overstandv.1
/ˌəʊvəˈstand/, U.S. /ˌoʊvərˈstænd/ 1. transitive. To stand over (formerly esp. so as to guard or intimidate); to stand higher than or above. Also occasionally intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > nearness > be near to [verb (transitive)] > stand near to
overstandeOE
atstandc1330
side1587
assist1646
the world > space > relative position > high position > set in a high position [verb (transitive)] > occupy a height over or dominate
overstandeOE
overview1564
domain1589
command1610
supervise1624
overlook1632
domineer1812
overgaze1816
see1829
dominate1833
rake1842
overbendc1886
eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) iv. xviii. 308 Ond se quellere him oferstod.
c1330 (?c1300) Amis & Amiloun (Auch.) (1937) 1986 (MED) Y bad him fain Forsake þe lazer..Þat he so ouer stode[cf. 1970 ouer him stode a naked swain].
a1425 Medulla Gram. (Stonyhurst) f. 64 Supersto, ouerstonde.
1581 J. Heywood tr. Seneca Thyestes (new ed.) iv, in T. Newton et al. tr. Seneca 10 Trag. f. 32 From the flesh that ouerstandes aloft The fyre doth flye.
1857 J. W. Carlyle Lett. (1903) II. 166 For the last six weeks he has been over-standing me like a nightmare every day.
1875 S. Dobell Balder xxxix, in Poet. Wks. 268 Thou..Hast like a rosy Angel that o'erstands The pale flat corse that is and is not she, Stood in my eyes and tried me.
1934 Times 19 Jan. 11/5 The warehouse was situated in Tower Street..and overstood a wharf on the River Hull.
1953 G. W. Knight Ld. Byron iii. 148 The Doge..is struck by remembrance of the mighty, ancestral, dead..overstanding the action in the Equestrian Statue.
1976 C. Holland Floating Worlds (1977) 152 It was Sril's, who overstood her by fourteen inches.
2. † a. transitive. To endure or stay to the end of; to outstay (something); to delay or waste time until (an opportunity, etc.) has passed. Obsolete. to overstand one's (also the) market: to miss one's chance or opportunity.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > have duration [verb (transitive)] > outstay or overstay
outdwell1600
overstand1600
sit1602
to ride out1603
outstaya1616
overstay1641
outsit1661
tarry outa1662
stay1749
to sit out1752
to overstay one's welcome1858
stay1858
the mind > language > speech > agreement > make an agreement [verb (intransitive)] > negotiate > too long or until opportunity is lost
to overstand one's (also the) market1600
1600 Abp. G. Abbot Expos. Prophet Ionah 168 If they can over-stand that journey and escape well from danger.
1666 J. Bunyan Grace Abounding ⁋66 How, if you have overstood the time of mercy?
1684 J. Dryden tr. Theocritus Idyllium iii, in Misc. Poems 239 What Madman would o'erstand his Market twice?
a1700 J. Dryden Amaryllis in Wks. (1882–92) 308 Hers they shall be, since you refuse the price; What madman would o'erstand his market twice!
1705 J. Browne Secret Hist. Queen Zarah 140 She knew beforehand it was necessary to bid a Market Price, but cou'd not believe Zarah had been so unconscionable as to overstand the Market.
1723 S. Centlivre Artifice iii. 37 Don't over-stand your Market. A Man of Quality is not to be caught every Day.
1784 J. Potter Virtuous Villagers I. 51 She was too nice and particular..and so overstood her market.
1813 S. Rowson Sarah xxx. 191 I dare say he would be very generous to you, and there is such a thing as overstanding one's market.
1823 C. Lamb Mod. Gallantry in Elia 183 The phrases ‘antiquated virginity’, and such a one has ‘overstood her market’,..shall raise immediate offence.
1870 T. Dunphy Remarkable Trials 369 Many asked extravagant prices–and, to use a Smithfield term, ‘overstood their market’.
b. intransitive. Oxford University. to be overstanding for honours: to be ineligible for honours in an examination because more than the permitted number of terms (normally twelve) has elapsed since one's matriculation.The phrase ‘disqualified by standing’ is now preferred in the Oxford University Examination Decrees & Regulations.
