) vii. 493 I look yearningly at the phone and realise that you are out at the ballet with God knows whom. 2004 23 Sept. (Home ed.) c7/3 Tips garnered from God-knows-where by a partisan wack job in Texas. e. the mind > emotion > passion > expression of strong feeling [interjection] the mind > emotion > excitement > exclamation of excitement [interjection] 1340 (1866) 92 (MED) A god, hou hi byeþ foles! a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer (Pierpont Morgan) (1881) ii. l. 127 Ye holy god quod she what þyng is that. 1508 (Chepman & Myllar) sig. avi Hevinly god said the heynd how happynis this thing. 1573 ii. iii. sig. C ivv Preciouse God it frettes mee to the very gall. c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme lxxviii. 125 in (1998) II. 110 And yet (good god) how ofte this crooked kind Incenst him in the desert euery where? 1607 T. Heywood sig. B3v O God: a surgion there. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) ii. v. 61 Who's this? Oh God! It is my Fathers face. 1741 E. F. Haywood 229 Good God! cry'd he, what a Fiend must this be under an Angel's Form! 1795 S. T. Coleridge (1895) 148 O God! that such a mind should fall in love with that low, dirty, gutter-grubbing trull, Worldly Prudence! 1812 T. Amyot I. 134 In which the words, ‘My God!’ had been made use of on a light occasion. 1856 Ld. Tennyson Maud (rev. ed.) xv, in (new ed.) 8 Ah God, as he used to rave. 1894 Mar. 252 My God, but she looks old! 1926 J. M. March (1928) ii. i. 35 My god, Queenie; you're looking swell! 1951 G. Heyer xviii. 252 You haven't seen the fellow! Valet! Good God, one would as lief employ a coal heaver! 1953 D. Thomas 28 July (1987) 907 Dear God, we'd better not become any better friends. 1992 R. Harris iii. 148 God in heaven, can you imagine what the foreign press would make of this? 2006 D. Trussoni (2007) xiii. 240 Yikes! Yikes! O my God! a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Fox, Wolf, & Cadger l. 2121 in (1981) 81 Than said the vollf, ‘Nou God nor that I hang!’ a1513 W. Dunbar (1998) I. 197 God gif ȝe war Iohne Thomsounis man. 1535 D. Lindsay 1325 God nor my trewker mence ane ledder. 1570 in J. Cranstoun (1891) I. xxii. 50 O monstrous bird! God nor ye gleddis ȝe [= thee] get. 1572 (a1500) (1882) 737 Greit God! gif I war now..Vpon the mure. 1600 W. Shakespeare iv. i. 307 O God that I were a man. View more context for this quotation 1608 in J. D. Marwick (1876) I. 296 In saying: God nor he be brunt in the playing place as Mergrat Park wes. a1713 A. Pitcairne (1722) ii. i. 24 God nor the D'ill blaw me i' the Air. the mind > emotion > indifference > [phrase] > expression of indifference 1605 C 1 b There be some that bares a souldiers forme, That..Goes swaggering vp and downe from house to house, crying God payes. 1616 B. Jonson Epigrammes xii, in I. 772 His onely answere is to all, god payes. a1637 B. Jonson Masque of Owles 133 in (1640) III Whom since they have shipt away: And left him God to pay. P2. In other phrases referring to a single Supreme Being. a. to go to God. the world > life > death > [verb (intransitive)] OE Ælfric (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xxxii. 277 Se cyning Eglippus leofode his lif on eawfæstre drohtnunge, and on fulre ylde ferde to Gode. OE Ælfric (Julius) (1881) I. 330 He awrat his godspell on Achaian lande, and gewat to Gode mid ðam halgan gaste afylled, ða þa he wæs on ylde feower and hundeahtatig geara. c1400 (Rawl. B. 171) 134 Seynt Edward was gone oute of þis worlde, & was gone to God. 1468 in C. L. Kingsford (1919) I. 97 (MED) My ffadyr is gone to God also..my modyr on Saterday by the morne, and my ffadyr on Munday by [d]ayrove. 1548 f. ciiii Thomas duke of Excester, late departed to God. 1587 A. Fleming et al. (new ed.) III. Contin. 1339/1 Tone gone to God,..still reigning tother. 1642 (single sheet) Windeb. What is become of the great Lord Deputy? Finch. Faith, the report goes that he is gon to God without a head. 1784 May 405/1 Mother will have one mouth less to feed when I go to God Almighty. 1849 C. Brontë 4 June (2000) II. 216 Her quiet—Christian death did not rend my heart as Emily's stern, simple, undemonstrative end did—I let Anne go to God and felt He had a right to her. 1874 P. de Rivières i. vii. 67 Hardly are the Lawgiver and his brother in sight of the grand panorama.., when their souls depart to God. 1976 W. Stegner i. iii. 38 Maybe, in her piety and wretchedness, she had insisted on seeing her husband go to God. 2003 20 June 32/4 Our little district nurse now gone to God. 1607 J. Cowell sig. Kk3v/1 Goe, is vsed sometime in a speciall signification in our common lawe: as to go to God, is to be dismissed the court. [Hence in later dictionaries.] the world > life > death > dead person or the dead > [adjective] OE Ælfric (Julius) (1881) I. 114 And hi ealle nu mid Gode on ecnysse blyssiað. lOE (Corpus Cambr.) (1994) 170 And nu hi is mid Gode and mid eallum his halgum, and þær hi wunað nu and æfre wunian sceal in ealra worulda woruld a buton ænde. c1390 in C. Horstmann (1892) i. 251 Heoren is þe Ioye euerlastonde Wiþ god and wiþ godus sonde. ?1550 L. Ridley i. sig. E.iiii The soules of good men departed this lyfe are with god and with Christe in ioye blysse peace refresshynge comforte and in rest. 1617 in R. F. Williams (1848) II. 51 As due to his memory, who is with God. 1651 T. Fuller Ep. to Rdr. sig. A3v Doctor Featly, now at rest with God. 1748 S. Richardson VII. lxxxvi. 305 Many letters..from the three reverend gentlemen, Dr. Blome, Mr. Arnold, and Mr. Tompkins, now with God. 1841 E. Churton xv. 273 Thou, who art now with God, canst best tell whether in committing it to me thou wast deceived. 1907 22 June 397/2 I have both a sight and earnest of eternal rest with God. 1937 May 46/1 My father was an orthodox Baptist minister. He was a good man, and is now with God. 1996 23 Feb. 20/4 I think of Helen and her sister—now with God. a1325 (c1250) Prov. Hendyng (Cambr.) iv, in (1881) 4 182 (MED) He is iblessid oso goddis mowþe, Þat god craft lernit in is ȝougthe. c1450 MS Douce 52 in (1906) 45 Helpe God and haue alle..Spende, and God wyl sende; Spare, and euere bare. a1500 (?c1450) xxvii. 524 Ther-fore is seide a proverbe, that god will haue saued, no man may distroye. c1515 Ld. Berners tr. (1882–7) cxxx. 480 It is a comune prouerbe sayde, ‘whome that god wyll ayde, no man can hurt’. 1545 R. Ascham ii. f. 17 He maye..haue cause to saye so of his fletcher, as..is communelye spoken of Cookes:..that God sendeth vs good fethers, but the deuyll noughtie Fletchers. 1546 J. Heywood ii. v. sig. H Spend, & god shall sende..saith thold balet. 1546 J. Heywood i. xii. sig. Eivv God is where he was. 1600 W. Shakespeare ii. i. 20 It is saide, God sends a curst cow short hornes. View more context for this quotation 1667 A. Cowley Garden in J. Wells 2 God the first Garden made, & the first City, Cain. 1721 N. Bailey (at cited word) As sure as God's in Gloucestershire. 1768 L. Sterne II. 175 God tempers the wind, said Maria, to the shorn lamb. 1822 W. Scott III. iii. 79 The homely proverb, that men taunt my calling with—‘God sends good meat, but the devil sends cooks’. 1855 June 66/2 They would meet the emergency with the energy of faith and hope, knowing that God helps those who help themselves. 1912 18 May 788/2 In the wisdom of the West..the necessity for hard work and for initiative is continually emphasised. ‘God gives the milk, but not the pail’, is typical of many sayings of the people. 1953 A. Huxley 17 Aug. (1969) 683 It is to appear serially—of all places—in Esquire—which is at present engaged in serving God and Mammon. 1991 A. Beevor (rev. ed.) p. xiii ‘God helps those who help themselves,’ said an infantry brigadier in the Ministry of Defence, dismissing any sympathy for understrength battalions. 1473–4 in T. Dickson (1877) I. 1 The ferd day of the moneth of August, the ȝere of God etc. lxxiij ȝeris. 1542 tr. A. Geuffroy sig. g.i.v Mehemet the first of his name..dyed in the yere of God .M.cccc.xviij [Fr. mourut lan mil quatre cens dishuict]. a1600 R. Lindsay (1899) I. 99 The battell was strikin wpoun the Assentioun day in the ȝeir of god Im iiijc liij ȝeiris. a1693 in (1738) 129 I have been this Year of God preaching against the Vanity of Women. 1703 J. Brand xi. 155 l found the year of God upon the Lintel of a window in Castle-Sinclar to be 1607. 1816 W. Scott II. viii. 221 Richard, called the Red-handed Wardour,..brought the castle and estate into the name of Wardour, in the year of God 1150. 1867 A. M. Bell I. iii. i. v. 608 The sasine in that case did not contain the year of God... It was accordingly found null. 1890 G. Neilson xv. 51 Those dull pages, which tell of the purchase of eels and salmon..in the year of God 1289. 2005 120 165 The Khan alive and well, in the year of God 1298? the world > action or operation > adversity > in adversity [phrase] > at the or one's worst > from a prosperous or thriving condition 1546 J. Heywood ii. v. sig. Hv Out of gods blissyng, in to the warme soon. 1577 W. Fulke Overthrow & Confut. Doctr. Purgatory ii. xi. 350 in The Church of Rome sendeth her bastards out of the blessing of God, not into the warme sonne, but into whot [sic] burning cooles of purgatory. a1612 J. Harington (1618) ii. 56 Pray God they bring vs not, when all is done, Out of Gods blessing, into this warme sunne. 1612 in R. F. Williams (1848) (modernized text) I. 186 That which you have done about my transplantation doth very well agree with my desire; and I account it to be out of the warm sun into God's blessing. 1673 F. Kirkman x. 169 What good could I expect to have, or learn from such a Master as I was now placed with? by changing my Masters.., I had mended the matter well, by coming out of Gods blessing into the warm Sun. 1710 E. Ward xxiv. 279 Captain Russell..made him one of his Retinue, and so remov'd him out of God's Blessing, into the warm Sun. 1881 A. C. Swinburne i. ii. 54 She should be girt to ride, as the old saw saith, Out of God's blessing into the warm sun. 2009 (Nexis) 22 Dec. For the MPC this would mean not only going out of God's blessing into the warm sun, but also falling on the ground. the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > [noun] > according to other attributes 1894 H. Drummond x. 426 There are reverent minds who ceaselessly scan the fields of Nature and the books of Science in search of gaps—gaps which they will fill up with God. As if God lived in gaps? 1927 C. E. Raven iv. 113 Only disaster awaits the religion which..tries to fit God into the gaps left by scientific study.] 1933 E. W. Barnes Sci. Theory & Relig. in 2 Sept. 157 To me the God of the trigger is as little satisfying as the God of the gaps. 1955 C. A. Coulson i. 20 There is no ‘God of the gaps’ to take over at those strategic places where science fails. 1979 A. R. Peacocke i. i. 24 The two-realm ontologies lead to a God-of-the-gaps concept of God's relation to the world. 2010 4 Sept. 30/2 The origin of life and the origin of consciousness are favourite loci for a god-of-the-gaps, but the origin of the universe is the perennial big gap. 1904 E. Phillpotts iii. xi. 353 Sold the whole of 'em..played God and Fate—for two hundred pound—and liberty. 1922 17 Oct. 4/4 Here he begins the game of playing God to life's unfortunates. 1989 M. G. Field Introd. 2 The decisions to ‘turn the machine off’ or ‘to play God’, that is deliberately choosing who is going to live and who is going to die. 2007 1 Dec. (Q weekend section) 21/1 (heading) Her job is to help families in their darkest hours, but some accuse her of playing God. 1953 W. R. Trask tr. E. R. Curtius ii. 35 We must..proceed from generalities to the concrete wealth of the substance of history... But, as Aby Warburg used to say to his students, ‘God is in detail [Ger. der liebe Gott steckt im Detail]’. 1957 18 Mar. 68/1 While emphasizing fundamental principles of architecture, he [sc. Mies van der Rohe] reminds them that ‘God is in the details’. 1985 37 560 If God is in the detail—..if it is the specificity, the concreteness of social life that brings us closest to understanding it, [etc.]. 2014 (Nexis) 3 Dec. d1 I discovered Ms. Heatter's books when I was a teenager... I loved their exactitude... Suggestions like..chilling the beaters and bowl before whipping heavy cream for the fluffiest texture. God is in the details, as they say. P3. In oaths. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > egad a1225 MS Lamb. in R. Morris (1868) 1st Ser. 57 For god, let þu þet uuele beon. c1325 (c1300) (Calig.) 7000 Vor gode [a1400 Trin. Cambr. bi god] þe nexte king..ne ȝef hom noȝt folliche so muche. c1330 (?c1300) (Auch.) 1098 ‘For gode’, queþ Beues, ‘þat ich do nelle’. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) l. 7934 ‘Bi godd o-liue’, he suor his ath. c1400 (?c1390) (1940) l. 965 (MED) A mensk lady on molde mon may hir calle, for Gode [rhymes brode, lode]. c1410 (c1350) (Harl. 7334) l. 469 (MED) It is nouȝt wel serued, by God þat al made. c1450 (a1400) (Calig. A.ii) (1969) l. 195 Be God þat boȝte me dere! c1500 (1895) 293 By god, my lord, shame is therof to you. ?1520 J. Rastell sig. Cvjv That is well sayd be god almyght. ?1544 J. Heywood sig. C.iv Pardoner. I thought ye lyed. Potycary. And so thought I by god that dyed. c1557 (new ed.) sig. Biiv A wyfe nay nay for God auowe He shall haue fleshe inoughe. 1599 H. Porter sig. C2v Fran, Are they so? Comes, I before God are they. 1612 B. Jonson i. iii. sig. C3v 'Fore God, my intelligence Costs me more money, then my share oft comes too. View more context for this quotation 1617 F. Moryson ii. 157 By God, Sir, I will doe for Queene Elizabeth that which I will not doe for my selfe. 