evermore, adv.
(ɛvəˈmɔə(r))
For forms see ever and more adv.; sometimes written as two words.
[A later form of prec., mo being replaced by more.]
An emphatic synonym of ever.
In poetry the accentuation ˈevermore sometimes occurs.
1. For all future time. Obs. exc. arch.
| c 1205 Lay. 31051 King Penda..ȝerneð þine ære nu and auere mære. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 12 Blisse and soules reste[n] ðat him sal eauermor lesten. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 6838 It es right þat þai duelle þare, In þat hidus myrknes ever-mare. c 1440 Gesta Rom. i. 4 (Harl. MS.) He shalle dye in euermore lastynge dethe. c 1470 Henry Wallace i. 13 Thai haff wrocht..To hald Scotlande at wndyr euirmar. 1592 W. Warner in Farr S.P. Eliz. (1845) II. 379 Disable vs eremore. 1611 Bible John vi. 34 Lord, euermore giue vs this bread. 1791 Burns Lament Earl Glencairn, Awake thy last sad voice, my harp!..Then sleep in silence evermair! a 1854 Montgomery O where shall rest be found, Lest we be banished from thy face And evermore undone. |
b. for († unto) evermore.
| c 1300 Cursor M. 23934 (Edin.) Leuedi..led me wit þe for þi son for euir mar wit him to won. 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 155 Gyff thou will hald in cheyff off me For euirmar. 1382 Wyclif Ecclus. xlviii. 27 He..comfortede the weilende men in Sion, vnto euermor. 1555 Act 2–3 Phil. & Mary c. 20 §3 Leases..shall for evermore pass and be made under..the Seals of the said Duchy. 1622 S. Ward Woe to Drunkards (1627) 34 For euer and euer, and if it were possible for more than for euer, for euermore. a 1694 Tillotson (J.), Those pleasures which flow from the presence of God for evermore. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xxxiv, My own dim life should teach me this, That life shall live for evermore. |
2. Always, at all times, constantly, continually.
| c 1280 A Sarmun in E.E.P. (1862) 4 Of helle pine we aȝt be ware and euer more hit hab in þoȝt. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xvii. 3 Thei þat haue been hyre by-fore aren eueremore poure. 1486 Bk. St. Albans E iij a, He [the hare] fymaes and crotis and Roungeth euermoore. 1551 Recorde Pathw. Knowl. ii. xlvii, The line..dothe euermore run within the edge of the circle. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. ii. vii. (1611) 73 The minde of man desireth euermore to know the truth. 1632 Lithgow Trav. v. 209 Wilde Arabs..euermore annoy the Turkes. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. i. xviii. 48 These Vessels..are evermore found in all Bodies. 1801 Southey Thalaba xi. xxxvi, Yonder roar..evermore increasing, Still louder, louder, grows. 1850 Lynch Theo. Trin. viii. 138 Lift your eyes unto the evermore silent heaven. |
3. With negatives and expressions implying a negative: † a. In any degree. Obs. b. At any future time. c. (With the full sense of more: in this use better written as two words.) Ever again, any longer.
| c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 7 Heynes of state makiþ not a man evermore beter to God. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. xxxvi, I may not evermore acknowledge thee. 1832 H. Martineau Hill & Vall. vi. 85 This circumstance seemed to destroy the hope that the works..could evermore enjoy the prosperity which had been their lot. 1842 Mrs. Browning Grk. Chr. Poets (1863) 139 Not in England evermore. |
4. quasi-n.
| c 1850 F. T. Palgrave O Light of Life, Through heaven's great day of evermore. |