pairingn.1
/ˈpɛːrɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈpɛrɪŋ/ Now rare (English regional (northern) in later use).
Injury, damage, impairment; detriment; lessening; (occasionally) an instance of this.
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the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > [noun]
burstc1000
harmOE
scatheOE
teenOE
evil healc1175
waningc1175
hurt?c1225
quede?c1225
balec1275
damage1300
follyc1300
grill13..
ungain13..
torferc1325
eviltyc1330
wem1338
impairment1340
marring1357
unhend1377
sorrowc1380
pairingc1384
pairmentc1384
mischiefc1385
offencec1385
appairment1388
hindering1390
noyinga1398
bresta1400
envya1400
wemminga1400
gremec1400
wilc1400
blemishing1413
lesion?a1425
nocument?a1425
injuryc1430
mischieving1432
hindrance1436
detrimenta1440
ill1470
untroth1470
diversity1484
remordc1485
unhappinessc1485
grudge1491
wriguldy-wrag?1520
danger1530
dishort1535
perishment1540
wreaka1542
emperishment1545
impeachment1548
indemnity1556
impair1568
spoil1572
impeach1575
interestc1575
emblemishing1583
mishap1587
endamagement1593
blemishment1596
mischievance1600
damnificationa1631
oblesion1656
mishanter1754
vitiation1802
mar1876
jeel1887
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xvi. 26 What profitith it to a man, ȝif he wynne al the world, trewly he suffre peyrynge [L. detrimentum] of his soule?
a1425 (a1400) Northern Pauline Epist. (1916) Philipp. i. 12 Þoo thyngys þat arn aboute me, þei comyn more to þe profyt of þe euangelye þen to þe peyrynge.
c1475 (?c1400) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 439 (MED) Þat man þat..kyttede þise herbis and destriede þe rotis dide to myche harm to peyryng of þis lord.
1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1901) I. 197 But ony detractioun or paring [L. obtrectatio] of thare nychtbouris glore.
1587 in A. Peel Seconde Parte Reg. (1915) II. 210 For these Totquots, Pluralities, Trialities, Nonresidents, Quotidians, Dividents, and such like popish payrings, do hinder them that of all other places the pulpit is least troubled in them.
1591 (?a1425) Christ at House Simon the Leper (Huntington) in R. M. Lumiansky & D. Mill Chester Myst. Cycle (1974) I. 253 (MED) Hee should..suffer her not to come him nere, For payringe of his fame.
c1617 Earl of Somerset Let. to King James in Cabala (1654) 3 That which is so little, as that it will suffer no pairing, or diminution.
1643 R. Baillie Let. 26 July (1841) II. 76 My mind wes in adding and pairing, and making readie for the presse my peice.
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Pareing, injury, corruption. This word is now obsolete.
1869 J. C. Atkinson Peacock's Gloss. Dial. Hundred of Lonsdale 61 Paring, injury, corruption.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
pairingn.2
/ˈpɛːrɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈpɛrɪŋ/ a. The action of pair v.2 (in various senses); an instance of this; an arrangement or match resulting from the organization of people or things into pairs.
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society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > basket-making > [noun] > specific processes
pairing1611
straw-plaiting1834
flat-skein work1912
waling1912
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > two > pair > [noun] > arranging in pairs
accouplementa1603
pairing1611
pairing1772
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > parts which provide power > [noun] > mechanical powers > pair of > action of constituting a pair
pairing1611
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Appariation, a matching, or pairing.
1692 T. Southerne Wives Excuse i. i. 4 Every marry'd Man, that has a Wife handsomer than she is, At her proper cost and charges, may expect a Pairing, To put him in mind of his fortune.
1781 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 5830/1 The instinct of pairing is bestowed on every species of animals to which it is necessary for rearing their young.
1813 Ld. Byron Let. 22 Nov. (1974) III. 171 We were all wrong-paired..in short Noah's Ark upset had been but a type of the pairing of our supper table.
1851 H. Martineau Introd. Hist. Peace (1877) III. v. v. 259 The custom of pairing in the Commons.
1877 H. James in Nation 15 Mar. The sons begotten of these pairings have hitherto gone chiefly into the church.
1900 Daily News 12 June 8/4 The pairings in the thirteenth round of the [Chess] tournament..are as follows [etc.].
1955 A. W. Boother Basketry for Beginners 13 Reverse pairing, used in conjunction with pairing, makes an attractive decoration for a basket.
1977 N.Y. Times 9 July 11 In the Masters they were playing in separate pairings, keeping an eye on each other's every move.
