▪ I. day, n.
(deɪ)
Forms: 1 dæȝ, 2 deȝ, deiȝ, daiȝ, 2–3 dæi, dei, daȝ, 3 (Orm.) daȝȝ, 3–5 dai, 3– day, (5–6 daie, daye, 6 Sc. da). pl. 3– days (3–5 dawes; dat. pl. 2–6 dawen, dawe; daw, dau; see below).
[A Com. Teut. n.: OE. dæᵹ (dæᵹes, pl. daᵹas, -a, -um) = OFris. dei, dey, di, OS. dag (MDu. dach (gh), Du. dag, MLG., LG. dag), OHG., MHG. tac(g), G. tag, ON. dag-r (Sw., Da. dag), Goth. dag-s:—OTeut. *dago-z. In no way related to L. dies; usually referred to an Aryan vb. dhagh-, in Skr. dah to burn: cf. Lith. dagas hot season, OPruss. dagis summer. From the WGer. dag, OE. had regularly in the sing. dæᵹ, dæᵹes, dæᵹe; in the plural daᵹas, daᵹa (later -ena), daᵹum. This phonetic exchange æ:a survived in early ME., so that while in the sing. the final ȝ was regularly palatal (see forms above; gen. dæiȝes, dæies, deies, daies, dayes, dat. dæiȝe, daie, etc.), the pl. was (from daᵹas), daȝes, dahes, daȝhes, dawes, genit. (:—daᵹa, -ena) daᵹa, dawene, dahene, daȝen, dat. (:—daᵹum) daȝon, -en, daghen, dawen, dawe, daw, dau. The last survived longest in the phrase of dawe ‘from (life) days’ (see 17 and adawe), and in in his dawe, etc. (see 13 a β). But soon after 1200 plurals phonetically assimilated to the sing. (dæȝes, daiȝes, daies) occur, and at length superseded the earlier forms.]
A. Illustration of early forms. (α) pl., nom. and acc.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxviii. 20 Ic beo mid eow ealle daᵹas. c 1160 Hatton G. ibid., Ich beo mid eow ealle daȝes. c 1200 Ormin 4356 Seffne daȝhess. c 1205 Lay. 8796 Fif dæiȝes [c 1275 dawes]. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1844 Al þe tweolf dahes. a 1225 Ancr. R. 70 Þreo dawes. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 383 Þre dawes & nan mo. 1399 Pol. Poems (Rolls) I. 377 As it is said by elderne dawis. c 1430 Lydg. Bochas vi. i. (1554) 144 a, In thy last dawes. |
(
β)
pl. gen.| c 1000 Ags. Ps. ci. 21 On midle minre daᵹena. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. iv. 2 He fæste feowurtiᵹ daᵹa [Lindisf. feuortiᵹ daᵹa, Hatton G. feortiȝ dæȝes]. c 1175 Lamb Hom. 87 Fram þam ester tid fifti daȝa. c 1205 Lay. 3615 Þe forð wuren agan feuwerti daȝene [c 1275 daiȝes]. Ibid. 4605 Vnder fif dawene [c 1275 daiȝene] ȝeong heo comen to þisse londe. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 2502 Twenti dahene ȝong. |
(
γ)
pl. dat.: see also 13 a β.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxvi. 61 æfter þrym daᵹum [xxvii. 63 daᵹon]. c 1160 Hatton G. ibid., æfter þrem daȝen. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 89 On moyses daȝen. c 1205 Lay. 5961 Bi heore ældre dæwen [c 1275 dawes]. c 1300 K. Alis. 5631 In twenty dawen. c 1300 St. Margarete 3 Bi olde dawe Patriarch he was wel heȝ. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 2480 Etenes bi old dayn Had wrouȝt it. c 1430 Freemasonry 394 After the lawe That was y-fownded by olde dawe. |
(
δ) In some places
daȝen,
dawen, may be
nom. or
acc. plural.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 119 Ic seolf beo mid eow alle daȝen [OE. ealle daᵹas]. |
(
ε) The genitive
sing. OE. dæᵹes, early
ME. daies, etc., was formerly used adverbially, by day, on the day (
Ger. des Tags): see 1 b; it survived in
ME. bi daies,
a daies, a-days,
mod. now-a-days.