ΚΠ
1895 Times 2 July 6/5 Overstanding for honours, but qualified for degree.
1933 V. Brittain Test. of Youth iii. x. 476 They had undertaken, since I was so excessively ‘over-standing’ for Honours, a special procedure on my behalf.
1987 Jrnl. Animal Ecol. 56 715 He was able to return to Oxford..and..emerged with a first in Zoology (‘overstanding for honours’).
3. transitive. Sailing. To sail past (a line or mark indicating the course of a race) by staying on a tack for too long.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > water sports except racing > yachting and sailing > yacht or sail [verb (transitive)] > sail past mark or line
overstand1878
1878 D. Kemp Man. Yacht & Boat Sailing App. Over-stand, in beating to windward to stand on a reach so long that the yacht is able to clear a mark further to windward than desired.
1932 Times 3 Aug. 4/6 Vanity overstood the mark and the order rounding was Iyrana with a good lead, having utilized the tide to advantage.
1976 Yachts & Yachting 20 Aug. 372/1 Colin Evans overstood the line, thus losing the much-disputed 3rd place to Geoff Tindale.
1992 Yachts & Yachting 28 Aug. 14/2 Schumann was faced with the problem of holding him off from the left and failed, rather dismally, by overstanding the weather mark when he might well have crossed Bank earlier.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
overstandv.2
/ˌəʊvəˈstand/, U.S. /ˌoʊvərˈstænd/ 1. transitive and intransitive. To understand. Now used (esp. in Caribbean and African-American usage) to avoid the negative connotations of under, perceived as incompatible with the positive meaning of the verb.In quot. 1699, used in representation of uneducated, rural speech.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > understand [verb (intransitive)]
seeOE
understandc1000
knowlOE
tellc1390
conceive1563
smoke1676
overstand1699
view1711
savvy1785
dig1789
twig1832
capisce1904
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > understand [verb (transitive)]
yknoweOE
acknowOE
anyeteOE
latchc1000
undernimc1000
understandc1000
underyetec1000
afindOE
knowOE
seeOE
onfangc1175
takec1175
underfindc1200
underfonga1300
undertakea1300
kenc1330
gripea1340
comprehend1340
comprendc1374
espyc1374
perceivea1387
to take for ——?1387
catcha1398
conceivea1398
intenda1400
overtakea1400
tenda1400
havec1405
henta1450
comprise1477
skilla1500
brook1548
apprend1567
compass1576
perstanda1577
endue1590
sound1592
engrasp1593
in1603
fathom1611
resent1614
receivea1616
to take up1617
apprehend1631
to take in1646
grasp1680
understumblec1681
forstand1682
savvy1686
overstand1699
uptake1726
nouse1779
twig1815
undercumstand1824
absorb1840
sense1844
undercumstumble1854
seize1855
intelligize1865
dig1935
read1956
1699 E. Ward London Spy II. i. 15 Oh ho, says my Respondent, now I overstand yee: Why they call him Ca-sa-sa-ca-lamanca Doctor, I think, says he; or by such kind of a hard Name.
1975 Vanguard (St. George's, Grenada) 29 Mar. 8 You don't understand. Under means below. That's negative. You overstand!
1983 Fuse Nov.–Dec. 179/1 We can at last begin..to see and overstand what the voice of the Caribbean woman poet is telling us, doing for us.
1992 B. Zephaniah City Psalms 28 As a African I did not celebrate 200 years of Australia, I overstand its history is black.
1997 New Yorker 28 Apr. 196/1 Da monkey understands. But da black mon overstands.
2. transitive and intransitive. Contrasted with understand in other ways, as: to understand more than is necessary or desirable; to analyse excessively; to understand fully.
ΚΠ
1965 Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. 59 36/1 We attempt no sympathetic ‘understanding’ of the thing's spirit but proceed by watchful ‘overstanding’.]
1991 D. Harington Choiring of Trees 312 I understood. Sometimes I guess I overstood.
1994 Austin (Texas) Amer.-Statesman (Nexis) 10 Mar. I'm starting to dig in and write the way I've always wanted, which is to try to understand and overstand myself and the rest of us within the context of our time and place.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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