▪ I. † here, n. Obs.
Forms: 1–5 here, 3 hære, 4 her, 4–5 heere.
[Com. Teut.: OE. hęre masc., gen. hęrᵹes, hęriᵹes, hęres = OFris. here, hiri, OS. heri m. and n. (MDu. hēre, Du. heir, heer n., LG. hêr n.), OHG. hari, hęri (MLG. here, Ger. heer) n., ON. hęrr m., gen. hęrjar (Sw. här, Da. hær), Goth. harjis m.:—OTeut. *harjo-z, *harjo{supm} (in proper names of Roman age chario-) = OPruss. karjiz host. App. a deriv. (adj.) from a radical har-, pre-Teut. kar-, kor-, in sense ‘war’: cf. OSlav. kara contention, strife, Lith. kàras war. Hence harry v., harbour, heriot ns.]
An armed host, an army. Also, more generally: A host; a multitude, a great company.
In the O.E. Chron. the usual word applied to the ‘host’ of the Danish invaders.
| c 855 O.E. Chron. (Parker MS.) an. 837 Þy ilcan ᵹeare ᵹefeaht æþelhelm dux wiþ Deniscne here. a 890 Ibid. an. 872 Her for se here to Lunden byriᵹ from Readingum. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxii. 7 Ða se cyning..sende hys here. c 1200 Ormin 3889 An here off Godess enngless. c 1205 Lay. 3830 Morgan ledde muchele hære. c 1300 Cursor M. 21840 (Edin.) Be ur scheld eke and ure spere Bituixin us and helles here [Cott. her, other MSS. here]. 13.. K. Alis. 5265 Tygres, olyfaunz, and beres Comen flynge with grete heres. a 1400–50 Alexander 4800 So hard þai hampird oure heere & herid oure erles. 1450–70 Golagros & Gaw. 1147 The tothir knightis maid care of Arthuris here. [1872 Robertson Hist. Ess. 137 Over 35 men (or 3 × 12) constituted a Here by Ini's laws.] |
b. attrib. and
Comb., as
here-burne, a coat of mail;
here-dring, a warrior;
here-feng, booty;
here-gang, an invasion by an army;
here-gume,
here-kempe, a warrior;
here-marke, a standard, ensign;
here-scrud (
-shroud),
here-weeds, armour, martial accoutrements; (all only
OE. and early
ME.). Also
herefare, a military expedition (in 17th c. legal antiquaries). See also
heregeld,
heretoga,
hereyeld.
| Beowulf (Z.) 1443 Scolde *here-byrne hondum ᵹe-broden. c 1205 Lay. 23966 Þe helm an his hæuede, and his hereburne. |
| Ibid. 8601 Ȝif here is æi *heredring. |
| Ibid. 11716 Heo funden *herre-feng inoh. |
| 10.. tr. Bæda's Hist. i. xi. [xiv.] (MS. B), To wiðscufanne swa reðum *heregange. c 1205 Lay. 18194 In þan hire-ȝeonge inne Walisc londe. a 1250 Owl & Night. 1191 Ich wot of hunger, of hergonge. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 4094 Here is comand to this lond Gret hunger, and here gong. |
| c 1205 Lay. 14534 Þus heo comen..hæðene *here-gumen. |
| Ibid. 28284 Sixti þusende *here-kempen harde. |
| Ibid. 27469 Feollen *here-mærken [c 1275 hire markes]. Ibid. 28546 Heo..heuen here-marken. |
| Ibid. 5069 Leie a-dun þin *hære-scrud. |
| Beowulf (Z.) 1897 Sæ-ᵹeap naca hladen *here-wædum. a 1400–50 Alexander 1010 Al to heuy to be hildid in any here wedis. |
| 1626 Spelman Gloss., Herefare, profectio militaris. 1670 Blount Law Dict., Herefare. 1672 Cowell's Interpr. s.v. Subsidy, Burgbote, Brigbote, Herefare, Heregeld, etc. |
▪ II. † here, a. Obs. [OE. héore, h{yacu}re: cf. ON. hyrr sweet, smiling, mild; also OS. and OHG. unhiuri dreadful, MHG. gehiure gentle.] Gentle, mild, pleasant.
| Beowulf (Z.) 1372 Nis þæt heoru stow. a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. (Gr.) 1467 Oð þæt heo [culufre] rumgal restestowe fæᵹere funde and þa fotum stop on beam hyre. c 1205 Lay. 25867 Þa sæide þat wif here [c 1275 ore]. c 1420 Sir Amadas (Weber) 16 And how they were guode & here. |
▪ III. here, adv. (
hɪə(r))
Forms: 1
hér, 2–5
her, 4–7
heer(e, 2–
here; also (1
hǽr, 2
heren,
hur), 3–5
hier, 4
hir(e,
Kent.
hyer, 4–6
Sc. heyr, 4–7
Sc. heir(e, 5
hiere, 6–7
hear(e.
