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ever

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English ever, from Old English ǣfre, originally a phrase whose first element undoubtedly consists of Old English ā (“ever, always”) + in (“in”) + an element possibly from feorh (“life, existence”) (dative fēore). Compare Old English ā tō fēore (“ever in life”), Old English feorhlīf (“life”).

Sense 5 of the adverb was likely formed by association with never, which also carries the meaning of did not in colloquial Singaporean and Malaysian English. Also, compare Chinese 有 … 過 / 有 … 过 (yǒu ... guò / jau5 ... gwo3, “has […] before”).

Pronunciation

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Adverb

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ever (not comparable)

  1. (formal or archaic) Always, frequently, forever.
    It was ever thus.
    • 1592, George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax, An Advertisement […] concerning Seminary Priests:
      […] the Lord Treasurer, who ever secretly feigned himself to be a Moderator and Mollifier of the Catholicks Afflictions […]
    • 1860, Florence Nightingale, Suggestions for Thought to the searchers after truth among the artizans of England., page 302:
      Let us ever remember that our conception, our comprehension, our feeling of God must be ever imperfect, yet should be ever advancing. We must not make God: we must find Him and feel Him more and more.
    • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
      “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; […]. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.
    • 1993, Nancy K. Florida, Javanese Literature in Surakarta Manuscripts: Introduction and manuscripts of the Karaton Surakarta, SEAP Publications, →ISBN, page 9:
      The library staffs of the Karaton Surakarta's Sasana Pustaka, the Mangku- nagaran's Reksa Pustaka, and the Museum Radyapustaka were ever helpful and generous with their time.
    • 2007, Roman Frydman, Michael D. Goldberg, Imperfect Knowledge Economics: Exchange Rates and Risk, Princeton University Press, →ISBN:
      As with the rest of macroeconomics, the issues have to be rethought in a way that makes the ever-imperfect knowledge of market participants and policymakers an integral part of the analysis.
    • 2021 September 8, Phil McNulty, “Poland 1-1 England”, in BBC Sport‎[1]:
      Kane picked up the ball 25 yards out with 18 minutes left before proving he is ever the opportunist by flashing a dipping swerving drive beyond the deceived Szczesny.
  2. Continuously, constantly, all the time (for the complete duration).
    People struggled to cope with the ever-increasing cost of living.
  3. At any time.
    We've only ever talked on the phone.
    I scarcely ever see you anymore!.
    If that ever happens, we’re in deep trouble.
    This is one of the best movies ever.
    He's back and better than ever.
    • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter III, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
      Now all this was very fine, but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so.
    • 2019 February 3, “UN Study: China, US, Japan Lead World AI Development”, in Voice of America‎[2], archived from the original on 7 February 2019:
      He said the study provides clear evidence that AI technologies are growing at a faster rate than ever and will continue to do so.
      Audio (US):(file)
  4. (informal) As intensifier following an interrogative word.
    Was I ever glad to see you!
    Did I ever!
  5. (Manglish, Singlish) Indicates experiential aspect, once; has or have (done something) before.
    • 2005 October 1, hellangel, “Tamiya Asiacup Qualifying 2005 (singapore)”, in rctech.net‎[3]:
      but i ever ran 5mins using the 1400 cells and the type RR 23T motor...
    • 2021 July 13, Lchlch, “What are your hobbies in sg?”, in HardwareZone Forums‎[4]:
      i ever walked from the south to MacRitchie Reservoir.....

Synonyms

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Antonyms

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Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • → German: ever

Translations

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Adjective

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ever (not comparable)

  1. (epidemiology) Occurring at any time, occurring even but once during a timespan.
    • 1965, Reuben Hill, The family and population control: a Puerto Rican experiment in social change:
      This family empathy measure is highly related to ever use of birth control but not to any measure of continuous use.

Determiner

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ever

  1. (dialectal and informal) Shortening of every
    • 1989, Connie Jordan Green, The War at Home, page 16:
      "Ever place you look there's houses and more houses."
    • 2011, Lee Smith, Oral History, →ISBN:
      Queen Anne's lace ever place you look.
    • 2011, Michael Blair, Nub and Bow in History, page 27:
      A sign at the entrance to the road going up Snake Hollow reads, “Snake Hollow is a wonderful place to be, Ever place you look there is a beautiful green tree. Snake Hollow makes you feel alive and free.” Lets keep it that way, for you and me.

References

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  • “ever”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
  • Mian Lian Ho, Irene F. H. Wong (2003 January) “The use of ever in Singapore English”, in World Englishes, volume 20, number 1, →DOI, pages 79–87

Anagrams

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Dutch

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Etymology

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From Middle Dutch ēver, from Old Dutch *evur, from Proto-West Germanic *ebur. Cognate with Latin aper, Proto-Slavic *veprь (“wild boar”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ever m (plural evers, diminutive evertje n)

  1. wild boar, Sus scrofa
    Synonyms: everzwijn, wild zwijn

Derived terms

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Anagrams

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German

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English ever.

Pronunciation

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Adverb

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ever

  1. (colloquial, originally youth slang) ever (with superlative)
    Synonym: aller Zeiten
    Das war das geilste Konzert ever.
    That was the greatest concert ever.
    • 2023 December 28, Florian Bayer, “Größte Pleite ever in Österreich”, in Die Tageszeitung: taz‎[5], →ISSN:
      Signa-Immobiliengesellschaften insolvent: Größte Pleite ever in Österreich [title]
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Further reading

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  • “ever” in Duden online

Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Old English ǣfre.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈɛːvər/, /ˈɛvər/

Adverb

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ever

  1. ever

Descendants

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References

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Norwegian Bokmål

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Verb

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ever

  1. present of eve

Anagrams

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Alternative forms

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Noun

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ever f

  1. indefinite plural of eve
  2. indefinite plural of eva (non-standard since 2012)

Anagrams

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