durance
(ˈdjʊərəns)
[a. OF. durance duration, f. durer to last, dure: see -ance.]
† 1. Continuance, duration; lastingness. Obs.
| 1494 Fabyan Chron. I. cv,. Some wryters accompt the terme of the duraunce of this kyngdome from Cerdicus to Egbert, and some to the last yere of Aluredus. 1599 A. M. tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physicke 29/2 Let it soe rest in a sellar the durance of 14 dayes. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 271 Had not that Instigator of Ills..forbid its Durance by maliciously sowing Tares. |
† 2. Lasting quality, durability. Obs.
| 1599 T. M[oufet] Silkwormes 69 That compar'd with this is nought so fine..Nor of like durance. 1663 Gerbier Counsel 108 Precious Wood..both for Colour, Aromatick smell and Durance. 1703 Art Vintners 23 It acquires a better durance and taste. 1847 Emerson Poems, Astræa Wks. (Bohn) I. 444 The durance of a granite ledge. |
† 3. A stout durable cloth. (Cf. durant n.) Obs.
| 1583 in North. N. & Q. I. 77 A payr of blew paynd hosse, drawin furthe w{supt} Dewrance. 1588 Acc.-bk. of W. Wray in Antiquary (1896) Feb. 54 Ii pece cremosynge Duraunce..and one pece blacke duraunce. 1601 Cornwallyes Ess. (1632) xiii, I refuse to weare buffe for the lasting, and shall I be content to apparrell my braine in durance? 1709 Mrs. Crackenthorpe Female Tatler in Malcolm Anecd. 18th C. (1808) 133 Shallons, durances, and right Scotch plaids. |
4. Endurance (of toil or fatigue). arch.
| 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Epil. 2 That..time in durance shall outweare. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. v. vii. §5. 38 Their hardinesse..partly naturall, and partly acquired by practise of their bodies to durance. 1881 R. Buchanan God & Man III. 31 Many a man..had saved himself from..madness by the hard durance of toil. |
5. Forced confinement, imprisonment; constraint. Now esp. in phr. in durance vile. Cf. duress 3.
| 1513 More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 773 Those that have not letted to put them in duraunce without colour, will let as little to procure their destruction without cause. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 82 His mother, which as yet was in durance in Englande. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, v. v. 36 Thy Dol..is in base Durance, and contagious prison. 1637 Sanderson Serm. II. 62 St. Paul being at durance in Rome. 1663 Butler Hud. i. iii. 995 Him they release from durance base. 1770 Burke Pres. Discont. Wks. 1842 I. 130 This royal servitude and vile durance. 1791 Mackintosh Vind. Gallicæ Wks. 1846 III. 9 To deliver the peerless and immaculate Antoinetta..from the durance vile in which she has so long been immured in the Tuilleries. 1794 Burns Esopus to Maria 57 A workhouse!..In durance vile here must I wake and weep. 1841 Borrow Zincali I. 246 The writer, who..was in durance for stealing a pair of mules. |