[Com. Teut.: OE. hér = OFris. hîr, OS. hêr, hîr (MDu., Du. hier), OHG. hiar, hear, hier (MHG., mod.G. hier), ON. hêr (Sw. här, Da. her), Goth. hêr: app. from the pronominal stem hi- ‘this’ (see he); the nature of the formation is obscure.] A. adv. 1. a. In this place; in the place (country, region, etc.) where the person speaking is, or places himself.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter cxxxi[i.] 14 Her eardung..icᵹeceas hie. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xiv. 17 Nabbas we her buta fif hlafum. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxviii. 6 Nys he her, he aras..swa swa he sæde [1382 Wyclif, He is not here, sothli he roos, as he seide]. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 83 Here he is and honen he nis. a 1225 Ancr. R. 236 Ertu, cweð he, ȝet her? a 1300 Cursor M. 3296 Mi hernes dun heir did i lai. 1382 Wyclif 1 Kings xix. 9 What dost thow here, Helyas? c 1386 Chaucer Friar's T. 272 Heere wynne I no thyng vp-on cariage. c 1470 Henry Wallace i. 305 Thi modyr and thow rycht heir with me sall bide. 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 6, I here hier that reygnart is sore complayned on. 1581 G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 1 b, Let him be heere for the space of sixe daies. 1617 Moryson Itin. ii. 186 We here in the Campe..have not had much to doe. 1662 Chas. II in Julia Cartwright Henrietta of Orleans (1894) 121, I am doing all I can to gett him a rich wife heere. 1670 Lady M. Bertie in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 22 All heare are well. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 289 That load which pressed most heavily on..the great continental states was here scarcely felt. |
b. With ellipsis of
I am (or
we are), in answer to a call or summons, or to attract attention;
esp. in answer to a roll-call:
= Present,
adsum.
| c 970 Abbo Hist. S. Eadmundi in Surius Vitæ SS. (1618) IV. 443 Patria lingua dicens: Her, her, her; quod interpretatum Latinus sermo exprimit, Hîc, hîc, hîc. c 1000 ælfric Saints' Lives (E.E.T.S.) II. 324 Hwær eart þu nu ᵹefera? And him and-wyrde þæt heafod, Hêr, hêr, hêr. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 22 Up and doune in þe felde þei souht it aboute..Tille þe hede him self said, here, here, here. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) iii. 726 Here, lord, here! qwat wol ȝe? 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. i. ii. 45 Quin. Francis Flute the Bellowes-mender. Flu. Heere, Peter Quince. 1610 ― Temp. i. i. 2 Master. Bote-swaine. Botes. Heere, Master. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxxiv, ‘Answer to your names, gentlemen, that you may be sworn’, said the gentleman in black. ‘Richard Upwitch’. ‘Here’, said the green-grocer. |
c. Placed after the name of a person or thing to whose presence attention is called:
= Who or which is here, whom you see here.
| 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iii. iv. 29 Onely attended by Nerrissa heere. 1634 [see d]. 1673 Dryden Amboyna ii. i, In the mean time, bear my worthy friend here company. 1751 tr. Female Foundling II. 4 My Daughter here wants Linen. Mod. ‘My brother, here, is ready to give information.’ |
d. Used for the sake of emphasis after a
n. qualified by
this,
these, or after these demonstratives themselves when used absolutely;
dialectally or
vulgarly appended to
this,
these, when used adjectively. (
Cf. F.
ce livre-ci,
ceci,
celui-ci.)
