sevenfold, a., adv., n.
(ˈsɛv(ə)nfəʊld)
[OE. seofonfeald = OFris. sivonvald, saunfald, OHG. sibunfalt (MHG. sibenvalt, G. siebenfalt), ON. sjaufalde: see seven and -fold.]
A. adj.
1. Consisting of seven together or seven in one; having seven parts, divisions, elements, or units.
Formerly a frequent epithet of the river Nile.
| c 960 æthelwold Rule St. Benet (Schröer) xvi. 40 Ðæt seofonfealde ᵹetæl bið þus þurh us ᵹefylled, ᵹif [etc.]. c 1055 tr. Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia VIII. 302 Witodlice hine ofer stiᵹað þæt seofonfealde ᵹetæl þære sunnan ᵹeares daᵹas. 1340 Ayenb. 268 Þe dede of alle ine mennesse ys zeueuald: Hy lybbeþ, hy smackeþ, hy louyeþ, hy byeþ glede, hy heryeþ, hy byeþ zuyfte, hy byeþ zikere. 1590 Greene Orl. Fur. 3 From seuenfold Nilus to Taprobany. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iv. xiv. 38 The seuen-fold shield of Aiax. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 156 The Alcoran bids a seuen-fold daily worship. 1728 Pope Dunc. i. 244 The Master of the sev'nfold Face. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. iii. 816 He fill'd the sevenfold surplice fairly out. 1864 Pusey Lect. Daniel (1876) 168 A sevenfold period of years. 1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 696/1 A ‘litania septiformis’, that is to say a sevenfold procession of clergy, laity, monks, virgins, matrons, widows, poor, and children. |
b. Theol. [
tr. eccl.L.
septiformis.] Applied to seven gifts of the Holy Ghost enumerated in Isaiah xi. 2 (
Vulg. and LXX.); see also
Rev. i. 4.
| a 1000 ælfric Hom. (Thorpe) I. 326 We wurðiað þæs Halᵹan Gastes to-cyme mid lofsangum seofon daᵹas, forðan ðe he onbryrt ure mod mid seofonfealdre ᵹife. c 1200 Ormin Ded. 301 Þiss sefennfald godleȝȝc þatt Crist Uss dide þurrh hiss are. a 1400 Minor Poems Vernon MS. xx. 9 Þou art in ȝifte seuenfold, Godus riht hond ffinger art þou. c 1450 Mirour Saluacioun (Roxb.) 21 The sevenfold haly gast. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 1 The vij folde graces of the holy goost. 1563 Winȝet tr. Vincent. Lirin. vii. Wks. (S.T.S.) 27 The seuinfald licht of the Haly Gaist. 1627 Cosin ‘Veni Creator’, Thou the anointing Spirit art, Who dost thy sevenfold gifts impart. 1738 Wesley Hymns, Creator Spirit, by whose Aid iii, Plenteous of Grace, descend from high, Rich in thy sevenfold Energy. 1827 Keble Chr. Y., Confirmation, Draw, Holy Ghost, Thy sevenfold veil, Between us and the fires of youth. |
2. Seven times as great or numerous; seven times increased or repeated. Hence, typically
= very great, strong, etc.
| c 1000 ælfric Saints' Lives (1881) I. 66 Iulianus wycode wið þa ea eufraten and him ofer-wacedon syfan-fealde weardes. 1382 Wyclif Isa. xxx. 26 The liȝt of the sunne shal be seuene fold, as the liȝt of seuene daȝes. 1557 Recorde Whetst. B ij, Septupla 7 to 1: 14 to 2..Seuenfolde. 1694 Salmon Bate's Dispens. (1713) 359/2 Chymists advise a sevenfold Rectification. 1736 Gentl. Mag. VI. 601/2 A seventy times seven-fold Vengeance from above. 1742 Young Nt. Th. iv. 204 And foul transgression dips in sev'nfold guilt. 1852 Bailey Festus 298 With A sevenfold blessing and inviolate rest, Yea, with His sabbath. 1872 Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. lxxiv. 20 In some places a sevenfold night of superstition and unbelief has settled down. 1908 Grove's Dict. Mus. IV. 670/2 Among his [sc. Stainer's] most successful..pieces of church music must be named the well⁓known ‘Sevenfold Amen’. |
3. Seven in number.
poet.| 1614 Gorges Lucan vi. 232 Here stood..Echions Thebes with seauenfolde gates. 16.. Middleton, etc. Old Law i. i, Never did Greece, Not when she flourished in her sevenfold sages,..Produce a law more grave and necessary. 1812 Cary Dante, Purg. xxxii. 17, I mark'd that glorious army..turn, Against the sun and sevenfold lights, their front. 1887 Morris Odyssey xi. 263 Thebes of the gates sevenfold. |
B. adv. (
OE. had
seofonfealdl{iacu}ce.)
1. In a sevenfold manner or degree; seven times. Hence, exceedingly, greatly.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 171 Ðe rihtwise shulle ben seuefeald brihtere þane þe sunne. a 1225 Juliana 18 So mare ȝe me helpeð seoueuald to heouene. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xi. 7 Syluyre examynd in fire proued of þe erth, purged seuenfald. 1382 Wyclif Dan. iii. 19 He bad, that the fourneyse shulde be sette on fijre seuen fold hatter than it was wont for to be tendid. c 1460 Towneley Myst. ii. 373 For he that sloys yong or old It shall be punyshid sevenfold. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. 119 Seuinfald, their sin, gude Lord, mot punist be. 1607 Shakes. Timon i. i. 289 Plutus the God of Gold Is but his Steward: no meede but he repayes Seuen-fold aboue it selfe. 1632 W. Forster tr. Oughtred's Circles of Proportion 16 Let the ratio given be septuplicated, that is multiplied sevenfold into it selfe. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iii. 340 The population of some [country towns] has multiplied sevenfold. |
2. In seven folds or coils.
nonce-use.
| 1830 Tennyson Mermaid ii, That great sea-snake..From his coiled sleeps in the central deeps Would slowly trail himself sevenfold Round the hall where I sate. |
C. n. (
nonce-uses.)
a. the sevenfold, a sevenfold amount.
b. A group of seven.
| 1382 Wyclif Prov. vi. 31 Caȝt therewith forsothe he shal ȝelde the seuene fold [Vulg. septuplum]. 1864 Pusey Lect. Daniel iv. 165 note, Some of the poets have said, who measure age ταῖς ἑβδοµάσι, by the sevenfolds. |
Hence
† sevenfold v., to make sevenfold;
ˈsevenfolded,
† -folden = sevenfold a.;
ˈsevenfoldness, the quality of being sevenfold.
| 1611 Florio, Settiplicare, to *seauen-fold or double. |
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. v. 6 His *seuenfolded shield. 1876 Morris æneids xii. 925 The..outer rim of that seven-folded shield. |
| 1561 J. Daus tr. Bullinger on Apoc. (1573) 66 b, I tolde you..how the seuen spirites of God are put for the *seuen folden, full, and perfect spirite of God. |
| 1856 P. Fairbairn Prophecy ii. iii. 306 The *sevenfoldness ascribed to it must be..seven different states or forms of dominion. |