Adam & 18c gap
Note: pages in our 18c Leverhulme study section were originally published on the website in 2010. Links have since been checked and updated.
Examples which plug the OED gap in 18th-century quotations: Adam Table 4a
| Word | Quotation | OED dates | Fills 18th-century gap (number of years between existing OED quotations) | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| bear, v. | 'Who Digs and Dungs to see if it [i.e. a tree] would bear' (p. 22) | 1398, c1400, Mod. | 480 | OED1/2 identifies an absolute use of bear s.v. sense 42, 'To bring forth, produce, yield', in relation to plants etc., and illustrates it with two ME quotations plus one designated 'Mod[ern]', here dated to 1880. It seems unlikely that Adam's use is unusual over the undocumented period. |
| treasure-house | 'the Prize / That in the Treasure House of Glory lys' (p. 19) | 1552, 1598, 1890, 1895 | 292 | OED quotations reported for figurative sense – but there are no quotations for the literal sense between the 16th and 19th centuries either. ECCO searches suggest quotations could easily be found. |
| howbeit | 'Howbeit I'll try, and, as I can, I'll sing' (p. 5) | 1612, 1850 | 238 | Other 18th-century examples can be found on ECCO. |
| antetype | 'Amongst Transgressors Joseph numbred lies, / Like his great Antetype above the Skies'; 'Doest thou not see the Eucharistick Wine? It's Antitype makes Souls of Saints to shine' (pp. 761, 101 (& 102)) | 1612, 1844 | 232 | OED defines as 'A preceding type; an earlier example', and supplies only two examples: 1612 T. TAYLOR Comm. Titus i. 6 (1619) 99 Antetypes of Christ's puritie. 1844 MARG. FULLER Wom. in 19th C. (1862) 74 She is an antetype of a class to which the coming time will afford a field. Other 18th-century examples may be found on ECCO. |
| breed, v. | 'Perhaps some Rustick's Visite breeds thee Pett' (p. 53) | 1601, 1651, 1878 | 227 | It's not quite clear how this should be construed: 'breeds a pet in thee', or maybe thee = thy. But the sense of breed looks like OED1 6a: 'To give rise to, engender, develop, produce, create, cause, be the source of.' |
| patent, adj. | 'his unerring Guide was plac'd within, / Whose Wisdom pav'd a patent Road for him'; 'It beats the patent Road to every Sin'; 'Who [...] shuns the patent Road' (pp. 73, 80, 97) | ...1508, 1528, 1639, 1857, 1874... | 218 | Relevant sense is OED3 (draft entry Sept 2009) 4a: 'Of a fact, quality, phenomenon, etc.: clear, evident, obvious'. |
| depute, n. | 'The Deput Conscience justifies the Deed' (p. 148) | ...1563-7, a.1605, 1821, 1868 | 216 | OED1/2 defines: 'B. n. One deputed; = DEPUTY. (Now only Sc.)'. Alternatively, Adam's usage could be construed as a ppl. a., for which OED's last recorded use is 1623. |
| divining, vbl. n. | 'Divining first expos'd him to Envy, / Trust made him serve, then in a Dungeon ly: / Divining led the Way to Joseph's Liberty, / And recommended him to Majesty' (p. 77) | ...1483, 1646, 1860 | 214 | This is OED1/2 sense 1: 'The action of the verb DIVINE: a. Soothsaying, prophecy, divination. b. Conjecture, guessing', which is sparsely illustrated - 5 quotations in all. |
| transgressor | 'Amongst Transgressors Joseph numbred lies' (p. 76) | ...1638, 1667, 1875 | 208 | OED1/2 has big gap: Milton 1667 to Jowett 1875. ECCO searches yield a number of other 18th-century examples. |
| flowerless | 'View the Leafless, Flowerless Tree' (p. 22) | 1500, 1806, 1835 | 206 | Only three OED quotations in total; ECCO suggests this was a genuinely rare term in the 18th century but yields a handful of other examples. |
