abedadv.
/əˈbɛd/, U.S. /əˈbɛd/ 1. In bed. Now somewhat archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > bed related to sleep or rest > [adverb] > in bed
abedc1300
in, to, out of beda1425
between the sheets1711
OE West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) xvii. 34 On þære nihte beoð twegen on bedde.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 6495 Þær þeȝȝ o bedde slepptenn.]
c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) (1963) 7838 Ich was abedde [c1275 Calig. on bedde].
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 11367 To habbe inome hom vn-armed, & some abedde aslepe.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. v. 417 (MED) I..ligge abedde in lenten, an my lemman in myn armes.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) iv. l. 6306 (MED) While þei, allas..a-bedde laie slepynge.
a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) vii. Prol. 94 Dovne a bed I me strekyt.
1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars 20 They came sodeinly to Sandwych in the mornynge, when men wære a bede.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) ii. i. 11 The King's a bed . View more context for this quotation
1684 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 2nd Pt. ii. 77 We need not, when a-bed, lie awake. View more context for this quotation
1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 158 I warrant you lay a-Bed till the Cows came Home.
1757 D. Hume Hist. Great Brit. II. 63 The princess Henrietta was obliged to lie abed for want of a fire to warm her.
1852 W. M. Thackeray Henry Esmond I. xiii. 293 'Tis time for me to go to roost. I will have my gruel a-bed.
1876 S. Smiles Life Sc. Naturalist ii. 30 The lights were out, and all were thought to be abed.
1944 J. R. R. Tolkien Let. 24 Apr. (1995) 74 I had the uncommon luxury of lying a-bed with toast and home-made marmalade..and your letter.
1992 S. S. Tepper Sideshow ii. 38 She grew accustomed to going out for long lonely walks after the children were abed.
2. spec. In bed (and obliged to remain there) as a result of illness or injury. Now somewhat archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > [adverb] > confined by ill health
abedc1475
in dry dock1927
OE Old Eng. Hexateuch: Exod. (Claud.) xxi. 18 Gyf..he dead ne byð ac lið on bedde seoc [L. iacuerit in lectulo].]
c1475 (c1450) P. Idley Instr. to his Son (Cambr.) (1935) ii. A. 680 A grete sikenes..ffelle on this man..That he was ouerthrowe and stille abedde lay.
1595 A. Copley Wits Fittes & Fancies vii. 203 A Gent. lying very sick a bed, heard a passing bell ring out.
1631 W. Lisle Faire Æthiopian iii. 51 We finde her sicke a bed; She saith she cannot sleepe for paine in head.
1660 S. Pepys Diary 29 June (1970) I. 188 Our wench very lame, abed these two days.
1749 T. Smollett tr. A. R. Le Sage Gil Blas I. i. x. 41 A violent fit of the gout and rheumatism, that kept him a-bed.
1794 W. Godwin Things as they Are I. x. 227 Miss Emily is sick a-bed.
1832 J. P. Kennedy Swallow Barn II. xvii. 221 My old 'oman was sick abed all last winter, with a sprain on her knee.
1873 W. H. Dixon Hist. Two Queens III. xv. ix. 182 Louis being abed with gout, and otherwise broken in his health.
1908 A. S. M. Hutchinson Once aboard Lugger iv. ii. §1. 211 Mr. Marrapit..abed of a chill, prevented Margaret meeting her Bill that afternoon.
1970 New Scientist 8 Jan. 45/2 It made sad listening for those abed with Hongkong 'flu.
2008 J. Quinn Goodnight Ballivor i. 19 I recall an occasion when we were all abed with mumps and to pass the time we composed a song.
3. to bring abed: to bring (a woman) to childbirth; to deliver of a child. Also figurative. Usually in passive. Now archaic and rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > be confined [verb]
to lie inc1440
to lie downa1500
to bring abed1523
to be confined1772
the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > confine or deliver [verb (transitive)]
bestowc1320
light?a1425
laya1500
to lay downa1500
to bring abed1523
to bring to bed, abeda1533
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cxlvii. 176 The quene was brought a bedde of a fayre lady named Margarete.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 43v The recording hereof, is my great ioy: for in talking of these matters you bring me abedde.
1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 45 To goe her full time, and to be brought a bed in good order.
1610 G. Fletcher Christs Victorie 15 Vpon her breast Delight doth softly sleepe, And of Eternal ioy is brought abed.
1657 R. Ligon True Hist. Barbados 37 At the time the wife is to be brought a bed, her husband removes his board, (which is his bed) to another room.
1716 in Minutes Common Council City N.Y., 1675–1776 (1905) III. 122 You Shall not Enforce any Woman being with Child..to give you any more for your pains or labour in bringing her A Bed than they would Otherwise Do.
1790 Brit. Tribunal 1789 54 He then told the witness that the woman had been brought a bed about two weeks, that the child was dead, and as he could not afford to bury it, wished him to take it.
1819 in Notes & Queries (1865) 19 Aug. 144/1 Louisa brought a bed of a little Girl ¼ past four o'clock, evening.
1998 NPR (Nexis) 26 Nov. I was brought abed of a child off of Cape Cod some few weeks after we had laid anchor there.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adv.c1300