| c 1460 Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 137 The best wyse that we may hast vs outt of this here. 1556 Aurelio & Isab. (1608) H viij, Now what experience will we have greter than this heare? 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. xxii. xv. 213 note, But this here seemeth to be venomous. 1634 Milton Comus 672 And first behold this cordial julep here. 1762 Foote Orators ii. Wks. 1799 I. 210, I should be glad to know how my client can be tried in this here manner. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xx, Are you, cried he, the bearer of this here letter? 1778 F. Burney Evelina (1791) II. xxxvii. 243, I wou'dn't wish for better sport than to swing her round this here pond! 1838 Dickens O. Twist xxxi, ‘Now, with regard to this here robbery, master’, said Blathers. ‘What are the circumstances?’ 1872 Punch 31 Aug. 92/2 ‘It is no use a trying on these here games with us’. |
e. here today and gone tomorrow: a catch-phrase indicating a constant change of events or someone (or something) remaining in a place for a short time.
| 1687 A. Behn Luckey Chance iv. 47 Faith Sir, we are here to Day and gone to Morrow. 1776 H. Newdigate Let. in A. E. Newdigate-Newdegate Cheverels (1898) i. 10 Going over for a day to Arbury to beat for Wood Cocks..as they are birds of passage, here today and gone tomorrow. 1895 Kipling Day's Work (1898) 172 Here today and gone tomorrow. Didn't come to stay for ever. 1944 W. S. Maugham Razor's Edge iv. iv. 132 Even in the old days you could never count on his being where you expected him to be. He was here today and gone tomorrow. 1972 Listener 23 Nov. 690/2 We [sc. the TUC] put forward proposals for a general rise in pensions—not a ‘Christmas Box’ that is here today and gone tomorrow. |
2. a. In weakened sense, more or less directly indicating something present to the sight or the mind. Chiefly with verb
to be (sometimes with ellipsis).
Here is calls attention to what the speaker has, brings, offers, or discovers;
= there is here, see or behold here. (F.
voici.)
| c 1460 Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 66 And therto here my hand. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, v. iii. 33 There's Honour for you: here's no vanity. 1603 ― Meas. for M. i. ii. 107 Heere's a change indeed in the Commonwealth. 1616 Marlowe's Faustus Wks. (Rtldg.) 126/2 What's here? an ambush to betray my life! 1632 Massinger City Madam i. i, Here's no gross flattery! Will she swallow this? 1741 Richardson Pamela I. 136 O frightful, thought I; here's an avowal of the matter at once. 1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 65 Here is half the summer past, and still I'm at the chimney nook. 1889 Mrs. Alexander Crooked Path vi, I says, ‘here's your tea, sir’, but he made no answer. |
b. here's to (elliptical for
here's a health to),
here's hoping,
here's how,
here's looking (at you),
here's luck, formulas used in drinking healths.
| 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. v. iii. 119 Heere's to my Loue. 1653 Walton Angler xi. 209 Well then, here's to you Coridon; and now for my Song. 1738 Swift Polite Convers. 143 Come, Madam; here's a Health to our Friends, and hang the rest of our Kin. 1777 Sheridan Sch. Scand. iii. (Song), Here's to the maiden of blushing fifteen, Now to the widow of fifty..Let the toast pass, drink to the lass. 1822 Scott Pirate xiv, Drink about, Master Yellowley..Here's to you, Master Yellowley. 1888 Kipling Soldiers Three (1889) 51 He opened a bottle... ‘Here's luck!’ 1896, etc. [see how adv. 18]. 1910 W. M. Raine B. O'Connor iii. 40 ‘Here's hoping,’ Bucky nodded gaily. ‘I bet there will be a right lively wolf hunt.’ 1933 M. Lowry Ultramarine 164 Here's looking at you! 1938 E. Hemingway Fifth Column (1939) 184 Here's looking at you... Here's how. 1973 E. Lemarchand Let or Hindrance xii. 142 Pollard..raised his glass to her. ‘Here's hoping.’ |
3. Of a point or period of time:
to be here, to be present, to have arrived.
| 1891 E. Peacock N. Brendon I. 13 The Easter recess will be here in a day or two. |
4. In this world; in this life; on earth. Also
here below (
† here beneath,
here down).
Cf. F.
ici bas.