1751 T. Smollett I. xxxvi. 276 Before God! I think the fellow's head is made of a wool-pack; for my shot rebounded from his face like a wad of spun-yarn from the walls of a ship. 1799 M. Hays I. iii. 29 ‘By God!’ said he, ‘a little beauty! a Hebe! a wood-nymph! I must and will have a kiss.’ 1844 R. W. Emerson Poet in 2nd Ser. i. 43 He says with the old painter, ‘By God, it is in me, and must go forth of me’. 1885 J. Ormsby III. ii. xxxiv. 384 ‘By God and upon my conscience’, said the devil, ‘I never observed it’. 1912 B. L. Reitman in P. Glassgold (2001) 271 You won't kiss the American flag, eh? By God, we'll make you; we'll ram it down your throat. 1915 J. Turner Let. 3 May in C. Warren (2019) 12 I do trust, before God, that these innocent-eyed French kiddies do not understand a word of that which they repeat—in our tongue. 1953 V. Randolph & G. P. Wilson 166 By God, I'll chop the damn' thing to pieces! 2004 S. Hall 161 Well, by God she is a little darling! It's why I went for her. b. In the genitive with a following noun, expressing asseveration or adjuration. Preceded by by or (in adjuratory use: cf. Phrases 1b) by † for (rarely also † of) or without preposition. Altered or ‘minced’ forms of these oaths are also common: see ad n.2, cock n.6, Cod n.4, cops int., cots n., Cuds n., Gad n.2, Gog n.1, gud n., od n.1 and int., Uds n.For oaths in which the first element is reduced to merely the genitive ending, as 'Sblood, 'Sdeath, Zooks, zounds, etc., see the relevant main entry. (a) With an ordinary noun. In some of these oaths the noun denotes an attribute of God; more usually, God's has the sense ‘Christ's’, as in God's arms, God's death, etc. (cf. sense A. 5c). In some humorous oaths, as in God's brother, God's fish, God's hat, God's malt, the noun has no meaning in its connection, being substituted for some word of solemn import.God's blood, God's body, God's dines, God's heart, God's life, God's nails, God's mercy: see the second element.the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 326 By goddes armes if thow falsly pleye This dagger shal thurgh out thyn herte go. ?1515 (de Worde) sig. C.iiiiv Frewyll. I forsake thy company. Imagy. Goddes armes my company and why. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > God's bones c1410 (c1390) G. Chaucer (Harl. 7334) (1868) Prol. l. 4 For goddes boones Tel out a tale. a1450 (?a1390) J. Mirk (Claud.) (1974) l. 870 (MED) Hast þou be wonet to swere als, By goddes bones or herte, fals? 1573 iii. i. sig. D ij Else I will smite thee..by goddes bones. 1599 sig. F Gos bones, turne in that sheep there. 1986 B. Erskine xxvii. 355 Your tongue betrays you for a shrew and, by God's bones, I'll make a whore of you as well! the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > God's wounds 1578 G. Whetstone iii. ii. sig. Jiv Why, by Gods bores, they can bothe see and marke, If a man steale, but a smouch in the darke. 1600 A. Munday et al. sig. C4 Gods bores, I am sory for't. 1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán ii. 142 Gods-bores, what a deale of doe is here about nothing? the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous society > faith > artefacts > consumables > eucharistic elements > bread > [noun] 1535 D. Lindsay 932 That sall wee do, be Gods breid. 1599 W. Shakespeare iii. v. 176 Gods bread, it makes me mad. 1881 J. Todhunter ii. ii. 53 God's bread! my lord, I need no lawyer's craft In mangling words to think it null and void. 1990 15 9/2 My chess box is there in the center—you can see the board at the bottom—and God's bread it's a marvelous pastime. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > God's body c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 555 By goddes corpus this gooth faire and wel. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous 1535 D. Lindsay 1943 Be Gods croun..I sall slay thee. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > God's dignity or honour 1564 W. Bullein f. 46 V. Gods dentie Jacke sauce whence came you? R... How pretely you can call verlet, and sweare by Gods dintie. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > God's death c1325 Gilote & Johane in (2004) 39 130/1 Alas, alas, for godes deth—such womon ys yshent! a1500 (?a1400) (1887) l. 379 Be goddes dede! Torrant bryngythe a devyll ys hed! a1586 (a1500) Freiris Berwik l. 236 in W. A. Craigie (1919) I. 139 Awalk for goddis deid. 1859 Ld. Tennyson Elaine in 182 Yea, by God's death..ye love him well. 1932 R. Sabatini v. 43 By God's death!.. She'll sink us in reply. 2004 C. Revard tr. Gilote et Jehane in 39 130/2 God's death—your life is hell with such a louse! the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > God's dignity or honour c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 350 Thou shalt be deed by goddes dignytee. a1586 (a1500) Freiris Berwik l. 297 in W. A. Craigie (1919) I. 141 I will yame haue be goddis dignite. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous a1425 (?c1350) (1964) l. 2561 Syr, by Goddes dome, I rede þou wend right als þou com. c1503 (Pynson) sig. fii I graunt sayde Beuys by goddys dome. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous 1340 (1866) 45 (MED) A knyȝt wes þet zuor be godes eȝen. a1450 l. 1109 I schal hym schende & wrekyn me, be Goddis yne. 1605 W. Camden 210 Let vs set vppon them, and slay them every mothers sonne; and by Gods eyes, when thou hast so done, thou hast killed all the faithfull friendes that thou hast in England. 1790 J. Berington ii. 231 ‘Then, by God's eyes,’ said Henry in a rage, ‘he has excommunicated me.’ 2007 D. Cosby iii. 42 By God's eyes, he was tired. At this moment, he could sleep upon a flattened boulder. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous ?1515 (de Worde) sig. C.ii What god almyghty by goddes fast at salysbury And I trowe eester day fell on whytsonday ye yere. c1530 (c1550) E ij b By goddes fast I was ten yere in Newgate. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > God's fish 1570 v. i. sig. Eiv Gods fishe hostes, and knowe you not mee. 1675 A. Marvell (1875) I. 431 I have a passable good estate, I confess, but, God's-fish, I have a great charge upon't. 1716 Lady Cowper (1864) 95 To which he replied, God's Fish! (that was his common Oath) I don't believe a Word of all this. c1728 Earl of Ailesbury 649 Gods fish! when two rogues fall out, their master then is like to know the truth. 1917 in E. A. Robinson 18 We'll say, to pass the time, that I speak well. God's fish! The King had eyes; and Lancelot Won't ride home to his mother, for she's dead. 2011 C. Lovejoy ix God's fish, my lady, who told you such a tale? the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > God's foot c1460 in R. Brotanek (1940) 99 (MED) For goddes fote! holde, for þis is thre. ?1550 R. Weaver sig. D.i Yea by gods foote that I wyl be busye. 1599 H. Porter sig. F2 Gods foote, I crye God hartely mercy. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous 1748 T. Smollett I. xi. 74 God's fury! there shall no passangers come here. 1851 J. Grant II. ix. 111 God's fury, and his malison to boot! be on this white-livered dog—this foul traitor—. 1984 J. Rutherford tr. L. Alas (2005) II. xix God's fury! Begad! A curse on him! He is always up to this kind of trick! the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous 1535 D. Lindsay 393 Or ȝe tuik skaith, be Gods goun [etc.]. 1895 Jan. 79 God's gown! but that wine was good! the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous 1543 T. Becon f. xvii How common an oothe nowe dayes is Gods flesh, Gods bloud,..Goddes guttes, and all that euer maye be rehearsed of God? 1573 ii. iii. sig. C ivv Nowe by goddes guttes I will neuer staye, Tyll I finde meanes to ridde the beast out of the waye. 1995 D. Coward tr. A. Dumas (1998) lii. 361 Without saying once in course of the day, by God's guts, or a pox on it. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous 1569 T. Preston D iv b Gods hat neighbour come away. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > (originally) with reference to Mary 1589 G. Puttenham iii. xix. 193 Gods lady I reckon my selfe as good a man as he. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > God's eyelid 1600 T. Dekker sig. Hv Nay gods lid, y'are not gon so. 1601 B. Jonson ii. iii. sig. E4v By Gods lid, and you had not confest it ——. View more context for this quotation 1609 sig. D3 By Gods-lid, if I had knowne [etc.]. 1834 R. M. Bird II. xxv. 191 How now, my noble friend! art thou hurt beyond speaking! God's lid! but I would hug thee, if thou didst not look so dismal! the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous 1598 W. Shakespeare iii. iii. 61 Gods light I was neuer cald so in mine owne house before. View more context for this quotation 1607 T. Heywood sig. D3 Gods light, hark within there. 1822 Nov. 100/2 By God's light, coward, I have a mind to put this knife into you. 2009 S. Wiggs 23 By God's light, Laszlo, he's all I have now. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous ?1520 J. Rastell sig. Cvv Goddis lorde seist not who is here now. 1600 T. Dekker sig. G3 Gods lord tis late, to Guild Hall I must hie. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous 1575 W. Stevenson v. ii. sig. Eiiii Gods malt Gammer gurton. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > (originally) with reference to Mary ?1544 J. Heywood sig. D.iv No stone lefte standynge by goddes mother. 1865 A. C. Swinburne (1878) iv. 118 Now, by God's mother, if I respite him..He should not lose a hair. 1983 S. Raven i. 87 By God's Mother I speak only the truth. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous c1330 (?c1300) (Auch.) l. 2191 (MED) Be godes name, Ichaue for þe sofred meche schame! 1644 S. Rutherford Pref. sig. a3 King James cast him off, and did swear, By Gods name he intended to be King, (the Prelate maketh Blasphemy a vertue in the King). the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > God's passion a1500 (a1460) (1994) I. ii. 23 Peasse, man, for Godys payn! the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > God's passion c1460 in R. Brotanek (1940) 100 (MED) By goddes passioun! lousy horeson, In a bettre tyme mightest þou neuer come. 1535 D. Lindsay 1438 That sall we do..be Gods passioun. 1589 G. Puttenham iii. xvi. 153 Gods passion..said she, would thou haue me beare mo children yet. a1846 A. De Vere (1847) i. ii. 165 God's Passion! Said I not how these fellows should be known? 1903 A. Austin i. 44 Now, by God's Passion, on this very hour, And on its undetermined issue, hangs The future of two great opposing Realms. 2001 V. Henley iv. 40 God's passion, woman, nothin' good ever came up from England! the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > God's passion a1500 (a1460) (1994) I. iii. 35 I swere bi Godys pyne. c1503 (Pynson) sig. fiiiv I the tel by goddys pyne. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > God's pity 1569 T. Preston B j b Yea Gods pittie, begin ye to intreat me? 1606 G. Chapman iv. i. sig. G4v Gods pittie, what an errant Asse was I, To entertaine the Princes craftie friendship? 1821 W. Scott I. xv. 271 ‘God's pity! that was well said, my lord,’ said the Queen. 1912 L. N. Parker (1913) ii. iii. 80 Queen (Deeply moved) God's pity!—My poor mariners!—My heart aches for you! the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous c1330 (?a1300) (1886) l. 2127 (MED) Y wold þe litel gode, Ac y þe wraied neuer day, Y swere bi godes rode. 1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in 20 Here by God's rood is the one maid for me. 1926 C. Stilson vi. 91 ‘A comely boy, by God's rood!’ he drawled; ‘comely as any wench.’ 2005 J. Trapp xxvi. 268 ‘By God's rood,’ Godric cursed, striding inside. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous a1529 J. Skelton (?1530) sig. C.iiiv Courtly abusyon ye dyd they so Fansy ye by goddes sacrament and with other mo. 1575 W. Stevenson v. ii. sig. Eiiv Gods sacrament the villain knaue hath drest vs round about. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous ?1577 Misogonus in R. W. Bond (1911) 209 Gods sacringe I haue lost a noble at two settes. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > God's body a1500 (a1460) (1994) I. ii. 25 Bi Codys sydys, if thou do, I shall hang the apon this plo.] ?1515 (de Worde) sig. C.iiiiv By goddes sydes I hadde leuer be hanged. c1600 (1907) v. iv. 99 Gods sides hee beggs like a Coward. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous 1345–9 Wardrobe Acct. Edward III in (1846) 31 43 (MED) Hay, hay, the Wythe swan! by godes soule, I am thy man! c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer (Hengwrt) (2003) Prol. l. 24 By goddes soule..that wol nat I. 1573 i. ii. sig. B ij I can not by goddes sowle. a1586 18 Be Goddis saull, that is trew. 1993 Mar. 16/3 God's soul and body! you had to have your horses. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous 1580 J. Stow 242 By Gods tooth (quoth King Iohn) he were a King indeede that had suche a Knighte. 1700 J. Tyrrell II. ii. vii. 735 He [sc. King John]..spoke many hard words against the Pope and his Cardinals, Swearing by God's Teeth (his usual Oath) that..he would forthwith send all the Prelates and Clergy of England to the Pope. 1831 P. Leicester II. iii. 64 Cease, or by God's teeth, this hand shall teach thee respect. 