B. Signification.
I. The time of sunlight.
1. a. ‘The time between the rising and setting of the sun’ (J.); the interval of light between successive periods of darkness or
night; in ordinary usage including the lighter part of morning and evening twilight, but, when strictly used, limited to the time when the sun is above the horizon, as in ‘at the equinox day and night are equal’.
break of day: dawn: see
break,
daybreak.
This is the
artificial day of astronomers: see
artificial. It is sometimes called the
natural day (
Ger. natürlicher tag), which however usually means sense 6.
| c 1000 ælfric Gen. i. 5 God..het þæt leoht dæᵹ & þa þeostra niht. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 258 Þu ȝifst þe sunne to þe daiȝ, þe mone to þe nichte. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 97/173 In þat prison þat Maide lai twelf dawes and twelf niȝt. c 1340 Cursor M. 390 (Trin.) To parte þe day fro þe nyȝt. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 41 Ofte tymes in þe dai & in þe nyȝt. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cxxviii. 155 It was then nyne of the day. 1580 Baret Alv. B 1200 The Breake of the daie. 1592 Davies Immort. Soul vi. (1742) 15 O Light, which mak'st the Light which makes the Day. 1635 N. Carpenter Geog. Del. i. v. 106 The longest day is equall to the longest night. 1770 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 15 How often have I bless'd the coming day. 1807 Robinson Archæol. Græca iii. xxv. 331 The more ancient Greeks distinguished the natural day—that is, the time from the rising to the setting of the sun—into three parts. 1840 Penny Cycl. XVI. 326/1 At North Cape..the longest day lasts from the 15th of May to the 29th of July, which is two months and a fortnight. |
b. Const. The notion of time
how long is expressed by the uninflected word (
repr. an original
accus. or dative), as in
day and night,
all (the) day, this day, and the like; the notion of time
when (without respect to duration) was expressed in
OE. by
on dæᵹ, early
ME. on,
uppon dai,
o day,
a-day; also by the genitive
dæᵹes,
esp. in the collocation
dæᵹes and nihtes, and in
far days,
far forth days,
= ‘far on in the day’, still used in 17th c. (see
far adv. 3 c); about 1200 we find
bi daȝes, and soon after
bi daie by day. See
by prep. 19 b.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Mark v. 5 Symle dæᵹes & nihtes he wæes on byrᵹenum. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 87 Swiche hertes fondeð þe fule gost deies and nihtes. c 1200 Ormin 11332 Heold Crist hiss fasste..Bi daȝhess & bi nahhtess. a 1250 Owl & Night. 241 Bi daie þu art stare-blind. c 1250 Hymn to Virgin 257 Min hope is in þe daȝ & nicht. a 1300 Cursor M. 15159 (Cott.) Ilk night of oliuete To þe mont he yode..And euer on dai þe folk he gaf O godds word þe fode. 1386 Rolls of Parlt. III. 225/1 [He] made dyverse enarmynges bi day and eke bi nyght. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 34, I heeld þe wounde open aldai. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 45 She happed to abide so longe on a sonday that it was fer dayes. 1513 More in Grafton Chron. II. 778 The pageauntes were a making day and night at Westminster. a 1563 Bale Sel. Wks. (Parker Soc.) 120 It is far days and ye have far to ride to night. 1600 Holland Livy xlv. xxxvi. 1225 It was so far forth dayes as being the eighth houre therof. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 318 Untir'd at Night, and chearful all the Day. 1835 Thirlwall Greece I. 219 He might prosecute his voyage as well as by day. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. (1880) I. iii. 184 The bags were carried..day and night at the rate of about five miles an hour. |
2. In
before day, at day = daybreak, dawn.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 6106 (Gött.) Þat þai Sould vte of hous cum bi-for day. c 1420 Avow. Arth. ix, To ride this forest or daye. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 39 A little before day. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. ii. 48 They got up in the morning before day. 1793 Nelson in Nicolas Disp. I. 309 This morning at day we fell in with a Spanish..Ship. |
3. a. Daylight, the light of day.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 8676 (Fairf.), I hit knew quen hit was day. 1382 Wyclif Rom. xiii. 13 As in day wandre we honestly. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon ix. 223 Whan Reynawde sawe the day, he rose vp. 1580 North Plutarch (1676) 355 Such as could see day at a little hole. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 276 In his Conversion of the darkest Night to bright Day. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 142 ¶1 She had now found out, that it was Day before Nine in the Morning. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. x. 218 It was broad day. 1883 Stevenson Treasure Isl. iii. xiii. (1886) 107 It was as plain as day. |
b. fig. A light like that of day; ‘daylight’ in a difficult question.