1988 Amer. Indian Culture & Res. Jrnl. 12 iv. 2 What Westerners call the pairing of opposites Navajos conceptualize as the halves of a whole entity.
b. With off, up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > two > pair > [noun] > arranging in pairs
accouplementa1603
pairing1611
pairing1772
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > procedure of parliament or national assembly > [noun] > putting to vote > forming a pair to vote
pairing1772
pair1819
1772 Debates & Proc. Brit. House of Commons 1768–1770 240 At dinner time many made no scruple, though the cause was not determined, of pairing off, as it is called.
1792 J. Pearson Polit. Dict. 40 Pairing-off. Two Sneaking Scoundrels, not worth a piece of dog's meat to either party.
1836 C. G. F. Gore Mrs. Armytage I. xx. 299 Have you not observed that his pairing off with Lady Laura Greta in the Almack quadrilles, is regularly announced?
1850 ‘W. T. Moncreiff’ Orig. Collection Songs 59 Your daughter cries she'd like to have A seat... ‘'Cause Pa in the House [of Commons], There's so much pairing off, sir.’
1908 Westm. Gaz. 19 Nov. 14/3 The question of pairing-up arose, and the other [tennis] players naturally awaited the Prince's choice.
1926 J. S. Huxley Ess. Pop. Sci. 175 In herons and egrets..it is not the male who seeks out territory long before pairing-up, but pairing-up occurs on the communal feeding-grounds.
1965 D. Lack Life of Robin (ed. 4) v. 65 Tradition assigns St. Valentine's Day for the pairing up of wild birds.
2000 W. Drabkin Reader's Guide Haydn's Early String Quartets viii. 136 The interval of a third between the upper parts makes for an easier pairing off of the upper and lower strings.
Compounds
C1. General attributive (esp. with reference to the mating of birds and animals).
pairing-call n.
ΚΠ
1877 C. W. Shields Final Philos. i. iii. 147 Dr. Gustav Yager..has argued that speech was discovered long before there were any men, in the pairing-call of birds and gesture-language of monkeys.
1911 J. A. Thomson Biol. Seasons ii. 149 The long-drawn-out, modulated pairing-call of many of the waders..is on the border-line.
pairing season n.
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the world > animals > birds > actions or bird defined by > [noun] > copulation > season for
pairing time1664
pairing season1836
the world > time > period > year > season > [noun] > when an animal behaves a specific way or is hunted
seasona1425
pairing season1836
song period1884
breeding-season-
1836 J. F. Davis Chinese II. xix. 329 The brilliant hues are chiefly purple, with bright red and green spots, which vary in intensity..and become developed during the early spring months, or pairing-season of the year.
1855 W. M. Thackeray Newcomes II. xi. 109 Nature at this time irresistibly impelled Clive Newcome towards love-making. It was pairing-season with him.
1994 Investig. Cetacea 25 93 A peak in Leydig cell diameters just before the main pairing season is the only evidence for a sexual cycle in male sperm whales.
pairing time n.
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the world > animals > birds > actions or bird defined by > [noun] > copulation > season for
pairing time1664
pairing season1836
1664 T. Killigrew 2nd Pt. Thomaso ii. iii, in Comedies & Trag. 407 'Twere not ill sport, in payring time, to hawke these mann'd whores.
1850 Punch 10 Aug. 62/2 Parliamentary Almanack.—Latter end of July, ‘pairing’ time begins.
1996 Evolution 50 1625 Mortality, and different arrival and pairing times of individuals reduce the probability of mating with close kin.
C2. † pairing desk n. British Politics Obsolete a desk in the British House of Commons at which members arrange to pair.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > English or British parliament > [noun] > place of > occupied by lower house > parts of
table?1572
treasury-bench1775
side gallery1778
ladies' gallery1815
ventilator1822
pairing desk1899
1899 Daily News 24 Apr. 7/3 Seeing him approach the pairing desk, I asked, ‘Do you want to go away, Sir John?’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
pairingadj.
/ˈpɛːrɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈpɛrɪŋ/ That pairs (in various senses of pair v.2)
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the world > animals > animal body > general parts > sexual organs and reproduction > [adjective] > relating to mating > that mates
brood1526
pairing1781
mating1850
1781 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 5831/1 Pairing birds..flock together in February, in order to choose their mates.
a1785 J. Hall-Stevenson Moral Tales in Wks. (1795) III. 223 All the three wives, whilst they were pairing, Thought their's the only pairing bird.
1812 J. Grahame Brit. Georgics (ed. 2) 32 I've heard the partridge call, And seen the pairing couple as they tripped Athwart the wreaths that in the furrows lurk.
1858 Harper's Mag. Mar. 557/1 Bishop Valentine, the diocesan of pairing birds and of cooing lovers.
1949 New Biol. 7 83 Two of the four daughter chromatids, one from each of the pairing partners, have broken and rejoined with one another.
1997 G. S. Helfman et al. Diversity of Fishes xx. 350/2 Strong pairing species include North American freshwater catfishes, many butterflyfishes, [etc.].
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1c1384
n.21611
adj.1781