/əˈbaɪd/, /əˈbaɪd/
OriginFrom Middle English abyden, from Old English ābīdan (“to abide, wait, remain, delay, remain behind; survive; wait for, await; expect”), from Proto-West Germanic *uʀbīdan, from Proto-Germanic *uzbīdaną (“to expect, tolerate”), equivalent to a- + bide.
Cognate with Scots abide (“to abide, remain”), Middle High German erbīten (“to await, expect”), Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐌱𐌴𐌹𐌳𐌰𐌽 (usbeidan, “to expect, await, have patience”). The sense of pay for is due to influence from aby.
- transitiveTo endure without yielding; to withstand.
“The old oak tree abides the wind endlessly.”
- transitiveTo bear patiently.
“"I never could abide shoemakers," said an old servant,—and it ended in her marrying one.”
“VVe will be Kings and Lords within our ſelues,
And not abide the pride of tyrranie.”
“Neuer neuer: ſhe would alwayes ſay ſhee could not abide M[aster] Shallow.”
- transitiveTo pay for; to stand the consequences of.
“Diſparage not the faith thou doſt not know, / Leſt to thy perill thou abide it deare.”
“If it be found ſo, ſome will deere abide it.”
“Ay me, they little know / How dearly I abide that boaſt ſo vaine, / Under what torments inwardly I groane[…]”
- Used in a phrasal verb: abide by (“to accept and act in accordance with”).
“The new teacher was strict and the students did not want to abide by his rules.”
- intransitive, obsoleteTo wait in expectation.
“And Abraham ſaid vnto his yong men, Abide you here with the aſſe, and I and the lad will goe yonder and worſhip, and come againe to you.”
- intransitive, obsoleteTo pause; to delay.
- Scotland, archaic, intransitiveTo stay; to continue in a place; to remain stable or fixed in some state or condition; to be left.
“One generation passeth away, and another generation commeth: but the earth abideth for euer.”
“Let euery man abide in the ſame calling wherein he was called.”
“But they constrained him, saying, Abide with vs, for it is towards euening, and the day is farre spent: And he went in, to tarrie with them.”
- archaic, intransitiveTo have one's abode.
“"As how, my lambkin," blushing, she replide, / "Because I in this dancing schoole abide? / If that it be, that breede's this discontent, / We will remoue the camp incontinent: / For shelter onelie, sw”
“And her brother and her mother ſaid, Let the damſell abide with vs a few dayes, at the leaſt ten ; after that, ſhe ſhall goe.”
“In empty hush, in airless gloom, Mr. Knott abode, in the large room set aside for his exclusive enjoyment, and that of his attendant.”
- archaic, intransitiveTo endure; to remain; to last.
- archaic, transitiveTo stand ready for; to await for someone; watch for.
“Saue that the holy Ghoſt witneſſeth in euery city, ſaying that bonds and afflictions abide me.”
“I will abide the coming of my lord.”
- obsolete, transitiveTo endure or undergo a hard trial or a task; to stand up under.
“[…]And shalt abide her judgment on it.”
- archaic, transitiveTo await submissively; accept without question; submit to.
“The grand Conſpirator, Abbot of Weſtminſter, / With clog of Conſcience, and ſowre Melancholly, / Hath yeelded vp his body to the graue : / But here is Carlile, liuing to abide / Thy Kingly doome, and ”
Formsabides(present, singular, third-person) · abiding(participle, present) · abode(past) · abided(past) · abid(past) · abode(participle, past) · abided(participle, past) · abid(participle, past) · abidden(participle, past, rare)