| 1667 Marvell Corr. lxxx. Wks. 1872–5 II. 225, I can not yet see day in the businesse, betwixt the two Houses. 1702 Rowe Tamerl. v. i. 2191 They cast a Day around 'em. |
† 4. One of the perpendicular divisions or ‘lights’ of a mullioned window. [F.
jour,
med.L.
dies.]
| [1409 Will of Ware (Somerset Ho.), Lego vna fenestra trium dierum.] 1447 Will Hen. VI (Hare's MSS. Caius Coll.), In the east ende of the s{supd} Quier shalbe sat a great gable window of vij daies. 1484 Will of Chocke (Somerset Ho.), A wyndow..of iij dayes. a 1490 Botoner Itin. (Nasmith 1778) 296 Et quælibet fenestra..continet tres dayes vitreatas. 1838 J. Britton Dict. Archit. 40 A part of a window between the mullions is often called a bay, or day. 1859 Archit. Publ. Soc. Dict., Day, the mediæval term for each perpendicular division or light (Fr. jour) of a mullioned window. |
5. Mining. The surface of the ground over a mine. Hence
day-coal,
day-drift,
day-hole (see also 24).
| 1665 Phil. Trans. I. 80 By letting down Shafts from the day (as Miners speak). 1676 Hodgson ibid. XI. 762 According as the Day-coal heightens or deepens. 1708 J. C. Compl. Collier (1845) 32 Draw your Coals to Bank (or Day) out of the Pit. 1747 Hooson Miner's Dict. N iij b, The Ore that is found on the Tops of Veins, especially near to the Day. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Day, the surface of the ground over a mine. |
II. As a period, natural division, or unit of time.
6. a. The time occupied by the earth in one revolution on its axis, in which the same terrestrial meridian returns to the sun; the space of twenty-four hours, reckoned from a definite or given point. Const.
during,
in, formerly
on,
o,
a, retained in twice
a day, etc.: see
a prep.1 8, 8 b.
The
solar day (and, formerly, the
astronomical day) is reckoned from noon to noon; and, as the length of this time varies (within narrow limits) according to the time of the year, its mean or average length is the
mean solar day. (The astronomical day is now reckoned from midnight to midnight.) The
civil day in civilized countries generally is the period from midnight to midnight, similarly adjusted to its mean length. Ancient nations variously reckoned their day to begin at sunrise, at noon, or at sunset. The
sidereal day is the time between the successive meridional transits of a star, or specifically of the first point of Aries, and is about four minutes shorter than the solar day. (The term
natural day is sometimes used in this sense, sometimes in sense 1.)
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xv. 32 Ðrio dogor ᵹee ðerhuunas mec mið. c 1000 ælfric Gen. i. 5 Þa wæs ᵹeworþen æfen and morᵹen an dæᵹ. Ibid. ii. 3 God ᵹebletsode þone seofeðan dæᵹ and hine ᵹehalᵹade. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 87 Fram þan halie hester dei boð italde fifti daȝa to þisse deie. c 1205 Lay. 19216 Þreo dæies [c 1275 daȝes] wes þe king wuniende þere. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 144 Aftur fyftene dawes..To London he wende. 1382 Wyclif Acts ix. 9 He was thre daies not seynge. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. 1. 10 b, Symonides..desired to haue a daies respite graunted him to study vpon it. a 1631 Donne Poems (1650) 6 Hours, daies, months, which are the rags of time. 1822 Byron Werner i. i. 377 Twenty years Of age, if 't is a day. 1831 Brewster Newton (1855) I. xiii. 365 We may regard the length of the day as one of the most unchangeable elements in the system of the world. |
| c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 108 In the space of o day natureel, (This is to seyn, in foure and twenty houres). 1398 Trevisa Barth. de P.R. ix, xxi. (1495) 358 Some daye is artyfycyall and some naturell..a naturell daye conteynyth xxiiij houres. 1551 Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 244 The Naturall daye..is commonly accompted from Sonne risinge one daye, to Sonne rising the nexte daye. 1764 Maskelyne in Phil. Trans. LIV. 344 The interval between the transit of the first of Aries across the meridian one day, and its return to it the next day, is called a sidereal day..The interval between the transit of the sun across the meridian one day, and his transit the next day, is called an apparent solar day. 1812 Woodhouse Astron. xxii. 222 The interval between two successive noons is a natural day. 1834 Nat. Philos., Astron. i. 13/2 (Useful Knowl. Soc.) Although..the solar day is of variable length, we can..ascertain its mean or average length; and this quantity is called a mean solar day. Ibid. 14/2 The length of the sidereal day is found to be uniformly 23 hours, 56 minutes, or more accurately 23{suph} 56{supm} 4s ·092. |
† b. all days: always, for ever.