1922 M. Dallett i. 17 She is so pretty! God's tooth, Francis, but I shall be angry soon. 2003 (Nexis) 9 Nov. 3 So how many times has he spun the yarn? ‘God's teeth, I don't know. Thousands.’ the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous 1579 T. Churchyard sig. G.ivv For by Gods will quod he (as it is my Lordes earnest woorde) if the Ryngraue lodge so nere my charge, the one of vs bothe shall take little reste. 1599 H. Porter sig. Iv Gods will tis sir Raph Smith. 1601 B. Jonson iv. i. sig. I2v Draw, or by Gods will ile thresh you. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare (1622) ii. iii. 154 Ho, The Towne will rise, godswill Leiutenant, hold. View more context for this quotation 1884 xvii. 78 ‘Let the boy win his spurs,’ said he, ‘for by God's will, I desire that all the honour of the day shall be his.’ the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous ?1550 R. Weaver sig. D.ii This is an ernest fellow of gods worde. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > God's wounds c1460 in R. Brotanek (1940) 100 Come þens, for goddes woundes fyve..Þou lyest, horesone. 1535 D. Lindsay 991 That sall I nocht, be Gods wounds. a1649 A. Weldon (1652) 80 Hee instantly gave up the ghost with these words, Gods wounds, I am slain! 1779 Apr. 204/1 God's wounds, Doughty, what dost thou mean to use this familiarity with me? 1932 R. Macaulay i. ii. 22 God's wounds, ye'd think the country and parliament was run mad, flouting and denying and insulting His Majesty the way they do. 2005 C. J. Farley x. 79 By God's wounds you'd best remember those wise words and work harder at your stations. c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer (Hengwrt) (2003) §18 Gladly..by goddes swete pyne. c1460 (c1390) G. Chaucer (Selden) (1868) Prol. l. 13 A-bide for godis digne passion. a1500 (a1460) (1994) I. xii. 118 A, Godys dere Dominus, What was that sang? a1500 (a1460) (1994) I. xvi. 188 By Gottys dere nalys, I wyll peasse no langer. 1543 v. f. lxvi She is a widowe & hath already children. By goddes blessed ladye, I am a bacheler & haue some too. ?1562 sig. C.iiiiv Ye that I wyll, by goddes deare brother. ?1562 sig. D.iiiv By goddes blessed brother Yf [etc.]. 1573 ii. iii. sig. C iv By goddes glorious woundes hee was worthy of none. 1575 W. Stevenson v. ii. sig. Ei A great deale more (by Gods blest,) then cheuer by the got. 1608 sig. C2v By Gods blessed Angell, Thou shalt well know it. 1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher v. i. 154 Gods blest Mother, I sweare he is true-hearted. View more context for this quotation (c) With nouns not found in other contexts, probably in most instances altered or fabricated forms. God's bodikins, God's nigs, God's pittikins, God's santy: see the second element. See also Godsokers int., and Gad n.2 and int. Compounds.the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous 1602 W. S. sig. Ev Well Ioane heele come this waye: and by Gods dickers ile tell him roundlie of it. 1647 J. Cleveland 24 Then Roger was inspir'd, and by Gods-diggers, Hee'l sweare in words at large, and not in figures. 1688 T. D'Urfey iv. 66 The Gentlevolkes are huge loving, an't like your Worship, Godsdiggers, I was afraid they would have Buss'd me too. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous c1530 A. Barclay i. sig. B.ivv Losse, goddys domynus to lose..thou hast no good Saue hoke and cokers, thy botell and thy hood. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous ?1577 Misogonus in R. W. Bond (1911) 249 Gods ludd I near left my booke till I cam to the houre a catar waulinge. 1606 G. Chapman i. i. sig. B By gods ludd thy Surname is neuer thought vpon here, I perceiue heeres no bodie giues thee any commendations. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous 1599 H. Porter sig. I4 Yet by Gods me, Ile take no wrong. 1616 B. Jonson Euery Man in his Humor (rev. ed.) iii. v. in 40 By gods mee, I marle, what pleasure, or felicitie they haue in taking this roguish tabacco! it's good for nothing, but to choke a man. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous ?1577 Misogonus in R. W. Bond (1911) 195 Gods sokinges houlde your handes. ?1576 sig. Diij Ah Gods, now farewell Phrygia soyle. 1613 F. Beaumont i. sig. D1 Bid the plaiers send Rafe, or by Gods—and they do not [etc.]. the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > God's passion ?1577 Misogonus in R. W. Bond (1911) 189 Godes my armes sticke not to drawe your sworde. 1599 G. Chapman sig. Bv Gods my passion what haue I done? 1604 T. Dekker & T. Middleton ii. i. 52 Gods my pittikins, some foole or other knocks. 1604 T. Dekker & T. Middleton sig. D1 Nay, Gods my pitty, what an asse is that Citizen to lend mony of a Lord. 1638 W. Rowley iv. sig. G4v Hence you Whore-master knave, Gods my passion, got a wench with childe..: Precious coales, you are a fine youth indeed. 1865 A. C. Swinburne iv. i. 156 God's my pity! Where's Hamilton? doth she ail too? c1330 (?a1300) (1886) l. 655 (MED) Child, so god þe rede, How were þou fram rohand lorn? c1380 (1879) l. 1575 ‘Wolleþ ȝe ȝou defende?’..‘Ȝea, so god me mende.’ c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 4 Also wisly god my soule blesse Myne erys aken of thy drasty speche. a1500 (a1460) (1994) I. xiii. 149 No, so God me blys. 1589 iv. sig. D.ivv As god iuggle me when I came neere them [etc.]. 1601 B. Jonson iv. i. sig. H4v As Gods my iudge, they should haue kild me first. View more context for this quotation 1601 B. Jonson ii. ii. sig. Ev I am asham'd of this base course of life (God's my comfort) but [etc.] . View more context for this quotation 1620 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher iv. 48 God iudge me, I vnderstand you not. 1761 Dec. 670/1 How they should be bloody, as God is my saviour, I cannot answer. 1842 Ld. Tennyson Lady Clare in (new ed.) II. 196 ‘As God's above!’ said Alice the nurse, ‘I speak the truth: you are my child.’ 1893 E. Saltus 133 As God is my witness that girl is as straight as your sister. 1936 M. Mitchell xxv. 428 As God is my witness, as God is my witness, the Yankees aren't going to lick me. I'm going to live through this, and when it's over, I'm never going to be hungry again. 1974 B. Friel Freedom of City in (1984) 157 As God's my judge he was stuck in it for two days and two nights. 2005 Z. Smith 427 I am gonna strike you down where you stand, as God is my witness, I will wear your ass out today. P4. In phrases not referring to a single Supreme Being. the world > the supernatural > deity > a devil > the Devil or Satan > [noun] c1384 (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Cor. iv. 4 In whiche the God of this world [L. deus huius saeculi] hath blyndid the soules of men out of the bileue. ?c1450 (?a1400) J. Wyclif (1880) 370 Ȝif þe gospel is hid, it is hid to hem þat perschen, in þe whiche god of þis worlde haþ blyndid þe mynde of unfeiþful men. 1543 T. Becon sig. E.v Satan the God of this worlde, had blynded our mindes, that we should not beleue, vnlesse the lyghte of the glorious gospell of Christ, whiche is the Image of God, should shyne vnto vs. 1612 W. Sclater Ep. Ded. sig. A2 Wee fight not against flesh and bloud: wee encounter and conquer, yea overconquer the God of this world. a1744 I. Terry (1746) 213 This World and its Inhabitants are frequently represented as under the Dominion of the Devil. For he is called the God of this World. 1834 J. Hambleton in (1839) 1 180 The god of this world holds such multitudes in his iron bondage. 1875 H. Read (title) The God of this world: the footprints of Satan: or, the devil in history. 1965 D. M. Lloyd Jones v. 75 Unfortunately it is true I was blinded by the god of this world, but thank God His grace was more abundant. 1994 Mar. 4/2 Only those who have been blinded by the god of this world deny that private and public conduct are to some extent linked. 1578 T. Churchyard sig. Diijv To play the God, fye foolish boy, leaue of these toyes in time,..Thou art not of the race of Gods, thou art some Beggers chitte. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1622) ii. iii. 338 As her appetite shall play the god With his weake function. View more context for this quotation 1738 W. Robinson Poems on Several Occasions in 67 Ingenious Hogarth..plays the God with all he draws! 1766 T. Amory II. xiii. 491 His breeding and his eloquence..induced me to fancy him an angel of a man... For three months he played the god, and I fondly thought there was not such another happy woman as myself in all the world. 1851 H. Spencer xxxii. 475 We are not to be guilty of that practical atheism, which, seeing no guidance for human affairs but its own limited foresight, endeavours itself to play the god. 1870 S. Winkworth tr. C. C. J. Bunsen III. vi. iv. 328 When Alexander played the god, his life and empire were forfeited. 1966 W. H. Stone xii. 322 Ronny, accused by his mother of playing the god and enjoying it. 1584 R. Greene sig. E.iv Leaue of to inueigh against Loue, since it is a labour fit for the Gods. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) ii. i. 173 Let's carue him, as a Dish fit for the Gods. View more context for this quotation 1861 Jan. 19/1 It is pronounced ‘fine’, ‘super-excellent’, ‘food fit for the gods!’ 1883 Aug. 456/1 He considered pepper-pot a dish fit for the gods. 1898 21 May 154/2 The avidity with which they polished off joss candles was a sight for the gods. 1938 19 Aug. 14/2 To people out of sorts with life,..they provided a feast fit for the gods. 2002 Nov. 49/2 At Christmas we can still run to a can of the 1943 Spam as a treat... If you can find a good can of the '43 what's not blown, that's food fit for the gods. the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > exclamation of wonder [interjection] > mingled with indignation ?1534 R. Whittington tr. Cicero sig. D.iiiiv O ye goddes immortall [L. O di immortales!], men knowe not how great a gayne or profyte is for a man to be a sparer and a sauer.] 1672 J. Dryden ii. iii. iii. 116 Ye gods, why are not Hearts first pair'd above! 1709 3–5 Aug. Her Coughing and Squelching, Her F..ting and Belch[in]g, Ye Gods, what a Consort is here! 1761 J. Boswell Let. 17 Dec. in (1763) 56 It is Captain Andrew! It is! it is! Ye Gods! he seizes! he opens! he reads! 1807 C. Wilmot Let. 15 May in M. Wilmot & C. Wilmot (1934) ii. 243 Oh! ye Gods! How you are to be envied & every Mortal alive. 1820 Mrs. Purcell I. v. 83 Ye gods and little fishes! what roses and lilies—pink, satin, and sable. 1871 L. M. Alcott ii. 27 But out of school,—Ye gods and little fishes! how Tommy did carouse! 1909 H. G. Wells i. 9 ‘Ye gods!’ she said at last. ‘What a place!’ 1964 W. Markfield (1965) xi. 187 He cried to himself ‘Ye Gods!’ and ‘Whoosh!’ 1992 L. Marks & M. Gran 74 Ye Gods and little fishes, that it should come to this! the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > types of help > [noun] > providential assistance 1676 tr. G. Guillet de Saint-Georges iii. 304 As the Criticks in Rome upon the same occasion were wont to say, Deus è Machina; Now for a God from a Machine. 1735 (new ed.) II. 484/2 The best expedient, when such disputes arise, is to have recourse to the secular Arm, like a God from a machine, in order to cut the knot. 1869 A. Trollope I. xxxi. 257 A gallant young member of that House..had appeared upon the spot at the nick of time;—‘As a god out of a machine,’ said Mr. Daubeny, interrupting him. 1888 R. Kipling 1 (title of story) The god from the machine. 1910 G. K. Chesterton 116 Shaw..disliked the god from the machine—because he was from a machine. 1959 26 Nov. 911/2 The heads of government of the Great Powers are not gods from the machine. 1999 S. Rushdie (2000) xiii. 407 This gift which India, greatest of all gods from the machine, has just dropped into their astonished laps. f. Proverbs. 1804 M. Edgeworth Murad i. in (ed. 2) II. 13 Whom the Gods wish to destroy, they first deprive of understanding. 1875 M. Thompson 180 Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad. 1997 P. K. Chadwick Pref. p. xi ‘Whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad.’ A saying more likely to spread prejudice against the seriously mentally ill it is difficult to imagine. 1546 W. Hugh ii. sig. B.viiiv But among all other, saith the great poete Menander: Most happy be they and best belouid of god, that dye whan they be yong.] 1821 Ld. Byron xii. 77 ‘Whom the gods love die young’ was said of yore. 1878 R. L. Stevenson Aes Triplex in Apr. 437 When the Greeks made their fine saying that those whom the gods love die young, I cannot help believing they had this sort of death also in their eye. 1972 A. Price xx. 224 ‘Whom the gods love die young’, the war taught us that. Compounds C1. a. General use as a modifier. (a) With first element in singular form. 1540 R. Wisdome in J. Strype (1822) I. ii. App. 473 This article [disbelief in masses for the dead] they take for my greatest Heresie. For indede this wringeth their God-belly, that his eyes water for pain. 1675 J. Smith ii. 20 That devouring God-belly-gulph Heliogabalus. 1889 R. B. Anderson tr. V. Rydberg 142 One of the god-clans [Sw. af gudaklanerna] has committed the murder. 2008 M. Skye 207 To cut off Sif's hair shows a lack of respect for her, as well as for her entire god clan, known as the Aesir. 1841 H. J. Rose tr. A. Neander II. 235 Even the common God-consciousness [Ger . Gottesbewusstseyn], the consciousness of the God, in whom we live and move and have our being, received a new impulse from Christianity. 1894 G. M. Grant ii. 29 The God-consciousness of Israel expanded under the leadership of a long succession of prophets and psalmists. 