endlong, prep., adv., and a.
(ˈɛndlɒŋ)
Forms: 3 andelong, 3–4 endelong, (4 endelyng), 4– endlong, 4– north. dial. endlang.
[The early southern ME. endelong, f. ende end n. + long, seems to have been substituted by popular etymology for the preposition andlang (see along prep.), the first element of this having ceased to be intelligible, while the new compound yielded an identical sense (cf. on end, end on, endaway). In purely southern English endelong did not long survive, its place being taken by along, the reduced form of the earlier andlang. But from 14th c. onwards endlang, endlong appear (as prep. and adv.) in northern and midland dialects, where they may be f. ON. endelangr, endlangr adj. (f. ende-r end + langr long), synonymous with OE. andlang adj. ‘the whole length of’. In our quots. the adjectival use of endlong first occurs in a passage of Caxton's ed. of Trevisa's Higden, where it is substituted for evelong (= avelonge, oblong), used by Trevisa himself. Subsequently (in 17th c.) the adv. assumed the sense ‘on end’, ‘end foremost or downwards’, in accordance with the analogy of words like headlong, sidelong, where -long is a perversion of the OE. suffix -lunga. This use still occasionally appears in standard Eng.; the other uses are now peculiar to Sc. and northern dialects, except as deliberate archaisms.
Prof. Sievers (Festgaben für Böhtlingk 1888) considers that the second element in OE. andlang is not identical with long a., but is directly from the OTeut. vb. *ling-an, lang, lung-ano- to reach, extend. The ON. endlanger, Eng. endlong, he regards as altered from andlangr, OE. andlang by popular etymology.]
A. prep. From end to end of; through or over the length of (as opposed to across), following the line of, onwards by the side of; along. Chiefly of place, rarely of time.
| a 1225 Juliana 30 Ant healden on hire heauet þat hit urne endelong hire leofliche bodi. a 1225 St. Marher. 10 Ant droh þa endelong hire ant þwertouer þrefter þe derewurðe taken. 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 414 Endlang the louchhis syd..besyly thai socht. c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 408 The rede blood Ran endelong [v.r. endelyng] the tree. c 1450 Cookery Bk. 97 Bynde the threde with the frute A-bought a rownde spete, endelonge þe spete. 1470–85 Malory Arthur x. lxiv, Sir Helyus..drofe sir Palomydes ouerthwart and endlonge alle the feld. 1508– Dunbar Gold. Targe xv, Ladyes to dance full sobirly assayit..Endlang the lusty rywir. a 1547 Earl of Surrey Aeneid iv. 328 Like to the foule, that endlong costes and strondes..flies sweping by the sea. 1600 Holland Livy 921 (R.) The singular discipline and order of that nation in old time, was going downward and endlong many yeeres and ages alredie. a 1758 Ramsay Poet. Wks. (1844) 86 Lay them [thir tangs] en'lang his pow or shin. |
B. adv.
† 1. Extended at full length; at one's whole length; horizontally. Obs. exc. north. dial.
| 1393 Gower Conf. II. 233 And everything in his degre endelong upon a bourde he laide. c 1430 Lydg. Bochas vii. ix. (1554) 175 a, Beaten he was..Whipped, scourged, endlong, and vpright. 1864 Atkinson Whitby Gloss., I tummell'd end lang. |
2. From end to end, lengthwise, longitudinally, as distinguished from crosswise or athwart. arch. exc. north. dial.
| c 1300 Havelok 2822 Him to binden faste Vpon an asse..Andelong, nouht ouerthwert. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1133 Dores..I-clenched overthward and endelong With iren tough. 1470–85 Malory Arthur x. lxxxvi. (1816) 153 Thurghoute alle this reame, endlonge and ouerthwart. 1574 T. Hill Planting 78 Of eyther [vine] pare away halfe endlong upon the pith. 1594 Blundevil Exerc. iii. ii. vi. (ed. 7) 382 Foure barley kernels couched close together side by side, and not endlong, are said to make a finger breadth. 1825 Scott Talism. vii, Galloping in full career..about and around, crossways and endlong. 1886 Burton Arab. Nts. (abr. ed.) I. 162 The street had been pulled down endlong. |
† 3. Of motion in a longitudinal direction: Right along, straight on, straight through. Obs. exc. north. dial.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce xvi. 548 Endlang furth held thai thar vay. 1470–85 Malory Arthur x. lxviii. These four knyghtes came into the feld endlonge and thurgh. 1517 R. Torkington Pilgr. (1884) 47 An howge..Serpent..ranne endlong vpon the ryght Syde of the Chirche wall. 1700 Dryden Pal. & Arc. iii. 691 Spurring at full speed, ran endlong on. 1854 H. Miller Sch. & Schm. ix. (1857) 186 He was driven endlong against the wall of the kiln. |
b. Of speech: Continuously.
| 1815 Scott Guy M. xi, He never could preach five words of a sermon endlang. |
4. On end, perpendicularly, vertically.
| 1600 Holland Livy iii. xxviii. 107 They..set two of them [speares] pitched in the ground endlong, and the third overthwart. 1656 Heylin Surv. France 148 They stood not up endlong but lay one upon the other. 1725 Pope Odyss. x. 667 Full endlong from the roof the sleeper fell, And snap'd the spinal joint. |
C. adj.
† 1. Extended lengthwise, oblong. Obs.
| 1480 Caxton Trevisa's Higden (Rolls) II. 55 Britayne is endlong [1387 Trevisa eve longe] and larger in the myddel than in thendes. 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg., Of what shape is the stomacke?.. It is rounde endlong. |
2. (Adjectival use of B. 4; cf. headlong adj.) Set on end, perpendicular. rare.
| 1716 M. Davies Ath. Brit. II. 203 His Grace's Wife being in that end-long Posture [viz., head downwards in a chest] was in jeopardy to break her neck. 1840 Browning Sordello iii. 347 Giant rushes..grew Like demons' endlong tresses. |