Obs.| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxviii. 20 Ic beo mid eow ealle daᵹas [Lindisf. allum daᵹum]. c 1160 Hatton G. ibid., Ich beo mid eow ealle daȝes. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. cii, For that time forth losten Britons the royame for al dayes. |
† c. A day's travel; a day's journey.
Obs.| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. x. 1 Sire Dowel dwelleþ..not a day hennes. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia 1. 4 A Towne called Pomeiock, and six dayes higher, their City Skicoak. |
d. of a day:
lit. lasting only a day, ephemeral; transitory, fleeting, fugitive.
| 1640 B. Jonson Under-Woods 234 A Lillie of a Day, Is fairer farre, in May, Although it fall, and die that night. 1746 Wesley Serm. (1769) I. Pref. p. vi, I am a Creature of a Day, passing thro' Life, as an Arrow thro' the Air. 1818 Keats Let. 3 May (1931) I. 153 My song should die away... Rich in the simple worship of a day. 1834 Rival Sisters 14 Man—the insect of a day. 1865 M. Arnold Ess. Crit. 1st Ser. Pref., Apparations of a day. |
e. A day noteworthy for its eventfulness, exertion, etc.
colloq.| 1926 Hemingway Fiesta (1927) vii. 65, I say. We have had a day... I must have been blind [sc. drunk]. 1963 ‘W. Haggard’ High Wire xii. 127, I expect you've had a day—I know I have. But there's one small thing still. |
7. a. The same space of time,
esp. the civil day, treated (without reference to its length) as a point or unit of time, on which anything happens, or which fixes a date. Const.
on,
upon (
ME. o,
a-:
cf. a prep.1 8,
a adj.2 4).
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xx. 19 And þam þryddan dæᵹe he arist. 1154 O.E. Chron. (Laud. MS.) an. 1135 Ð[at] oþer dei þa he lai an slep in scip. a 1400 Cursor M. 5108 (Cott.) For-giue it vs, lauerd, fra þis dau. Ibid. 19045 (Cott.) Petre and iohn a dai at none Went to þe kirc. Ibid. 19810 (Edin.) Apon a dai at tide of none. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 343 Sumtyme men..weren hool in þe same dai. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cxl. 167 Some day y⊇ one part lost, and some day the other. 1533–4 Act 25 Hen. VIII, c. 21 §25 Before the saide .xii. daie of Marche. 1600–12 Rowlands Four Knaves (Percy Soc.) 75 They say, The better the day the better the deede. 1704 Nelson Fest. & Fasts i. (1739) 16 The first Day of the Week called the Lord's Day. 1726 tr. Gregory's Astron. I. 262 You need only to know what Day of each Month the Sun enters a Sign of the Ecliptic, and compute one Degree for every Day from thence. 1799 F. Leighton Let. to J. Boucher 21 Sept. (MS.), Pray treat me with a letter on an early day as parliament folks say. 1865 Trollope Belton Est. x. 109 She would return home on the day but one after the funeral. |
b. Phrases.
one day: on a certain or particular day in the past; on some day in the future. So of future time,
some day; and of the present or proximate future,
one or some of these days.
one of those days: a day of misfortune.
| 1535 Coverdale 1 Sam. xxvii. 1 One of these dayes shal I fall into the handes of Saul. 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 66 His meaning is one of these daies to entreate your paines hitherwards. 1594 Spenser Amoretti lxxv, One day I wrote her name upon the strand. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, ii. ii. 22 The King will know him one day. 1659 B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 53 Had it not been, to revenge himself one day, upon the Spaniards. 1838 Dickens O. Twist xxxvi, You will tell me a different tale one of these days. 1855 Smedley H. Coverdale xxxv, Some of these days I shall be obliged to give him a lesson. 1936 P. Fleming News from Tartary i. ix. 55 As we arrived at the inn, the building next to it..collapsed... It was one of those days. 1967 ‘S. Woods’ Case is Altered xiv. 166 Old Mr. Mallory was waiting to pounce on him, and it soon became obvious that it was going to be one of those days. |
c. Used without a preposition or article.