1914 F. B. Wilson (title page) Human evolution impelling man onward to God-consciousness. 2009 22 Aug. a8/1 Ramadan was prescribed by God so that the Muslims can achieve ‘taqwa’, or God-consciousness. 1876 W. Morris iii. 217 The kin of the God-folk. 1916 V. S. Howard tr. S. Lagerlöf 18 He argued with himself that it was wrong in him to borrow trouble, when his child had such godfolk as the master and mistress of Falla. 1993 R. Shell 111 And I shouldn't cuss Jehovah's Witnesses because they're God Folk and you gotta be careful how you treat or think of God Folk because they can get in your chest and under your skin. 1844 E. B. Barrett Dead Pan in II. 266 Shall..no hero take inspiring From the God-Greek of her lips? 1862 15 Nov. 731/1 A translator of Homer has to turn that wonderful ‘god-Greek’ into English. 1843 28 Jan. What is the God-idea promulgated for?—To subjugate the many for the benefit of the few. 1869 H. Tuttle (title) The career of the God-idea in history. 1910 E. S. Ames 319 The God-idea is a teleological idea. 1949 Mar. 225 However primary and archetypical the God-idea may be. 2012 (Nexis) 25 Feb. 12 I assume that Mr Potts would remain a good person without the God idea? 1876 W. Morris iv. 379 Round the fettered and bound they throng As men in the bitter battle round the God-kin over-strong. 2003 D. L. Smail 105 Uga, moreover, was Tomas's god-kin, a spiritual relationship that would more or less exclude the possibility of a profound social gulf between them. 1838 E. B. Barrett 194 Or Poet Plato, had th' undim Unsetting Godlight broke on him. 1867 P. J. Bailey 6 Moon, whose gleam Reflective, types the God-light, wherewith shines Man's soul. 1909 E. Gosse 19 O million shafts of pines, On each of whom the god-light shines, In you the miracle I see Of multitude in unity. 2004 I. McDonald (2005) xlvi. 546 The god-light fading into the background microwave hum of the universe. a1711 T. Ken Hymnotheo iv, in (1721) III. 109 The holy Jesus..Co-effluent God-Love on his Spirit shed. a1881 S. Lanier (1908) 76 Wife-love flies level, his dear mate to seek: God-love darts straight into the skies above. 1935 M. R. Anand 205 Gandhi..will teach us the true religion of God-love which is the best swaraj (self-government). 1993 15 Mar. 24 Here is the paradox of God-love as a life-force that is capable of transforming itself into a death-force. 1647 J. Trapp (1 John iii. 15) 474 By like reason we may say that sin is God-murther. ?1842 G. J. Holyoake (ed. 2) 5 From the days of Constantine to the god-murders perpetrated on the fields of Rathcormac, Christianity has swam in blood. 1998 R. K. Hughes II. xxxiii. 257 Their crime, which would take place within the week, was not just homicide but deicide—God-murder! 1647 J. Trapp Mellificium Theol. in 730 This is Deicidium, God-slaughter. 1842 22 June If I should ever..wish to commit a spiritual murder, or God-slaughter. 2006 B. Henderson (2008) iv. 149 ‘There Is a Balm in Gilead’ wants none of this God-slaughter. 1811 F. Jeffrey Let. 25 Jan. in Ld. Cockburn (1852) II. 131 Murray is in great preservation—a little too bustling and anxious for my epicurean god state. 1852 P. J. Bailey (ed. 5) 412 He in the God-state first..passed away. 2007 J. Goldberg vi. 234 The Social Gospellers were mostly postmillennialists in their aspirations: they believed the Hegelian God-state was the kingdom of heaven on earth. (b) Appositive. 1881 A. J. Thébaud ii. i. 191 To offer incense to idols or to the image of the god-Cæsar. 1920 H. G. Wells 282/2 He [sc. the Jew] stood out manfully against the worship of any god-Caesar. 1991 S. Waller tr. H. K. Fierz xxi. 395 The regression to the God-Caesar was hollow. a1661 B. Holyday in tr. Juvenal (1673) 272 Whiles..the god-crocodile seem'd tame, all was well. 1796 tr. C.-F. Volney (ed. 3) xxii. 251 Thus the God Ichneumon made war against the God crocodile; the God wolf wanted to eat the God sheep; the God stork devoured the God serpent. 2002 (Nexis) 7 Mar. One legend says that the original settlers rode on the back of a giant god-crocodile into the midst of the lake to start their homes. 1638 T. Herbert (rev. ed.) i. 52 This their God-fire is not composed of common combustibles. 1884 XVII. 133 (note) Their descendants are called Devágni or god-fire Bráhmans. 2002 K. Reimann xxvi. 457 Tullier..screamed, his clothes bursting into flame, the God-fire searing his skin. ?1614 G. Chapman tr. Homer i. 4 The God-foe Polypheme [Gk. ἀντίθεον Πολύϕημον]. 1831 29 Jan. 68/3 The identity of the god-king Oden, or Woden, with Buddha and Mercury, is confirmed beyond all dispute. 1862 H. Spencer ii. ii. §48. 159 All titles of honour are originally the names of the god-king. 1954 22 Feb. 83/1 The cathedral doors opened and the 10-year-old God-King stepped slowly out, supported to right and left by two abbots. 2002 31 May 8/3 It was not to be just any Hindu temple: it would mark the place where the god-king Ram was born. a1640 P. Massinger & J. Fletcher Very Woman iii. i. 132 in P. Massinger (1655) They have new Creators, God Tailor, and God Mercer. 1772 T. Nugent tr. J. F. de Isla I. 522 Building to the God-Ram [Sp. Dios Carnero] the first temple. (c) With first element in plural form. 1869 W. E. Gladstone xv. §3 527 That under~ground region, in which dwelt the Gods-Avengers, and which was the realm of Aïdes and Persephone. 1610 J. Healey tr. St. Augustine iii. xiv. 125 For all the helpe of these gods-guardians [L. diis praesidibus], there was not one King of them that continued his raigne in peace. 1876 J. P. Newman 303 I prefer the good old Protestant way, going directly to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Away with your gods-protectors, your gods-guardians! 1911 A. C. Gaebelein (ed. 2) xi. 182 These gods guardians, the Virgin Mary, saints, and angels, were utterly unknown, as mediators and invocable guardians, in the primitive apostolic church. b. Objective. (a) With agent nouns. 1618 T. Adams i. 25 He calls them Gods enemies, tumultuous, proud, God-haters. 1643 J. Vicars (title) A looking-glasse for malignants. Or, Gods hand against God-haters. 1884 June 328 The incisive cynic and God-hater, Voltaire. 2005 (Nexis) 11 May 41 Bruckner's seventh promised a heavenly immortality that a God-hater like Hitler regarded as his divine right. ?1531 R. Barnes f. C.xxxiiiv Now wolde I know of these new godmakers by whose power and helpe yt the fyrste sayncte came in to heuen. 1721–6 W. Byrd (2001) 120 One of his captains thought it too gross, after complementing Alexander with being the offspring of a God to allow him also to be a God-maker. 1875 M. Arnold xl–lxvi. Notes 122 This God-maker is hungry and faint, even at the very time that he is at his God-making. 1995 21 Jan. 49/2 Let the word-spinners and god-makers keep it for their own. 1842 1 406/2 I would seriously advise him..to leave the god-mongers to fight their own battles. 1883 J. Parker II. 206 You will be but jostling a whole crowd of god-mongers. 2004 (Nexis) 11 Mar. 16 God-mongers such as Rush Limbaugh and Jimmy Swaggart seem particularly susceptible to this phenomenon. 1647 J. Trapp (Rom. i. 30) 5 Haters of God. And so God-murtherers. 1861 1 Mar. 9 It is the Emperor who has absolved himself in vain. So he is ‘God-murderer’. 2009 M. Small & V. Shayne 16 The Gentiles could not escape from a long tradition of thinking of us as Christ-killers and God murderers. 1647 J. Trapp (Coloss. i. 21) 262 Haters of God..and so God-slaiers. 1877 P. G. Medd viii. 81 He would be a God-slayer, too, if that were possible, and would sit alone and supreme over the wreck that he had made. 2005 J. Carey (title) Godslayer. (b) With present participles and verbal nouns. See also God-fearing adj., God-loving adj.1642 J. Vicars 64 That pair royall of God-adoring Hebrews. a1711 T. Ken Hymnotheo in (1721) III. 326 A God-adoring Race. 2005 (Nexis) 16 May The best illustration of a newly pious face with God-adoring oratory. 1660 T. Watson 233 Unbelief is a God-affronting sin. a1693 M. Bruce (1708) 10 The most God-affronting Perjury. a1860 W. B. Weed (1861) xxxviii. 401 A self-polluted, God-outraging Adam was my father; and I his no less self-polluted, no less God-affronting son! 2008 (Nexis) 11 Feb. For the rest of his God-affronting career. 1635 A. Stafford 210 We doe beleeve..that the wombe of the God-bearing Virgin, and the Temple of the holy Ghost, that is, her sacred body, to have beene assumed into heaven. 1885 W. de G. Birch Prol. 105 The glorious and God-bearing Cross. 1999 L. Kennedy v. 99 At the Council of Ephesus..it was agreed that Mary should be deemed theotokos, literally God-bearing and therefore Mother of God. 1621 G. Sandys tr. Ovid i. 6 A God contemning Race [L. contemptrix superum], Greedie of slaughter. a1649 W. Drummond (1711) 33/1 Men awless, lawless live..a God-contemning Race. 1854 15 June 9/6 The punishment of God-contemning beings. a1649 W. Drummond (1711) 34/2 God-despising Wights. 1853 ‘M. Twain’ 28 Nov. (1987) I. 29 I never..before saw so many whisky-swilling, God-despising heathens as I find in this part of the country. 2010 J. Leeman i. i. 73 In our individualistic, skeptical, anti-authority, God-despising age, we are instinctively repulsed by the idea of being bound by anything. a1711 T. Ken Hymnarium 111 in (1721) II. The Sin, which..from the God-detesting Spirit streams. 2002 (Nexis) 14 Jan. The bitter, fantastic outbursts of his God-detesting old age. 1684 J. Main in (1714) 334 I declare it to be a horrid wickedness, a God-disowning and a God-daring course. 1895 J. Smith xv. 250 This God-disowning, good-defying spirit. 1968 K. Cragg v. 141 The world of self-centred, idol building, religious preening, God disowning, humanity to which we all belong. 2003 W. M. Swartley v. 83 Might western culture have become a God-disowning culture similar to that spoken of in Romans 1:18–32? 1718 N. Rowe tr. Lucan 180 The wily, fearful, God-dissembling Maid. 1876 W. H. M. H. Aitken (ed. 3) xii. 193 It is ‘working’ now—the apostle tells us—this God-dissembling power—‘Mystery of iniquity!’ the travesty of Divine Omnipotence, instituted by the malignant ingenuity of hell! a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) l. 29205 Þe gift o wijt, of vnder-standing, O consail, strenght, o gode dreding. 1906 Jan. 266/1 That God-dreading code of Blue Laws. 1988 26 June (Bk. Review) 11/3 He..tells the God-dreading Lark, ‘It makes me sad you're sullen..because I know God hates sullen people.’ 1667 J. Janeway 353 Unbelief..is one of those dreadful and God-estranging sins, which leads on whole Legions against the Almighty. 1897 8 602 Sin is not with them the utterly vile, criminal, God-defying and God-estranging thing which it is with Paul and with John. 1644 W. Barton 15 The wicked shall be turn'd to Hell, These God-forgetting men. 1850 T. Carlyle iv. 39 Putrid unveracities and godforgetting greedinesses. 1883 Aug. 535/1 Benighted, bewildered, sniffing, sneering, God-forgetting unfortunates as we are? 2005 M. Lickona iii. 199 I am hoping that the shock of cold will rouse me from my God-forgetting material stupor. 1603 S. Harsnett 73 The God-gastring Giants, whom Jupiter overwhelmed with Pelion and Ossa. 1607 R. C. tr. H. Estienne i. i. 20 They tell vs strange tales of god-gastering Giants, who heaped mightie mountains one vpon another. a1711 T. Ken Urania in (1721) IV. 448 God-hymning Saints. 1881 G. A. Jackson tr. in II. 106/2 Sweet the life Of the God-hymning, O Christ Jesus. a1711 T. Ken Urania in (1721) IV. 519 God-intenerating Pray'rs. 1674 E. Calamy et al. 177 Sin is by some of the Antients called, God-murther, or God-killing. 1678 T. Gale iii. 65 Christ's crucifixion..was a sin..containing..God-killing bloud-guiltinesse. 1864 R. F. Burton I. 95 Thus there is a baptême de feu as well as a baptême d'eau; fire and water, to say nothing of the gauntlet, must combine to efface the god-killing crime. 1877 9 23 The literal sense of ‘ta atua’ being, god-striking or god-killing. 2010 S. Mebus xiii ‘Maybe I'll just take care of you!’ Kid Dropper cried, pulling out his god-killing knife and launching himself at Tweed. 1546 J. Bale f. 36v We must now beleue in the bawdrye of prestes, or that their Sodometrye and Whoredome for want of marryage, can be no impediment to their Godmakynge. 1613 S. Purchas 652 Art..in this matter of God-making, commonly gets the upper hand. 1906 27 Nov. 2/1 Then the pupils are painted in, and the process of god-making, or deification, is complete. 2007 L. Saintcrow (end matter) It is the simplest and most basic form of godmaking, hardwired into the human neural net. 1614 W. Raleigh i. ii. vi. 328 A God-mocking equiuocation. 1899 9 June 8/2 Why, I think he would kick the whole hypocritical congregation into the street, blow the God mocking building at the moon, and then turn on the fireworks. 2010 (Nexis) 17 June a11 What followed [Richard Dawkins's book The God Delusion] was a spate of god-mocking volumes. 1643 J. Owen iv. 24 Their proud God-opposing errors. 1860 E. B. Pusey 306 Amaziah and the God-opposing party. 2011 P. Copan xiii. 146 The negative, sometimes God-opposing association bound up with the Old Testament use of the term foreigner. 1612 M. Drayton v. 76 Her god-resembling sonne [Achilles]. 1802 C. Lamb ii. 49 All things that live, From the crook'd worm to man's imperial form, And God-resembling likeness. 1984 L. Dupré in G. P. Schner 18 The spiritual soul does not look for ‘God-resembling’ creatures. It embraces all beings with equal fervour: the high and the lowly, the good and the bad. 1837 R. Carlile 12 The word Israel, signifies a sight of God, and, as a name applied to man, signifies a God-seeing man, or a student in physical science. 