1413 Pilgr. Sowle (1859) i. ii. 4 Thou assignest a juge that is nought indifferent, but frend to your partye.

1465 M. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 318 He choulde be indeferent for both partyes acordyng to the lawe.

c1503 R. Arnold Chron. f. xlv^v/1 And nether wyll delyuer the sayde goodis to me or to ony other Indifferent man.

1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Surueyeng xi. f. 20 The stewarde is bounde by lawe and conscyence to be an indyfferent iudge bytwene the lorde and his tenauntes.

1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer i. f. cccxxxii^v Indifferent folke wyl say, ye who is trewe, who is false, him selfe knowlegeth tho thinges.

a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) ii. f. 54 Trewly, D. Medcalfe was parciall to none: but indifferent to all.

1594 W. West Symbolæogr.: 2nd Pt. §22 Two things seeme necessarie..namely that the arbitrators be sufficient, and indifferent.

a1618 W. Raleigh Apol. Voy. Guiana 21 in Judicious & Sel. Ess. (1650) I leave to all worthy and indifferent men to judge.

1727 D. Defoe Compl. Eng. Tradesman II. i. xii. 288 A Man that means Honestly, is never afraid..to refer all his Differences to the next unbiass'd and indifferent Man he meets.

1814 R. Southey Roderick xxi. 263 He the indifferent Judge of all, regards Nations, and hues, and dialects alike.

1844 Ld. Brougham Brit. Constit. viii. 110 They dare not go before an impartial judge and indifferent jury.

a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. clxiiii. f. lxxxxii^v Guydyng it with all sobernesse and indifferent Iustyce.

1531 St. German's Secunde Dyaloge Doctour & Student (new ed.) xlviii. f. cxxx Me thynketh that the law in that poynte is very good & indyfferent.

1576 T. Wotton in W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent To Countriemen sig. ¶.ii^v The indifferent and discrete course ye keepe in handling and compounding such controuersies.

1612 J. Davies Discouerie Causes Ireland 287 There is no Nation..that doth loue equall and indifferent Iustice, better then the Irish.

1668 J. Child Brief Observ. Trade 5 Their Excise, which is certainly the most equal and indifferent Tax in the World.

1882 F. W. Farrar Early Days Christianity II. 34 It even stands as a description of St. James on the indifferent page of the Jewish historian.

1529 T. More Dialogue Heresyes ii, in Wks. 181/1 There might be saide, that it nedeth not to assigne any place, wher the very churche & true christen congregacion is. But sith euery place is indifferent ther vnto [etc.].

1539 T. Elyot Castel of Helthe (new ed.) 36 a The latyn worde Cereuitia, is indifferent as welle to ale as to biere.

1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. (new ed.) f. 25 To liue and to loue well is incident to fewe, but indifferent to all.

1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. iii. 124 A certain Infinite Materia Prima, which was neither Air nor Water nor Fire, but indifferent to every thing.

?1531 J. Frith Disput. Purgatorye ii. sig. g3 All be it the worde of it silfe were indifferent in the latyne, yet it is not indifferent in the English.

1584 R. Wilson Three Ladies of London sig. Ciiii You know that homo is indifferent.

1622 F. Bacon Hist. Raigne Henry VII 11 Chose rather a middle way..and that under covert and indifferent words.

1531–2 Act 23 Hen. VIII c. 2 Iayles..shoulde be..edified in suche townes..as shall be most indifferent for conueiance of prisoners from euery parte of the shire.

1548 Hall's Vnion: Edward IV f. ccxxx If your pleasure shalbe, to haue the communicacion in any place, indifferent betwene bothe tharmies.

1593 Jack Straw iii, in W. C. Hazlitt Dodsley's Sel. Coll. Old Eng. Plays (1874) V. 405 If the king would anything with us, Tell him the way is indifferent to meet us.

1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. ii. 60 An indifferent Place, for mutuall Ease, in mid-way betwixt both.

?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads xiii. 9 He thought not any one of all the Deities, When his care left th' indifferent field, would aid on either side.

1619 E. M. Bolton tr. Florus Rom. Hist. (1636) 6 The same beasts which carried away the first day cleere, and made the second indifferent, gave away the third past controversie.

1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Surueyeng xli. f. 55^v The moost indyfferentest meane to make.

1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 59 The minde with indifferent labour waxeth more perfect, with [ouer] much studie it is made fruitelesse.

1614 G. Markham Cheape & Good Husbandry (1668) i. ii. 26 Make not your career too long..or too short..but competent and indifferent.

1699 W. Dampier Voy. & Descr. iii. iv. 33 Where there blows a moderate and indifferent Gale between both Extreams.

1548 in W. Page Certificates Chantries County of York (1895) II. 482 Of good conversacion and qualities and indifferent lerenyng.

1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. (new ed.) f. 96 Indifferent welth to maintaine his family, expecting all thinges necessary, nothing superfluous.

1603 R. Johnson tr. G. Botero Hist. Descr. Worlde 77 Of sheepe they haue in some places indifferent store.

1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World v. 96 Two little Islands, each about a mile round, of an indifferent heighth.

1707 tr. P. Le Lorrain de Vallemont Curiosities in Husbandry & Gardening 231 I discover'd them to be compos'd of much Mercury, of an indifferent Quantity of Sulphur, and a little less of fixt Salt.

1532 T. More Confut. Tyndale in Wks. 367/1 Those thynges whiche he taketh for indifferent, that is to wit of their nature neither good nor euyl.

