thousandfold, a., adv., and n.
(ˈθaʊzəndfəʊld)
[OE. þ{uacu}sendfeald: see thousand and -fold.]
A. adj. One thousand times as much or many; consisting of a thousand parts; a thousand times repeated or multiplied.
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 576 Salomon..ᵹeoffrode him..þusendfealde onsæᵹednyssa æt anre offrunge. a 1023 Wulfstan Hom. xlvii. (Napier) 243 Ðæt þusendfeald ᵹetæl is fulfremed. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 191 Mid þusendfeld wrenches he þe herte to-wendeð. 1840 Carlyle Heroes i, How such light will then shine out, and with wondrous thousandfold expansion spread itself. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-Bks. (1872) I. 45 This bustle and babble; this thousand-fold talk. |
B. adv. A thousand times (in amount); a thousand times as much. (Usually a thousandfold.)
| a 1225 Leg. Kath. 2323 Þæt þing..schal arisen, þurh þæt fal, a þusentfalt te fehere..to lif undeðlich. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus i. 819 A guerdoun..A þowsand folde more þan he kan deserue. ? a 1500 Chester Pl. i. 144 Brighter then god a thowsand fould. 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 86 Thou hast..heaped mischiefe a thousandfold to thy selfe. 1681–6 J. Scott Chr. Life ii. i. §3 Our sincere Compliance with the immutable Obligations of Piety and Vertue, is a Thousandfold more acceptable to God, than [etc.]. 1872 Morley Voltaire i. (1886) 10 The sacrifice may repay itself a thousand-fold. |
† b. A thousand times (in succession). rare—1.
| 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xlix. 37 War the fox tane a thousand fawd, And grace him gevin als oft for frawd. |
C. n. A thousand times the amount or number.
| a 1711 Ken Sion Poet. Wks 1721 IV. 370 The Son ador'd and nurs'd by the sweet Maid, A thousand-fold of Love for Love repaid. |
Hence ˈthousandˌfoldly adv. = B. rare—1.
| 1829 Coleridge Improvisatore Poems II. 130 In the person of a thousand-foldly endeared partner. |