1876 A. Ransom tr. T. Keim (ed. 2) I. 284 The priest and God-seeing prophet. 1892 J. Hutchison i. 25 A believing God-seeing heart. 2001 W. M. Thackston tr. in 5/2 His God-seeing eye has opened the gates of paradise to his community through intercession. c. Instrumental, locative, etc. (chiefly with past participles). See also godforsaken adj.a1732 T. Boston (1796) III. 76 Immodest apparel..God appointed apparel. 1832 W. Godwin (1835) xv. 150 This God-appointed sense of hearing. 1929 W. B. Yeats 11 And God-appointed Berkeley that proved all things a dream. 2005 Apr. 130/3 Pupils may be prepared to take their God-appointed places in the home, the church, the state, and their vocations or professions. 1842 E. A. Poe in Mar. 187/1 His greatness has its office God-assigned. 1894 C. L. Johnstone 56 Carrying on the God-assigned task of conquering the earth. 2004 M. E. Snodgrass (2005) 231 Some clergymen, who believed kitchen work the god-assigned task of females. 1845 P. J. Bailey (ed. 2) 4 All souls, impregned with spirit, God-begot! 1887 W. Morris tr. Homer I. ii. 30 Odysseus, the God-begot. 1908 W. A. Gardner tr. Euripides Ion in i. 5 Never have I learned..That happiness to mortal's lot Hath been vouchsafed through offspring god-begot. 1600 M. Drayton (rev. ed.) f. 43 That horse of fame, that God-begotten steed. 1932 T. E. Lawrence tr. Homer (new ed.) i. 2 This wave-beset, wooded island is the domain of a God-begotten creature. 2000 D. A. Miller ii. 100 A complete difference between hero and birth mate appears when the god-begotten child is born with a human-begotten ‘twin’. 1610 R. Davies sig. B3 I am ariu'd (in happy time I hope) To finde this happy God-beloued Man. 1853 J. Stevenson tr. Bede Life St. Cuthbert in tr. Bede 577 That..the sanctity of the God-beloved father [L. Deo dilecti patris] might be manifested to the faithful. 2012 (Nexis) 7 June Your thriving garden of God-beloved dandelion flowers. ?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer viii. 114 Our god-built towres they see [Gk. θεοδμήτων ἐπὶ πύργων]. 1718 A. Pope tr. Homer IV. xiii. 1029 Your boasted City and your god-built Wall. 1736 J. Thomson 297 The seeming God-built City. 2005 B. Kay in J. Ashley et al. i. 3 A God-built structure made up of other believers. 1831 Oct. 379 It led the year of the self-balanced mass, God-centred in the abyss, and girt with heaven. 1908 10 Dec. 2/3 Flowers of heaven!..wreathing The God-centred vision of all coming years! 1956 C. S. Lewis (1966) 269 The test of music or religion..is always the same—do they make one..more God-centred..and less self-centred? 2007 3 Dec. 55/3 Their teaching, these critics say, is ‘me-centered’, rather than God-centered. 1832 T. Carlyle in July 339 The man is provided..with a rational god-created soul. 1841 E. Miall in 1 97 An image..not God-created, but made by the hands of man. 1947 14 July 13/2 The search into the God-created laws of nature and into the revealed truths of human character. 2009 (Nexis) 25 Dec. Fear imprisons and distorts the God-created image in men and women. 1656 A. Cowley Pindarique Odes 18 in The great Acts of God-descended Kings. 1716 A. Pope tr. Homer II. vi. 236 The..God-descended Chief. 1862 H. Spencer ii. ii. §48. 159 Presently others of the god-descended race were similarly saluted. 1934 G. W. Russell 4 Tell me our story, god-descended king, For we have dwindled down, and from ourselves Have passed away, and have forgotten all. 2004 T. Hartmann (rev. ed.) 173 Kamikaze pilots enthusiastically gave their lives for the god-descended emperor. 1820 Apr. 408/2 That dreaded recess, containing the Hebrew mysteries..is disclosed..to the God-deserted multitude! 1845 J. G. Whittier in 26 And the solemn priest to Moloch, on each God-deserted shrine. 1900 July 307 These two villages amply repay all the money that has been spent in this apparently God-deserted country. 2007 (Nexis) 29 June Spanning New York and the Kremlin, Salt Lake City and a God-deserted heaven. 1832 Feb. 150/1 His god-driven flight thrice round the towers of the city. 1895 W. M. Ramsay x. ii. 216 The usual type of God-driven devotees. 2012 (Nexis) 20 Sept. This is a God-driven program... It's bigger and more important than any one person. 1834 J. A. Stephenson 25 The outward call alone, duly given, constitutes the man a God-empowered minister. 1906 18 Oct. 507/2 A god-kindled and God-empowered soul can be trusted to take care of duty. 2012 (Nexis) 22 Sept. b5 The dynamic, transformational, God-empowered change the Bible describes should be happening in the church. a1711 T. Ken (1721) I. 129 Food to ev'ry God-enamour'd Mind. 1895 7 766 They yearned not for mortal progeny, but for the immortal which the god-enamoured soul is alone able to bring forth of itself. 1993 K. E. Børreson i. 81 After this procession of God-enamoured women, it is stimulating to consider the happily married Christine de Pizan. 1839 G. Field II. iv. 346 The purely rational, or God-enlightened and perfectly cultivated mind. 1860 E. B. Pusey 562 Let the God-enlightened soul go on [etc.]. 1920 80 460 This much-talked-of infallible judgment of a God-enlightened, educated public. 1994 (Nexis) 22 Nov. 2 Who knows what the presence of one God-enlightened person can produce? 1852 T. Wilson in No. 3. 16 The student who..sedulously napkins the God-entrusted talent by which he discerns between good and evil, light and darkness? 1864 E. B. Pusey ii. 61 Human power..has a majesty, lent it by God, even when it abuses the God-entrusted gift. 1904 Sept. 739/1 One endowed with great faculties digs a hole in the earth, and buries the God-entrusted talent. 2010 L. Bevere ix. 159 The God-entrusted message—God the Father is love, and his only begotten Son, Jesus, died to reconcile us. 1675 T. Hobbes tr. Homer iii. 34 Choisest meat, Which none but God-fed Kings [Gk. διοτρεϕέες βασιλῆες] eat. 1890 J. R. Lowell 151 This have I mused on, since mine eye could first Among the stars distinguish and with joy Rest on that God-fed Pharos of the north. 2010 (Nexis) 23 May I know that BOTSO [= Brothers Organized to Save Others] is God-led and God-fed. 1643 J. Milton 6 If the woman be naturally so of disposition, as will not help to remove..that same God-forbidd'n lonelines which [etc.]. 1867 R. Broughton II. viii. 140 The angel with the drawn sword impeding the progress of his God-forbidden journey. 2011 (Nexis) 9 Aug. 10 Let's pull up our stakes and get the hell out of this God-forbidden land that time has forgotten. 1845 P. Jones xii. 123 ‘Woe, woe, woe!’ shouted he, ‘to the God-forgotten inhabitants of this God-forsaken earth!’ 1889 R. Buchanan vi ‘A God-forgotten place’, he said at last, as the dog-cart stopped. 1999 25 Jan. 20 (headline) ‘This is a God-forgotten place’, Russians are fond of saying. 1854 J. A. Allen iii. 73 In the God-formed plan Doth no rainbow span The broad ocean which separates time From eternity. 1888 A. J. Butler tr. Dante ii. 17 The God-formed realm. 2006 (Nexis) 24 Dec. a14 Bela his name was—four months old—this little God-formed shape. 1810 C. Lucas x. 252 Thee, whose firm look, God-gifted, closed the Lions' mouths. 1863 Ld. Tennyson Milton in Dec. 707 God-gifted organ-voice of England. 1907 ‘D. Donovan’ i. 1 ‘God-gifted and beautiful’ was Helga Arnold! 2003 14 Feb. 34/3 (advt.) I have a God-gifted ability to solve all your problems. 1709 Ld. Shaftesbury ii. 150 In this case it is not a Self-govern'd, but a God-govern'd machine. 1896 A. Brown vi. 138 This was the new scene, the God-given and God-governed theatre of action. 2003 C. Wilson in J. Miller & B. Inwood 106 Moral abominations inappropriate to a God-governed universe. 1643 J. Vicars 34 These notable Convictions and Confessions of the horrible and God-hated evill of your cause and cases. a1868 A. I. Menken (1883) 95 Turn back, ye Assassins! or wear on your foreheads For ever the brand of a God-hated race! 1927 W. B. Yeats 22 These God-hated children. 1998 J. V. A. Fine in A. Dundes 61 The leaders of the God-hated affair..were to receive forty strokes. 1837 Oct. 9 The high destinies of which every human soul contains the God-implanted germ. 1860 E. B. Pusey 287 The natural God-implanted feeling is the germ of the spiritual. 1923 Mar. 359 Thoughtless, though well-meaning parents stifled and killed the natural inclination and individuality of promising, budding ambition, God-implanted. 1989 Feb. 56/3 The God-implanted rights of both property and benevolence. 1865 J. S. Mill 30 Hippocrates..could say with impunity, speaking of what were called the god-inflicted diseases, that to his mind they were neither more nor less god-inflicted than all others. 1936 L. MacNeice tr. Aeschylus 52 From whence these rushing and God-inflicted Profitless pains? 2005 (Nexis) 20 Oct. A convicted murderer..says it's the church that should be forced to compensate him for the God-inflicted damage wrought by His alleged crimes. 1622 M. Drayton xxiv. 86 That God inspired man, with heauenly goodnesse fild. 1845 P. J. Bailey (ed. 2) 271 God-inspired To utter truth. 1991 H. Gold iv. 58 These ritual vévés, god-inspired flour drawings in the temple. 1829 T. Carlyle tr. ‘Novalis’ in 4 130 Spinoza is a God-intoxicated-man (Gott-trunkener Mensch). 1839 H. W. Longfellow I. ii. vi. 61 He is what the Transcendentalists call a god-intoxicated man. 1955 31 Jan. 96/2 The Hindus have been called a ‘God-intoxicated’ people who see God in man and beast, stick and stone, fire and water. 2003 Aug. 76 The god-inflamed and god-intoxicated enemies of the Republic. 1839 T. Wade 65 Her cheeks blush'd at the color that bedevill'd Their god-loved paleness. 1870 W. Morris 246 Grief must he hide..If he would be god-loved and conquering still. 1996 J. L. Nelson p. xxi The place to celebrate the God-loved Franks. 1597 M. Drayton f. 40v Nor doe I boast my God-made Grandsires skarres. 1856 J. Ruskin III. 147 Greatness in art..is..the expression of the mind of a God-made great man. 1994 C. McCarthy 426 After a while the right and godmade sun did rise, once again, for all and without distinction. ?1614 G. Chapman tr. Homer xi. 169 Life yet made short their admirations; who God-opposed Otus [Gk. Ὠτόν τ' ἀντίθεον] had to name. 1860 E. B. Pusey 336 The God-opposed world. 2010 T. W. Balderston 40 God-opposed groups are fighting..to keep God and the Bible..out of any public place. 1823 29 Dec. A power de facto is a power God-ordained. 1897 31 Aug. 3/6 Women are the God-ordained instructors of youth. 2006 Sept. 106/1 The..Protestant Three Self Movement sent out pastors..to preach that unquestioning loyalty to the government..was God-ordained. 1585 Margaret god sent daughter of Margaret Tayler [christened] Jun: 27. 1655 E. Gayton 4 Are God-sent Prophets Triumphs or Reproaches. 1884 ‘Rita’ vi. i One of those God-sent chances which sometimes befriend us in our hours of peril. 1972 Jan. 187 Converts remained godsent in more senses than one. 2000 A. Rashid (2001) 58 For the Taliban it was a God-sent opportunity. 1838 S. Bellamy 61 Nor longer tarrieth, God-sped, and fain His course to finish. 1886 J. Ruskin 20 The wisely sharp methods of Godsped courage. 2011 (Nexis) 17 Nov. d1 His supporters say he is streaking toward a God-sped destiny. 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus lxii. 30 When shone an happier hour than thy god-speeded arriving [L. quid datur a diuis felici optatius hora?]? 1911 W. L. Reed 62 The gleam of a God-speeded sunbeam Shining out 'neath a brow worldly-wise. 2007 I. McDonald 270 Godspeeded, I traversed a million worlds until an echo brought me up. 1670 R. Cudworth Serm. 1 John ii. 3–4 in (ed. 2) 108 He is a true Christian indeed..that is God-taught. 1891 F. Hartmann (title) The life and doctrines of Jacob Boehme: the God-taught philosopher. 2006 J. J. Packer & C. Nystrom 38 The authentic path of prayer expresses a God-taught commitment to a way of life. 1839 P. J. Bailey 123 His God-vouched inheritance of Heaven. a1904 W. P. Yeaman in J. C. Maple (1906) IV. iii. 384 The civilized world is indebted to Baptists for the revolution that has been wrought in the interests of the natural and God-vouched rights of conscience. 1817 R. C. Sands viii. 97 While God-wrought chains his soul corrode. 1870 W. Morris 24 Some god-wrought eagle-wings. 1998 L. Ryken et al. 756/1 Salvation refers to the God-wrought reversal of the sinner's denial of the Creator and the created order. d. Limitative. 1609 J. Davies sig. F3v Wilt be so God vnlike, to see thy God Embrace the Whip, and thou abhorre the Rod? e. 1841 C. Dickens xl. 165 To be..God-blessed..by one who carried ‘Sir’ before his name..was something for a porter. 1870 M. Arnold in 29 Nov. 3/2 We heard the honest German soldiers Hoch-ing, hurrahing, and God-blessing in their true-hearted but somewhat rococo manner. 2003 Z. Packer 225 Hugging and God-blessing everyone in sight. the world > action or operation > advantage > [phrase] > for the sake of > wish for the benefit of (someone) > wish for someone's benefit 1945 M. Lowry Let. Dec. in (1995) I. 496 Give Mother our best love & tell her we are writing her together today. Adios, God bless, Your brother, Malcolm. 1964 ‘J. Roffman’ vi. 69 ‘That would mean that I'd arrive here soon after half-past five.’ She smiled. ‘That will be fine. God bless, Albert.’ 1966 ‘E. Peters’ i. 20 Now good night, and God bless! Don't stay up too late! 1967 ‘M. Hunter’ xvi. 109 Try and forget me, David, God bless. 1999 G. Kissick (2000) i. 4 ‘Yes. I understand. Thank you, Sister. Goodbye.’ ‘Thank you, sir. Goodbye and God Bless.’ 1640 J. Gower tr. Ovid i. 16 That god-born prince [L. nepos natusque dei] (although himself denie) His fathers weight shall manage piously. 1755 W. Dodd tr. Theocritus Encomium of Ptolemy in tr. Callimachus 198 Hail royal Ptolemy! equal to the race Of god-born heroes [Gk. ἡμιθέων], thee the Muse extols. 1823 Ld. Byron lxi. 85 The Virgin Mother of the God-born child, With her son in her blessed arms, look'd round. 1843 Apr. 422 The God-born idea is not an impulsion, but an inspiration. 1910 24 Dec. 950 His baby hand shall give to earth All of a God-born Saviour's care. 1988 W. M. Wright & J. F. Power in P. M. Thibert tr. F. de Sales & J. de Chantal 14 The director then helped that person to learn to identify those promptings, to..propose possible practices that might encourage the free expression of those God-born impulses. 2000 10 Nov. 22/3 In Greek theatre, Heracles was a..Geryon-bodied figure, with distinct genre characterizations for his appearances in tragedy (god-born culture-hero grappling with the limits of mortality) [etc.]. OE (Claud.) vi. li. 258 Gif for godbotan feohbot ariseð.., þæt gebyreð rihtlice, be biscpa dihte, to gebedbigene & to þearfena hyþþe. 1661 T. Blount (ed. 2) God-bote (Sax.), a Fine or amerciament for crimes and offences against God; also an Ecclesiastical or Church fine. [Also in later dictionaries.] 1937 E. Partridge 338/2 God-botherer, a parson: Royal Air Force's: from ca. 1920. 1939 R. D. Q. Henriques xiv. 395 He had been pretty close to becoming a God-botherer, a religious sort of bloke who made hell for everyone by insisting on a full attendance at Church parade. 1966 22 Jan. 9/6 Missionaries, known locally to the unconverted as ‘devil-dodgers’ and ‘God-botherers’. 1966 K. Amis (1967) ii. 147 ‘What do you think of the padre, Max?’..‘Not a bad chap for a God-botherer.’ 2008 S. Armitage (2009) 201 He wasn't..the first bluesman, pot-head, speed-freak or born-again God-botherer. 1943 30 Jan. 47/1 A church service held on board one of His Majesty's Ships is usually known as godbothering. 1968 30 Apr. 6/1 Yes, the femme fatale, already saddled with lover and husband, fatally attracts the God-bothering young excise man. 1988 1 May 11/7 That fiendish old God-bothering father of hers, Alderman Whatsisname. 2009 R. C. Wood 125 To such humanists, all of our God-bothering is a foolish extravagance. 2010 (Nexis) 24 Oct. The blokes, down on their luck, were sometimes mildly disparaging of the Salvos [i.e. the Salvation Army], with their odd military-style hierarchy and ‘God-bothering’ ways. society > faith > artefacts > sanctuary or holy place > [noun] ?1548 J. Bale (new ed.) iii. sig. Bb.viii The vessels of yuory comprehendeth al theyr maundy dishes, their offering platters their relique chystes, their god boxes, their drinking horns. 1874 S. J. MacKenna 235 He..bids the men squat down, and opens his god-box as the former shudderingly regard it. 1890 14 Sept. 440/1 R. B. Cunningham Grahame, M.P...speaks of chapel as ‘some dissenting god-box’. 1892 W. W. Gill 20 The priest, or ‘god-box’,..went through the needful prayers. 1923 C. K. Ogden & I. A. Richards ii. 37 The priests in whom gods were supposed to dwell (a belief which induced the Cantonese to apply the term ‘god-boxes’ to such favoured personages)—are amongst the victims of this logophobia. 1928 J. Galsworthy iii. xii. 305 This great box—God-box the Americans would call it—had been made centuries before the world became industrialised. 1937 12 181/12 Godbox, organ. 1962 25 May 768/2 A ring-a-ding God-box that will go over big with the flat-bottomed latitudinarians. 1995 Mar. 28/2 Through the Toronto Blessing our ‘God boxes’ have been stretched—smashed, if the truth be told. 1998 R. Stone ii. xxix. 227 ‘So the tourist goes up into the choir loft to see who's at the keyboard, and who do you think he sees?’ ‘Fats Waller?’ ‘Hell,’ Lucas said. ‘You knew... So Fats says, “Just trying their God box, man”.’ the world > people > person > child > [noun] 1909 J. R. Ware 144/2 God-forbids, kids—a cynical mode of describing children by poor men who dread a long family. 1960 J. Franklyn 70/1 God forbid(s), (1) Kids (child or children), (2) Yids (Jews), (3) lid (hat). 1974 P. Wright x. 89 You'll draw plenty of bees an' honey (money) if you have, say, five God forbids (kids). 1999 C. Breese (2001) xiv. 288 Hutch's old friends Harold and Leslie Berens agreed that he had been ‘into the god-forbids’, apt cockney rhyming slang for ‘kids’. the world > the supernatural > deity > heaven > [noun] the world > the supernatural > deity > other deities > [noun] > northern > abode of 1848 P. J. Bailey (ed. 3) 120 God-home and glory-land. 1876 W. Morris iii. 216 A burg of people builded for the lords of God-home [Old Icelandic Goðheimr] meet. 1919 W. N. Guthrie ii. iv. 129 The hosts of angels pursuing the demon of the storms do pass in triumph by the bridge from manhome to Godhome. 1843 E. B. Barrett Seraph & Poet in July 72/1 The seraph sings before the manifest God-one. 1918 E. Pound Feb. 270 His series of ‘prayers’—to the God-one, the god-couple, the god-house, the god-street, and so on—is extremely interesting. 1962 A. Norton i. 15 The reputed home of these God Ones was the high mountains of the northeast. 1598 J. Marston iii. x. sig. H4v This bumbast foile-button..after the God-sauing ceremonie, For want of talke-stuffe, falls to foinerie. 1840 P. J. Bailey in Apr. 397 Dreams are mind-clouds, high and unshapen beauties, Or but God-shaped, like mountains, which contain Much and rich matter. 1897 (State of New Hampsh.) 396 All have known..trees greatly damaged by a pruning which reminds one of butchery, and which in a lover of the beautiful God-shaped trees required a large amount of Christianity to prevent expressions unbecoming a gentleman. 1917 H. G. Wells iv. 84 The religion of the atheist with a God-shaped blank at its heart and the persuasion of the unconverted theologian, are both like lamps unlit. 1930 J. F. Newton 22 Not only is God implied in our very thought, He is affirmed in our denials, and without Him we are left with a God-shaped void in our hearts. 1954 R. Macaulay Let. 31 Jan. in (1962) 143 Always one felt in one's soul what someone has called ‘the God-shaped hole’, where God has once been, or will be, or (anyhow) ought to be. 2010 21 Mar. c3/5 Some people say there is a God-shaped hole in us that only God can fill. society > faith > artefacts > implement (general) > vessel (general) > shrine > [noun] > Shinto 1874 E. Satow in 2 114 In every Japanese house there is kept what is called a kami-dana, or ‘shelf for gods’.] 1876 F. V. Dickins in tr. 171 (note) One of these O-harai ought to find a place upon every domestic Kami-dana, or god-shelf—a small model of a Shinto temple to be found in almost every house, labelled with the names of various deities. 1880 I. L. Bird II. 359 In nearly all Japanese houses there is a kami-dana or god-shelf, on which is a miniature temple in wood. 1905 D. B. W. Sladen xii They are never too poor to have a little light burning on the god-shelf. 1997 J. Bowker 105/3 (caption) They are usually placed on a Buddhist altar, or butsudan, or on the ‘god shelf’, or kamidana, at home, to protect and bring good fortune to the family. society > communication > broadcasting > a broadcast programme or item > [noun] > types of 1972 13 Apr. 23/3 Vastly more enjoyable, though no God-slot for Easter Sunday, was to see tiddly-winks champion Nimmo in Las Vegas. 1972 12 Oct. 17/6 Of course there is a balance on TV. Peter Hain and Jimmy Reid get their chance on the God slot on Sunday, or Late Night Line-up when everybody is in bed. 1985 17 Feb. 3/2 This latest move..could lead to the disappearance of the ‘God slot’, the so-called ‘closed period’ for religious programmes on television. 2010 10 Sept. 28/2 The psychologist Nicholas Humphrey had an angry response published to Mary Medgley's ‘Faith and Reason’ godslot. society > faith > sect > Christianity > person > [noun] > fervent society > faith > worship > preaching > evangelization > [noun] > one who evangelizes > collectively 1962 35 206 The Christian Student Movement..had been..an esoteric little group, meeting in piety, and contemplating the navel. They were referred to as the ‘God Squad’ on the campus. 1969 (Univ. S. Dakota) 3 57 God squad, Crusade for Christ on Campus.—University of Kentucky. The God Squad will not meet tonight. 1977 26 Dec. 42/3 Cleaver was later converted by a prison ‘God squad’. 1983 29 May 3/5 BBC executives..said: ‘Beware the unexpected—and keep tabs on the God squad.’ 2002 20 Oct. (Review Suppl.) 31/2 (heading) The other week this God squad woman asked me about morals. the world > physical sensation > smell and odour > fragrance > [noun] > fragrant substance or perfume > incense society > faith > artefacts > consumables > incense > [noun] > cylinder of 1874 609 Perhaps it would be interesting to mention how the little joss or god sticks are manufactured. 1884 E. Greey p. vii The bearded savage in the lower corner is an Aino whittling inaho (god-sticks). 1889 July 178/1 They are called joss-sticks, a name given by the Portuguese, doubtless meaning ‘dios’ or god-sticks. 1897 22 Sept. 2/1 Whenever a Siyot acted as mountain guide, or forded a river, he expressed his gratitude for safety by adding a quota [of little rags] to the ‘god-stick’. 1900 A. Hamilton v. 416 These three wooden pegs show the form of the god-sticks without the sinnet wrappings. 1902 E. A. Gordon i. 6 The use of Joss-sticks (i.e. god-sticks) in China; ‘Joss’ being the Chinese pronunciation of the Portuguese Deus. 1967 No. 4. 8/1 Although it was not easy to borrow carvings from Hawaii, some exceptional godsticks and figures have been gathered from various collections. 2002 D. Oliver iii. xxiv. 228/1 Some gods were capable of resting temporarily in certain natural objects.., or more commonly in carved stone figures and man-made ‘god-sticks’. 1962 42 260/2 In trying valiantly but vainly to make God-talk intelligible to people of an empirical temperament, Wilson has altered in a very radical way the very language game in which God-talk is at home. 1973 21 July 14/4 No religion, Christian or other, can ever be fully understood from outside, and this must apply also to its God-talk. 1986 (Nexis) 5 Dec. (Sports section) b2 I had an irate call from a Star subscriber, protesting that this God talk has no place on the sports pages. 2010 C. E. Smidt et al. viii. 228 Did religious voters respond to the ‘God-talk’ and the religious outreach of the Democratic Party? the world > the supernatural > deity > [noun] > specific thing as > tree as the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > yielding fibre, thatching, or basket material > [noun] > trees or shrubs yielding fibre, etc. > silk-cotton trees 1681 R. Knox 18 This tree they call Bogahah; we the God-Tree. 1778 J. Abercrombie at Ficus Sacred Fig, or Indian God-tree..is held in great veneration in India. 1833 I. 34/1 Abies Deodara, the Sacred Indian Fir. The Hindoos call it the Devadara or God-tree. 1837 J. C. Loudon Dec. 592 Even the untutored children of Africa are so struck with the majesty of its appearance, that they designate it [sc. Eriodendron anfractuosum] the God tree. 1896 F. B. Jevons xix. 252 A branch of the god-tree, some actual ears of wheat or maize, are worshipped as Very God. 1990 D. Carrasco iv. 100 According to Tzutujil mythology there existed a god in the form of a tree... This god-tree became pregnant with potential life as the creation of the universe approached. 2008 R. C. Bisht v. 144 There are historical records that describe a God Tree in western Ngari, Tibet. C2. Compounds with God's. The postmodifier of God has replaced, or is more commonly used than, the genitive in a number of expressions in which it was formerly usual, such as God's friend, God's lamb, God's mother, God's son, God's word, etc.: see the nouns.Also God's acre n., God's good n., God's house n., God's penny n. a. Rhetorically placed before a noun, either to stress the special connection between God and the item denoted, or simply for emphasis. OE tr. Bede (Corpus Oxf.) v. xvii. 456 Se cyning geleornade þæt he symble rihte regolas Godes cyricean [L. catholicas ecclesiae regulas] fyligde & lufade. lOE (Laud) anno 1093 On his broke he Gode fela behæsa behet: his agen lif on riht to lædene & Godes cyrcean griðian & friðian. c1400 (1840) 31 Þe synnes bi cause of whiche suche persecucioun schal be in Goddis Chirche. c1449 R. Pecock (1860) 436 In the Oold Testament God ordeyned oon bischop to be aboue in reule..and so to alle the clergie in Goddis chirche being thanne. 1596 T. Bell (title page) A succinct and profitable enarration of the state of Gods Church. 1623 G. Fletcher ii. iv. 194 All which rocks of danger & ill husbandry religion..neuer suffers any that saile in Noahs Arke, I meane in Gods church for want of a right steering their vessels to run foule vpon. 1797 in A. Kilham I. 272 But as there are rulers, so there are rules for God's church. 1863 J. M. Cox vi. 127 From the first beginning of her history, the state of God's Church on earth has been ever one of conflict. 1937 Oct. 317/2 Segregation in God's church will continue in America and in South Africa. 2008 Oct. 23/1 My prayer, my hope for God's church is to be God's church, to be true to itself. 1786 ‘A. Pasquin’ 43 If they were not the most stupid assemblage of all God's creatures, they would instantly expel him. 1822 J. Hogg III. i. 36 I see nae right ony o' God's creatures hae to be hurlbarrowed out o' their standing. 