helderadv.
Obsolete exc. dialect.
More; rather.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > in or to a greater degree or extent
moeOE
moreOE
furtherc1050
greaterc1230
furthermorea1300
heldera1400
largerlya1425
any more1533
farthera1535
furtherfortha1542
preferentially1864
worse1883
much more1912
the mind > will > free will > choice or choosing > types of choice > [adverb] > in preference to something else
ratherc1300
heldera1400
tittera1400
ererc1425
soon1457
rathest1556
would rather1557
first1580
preferablya1645
choosingly1651
preferable1683
ruther1809
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > to a considerable degree
welleOE
not a little1485
prettily1533
sensibly1563
pretty1565
considerably1673
considerablea1706
significantly1747
respectably1770
purty1797
appreciably1815
pooty1825
right smart1859
helder1883
sumfin1918
sumptin1924
sumthin1925
a1400–50 Alexander 1016 My couatyng is elder [v.r. helder] Þe sadnes of slike men þan swyftnes of childir.
a1400–50 Alexander 4657 Þat gome is gods gud frend & god neuire þe hildire.
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 430 & nawþer faltered ne fel þe freke neuer þe helder.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 2919 Holdur þen holynes happont so then.
c1550 H. Latimer Serm. (1562) 245 b I will hether spend the time in exhorting you..then curiously to recite [etc.].
1674 J. Ray N. Countrey Words in Coll. Eng. Words 25 Heldar, rather, before.
1857 E. Waugh Lancs. Sk. 26 in J. H. Nodal & G. Milnar Gloss. Lancashire Dial. (1882) One could elther manage we't at th' for-end o' their days.
1874 Manch. Critic 21 Feb. in J. H. Nodal & G. Milnar Gloss. Lancashire Dial. (1882) I'd elder see 'em wortchin for th' next to nought nor see 'em doin nought.
1883 T. Lees Easther's Gloss. Dial. Almondbury & Huddersfield (at cited word) [One of ‘some masons setting a flag’] It's elder slack yet.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adv.a1400