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 35 Þa hwile þe we lifᵹaþ her on worlde. c 1000 Eccles. Inst. in Thorpe Anc. Laws II. 394 Her ᵹehyrð Drihten þa þe hine biddað. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 9 Þet me her on þisse liue for his saule bidde. a 1225 Ancr. R. 94. 1340 Ayenb. 232 Holy cherche þet is hier beneþe. 1382 Wyclif Heb. xiii. 14 Sothli we han not here a citee dwellinge [Tindale For here have we no continuynge citie]. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. vii. 238 Thow wolt hongy heye þer-fore her oþer in helle. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lx. 7 Wnto wardlie prince heir downe. 1576 J. Sandford Gard. Pleas. 138 Among us heere beneth. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 232 Both heere, and hence, pursue me lasting strife. 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 81 Experience teacheth us, that the influence of..planets are true..here below, which none can denie. 1766 Goldsm. Hermit viii, Man wants but little here below, Nor wants that little long. 1824 Montgomery Hymn, ‘Friend after friend departs’, There is no union here of hearts, That finds not here an end. |
5. a. At this point or period in action, speech, or thought; at this juncture; in this passage (of something written):
freq. referring to what immediately precedes or follows.
| 871–89 Charter of ælfred in O.E. Texts 452 Her sindon ðæra manna naman awritene ðe ðeosse wisan ᵹeweoton sindon. a 900 O.E. Chron. (Parker MS.) an. 871 Her cuom se here to Readingum. c 1200 Ormin 241 Her endenn twa Goddspelless þuss. a 1300 Cursor M. 1627 heading, Her bigins at noe þe lele Þe toþer werld right for to del. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 52 An oþer poynt is her putt. 1551 T. Wilson Logike (1580) 79 b, Here Zenophon saied never a woorde. 1644 Milton Areop. (Arb.) 33 Examples, which to set heer would be superfluous. 1662 Bk. Com. Prayer, Morn. Pr. Rubric, In Quires and Places where they sing, here followeth the Anthem. 1793 Beddoes Calculus, etc. 212 Here are some experiments and reasons, upon which their theory of respiration is founded. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 296 Here Adeimantus interposed a question. |
b. here's where.., this is the point at which.
U.S. colloq.| 1923 R. D. Paine Comr. Rolling Ocean xii. 203 ‘It makes me feel sick at my stomach’, declared Briscoe. ‘Here's where you feel sicker. Great Scott, look at that.’ Ibid. xiv. 250 Here's where I slip it out to the old gink. |
6. In the matter before us or in question; in this case; in this particular.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 81 Her me ah to understonden for-whi hit seið alf quic and noht alf ded. c 1386 Chaucer Merch. T. 86 Heere may ye se and heer-by may ye preue That wyf is mannes helpe and his confort. 1586 Young Guazzo's Civ. Conv. iv. 205 b, And here Ladie Caterine and Cavallero had the honour. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iii. 41 Here I hit it right. Our Romeo hath not beene in bed to night. 1614 Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 1099 Here was his sin; An over⁓reaching of his commission. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 76 ¶4 Here can then be no Injustice, where no one is injured. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) V. 575 Certainly there is as much reason to adjudge the heir in by descent here, as there is to adjudge an heir in by descent where a recovery was had against the ancestor. 1878 Morley Crit. Misc. Ser. i. Carlyle 199 Here more than anywhere else you need to give the tools to him who can handle them. |
7. a. With verbs of coming and bringing: To or towards this place; now, in ordinary use, taking the place of
hither.
look here: see
look.
| Beowulf (Z.) 376 Is his eaforan nu heard her cumen. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 5 He is iblesced þe þe her cumet on drihtenes nome. c 1305 St. Swithin 9 in E.E.P. (1862) 43 Siþþe hit was þat seint berin her bi weste wende. 1508 Dunbar Flyting w. Kennedie 218 Heir cumis our awin queir Clerk! 1583 Hollyband Campo di Fior 127 See them, Looke here, Here they be. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. v. i. 384 Returne him here againe. 1770 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 96, I still had hopes..Here to return—and die at home at last. 1814 Byron Corsair i. xvii, Call Pedro here! 1824 L. Murray Eng. Gram. (ed. 5) I. 292 The adverbs here, there, where, are often improperly applied to verbs signifying motion, instead of the adverbs hither, thither, whither: as ‘He came here hastily’..should be, ‘He came hither’. Mod. Bring them here at once. |
b. Hence, by extension, after
belong = to this place.
colloq.| Mod. I'm a stranger, I don't belong here. |
8. Used elliptically in calling an attendant, etc. (
Cf. Goth. hiri! come here!) Hence, to call attention to or introduce a command:
= Gr. ἄγε, L.