1921 J. M. Whitham vi. 47 'Tidn't Christian to boil God's creatures if 'ee bain't a-going to eat en... Such ropery! 2003 May 17/2 The utilisation of God's creatures to further the careers of fraudulent software package-sponsored, so-called electronic musicians must stop. 1583 T. Stocker tr. i. 138 b There were but 200 Spaniardes laid on Gods deare earth. 1595 G. Peele sig. D4v The veriest vixen that liues vpon Gods earth. 1602 R. Carew i. f. 74 Till..he be layd flat on Gods deare earth. 1748 S. Richardson VI. xxx. 108 There was not a viler fellow upon God's earth, than me. 1844 15 June 1/4 Crucifixion..not for a big name on the lips of all ages—but for foot-hold upon God's Earth? 1898 Aug. 166 A more villainous collection of desperadoes never blighted God's earth. 1905 L. Woolf 16 July (1990) 96 He..spent the whole morning in trying vainly to make his room not the foulest & hugest filthpacket on God's earth. 1922 S. Lewis xx. 255 Now, here's Paul, the nicest, most sensitive critter on God's green earth. 1982 N. Boyd 90 One last gigantic effort to turn God's dear earth into hell. 2006 M. O'Farrell 188 There is no way on God's earth I would consider him any relation to me. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. xiii. xi. 659 Goddis peple made no ioye, but [satte and] wepte and made mone. c1405 (c1375) G. Chaucer (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 502 Goddes peple hadde he [sc. Anthiochus] moost in hate. c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer (Ellesmere) (1877) §760 Thilke þat thou clepest thy thralles been goddes peple. for humble folk been cristes freendes. c1455 Speculum Misericordie in (1939) 54 952 (MED) Hee dede goddys peple pursewe To harme. 1551 T. Lever (new ed.) sig. D.iiiv Theyre preachyng can neuer diswade, to set and ordeyne ryche robbers and ignoraunt teachers ouer the Chrysten congregacion, goddes people, the kynges subiectes. 1606 W. Birnie ix. sig. C3 Pharao Cenchres (that drowned King of Egypt) who hauing a sepulchrall Pyramide elabored by the panefull taske of Gods people. a1771 J. Gill (1796) I. 495 All the sins of God's people are remissible, and are actually remitted. 1845 J. M. Neale in xix. 68 And others told of the river old, that let God's people pass. 1903 Sept. 215/1 Every son of humanity is a child of God, hence we are all God's people, and God cares for us and will not cast us off. 1979 (Nexis) 12 Mar. 91 He takes care of those who need him, God's people all: the pornographer, the drunken cripple, the blind waiter. 1997 R. M. Brown iv. xviii. 121 Where was the God of Sinai, of Abraham and Sarah.., when six million of God's people, including over a million children, were being exterminated? 2012 (Nexis) 7 Apr. 99 We have begun to dream about how it [sc. a new cathedral] will give glory to God and inspire God's people. 1550 T. Becon sig. Jiv When other perished for lacke of dryncke, he hadde Gods plentye & inoughe, as they vse to saye. 1592 R. Greene sig. B3 There were sweet Lillies Gods plentie, which shewed faire Virgins need not weepe for wooers. 1670 F. Boothby iv. vii. sig. I.3v I'le neither fight nor be beaten for any woman, as long as there's God's plenty of them in the world. 1700 J. Dryden Pref. sig. *Cv 'Tis sufficient to say according to the Proverb, that here is God's Plenty. 1722 O. Dykes 230 But she seems to be a more real Cornucopia in Deed, abounding also with God's Plenty. 1856 C. L. Hentz xviii. 127 Oh, starver in the midst of God's plenty! 1907 2 201 Not that there is any lack of numeration in those copies—there is God's plenty of it. 1991 R. Rogers i. 3 When it comes to selecting explanatory frameworks in the field of object relations theory, there is God's plenty to choose from. the mind > possession > poverty > [noun] > poor person > poor people or the poor c1230 (?a1200) (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 134 Þus bid ure riwle þet we schawin to gode freond as oþre godes poure doð hare meoseise wið milde eadmodnesse. a1325 St. Sebastian (Corpus Cambr.) l. 68 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill (1956) 18 (MED) Aliue ich am ȝute her Hol and sond wiþoute wonde to ssewe Godes poer. c1535 ii. sig. B.iiv Of goddes poore they haten gestes. 1673 T. Gouge 41 Till thou comest in good earnest to be of this mind, God's poor are like to be but little the better for thee. 1700 W. Sherlock ix. 246 Preference..to God's Poor, whom the Divine Providence has made Poor, to the Poor of their own Making. 1898 31 May 6/6 We talked of work-houses..and then for the first time I heard colloquially the phrase, ‘God's poor’. 1936 E. Goudge ix. 234 Here lived those people referred to by the Dean as the Lower Orders and by Grandfather as God's Poor. the mind > possession > poverty > [noun] > poor person > poor people or the poor 1563 Keeping Clean Church 86 Not forgettyng to bestowe our almes vppon Goddes pouertie [1623 poore]. the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > (a) great quantity or amount 1895 B. Perry xix. 354 We've got a stock company, and the rights, and the irrigating canal, and any God's quantity of land. 1911 C. E. W. Bean xxviii. 242 There was God's quantity of fish. 1922 J. Joyce ii. xii. [Cyclops] 280 Big foxy thief..lifted any God's quantity of tea and sugar. 1946 D. Du Maurier xxii. 213 Had I command of unlimited forces and possessed God's quantity of ammunition, a bombardment of three days would reduce Plymouth to ashes. 1734 10 July 151/1 What I swear, is upon the Truth, and God's Truth. 1755 T. Smollett tr. M. de Cervantes II. ii. xiv. 192 Now, Sir master of mine, is not this God's truth. 1821 May 162/1 Na, for that matter, it's a God's truth, that at the dead hour of midnight..I heard her speaking to herself. 1865 J. R. Lowell in June 796 ‘Chance wun't stop to listen to debatin'!’—‘God's truth!’ sez I. 1882 Rep. Select Comm. 153 in (47th Congr., 1st Sess.: Senate Rep. 878) IV Now, you may not believe me, but this is God's honest truth. 1888 F. T. Elworthy (at cited word) That there's God's truth, nif tidn I an't got a thick stick in my hand! 1896 13 May 7/1 ‘Why, God's truth,’ said she, ‘I've forgotten the tay! Now to think o' that!’ 1902 O. Wister x. 111 In admittin' yourself to be a liar you have spoke God's truth for onced. 1951 S. H. Bell i. vii. 46 To tell ye the God's truth, Agnes, I'm a very worrit man, and I don't know what way to turn, at all! 2006 (Nexis) 31 Jan. The agent..said he had ‘never been asked for, been offered, or given a backhander, and god's truth I don't know anyone who has’. 2010 J. McGregor (2011) iv. 128 Steve's done his time and that's the God's honest truth. 1807 Feb. 152 By Jasus, your honour! you're right there; it is God's own country. 1892 Feb. 432/1 A bottler of spring water advertises it as ‘God's own liver remedy’. 1929 L. M. Salmon ii. 24 ‘Daylight saving time’ has divided society into hostile camps, one demanding the return to ‘God's own time’, without explanation of the applicableness of the descriptive term chosen. 1941 M. Allingham xx. 228 Amanda was God's own gift to anyone in a hole. 1948 N. Coward 10 Jan. (2000) 101 Arrived at station, fortunately in good time. God's own monumental balls-up over reservations. 1979 20 Sept. 9 a/2 He's taking God's own sweet time to do everything. 1985 W. Sheed xi. 253 The ex-Catholics would, he hoped, wander back in God's own good time. 2009 (Nexis) 21 Dec. a20 Grant was one of God's own rogues. c. a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer (Pierpont Morgan) (1881) i. l. 906 How ofte hastow..seyd þat loues seruantz euerychone Of nycete ben verray goddes Apes. 1553 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil iv. Prol. 21 Ȝour trew suardis [bene] silly goddis apis. 1595 W. Covell sig. B1v Now Satan desiring in this to bee Gods Ape, (thereby the better to abuse the world). 1604 T. Dekker & T. Middleton sig. G2v They that draw shapes, And liue by wicked faces, are but Gods Apes, They come but neere the life. 1607 S. Hieron Spirituall Sonne-ship in (1620) I. 360 The diuell is Gods ape, and seekes to counterfeit Him almost in euery thing. 1792 W. Huntington Pref. p. iii Christian Reader, I think I may call Satan God's Ape. 1868 H. W. Longfellow John Endicott i. i. in 12 Ye verify the adage That Satan is God's ape! 1958 C. S. Lewis x. 106 That is why we call him God's Ape; he is always imitating God. 2007 S. Clark in A. Molho et al. iv. 120 The Christian devil was ‘God's ape’, constantly seeking to be honoured in ways that corresponded exactly but inversely with those of the true religion. society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > wedding or nuptials > marriage vows or bonds > [noun] > marriage or wedding bond a1425 Templum Domini in R. Cornelius (Ph.D. diss., Bryn Mawr Coll.) (1930) 108 (MED) Þe fende..gan fande To tempe Adam..And made hym for to breke gods bande. 1489 (a1380) J. Barbour (Adv.) iv. 41 Hyr dochter..Wes coupillyt in-to Goddis band With Walter stewart off Scotland. society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > altar > [noun] > communion table a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) 311 in R. Morris (1873) 2nd Ser. 229 Al þat me radeð and singed bifore godes borde, Al hit hangeð and halt bi þese twam worde. 1340 (1866) 235 Hi serueþ at godes borde of his coupe, of his breade, and of his wyne. c1425 (Harl.) (1981) 197 Þei serueþ at Goddes bord and eteiþ of his brede & drinkeþ of his cuppe. 1538 (single sheet) They ought not to presume to come to goddes boorde without perfite knowlege of the same. 1620 T. Gataker 13 The vndue manner of the repairing euen of such to Gods board. a1670 J. Hacket (1693) ii. 104 A fair white Linnen-Cloth, to cover God's Board. society > faith > artefacts > consumables > eucharistic elements > bread > [noun] a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1876) VI. 313 A wenche..fenge Goddes body [L. communionem sanctam] an Ester day. 1451 in A. Clark (1914) 50 I will the prior..haue the Box for goddes body. 1549 J. Ponet sig. Cvii v He hadde the same day sayde masse (which he called the makynge of Gods body). 2012 M. Rubin in I. C. Levy et al. iii. 448 He made God's body at the altar, and offered communion to deserving parishioners once a year. society > faith > aspects of faith > Bible, Scripture > [noun] OE 21 Gehyron we nu..hwæt awriten is on Godes bocum. c1175 (Burchfield transcript) l. 16900 Þe depe lare off godess boc. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Calig.) (1963) l. 7181 Godes boc. 1548 H. Latimer sig. A.ii All thinges that are written in Goddes boke. 1635 D. Dickson vi. 28. 144 As manie Plagues as are written in God's Booke. 1863 Jan. 14/2 The question between us and our opponents is..one of grammar and exegesis, as applied to the ascertainment of what God's book teaches. 1978 6 Apr. 3/1 Prophecies..were written down and included in God's book. 2004 J. MacDonald (rev. ed.) iii. 79 There are still three more benefits you can receive from God's book. society > faith > artefacts > furniture > other furniture > [noun] > treasury 1535 Mark xii. 41 Iesus sat ouer agaynst the Gods chest & behelde how the people put money in to the Gods chest. c1600 (Essex Rec. Office: D/P 26/25/19) [Gives £10 to] Godes chest [in Dedham Church]. a1891 W. Walker in (1897) 109 The people that stood by the temple door With wonder gazed as they saw the wealth pour Into God's chest from the hoarded store. 1999 C. McIntosh tr. B. Roeck in O. P. Grell et al. xiii. 287 There were complaints that the parish's God's Chest, donated long ago by the citizens, had been united with the Jesuits' chest. 1709 tr. C. J. Poncet 16 This is a Plentiful Country, and..the Inhabitants have given it the Name of Beladalla, that is to say God's Country [Fr. païs de dieu]. 1722 I. Kimber et al. I. vii. 155 Pope Urban..by a zealous Harangue, animated the Prelates..to excite the Faithful to take up Arms for the Recovery of God's Country. 1865 R. H. Kellogg 118 I was willing to work hard, if I could only get out of that horrible den, into God's country once more. 1890 G. W. Perrie (new ed.) xv. 218 The memory of the little woman I had left behind me in the East, or ‘God's country’. 1904 ‘O. Henry’ xvii. 298 A man had better be in God's country living on free lunch than there. 1906 H. D. Pittman i. 1 I entered ‘God's Country’, as the natives call that portion of Kentucky which lies within a radius of thirty miles of Lexington. 1946 E. B. Thompson 10 We can work for..a real home.., out in God's country! 1960 B. Keaton iv. 65 (heading) Back home again in God's Country. 1995 2 July b1/1 A passenger on the leg from Atlanta to Jackson informs everyone, ‘You're headed into God's country now.’ OE Homily (Junius 85) in A. M. Luiselli Fadda (1977) 169 Ic [sc. the soul] wæs Godes dohter and ængla swystor.] c1450 (1900) 292 He mordryth goddys dowȝter, þat is, his owen soule. OE Ælfric (St. John's Oxf.) 270 Prope est dies domini, gehende is godes dæg. OE Homily: Larspel & Scriftboc (Corpus Cambr. 421) in A. S. Napier (1883) 244 Oððæt se eahtoða dæg cymð; þæt is domes dæg, þæt is se eca dæg.., godes dæg and ealra halgena dæg. ?a1500 Sermo in die Pasche in R. T. Hampson (1841) II. 122 [The Paschal Day] in sum place is called Estern Day, in sum place Pace Day, and in sum place Goddis Day. 1652 E. Benlowes xii. xcvii. 231 Time in Eternities immense Book is But as a short Parenthesis..Gods Day is never-setting Bliss. 