tedious, a.
(ˈtiːdɪəs)
Forms: 5 ted(e)us, tedi-, tidiose, 5–7 tedy-, 6 tede-, tide-, tydy-, tyde-, Sc. tidi-, 6–7 teydi-, 7–8 teadi-, 8 tædi-, 5– tedious. (Also 6 tedy-, tiddius, Sc. tideus, -ews, 6–7 tedius.)
[ad. late L. tædiōs-us irksome, f. tædium, tedium: see -ous; perh. partly ad. OF. tedieus, -eux (1387 in Godef.).]
1. ‘Wearisome by continuance’ (J.); long and tiresome: said of anything occupying time, as a task, or a journey; esp. of a speech or narrative, hence of a speaker or writer: prolix, so as to cause weariness.
| 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy iv. xxxiii, Me liste no more of hir woo to endite Leste vn to ȝow that it were tedious. c 1475 Babees Bk. 75 Many wordes ben rihte Tedious. 1526 Tindale Acts xxiv. 4 Lest I be tedeous vnto the. 1549 Compl. Scot. vi. 62, I pray the to decist fra that tideus melancolic orison. 1552 Lyndesay Monarche 4065 Bot tiddius it wer to tell. 1552 Huloet, Tedious speaker, or patterer, battologus. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. v. iii. 230, I will be briefe, for my short date of breath Is not so long as is a tedious tale. 1603 ― Meas. for M. ii. i. 119 Come: you are a tedious foole: to the purpose. 1675 Tullie Let. Baxter 27 The tediousest taske I ever yet undertooke. 1709 Steele & Addison Tatler No. 75 ¶8, I would not be tedious in this Discourse. 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters I. Pref., A series of teadious and laborious experiments. 1819 Scott Let. to Ld. Montagu 4 Mar., in Lockhart, Tedious hours occur on board of ship. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 36 If I am to discuss all these matters, I cannot avoid being tedious. |
† b. humorously. Long (in time or extent). Obs.
| 1601 Shakes. All's Well ii. iii. 33 Nay 'tis strange, 'tis very straunge, that is the breefe and the tedious of it. 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 56 An old sheep-biter, with a nose too tedious for his face. |
2. Wearisome in general; annoying, irksome, troublesome, disagreeable, painful. Obs. exc. dial.
| 1454 Paston Lett. I. 279 To arere a power to resyst the sayd riotts, which to hem on that holy tyme was tediose and heynous. 1526 Tindale Rom. xii. 11 Let not that busynes which ye have in honde be tedious to you. c 1689 J. Whicker in Arb. Garner VII. 375 A sort of flies..drew blisters and bladders in our skin..which were very tedious for our bodies too. a 1694 Tillotson Serm. (1742) III. 181, I may be tedious, but I will not be long. c 1845 in J. Mitford's Lett. & Rem. 143 Johnstone ain't a drinking man nor a wife-beater, but he makes her a tedious husband. 1868 Atkinson Cleveland Gloss., Tedious,..fidgetty, uneasy, requiring constant attention; of an infant or young child when teething, or poorly. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus l. 17 Did I, a poem Write, my tedious anguish all revealing. |
† 3. Tired, wearied, exhausted; also, disgusted or annoyed, esp. by iteration or excess; bored.
| 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas viii. viii. (MS. Bodl. 263) lf. 375 Galerius..Throuh at [sic] thorient wex victorious Til he for age, gan wexen tedious. 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1874) II. 148 So whan the Father is tedyous and old. 1540–1 Elyot Image Gov. (1544) B ij, Being also tedious of his abhominations. Ibid. xxviii. Q iij b, Beinge tediouse of that beastely lycence. |
4. Late, tardy, dilatory, slow. Obs. exc. dial.
| c 1485 Digby Myst. iv. 1079, I was to tidiose, That holy sight to see. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. i. ii. §7 The most active or busy man..hath..many vacant times of leisure..except he be..tedious and of no dispatch. 1698 Congreve Semele ii. i, Though thou hadst on lightning rode, Still thou tedious art, and slow. 1728 Morgan Algiers II. iii. 249 Barbarossa was not..very tedious in gratifying their curiosity. 1833 T. Hook Parson's Dau. ii. i, ‘I expect Lord Weybridge; we are not ready for dinner till his lordship comes.’ ‘What can make him so tedious?’ said Maria-Jane. 1898 [see Eng. Dial. Dict.]. |
So ˈtedisome, tediousome a. (Sc.), tedious; tediˈosity (rare), † tediouste [= OF. tedieusete, 15th c.], tediousness.
| ? a 1412 Lydg. Two Merch. 900 Lest tediouste your erys did assayl. 1612 Two Noble K. iii. v, What tediosity and disensanity Is here among ye! 1790 J. Byng Diary 18 July (1935) II. 257 They are sad sluggards: Mrs. B. most idly breakfasts in bed; C[ec]y is tediocity. 1824 Scott St. Ronan's xxii, It was an unco pleasant show,..only it was a pity it was sae tediousome. 1934 Jrnl. Theol. Stud. XXXV. 289 In spite of his tediosity, however, his books present some interesting and picturesque features. |