U.S.| 1886 S. W. Mitchell R. Blake 292, I saw a man at the Cape wharf day before yesterday, inquirin' about Mrs. Wynne. 1905 N.Y. Even. Post 20 May 4 Day before yesterday the President was again in a state of terrific determination. Ibid. 26 Sept. 6 Day after election people will want to know [etc.]. |
III. A specified or appointed day.
8. a. A specific period of twenty-four hours, the whole or part of which is assigned to some particular purpose, observance, or action, or which is the date or anniversary of some event, indicated by an attributive addition or by the context;
e.g. saints' days,
holy days,
New Year's day,
Lady-day,
Christmas-day,
St. Swithin's-day,
pay-day,
rent-day,
settling-day,
birth-day,
wedding-day,
coronation-day, etc. (See the various defining words.)
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 11 Nu beoð icumen..þa halie daȝes uppen us. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 368 A Seyn Nycolas day he com. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 7007 Ilk ȝere..In þe day of bedis deying. 1577 Holinshed Chron. IV. 504 To put us in mind how we violate the Sabboth daie. 1595 Shakes. John v. i. 25 Is this Ascension day? 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa A ij, At London this three and fortieth most joifull Coronation-day of her sacred Majestie. 1600. 1615 J. Stephens Satyr. Ess. (ed. 2) 222 Like a bookesellers shoppe on Bartholomew day. 1825 Hone Every-day Bk. I. 100 In each term there is one day whereon the courts do not transact business..These are termed Grand days in the inns of court; and Gaudy days at the two Universities. 1884 Christian World 9 Oct. 764/1 Lord Bramwell..had spoken of Saturday as ‘pay-day, drink-day, and crime-day’. |
b. Last day (
OE. ytemesta dæᵹ),
Day of Judgement or
Day of Doom,
Doomsday,
Judgement day,
Day of the Lord,
Day of Accounts,
Retribution,
Wrath,
Great Day, etc.: the day on which the dead shall be raised to be ‘judged of the deeds done in the body’. See also the various qualifying words.
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 57 Seo saul..onfehþ hire lichoman on þæm ytmestan dæᵹe. a 1300 Cursor M. 27362 (Cott.) Þe dai of wreth. 1382 Wyclif 2 Pet. iii. 10 Forsothe the day of the Lord shal come as a theef. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶305 He schal ȝelde of hem account at þe day of doome. a 1400 Prymer (1891) 82 Haue mercy of me whan þow comest in þe laste day. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon clviii. 606 Vnto the day of Iugemente. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 86 The generall resurrection at the last day. Ibid. ii. 96 At y⊇ gret day of the Lord. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. ii. xxvii. (1695) 187 In the great Day, wherein the Secrets of all Hearts shall be laid open. 1746–7 Hervey Medit. (1818) 75 The severer doom, and more public infamy, of the great day. 1860 Pusey Min. Proph. 109 The Day of Judgment or vengeance. |
† c. Hence in early versions of
N.T. = Judgement: a literal rendering of
Gr. ἡµέρα in reference to the Judgement Day.
Obs.| 1382 Wyclif 1 Cor. iv. 3 To me it is for the leeste thing that I be demyd of ȝou, or of mannis day [Tindale, Rhem. daye, Cranmer, Geneva, 1611, 1881 judgement]. a 1628 Preston New Covt. 19 He would not regard to be judged by mans day, as long as he was not judged by the Lord. |
d. That period of the day allotted by usage or law for work; as,
an eight-hour day. (See
eight hours, working-day.)