1568 E. Tilney Brief Disc. Mariage (new ed.) sig. B Tell us, how the indifferent sorte were maried, that were neyther foule, nor fayre, but lovely browne.

1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 369 The Chaldeans..in the seven Planets making two good, two bad, three indifferent.

1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 550 The Earth diversified in aspiring Hills, lowly Vales, equall and indifferent Plaines.

1702 Eng. Theophrastus 81 We are to look upon men as indifferent sort of things, neither good nor bad to us but according to our management.

1821 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 8 668 Bards and bardlings, good, bad, and indifferent.

1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 66 The favourable acclamations of them that praise and extoll every indifferent worke.

1703 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion II. vi. 25 After an ill supper, he was shewed an indifferent bed.

a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 176 The English interest was managed chiefly by two men of a very indifferent reputation.

1813 J. Austen Pride & Prejudice I. xiv. 151 Her indifferent state of health unhappily prevents her being in town. View more context for this quotation

1823 W. Scott St. Ronan's Well II. i. 12 Meg..sipped again, then tried to eat a bit of bread and butter, with very indifferent success.

1878 H. H. Gibbs Game of Ombre (ed. 2) 20 It is generally more advisable to pass than to play with an indifferent hand.

1753 M. Delany Autobiogr. & Corr. (1861) III. 244 [She] is but very indifferent, but really looks as pretty as ever.

1779 Miss Wilkes Let. in Wilkes' Corr. (1805) IV. 295 I saw her last night, when she was very indifferent with shortness of breath.

1803 Ld. Nelson in Dispatches & Lett. (1845) V. 455 I have been but very indifferent, but I am much recovered.

1816 J. Austen Let. 23 June (1995) 315 Your Mama means to ride to Speen Hill tomorrow to see the M^rs Hulberts who are both very indifferent.

1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) (at cited word) If I ask a Craven peasant how his wife does, he replies ‘indifferent, thank ye’; then I conclude that she is in tolerably good health. But if he tells me that ‘she is very indifferent’, I am assured she is very ill; or almost in a hopeless state.

1855 R. G. Mayne Expos. Lexicon Med. Sci. (1860) Indifferens..term applied to compound bodies which do not exercise electro-chemical reactions and which do not combine with other bodies: indifferent.

1886 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon Indifferent gases, gases which when breathed excite no irritation or other unpleasant effect, but in the absence of oxygen are incapable of sustaining life.

1886 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon Indifferent point, the point of the intrapolar region of an electronised nerve which lies between the anelectrotonic and the catelectrotonic areas.

1896 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. I. 360 Place the indifferent electrode in a suitable position on the patient.

1872 T. H. Huxley Lessons Elem. Physiol. (ed. 6) xii. 272 The material of the body when in this stage of growth is often spoken of as indifferent tissue.

1873 T. H. Green Introd. Pathol. & Morbid Anat. (ed. 2) 103 These cells, which are usually known as indifferent cells, possess no limiting membrane, but consist of little masses of protoplasm which are almost in close contact with one another.

1890 Nature 11 Sept. The mode of renewal of the nails or of the epidermis generally is a good example, each cell commencing its existence in an indifferent form in the deeper layers of the epidermis, and gradually acquiring the adult peculiarities as it approaches the surface.

a1535 T. More Hist. Richard III in Wks. (1557) 37/2 Frende and foo was muche what indifferent..where his aduauntage grew, he spared no mans deathe.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) i. iii. 114 I am arm'd, And dangers are to me indifferent . View more context for this quotation

1682 J. Dryden Medall Epist. Whigs sig. a1 'Tis indifferent to your humble servant, whatever your Party says or thinks of him.

1724 A. Collins Disc. Grounds Christian Relig. 139 It was indifferent to him whether you said Moses was the author of the Pentateuch, or Esdras re'established it.

1743 S. Johnson Let. (1992) I. 34 I would have it understood as wholly indifferent to me.

1768 Woman of Honor I. 147 In quality of brother to Lady Harriet..he commands and obtains her utmost respect; but for any thing farther..there is not that man on earth that is more indifferent to her.

1885 J. Martineau Types Ethical Theory II. 71 The sentiments of others are indifferent to him.

1611 Bible (King James) Ecclus. xxvii. 1 Many haue sinned for a smal matter [margin. thing indifferent] . View more context for this quotation

1705 T. Hearne Ductor Historicus (ed. 2) I. i. ii. 20 As the differences we speak of are not essential in points of Faith, the Apostles and Fathers..might fairly enough neglect these indifferent Disputes.

1788 J. Priestley Lect. Hist. iii. xiv. 118 The real time of Christ's birth can no more affect the proper use of this system than that of any other indifferent event.

1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda I. i. vii. 113 What she herself held in tenderness and reverence had constantly seemed indifferent to Gwendolen.

1885 Jrnl. Sc. July 408 It is perfectly indifferent to which race the father or the mother belongs.

1563 E. Grindal Remains (Parker Soc.) 94 In that meal it shall be indifferent to eat flesh or fish.

1585 Abp. E. Sandys Serm. x. 162 Neither would they so vncharitably haue iudged their brethren in things indifferent.

1689 J. Locke Toleration i, in Wks. (1727) II. 244 Things in their own Nature indifferent cannot, by any human Authority, be made any Part of the Worship of God.

1705 G. Stanhope Paraphr. Epist. & Gospels II. 127 By Indifferent are only meant, such as might be either..done thus or otherwise.

1731 Wesley Lett. xiv, in Wks. XII This rule holds of things indifferent in themselves.