age, F.
tiens,
tenez.
| [1576 J. Sandford Gard. Pleas. 52 She reaching him foorth to him, added moreover. Holde heere, for I will give him to thee.] 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 18 Here, take these hundred crownes. 1738 Swift Polite Convers. 211 Here, take away the Tea-table, and bring up Candles. 1873 Black Pr. Thule xi, Here, come out to the fresh air. Mod. John! here! quick. |
9. here and there.
a. In this place and in that; in various places; in some scattered places; at intervals of space: sometimes
= now and then. Also, in same sense, with notion of constant or very frequent recurrence,
every († ever) here and there. (So, formerly,
† here and yonder.)
| a 1300 Cursor M. 13981 Iesus preched hir and þar. c 1350 Will. Palerne 3821 But William as a wod man was euer here & þere. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) ix. 112 A lyttille Village, and Houses a brood here and there. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy iii. xxvii, He shulde on peces hewen be a sonder Upon the playne dismembred here & yonder. 1513 More Rich. III (1883) 43 Yet began there, here and there about, some maner of muttering amonge the people. 1535 Coverdale 1 Pet. i. 1 Peter an Apostle of Iesu Christ, to them that dwell here and there as straungers thorow out Pontus, Galacia, Capadocia. 1587 R. Hovenden in Collect. (O.H.S.) I. 217 They be dispersed here and there in hedgerowis. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. i. 97 Young Fortinbras..Hath in the skirts of Norway, heere and there, Shark'd vp a List of Landlesse Resolutes. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 50 ¶6 Able to understand but here and there a Word of what they said. 1845 Lond. Jrnl. I. 189 Every here and there are seen dark pits and vaulted caverns. 1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 326 A good picture may here and there be found in our churches. 1879 F. Hall in Nation (N.Y.) XXIX. 391/2 Her style is a curious medley, every here and there, of the ambitious and the slovenly. |
b. To this place and to that: hither and thither; in various directions; to and fro.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 378 Þe kyng hem sende her and þer aboute in Engelond. 1340 Ayenb. 66 Ase þe wyȝte þet ualþ ine hot weter, þet kest hyer and þer. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxxii. 20 In yre thai hurlit him heir and thair. 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd 1357 Th' Ape..Fled here and there, and euerie corner sought. 1646 F. Hawkins Youth's Behav. (1663) 24 Be attentive, turning not thine eyes here and there. 1879 F. T. Pollok Sport Brit. Burmah I. 78 The brute..was caught, and taken here and there for sale. |
† c. This way and that way; with shifts or evasions.
Obs. Also
attrib. ? Shifting, evasive.
| c 1300 Beket 42 Tho Gilbert ihurde this; he stod in grete thoȝt, And feignede his word her and ther, and ne grantede noȝt. 1711 ‘J. Distaff’ Char. Don Sacheverellio 11 Thou canting, whining, here and there Villain. |
d. Hence
here-and-thereian (
humorous nonce-wd.), one who moves about from place to place.
| 1701 Cibber Love makes Man iv. iv, I am a kind of a—what d'ye call 'um—a Sort of a Here-and-thereian; I am Stranger no where. |
10. here{ddd}there. In one place{ddd}in another place;
= L.
hic{ddd}illic, alibi{ddd}alibi.
| c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxii. 101 Þai er few, here a hare and þare a hare. 1535 Coverdale 1 Kings xviii. 4, I hyd an hundreth of the Lordes prophetes, here fiftye, and there fiftye in the caues. 1579 E. K. in Spenser's Sheph. Cal. Ep. Ded. §1 Borrowing here of the french, there of the Italian, euery where of the Latine. 1658 W. Sanderson Graphice 12 Here, barrells flote, there packs, not yet through-wet. |
11. here, there, and everywhere. In every place, indicated or not indicated. (Also formerly
here and everywhere;
here, there, all where.)
| c 1590 Marlowe Faust. iv. 67 That I may be here and there and everywhere. 1604 Shakes. Oth. i. i. 138 An extrauagant, and wheeling Sranger, Of here, and euery where. 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. v. v. 26. 1632 Lithgow Trav. 327 Like yong maides, and youths together, Run here and there, alwhere, and none know whether. 1790 J. B. Moreton Mann. W. Ind. 97 [He] must go round the corn field and cane pieces..he must be here and there and everywhere. 1879 F. T. Pollok Sport Brit. Burmah I. 16 We were soon scattered here, there, and everywhere. |
12. neither here nor there. Of no account either one way or the other; of no matter or consequence; unimportant.