| 1813, 1853 [see working-day]. 1850 Working Man's Friend & Fam. Instr. 14 Dec. 300/1 Being at the rate of 4s. 2d. per day of ten hours. 1870 Chambers's Jrnl. 10 Sept. 586/2 In government workshops,..by special act of Congress, eight hours has been constituted a legal day's work. 1880 C. Marvin Our Public Offices (ed. 2) 121 [They] worked hard the whole of the seven hours of their official day. 1884 J. E. T. Rogers Six Cent. Work & Wages xii. 327 It is plain that the day was one of eight hours. 1889 R. Tangye One & All vii. 116 In 1871 a great agitation sprung [sic] up amongst the operative engineers at Newcastle-on-Tyne in favour of a nine hours' day. 1891, etc. [see eight hours]. |
9. a. A day appointed, a fixed date,
esp. for payment.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 35 Ne beo he nefre swa riche forð he scal þenne is dei cumeð. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 250/334. 1387 Trevisa Higden III. 189 (Mätz.) Þe dettoures myȝte nouȝte pay here money al here day. c 1400 Gamelyn 792 He wold..Come afore þe Iustice to kepen his day. c 1500 Merch. & Son in Halliwell Nugæ Poet. 21 In cas he faylyd hys day. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 556 The king of Scottis..come thair to keip his da. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. i. iii. 165 If he should breake his daie, what should I gaine By the exaction of the forfeiture? 16.. Dryden (J.), Or if my debtors do not keep their day. a 1883 in J. G. Butler Bible Work II. 343 Christ, in the interval between the resurrection and ascension, keeps day with his disciples. |
b. A day in each week (or other period) fixed for receptions, etc.; a day on which a hostess is ‘at home’.
| 1694 Congreve Double Dealer iii. ix, You have been at my lady Whifler's upon her day, madam? 1801 J. G. Lemaistre Rough Sk. Mod. Paris iv. 59 Each of the ministers has a day, to which all foreigners may be taken by their respective ministers. 1888 Mrs. H. Ward R. Elsmere (1890) 307 We found she was in town, and went on her ‘day’. |
c. The Day [
tr. G.
Der Tag]: a day on which an important event is expected to occur;
esp. a day of military conflict or victory.
| 1914 O. Seaman in Punch 9 Dec. 470/1 [German Crown Prince loq.] Thank Father's God that I can say My constant aim was Peace; I simply lived to see the Day (Den Tag) when wars would cease. 1914 G. B. Shaw What I really Wrote (1930) ii. 30 When the German fire-eaters drank to The Day (of Armageddon) they were drinking to the day of which our Navy League fire-eaters had first said ‘It's bound to come’. 1919 Ibid. xii. 321 Just as the lieutenants of the German and British navies..looked forward to ‘der Tag’ when the preparations would be brought to the test of warfare, the lieutenants of the United States navy are already looking forward..to ‘The Day’ when the British and American fleets shall fight for that power to blockade [etc.]. 1936 J. Buchan Island of Sheep xiii. 256 The reconnaissance is complete, gentlemen. Tomorrow is The Day. 1959 J. Braine Vodi iv. 68 My Dad..says we'll all have to fight for our country when Der Tag comes. That's German for the Day. |
10. = day of battle or
contest; day's work on the field of battle:
esp. in phrases
to carry, get, win, lose the day.
Cf. field, and
carry 15 c, etc.
| 1557 Tusser 100 Points Husb. xci, The battell is fought, thou hast gotten the daye. 1600 E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 23 Without his aide the day would be perillous. 1642 Rogers Naaman 492 Shew us how we may get the day of our adversary. 1659 B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 196 The Imperialists, thinking the Day was theirs. 1721 R. Bradley Wks. Nature 139 The Silk Worm at present carries the Day before all others of the Papilionaceous Tribe. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 168 The bloody day of Seneff. |
IV. A space of time, a period.
† 11. A space (of time). Its extent is usually defined by the accompanying words. Now
Obs. or
Sc.| 1451 Paston Lett. No. 171 I. 227 They have be fals both to the Clyffordys and to me thys vij yeere day. c 1470 Harding Chron. Proem xxii, Who laye afore Paris a moneth daye. 1550 Crowley Epigr. 1462 You shall..lende but for a monethes day. 1552 T. Gresham in Strype Eccl. Mem. II. App. C. 148 No man convey out any parcel of lead five years day. 1568 E. Tilney Disc. Mariage C j, I could recite many examples..if the time woulde suffer mee. You have yet day ynough, quoth the Lady Julia. a 1670 Hobbes Dial. Com. Laws 145 Which Statute alloweth to these Provisors Six weeks Day to appear. 1825–79 Jamieson, A month's day, the space of a month; A year's day, the space of a year. |
† 12. Time allowed wherein to be ready,
esp. for payment; delay, respite; credit.