| compend, n. | 'Thou [divine Love] great Compend of both our Laws'; 'He on the Tables wrote the pure Compend' (pp. 39 (& 94), 93) | 1642, 1677, 1882 | 205 | OED1/2 notes both literal and figurative senses of this word (= 'compendium') and has no 18th-century quotations for the second (they run 1642, 1677, 1882), of which Adam's usage is an example. (The literal sense is under-illustrated too - 1596, 1640, 1796, 1833, 1881.) |
| sophisticating | 'See thou abhorr sophisticating Arts' (p. 14) | 1624, 1823 | 199 | |
| hoodwinked | 'The Hoodwinkt Heroe faints, when thou retires' (p. 132) | 1640, a1643, 1643, 1837 | 193 | OED defines 'Blindfolded, blinded. Lit, and fig.'; the second 1743 quot. is from Milton. |
| manuring | 'His Sons assist him in manuring Toil' (p. 62) | 1635, 1641, a1647, 1835, 1849 | 188 | OED3 draft revision Sept 2000 defines as 'That manures or cultivates soil or land'. Clearly Adam's example fills the gap. |
| conjunct, ppl. | 'The Innocence of Doves is in A Christian requisite, / And yet the Serpent's Policy Must be conjunct with it (p. 13) | 1695, 1877 | 182 | Could be construed as adj. (less likely), in which case Adam's example supplements OED1/2's existing quotations dated 1650, 1765, 1829. |
| divining | 'Now the divining Quality appears, / Which had lyen dormant since his [Joseph's] tender years' (p. 75) | 1382, 1593, 1697, 1876 | 179 | This is defined by OED1/2 s.v. as 'That divines, foresees, or conjectures; soothsaying, prophesying, conjecturing, guessing, etc. and is sparsely illustrated from Wyclife, Shakespeare, Dryden, and George Eliot, all favourite quotation sources. |
| discord | 'They still conspire and still discord' (p.15) | ...1677, 1848... | 171 | OED1/2 s.v. verb 1, sense 1 (intr.). |
| canon | 'What dire Presumption [...] To wound GOD thro' his righteous Favourite, / And mock the Canon he 'gainst Murther set' (p. 60) | ...1601, 1658, 1827, 1859 | 169 | This is OED1/2 sense 1a: 'A rule, law, or decree of the Church; esp. a rule laid down by an ecclesiastical Council': Adam's example fills a clear gap. |
| impotent, n. | 'A helpless impotent stretchd on his Bed' (p. 67) | 1513, 1596, 1662, 1685, 1833 | 148 | OED1/2 sense B. n.: An impotent person. |
| declare | 'Shall Nature's Works inanimate / Declare the Power of God?' (p. 26) | 1668, 1810 | 142 | OED1/2 sense 4: 'trans. Of things: To manifest, show, demonstrate, prove'. |
| custom-free | 'Who would not land his Cargoe Custom free' (p. 62) | a1680, 1810 | 130 | This is recorded in OED1/2 s.v. custom, n., 6a, among attributive and combinatorial usages: 'custom-free a., free from custom, toll, or tribute; free from custom duty', and provided with just two examples: 'a1680 BUTLER Rem. (1759) I. 80 To take up a Degree, With all the Learning to it, *Custom-free. 1810 in Risdon's Surv. Devon App. 17 Towns..free from Tax and Toll, such as we..call Custom-free.', so Adam's would be useful as ever. |
| soulless | 'Shall soulless Sun his Task fulfil / Of driving round the Globe' (p. 26) | ...1678, 1801... | 123 | Probably Adam's use is OED1/2 sense 1: 'Having no soul; from whom or which the soul has departed. Also fig.' It could also come under sense 3, applied to 'things, qualities, etc.', which has no quotations between 1656 and 1853. |
| unconsulted | 'Pure Nature's unconsulted Harmony' (p. 117) | 1619, 1642, 1829, 1847, 1884 | 87 | OED1/2 defines sense 2 as 'Not consulted (with) or referred to; the 1642 quotation is from Milton. |
Last updated on 30 July 2019