| 1583 Golding Calvin on Deut. xcii. 570 True it is that our so dooing is neither here nor there (as they say) in respect of God. 1604 Shakes. Oth. iv. iii. 59 'Tis neyther heere, nor there. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones ix. vi, But if he does, that is neither here nor there. 1819 Byron Juan i. li, But what I say is neither here nor there. 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. xiv, You'll find him a little too much for your gravity. However, that's neither here nor there. |
13. a. here goes! An exclamation declaring one's resolution or resignation to perform some act, usually of a bold or rash character.
colloq.| 1829 J. H. Newman Corr. (1891) I. 209, I do not expect to finish this by post-time; but here goes. 1862 Thackeray Wks. (1872) X. 218 Since it must be done, here goes! 1889 Browning Asolando, Ponte dell' Angelo xxi, Spare speech! I'm resigned: Here goes! roared the goblin. |
b. here we go again: we are off on the same undesirable course, project, etc., as before. Also used as
attrib. phr.| 1954 R. P. Bissell High Water (1955) xix. 161 ‘Time to get up, Mister Duke.’ ‘Oh, hell,’ I thought. ‘Here we go again.’ 1958 B. Malamud Magic Barrel (1960) 72 ‘Ah, there I can't help you,’ said the portiere. ‘I haven't got the key.’ ‘Here we go again,’ Carl muttered. 1962 J. Baldwin Another Country (1963) ii. iii. 270 ‘Oh, shit,’ he said, ‘here we go again.’ 1969 Listener 12 June 836/1 One of William Glock's most difficult tasks in planning each year's series of Promenade Concerts is to write that desperate here-we-go-again introduction to the prospectus. |
14. here we (you) are. Here is what we (you) want.
colloq.| 1850 Smedley F. Fairleigh vi, Hum! ha! now let's see, here we are—the ‘G-i-a-o-u-r’—that's a nice word to talk about. |
15. Here was formerly often placed before
vbl. ns. and nouns of action. This is now rare.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 125 Þe erueðliche herbiwist and þe wunderliche heðen sið of ure louerd. Ibid. 185 Hure her wunenge is swiðe reulich. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiv. 141 It semeth nouȝ t þat ȝe shulle Haue heuene in ȝowre here beyng and heuene her after. 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 60 To continue my here-being to some profitable purpose. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iv. iii. 148 Which often since my heere remaine in England, I haue seene him do. |
16. here- in combination with adverbs and prepositions.
[These originated, as in the other Teutonic langs., in the juxtaposition of
here and another
adv. qualifying the same verb. Thus, in
herebefore, 1st
quot. hǽr beforan = here (in this document), before (
i.e. at an earlier place).
Cf. hereinbefore,
hereinafter, in which
herein is similarly used. But as many
advs. were identical in form with prepositions, and there was little or no practical difference between ‘here, at an earlier place’ and ‘before or at an earlier place than this’, the
adv. came to be felt as a
prep. governing
here (
= this place); and, on the analogy of this, new combinations were freely formed of
here (
there,
where) with prepositions which had never been adverbs, as
herefor,
hereto,
hereon,
herewith.]
a. with adverbs: as
here-above,
here-beneath,
here-within,
here-without;
hereforth, forward in this direction or this way;
here-next, next to this, immediately after this. Also
hereaway,
hereunder, etc.
b. with prepositions
= this, this place, this matter, etc.: as
hereabove,
here-among,
here-beside,
hereinto,
here-within,
here-without;
† hereafore = herebefore;
† herintil (
Sc.), herein;
† hermid, herewith;
† hereover, in addition to this;
† hertoȝeines, against this, on the other hand. Also
hereabout,
herewith, etc., etc.
