▪ I. † eche, n.1 Obs. rare.
[? var. of eke addition; or f. eche v.]
A piece added (e.g. to a bellrope). Cf. eke n.
| 1525 Churchw. Acc. St. Dunstan's, Canterb., For ij ropes for eches for the bell ropys. For a eche to the gret bell jd. |
▪ II. † eche, n.2 Obs. rare.
[app. ad. OF. esche, aiche tinder:—L. esca bait.]
A taper.
| 1546 Bale Eng. Votaries ii. (1550) 52 [Women] that gaue aultre clothes and towels, waxe candels and eches, masse grotes and trentals. Ibid. 84 b, They toke of these sea crabbes, and tyed eches vnto them light. |
▪ III. † eche, a. Obs.
Forms 1 ǽce, 1–2 éce, 2 ech, ache, 2–3 eche.
[OE. ǽce, éce, repr. OTeut. *aiwokjo-, f. *aiwo(m= L. ævum age (see a adv., ay); cf. Goth. ajuk (:—*aiwoko-) in ajukduþs eternity.]
Everlasting, eternal. Also quasi-n. in phrase in eche.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter cxi[i]. 7[6] In ᵹemynde æcre bið se rehtwisa. 837 Kentish Charter in Sweet O.E. Texts (1885) 449 Ðæt mon agefe ðæt lond inn hiᵹum to heora beode him to brucanne on ece ærfe. a 1000 Riddles (Gr.) xli. 1 Ece is se scyppend. c 1175 Cott. Hom. 239 Witeð into ece fer. a 1200 Moral Ode 364 in Trin. Coll. Hom. 231 God one sal ben ache lif, and blisse..and ache reste. a 1225 Juliana 79 Iheiet beo he him ane as he wes and is eauer in eche. a 1250 Owl & Night. 1277 Ah eavreeuh thing that eche nis A-gon schal and al this worldes blis. |
▪ IV. † eche, v. Obs.
Forms: 1 {iacu}ecan, {iacu}can, {yacu}can, écan (also with prefix ᵹe-), 2–3 echen, 4–7 eche, eech(e, 6 etche, eatch, 7 each, ich. See also eke v.
[repr. OE. écan, in WS. {iacu}ecan wk. vb. = OS. ôkian:—OTeut. *aukjan (cf. OHG. auhhôn :—*aukôjan), f. *auk-an str. vb. (ON. auka, Goth. aukan; elsewhere only in pa. pple. OE. éacen, OS. ôkan) to increase, cogn. w. L. augēre, Gr. αὐξάνειν to increase.]
1. trans. To enlarge, augment, increase.
| a 1000 Andreas 1386 (Gr.) Ðu scealt ecan ðine yrmþu. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 208 Gif him fefer ne sie, yc þæt mid wine. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 103 He..his sunnen echeð. a 1225 Ancr. R. 44 God ou echeð furðre his deorewurðe grace. a 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 1460 God might not oo poynt of my joyes eche. 1530 Palsgr. 531/1, I etche, I increase a thynge, Je augmente. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iii. ii. 23 To peize the time, To ich [Qo. 2, 3, 4 ech and eech] and to draw it out in length. 1608 ― Per. iii. Prol. 13 Time..with your fine fancies quaintly eche [rime-wd. speech]. |
b. with out = eke out.
| 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iii. Prol. 35 Still be kind, And eech out our performance with your mind. 1655 Francion i. iii. 63 He had such a full Character eech'd out with long Cloak⁓bag-string dashes, etc. |
2. To add (something) to.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke xii. 25 Hwylc eower mæᵹ þencende ican [c 950 Lindisf. and c 975 Rushw. ᵹe-ece; c 1160 Hatton echan] ane elne to his anlicnesse? 1382 Wyclif Lev. ix. 17 He made brent sacrifice, echynge into the sacrifyce offrynges of licours. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 1122 Hardde pitche and wex, take even weight, And herdde with pix liquide herto eche An halven dele. |
b. ? To increase (one's) stature. [But possibly a different word; cf. icche.]
| 1640 A. Harsnet God's Summ. 413 Riches cannot..each us one haires breadth neerer heaven. |
3. intr. To grow.
| 1565 Golding Ovid's Met. x. (1593) 249 Her bellie big The eatching [L. crescens] tree had overgrowne. |
b. Of a ‘pace’: To increase, be quickened.
| 1644 Quarles Sheph. Orac. ix, How each envious pace Vies to be first, and eches for the place. |