1695 E. Pelling ix. 104 For 'tis not how long, but how well a Man lives, which God considers; nor is it his Years, but his Works, that will be regarded in God's Day. 1797 J. Bowdler (ed. 2) 28 How many..spend God's Day in doing their own business, or in jaunting about, or in getting drunk; though it is expressly ordered,..that we shall keep it holy! 1899 K. Chopin xiii. 91 It must always have been God's day on that low, drowsy island, Edna thought. 1964 25 Dec. 7/2 The paradox is that this pattern will not be fulfilled or verified in history, but only in the suprahistorical event called God's day, the end of time. 2007 R. Saxen iii. 30 On God's day there was no sunshine, there were no birds singing, no gentle breeze in the trees—no beauty. the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Scrophulariaceae (figwort and allies) > [noun] > Veronica or speedwell ?a1350 in T. Hunt (1989) 124 [Gallitricum] godes-eie. 1870 26 Mar. 325/2 In confirmation of the latter derivation..may be cited ‘Angels' eyes’ and ‘god's eye’, two Devon names for this lovely little plant [sc. Veronica chamædrys]. 1877 E. Peacock God's eye, Veronica officinalis. If any one plucks it, his eyes will be eaten. 1913 N. L. Britton & A. Brown (ed. 2) III. 201/2 Veronica Chamaèdrys... Other English names are..angel's-eye, god's-eye. 1920 W. E. Brenchley xiii. 225 Veronica chamædrys... germander speedwell, god's eye, lady's thimble, etc. the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > [noun] > view or scenery > general or extensive 1865 J. G. Holland 257 A great city is a huge living creature... If we could be lifted above it, and obtain, not a bird's-eye view, but a God's-eye view of it, we should see its arteries throbbing with the majestic currents of life. 1920 A. Huxley 137 He prided himself on being able to see the thing as a whole, on taking an historical, God's-eye view of it all. 1936 A. Huxley vii. 85 One has made a habit of not feeling anything very strongly; it's easy, therefore, to take the God's-eye view of things. 1970 14 May 9/6 Frank Tuohy's..short stories..are mostly studies in suburban isolation,..the God's-eye-view with God on the stage. 2006 26 Oct. 111/4 We see underwater swarms of sea anemones, early biplanes taking off and landing with a cute bounce, God's eye views from the Space Shuttle. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > composite flowers > everlasting or immortelle 1597 J. Gerard ii. 522 Golden Flower is called in Latine Coma aurea..in English Golde Flower, Gods Flower, and Golden Stœcados. 1611 J. Florio 23/1 Amaránto giállo, Goldilockes, Gods-flowre, or Gold-flowre. 1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore I. 539/1 God's flower, Helichrysum Stœchas. c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. xvi. l. 199 Mynstralcie can ich nat muche bote make men murye..and welcome godes gistes [MS gustes]. c1535 iii. sig. C.ii On the poore they woll nought spende Ne no good gyve to goddes gest. the world > life > the body > [noun] a1450 (c1410) (Douce 295) v. xiv. f. 116 Dispise þou noth godes ymage be ony dedly synne. 1837 3rd Ser. 38 922 Many in that House were old enough to have seen God's image sorely mangled..for what were termed political offences. 1920 23 Sept. 1274/1 What can spoil God's image more than a sullen, covetous temperament? the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > cake > [noun] > a cake > cake for specific occasion > others c1410 (c1395) G. Chaucer (Harl. 7334) (1885) l. 1747 Ȝif vs a busshel whet or malt or reye A goddes kichil [c1405 Hengwrt Kechyl] or a trip of cheese. 1598 T. Speght B bbb A cake..called a Gods kichell, because godfathers and god-mothers vsed commonly to giue one of them to their god-children, when they asked blessing. 1957 16 Dec. 11/5 I was told in Suffolk these Christmas Eve cakes are known as ‘God's Kitchel’. 2007 (Nexis) 31 May Their blessing..was given, together with a small cake called a God's kitchel. society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > [noun] eOE tr. Bede (Tanner) iv. xxvi. 352 Þa geswearc se Godes mon semninga. a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) 266 in R. Morris (1873) 2nd Ser. 228 (MED) He..nolde ihere godes men [v.r. godes sonde] þan he sat at his biede. c1330 in T. Wright (1839) 329 He shal be lad into the halle..And Godes man stant ther oute. ?c1450 (1891) 3588 Spak to þaim þe goddis man. 1866 C. Kingsley II. xiv. 232 ‘Shall we burst open the door and kill them all?’ asked Sigtryg, simply. ‘No, King—no. They are God's men; and we have blood enough on our souls.’ 2001 Aug. 50/2 Minister/author Betty Ruth Price..is..the author of..Standing by God's Man, which details her many experiences as a pastor's wife. the world > health and disease > ill health > blemish > [noun] > scar > of plague or smallpox 1531 in W. H. Turner (1880) 105 He had a pestylensse sore in hys throtte, and a blayne under hys lefte erre, and also was full of Godys markys. 1558 W. Ward tr. G. Ruscelli f. 40 A very good remedy agaynst the markes of the plage, commonly called Goddes markes [Fr. Tre-bon remede contre les taches de peste, ou pourpre]. 1662 J. Hoddesdon vi. 46 Although after she was thereby throughly awaked, Gods marks and evident undoubted tokens of death plainly appeared upon her; yet she..miraculously recovered. 1665 R. Kingston 14 In our Language we style the Pestilence the Visitation of God, and the Tokens thereof God's Marks. 2002 W. Viereck in J. Berns & J. van Marle 125 With regard to disease, the following Christian motivations were among those I found in the British Isles:..God's marks or God's tokens for marks of the plague. the world > the earth > named regions of earth > America > North America > [noun] > United States the mind > emotion > pleasure > happiness > supreme or heavenly happiness > [noun] > place of supreme happiness 1807God's own country [see Compounds 2b]. 1892 in R. Bailey & H. Roth (1967) 82 Give me, give me God's own country (from a spieler's point of view), Where the scripper and the sharper conjugate the verb ‘to do’. 1893 T. Bracken 5 I am doing very well here [i.e. in Australia] but I would much sooner live on a far smaller salary in ‘God's own Country’. 1914 G. Atherton i. 43 They always come home..talkin about..God's Own Country, and the Big Western Heart. 1926 J. Devanny ii. 20 Richard John Seddon..the popularly acclaimed uncrowned king of the land he himself had named ‘God's Own Country’. 1978 B. E. G. Mason (rev. ed.) App. 110 E te iwi pakeha! You God's-own-country scum! 2012 7 Aug. (Features section) 3 With its golden beaches, majestic moors and spectacular architecture, it [sc. Yorkshire] fully deserves its billing as ‘God's own country’. the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > worldly or secular property > regarded as God's gift OE Ælfric (Julius) (1900) II. 62 He com ða þurh Godes sande to þære foresædan byrig. c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) l. 120 in C. Horstmann (1887) 110 We wollen us onder-stonde Þat heo is in-to þis londe i-come, it is godes sonde. a1350 ( in R. H. Robbins (1959) 21 (MED) Alle þe oþer pouraille..mihten be ful blyþe ant þonke godes sonde. c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 219 Ye haue ynogh pardee of goddes sonde. a1450 (1885) 109 With synne was I neuer filid, Goddis sande is on me sene. a1500 Tale of Basin in M. M. Furrow (1985) 53 A riche man wex he..And knowen for a gode clerke þoro Goddis sande. the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > worldly or secular property > regarded as God's gift the world > action or operation > advantage > [noun] > an advantage, benefit, or favourable circumstance > a benefit > as sent from God or heaven 1629 Z. Boyd i. 36 Magicians of Egypt called the plague the finger of God, or Gods send. a1679 J. Brown (1726) ii. xv. 127 We should make the Cross of Christ welcome, because it is God's Send. 1701 J. Brand 37 The more ignorant People construct this as a favourable Providence to them, therefore they call these wracks, God's send, tho not so favourable to the poor Mariners and others who suffer thereby. 1765 Nov. 614 On the 30th the vessel was drove on shore in the parish of Mochrum; where it was no sooner known, that a God's send (as they call it) had come in there, than men, women, and children, flocked to the shore. 1820 28 Oct. 986 It has been a perfect ‘God's send’ to us. It has been so much of clear gains. 1856 J. Redmond Let. 4 Dec. in J. Rees (2008) ii. 38 When I began my mission here a wreck was a God's send & to speak against wrecking was a heresy. 1956 Sept. 33/2 Just a note in appreciation to you and your organization, for the replacement of blood donated to me by your club. It was truly a God's send to me and my family. 2011 K. V. Williams 321 Ah Rebecca, what would I do without you and your sisters to help me?.. A God's send, you are. society > faith > worship > liturgical year > feast, festival > specific Christian festivals > Holy Week > [noun] > Sunday in a1500 (?a1390) J. Mirk (Gough) (1905) 131 This day ys called Godis Sonday; for Crist, Godis sonne of Heuen, þys day roos from deþ to lyue. ?a1500 Sermo in die Pasche in R. T. Hampson (1841) II. 184 Þis is callede in some place Astur Day; & in sum place Pasche Day, & in summe place Godeis Sunday. 1835 22 Sept. 351/1 By a record of the year 1511, it appears that the hall fire was discontinued at Easter-day, then called God's Sunday. 2012 (Nexis) 4 Apr. 56 In ancient times, Easter Sunday itself was known as the ‘Great Day’ or the ‘Feast of Feasts’. In parts of Britain it was also known as ‘God's Sunday’. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online June 2022). godv. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: god n. Etymology: < god n. In sense 1 after Middle Low German vorgōden; compare Dutch vergoden to make into a god (1576), to make into a partaker of the Divine nature (1583). the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > [adjective] > made one with 1574 C. Vitell tr. H. Niclaes iii. f. 8 To becom whollie godded [Middle Low Ger. vorgodet] with God and his Christ, or incorporated to thatsame [sic] godly Beeinge. 1576 J. Knewstub Serm. in (1579) S 1 b For H.N. his Christe was..first man, and after, by his suffering, was Godded with God. 1645 E. Pagitt 79 All illuminated Elders are Godded with God, or deified. 1656 Ld. President in T. Burton (1828) I. 62 Your Familists affirm that they are Christed in Christ, and Godded in God. 1661 (ed. 6) 215 There was one Richard Lane a young man..said..that he was changed into the Divine nature, that he was Christed with Christ and Godded with God, and consequently perfect God and perfect man. 1739 J. Trapp 63 Ridiculous Jargon of being Godded with God. 1751 G. Lavington 38 For surely to impute to us the Righteousness of Christ, as God, is Godding us with God. 1837 T. W. Jenkyn ii. i. 254 They are not, according to some mystics, ‘godded with God’ when they are filled with the Spirit. 1932 R. M. Jones iv. 128 Every person who is worthy to be called a Christian..‘godded with God’ in the spirit of perfect Love. 1975 6 51 Their desire to be baptised mystically with the Holy Spirit, ‘Godded with God’, was a prelude to spiritual anarchy. 2011 S. M. Lucas vi. 95 While the Spirit does not communicate his own proper nature, so that believers are somehow ‘“Godded” with God or “Christed” with Christ’. 2. society > faith > worship > [verb (transitive)] 1595 E. Spenser sig. D4v Iove..taking [Cupid] vp to heauen, him godded new. 1608 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas (new ed.) ii. iv. 81 He, Godding Calves, makes Izrael to Sin. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) v. iii. 11 This last old man..Lou'd me, aboue the measure of a Father, Nay godded me indeed. View more context for this quotation 1668 J. Glanvill xiii. 93 In those days..men Godded their Benefactors. 1710 W. Brown 49 The Toasted Cake is Godded by the Priest. 1796 R. Jephson i. 14 This good emperor, Whom our prone senate have already godded,..is penetrable By any gallant steel. a1849 T. L. Beddoes (1850) iv. iii. 118 Are not our hearts, in these great pleasures godded, Let out awhile to their eternity, And made prophetic? 1870 H. N. Hudson I. 428 The passage where Cassius mockingly gods Cæsar. 1884 Ld. Tennyson v. iii. 209 How the good priest gods himself! 1956 C. S. Lewis i. xxi. 250 ‘She began by being a mortal.’ ‘And how was she godded?’ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > exaggeration, hyperbole > speak or do with exaggeration [phrase] 1870 H. N. Hudson I. 428 Thus we have Cæsar..godding it in the loftiest style when the daggers of the assassins are on the very point of leaping at him. 1896 F. H. Trench in 21 Dec. 6/5 Who, by the silent Greeks' immortal main, Gods it on earth against the human cause. Derivatives ?1574 C. Vitell tr. H. Niclaes i. f. 3v All that which a perfect godded Man [Middle Low Ger. vorgodet Minsche] speaketh, witnesseth, and teacheth, among the Disciples & Beleeuers of the Woord. a1616 F. Beaumont Marriage Young Gentlewoman with Anc. Man in (1640) I 1 a Smooth, as the godded Swan, or Venus Dove. 1675 J. Smith i. 18 While impious Cæsar and his Godded rout spurn [etc.]. 1718 J. Claggett 73 No Godded Creature, as Mr. Chubb's Christ..would be in any respect like him. 1826 May 230 These people beg us send a deputation To Jove, the ruler of the Godded nation. 1868 19 Nov. It wants a Godded man to know who God is. 1960 8July 484/2 St Paul's godded dome That nobody calls home. 1998 (Nexis) 28 May 2 The new world of these godded athletes. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.int.eOE v.1574 |