| 871–89 Charter of ælfred in O.E. Texts 452 Þas ᵹewriotu Þe *herbeufan awreotene stondað. 1646 F. Hawkins Youth's Behav. (1663) 32 As hath been said here above. 1892 C. E. Norton Dante's Par. xxviii. 185 He who saw it hereabove disclosed it to him. |
| 1824 Southey Bk. of Ch. (1841) 224, I have told you *hereafore. |
| 1640 E. Dacres tr. Machiavel's Prince 180 To the end hee might be able *here-among to undertake greater matters. |
| c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 320 *Her bisyde es a well. 1530 Palsgr. 819/1 Here bysyde, icy pres. |
| c 1305 St. Christopher 94 in E.E.P. (1862) 62 Þat child him bad par charite þat he him ouer bere; Ȝe com *herforþ, quaþ Cristofre, y nuste wher þu were. c 1386 Chaucer Wife's T. 144 Heer forth ne lith no wey. |
| 1489 Sc. Acts Jas. IV, c. 14 Officiaris þat beis necligent *herintill. c 1575 Balfour's Practicks (1754) 40 The Schiref..is on na wayis Judge competent heirintill. |
| 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. i. §3 Our first entrance *hereinto. 1602 Carew Cornwall (1811) 188 A near friend..looked hereinto with an indifferent and unprejudicating eye. |
| c 1205 Lay. 5355 *Her mid we sculled heom bicharren. |
| a 1300 Cursor M. 141 (Gött.) *Here neist sal be siþen teld Hu Joseph was bath boght and seld. Ibid. 26138 (Cott.), I salle þe tel here nest to quam þou sal be shriue. |
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. ii. ii. (1495) 27 *Here ouer angels kinde passyth a bodily kynde in subtilte of his essencia. |
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 268 He eft seið riht *her to ȝeines—ne let tu..þine meiden no gult to ȝiues. |
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 115 Ȝie maisterlinges *her⁓wið-innen openeð ȝiure gaten. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon clv. 593 We haue..chaumbers garnysshed and ordeyned as ye haue sene herewith-in. |
| 1530 Palsgr. 819/1 *Here without, icy dehors. |
B. as
n. = This place; also, the present; the present life. Freq. in
phr. here and now; also as
advb. phr.; so
here-and-nowness. Also
here and there n. phr.| 1605 Shakes. Lear i. i. 264 Thou loosest here a better where to finde. 1816 M. E. Bicknell Let. 26 Sept. in J. Constable Corr. (1964) II. 210, I know of no other plan but of my leaving here early on Monday. 1829 Carlyle Misc. (1857) II. 76 With Him it is a universal Here and Now. 1838 Dickens O. Twist II. xxxiv. 269, I—I—ought to have left here before. 1839 ― Let. c 24 July (1965) I. 567, I dine in town tomorrow and shall leave for here at 10 at night. 1855 Longfellow Hiaw. Introd. 113 Full of all the tender pathos Of the Here and the Hereafter. 1857–8 Sears Athan. 19 [Motion] requires a here and a there. 1857 ― Dorrit ii. xxxiv, You would rather not leave here till to-morrow morning. 1874 Geo. Eliot in Macm. Mag. XXXVIII. July 177 Widening his consciousness from Here and Now to larger wholes. 1887 Rider Haggard A. Quatermain xvi. 188 Here and now for thy dear sake I will forget my people and my father's house. 1922 W. S. Maugham On Chinese Screen xliii. 172 Your thoughts travel through time and space, far from the Here and Now. 1933 P. Godfrey Back-Stage xiv. 176 Its romantic appeal is an escape from here and now into an artificial world of somewhere else or some time past. a 1943 R. G. Collingwood Idea of Hist. (1946) 248 The detail of the here-and-now as given him in perception. 1957 C. Day Lewis Pegasus 56 The truant here-and-there of the Stour. 1959 Listener 26 Feb. 385/1 Whether Condorcet or Huxley is right is an undecidable question for us here and now. 1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 11 Sept. 522/3 All combine to form a subtle escape-route from the unwelcome here-and-now of the twentieth century. 1961 I. Murdoch Severed Head x. 85 She was all gentleness and filled with so genuine a concern to save me here and now from distress and anxiety. 1962 Listener 26 Apr. 717/2 Here and now Russia, while she does not want a war with us, is nevertheless our antagonist. 1963 Times 27 Feb. 13/1 They came, it seems, to a realization of the here-and-nowness of life. 1971 New Scientist 27 Apr. 263/1 Cocking's group have their minds firmly concentrated on the here-and-now. |
▪ IV. here obs. f. hair,
hear,
ear;
var. haire,
her n.,
her pron. pers. and poss.