Obs.| c 1386 Chaucer Frankl. T. 847 And him bysecheth..To graunte him dayes of the remenaunt. 1428 E.E. Wills (1882) 82 To have ther-of resonable daies of paiement. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccxiii. 263 The truce..is nat expired, but hath day to endure vnto the first day of Maye next. c 1530 ― Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814) 477, I giue her daye for a moneth, & truse in the meane season. 1576 Gascoigne Steele Gl. (Arb.) 80 When drapers draw no gaines by giuing day. 1614 Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 616 Ye Merchants..make them pay deare for daies. 1644 Quarles Barnabas & B. 18 I'll give no day..I must have present money. 1659 Rushw. Hist. Coll. I. 640 That he might have day until the 25 of October, to consider of the return. |
13. The time during which anything exists or takes place; period, time, era.
a. expressed more literally by the
pl.:
e.g. in the days of King Arthur,
days of old,
in those days,
in days to come,
men of other days, etc.
better days: times when one was better off: so
evil days. See also
see v. 10 a.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 3 Oðre men þe waren bi þo daȝes. a 1300 Cursor M. 17546 (Cott.) In ald dais. Ibid. 21712 (Cott.) Nu in vr daies. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. i. 96 Dauid, in his dayes he Dubbede knihtes. 1470–85 Malory Arthur x. lxxxvi, Yet had I neuer reward..of her the dayes of my lyf. 1513 Douglas æneis xiii. ix. 69 Twichyng the stait, quhilum be days gone, Of Latium. 1548 Hall Chron. 239 b, Of no small authoritie in those dayes. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. A ij, I know not where we shall finde one in these our dayes. 1614 Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 953 What sonne of Israel can hope for good daies, when hee heares his Fathers were so evill? 1652 Culpepper Eng. Physic. 183 An Herb of as great Use with us in these dayes. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. vi. §26 The Jewish state in the days of Josephus. 1806 Forsyth Beauties Scotl. IV. 102 The whole town bears evident marks of having seen better days. 1848 Lytton Harold i. i, In the good old days before the Monk-king reigned. 1880 T. Fowler Locke i. 7 During his undergraduate and bachelor days. |
† (
β) In this sense,
esp.,
ME. used
dawen,
dawe, from the
OE. dat. pl. on þæm daᵹum. When
dawe (
daw) began to be viewed as
sing.,
dawes was often used in the
pl.| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. iii. 1 On þam daᵹum com Iohannes. c 1160 Hatton G. ibid., On þam daȝen. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 47 Swich þeu wes bi þan daȝen. c 1275 Lay. 397 After þan heþene lawe þat stot [= stood] in þan ilke dawe. a 1300 Cursor M. 4082 (Cott.) Als it bitidd mikel in þaa dauus [v.r. be alde dawes]. c 1314 Guy Warw. (A.) 3852 Non better nar bi þo dawe. c 1386 Chaucer Frankl. T. 452 Felawes, The which he had y-knowen in olde dawes. c 1430 Lydg. Bochas iii. xiii. 86 b, Neuer..in their dawes. c 1430 Freemasonry 509 (Mätz.) Suche mawmetys he hade yn hys dawe. 1501 Douglas Pal. Hon. iii. xliv, Tullus Seruillius douchtie in his daw. |
b. expressed more
fig. by the
sing. Now
esp. in phrases
at or to this or that day,
at the present day,
in our own day,
at some future day, etc.;
(in) this day and age, (at) the present time; (at) the moment of speaking or writing.
| 1382 Wyclif John xiv. 20 In that day ȝe schulen knowe, for I am in my fadir, and ȝee in me. 1578 Timme Calvin on Gen. 242 Which Men at this day call Cairum. 1611 Bible Ezek. xxx. 9 In that day shall messengers goe foorth from me in shippes. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. i. vi. §1 To this day..the Coptites and antient Egyptians call the end of the year νεισι. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. I. 23 Apr., The inconveniences which I overlooked in the high day of health. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. Introd. 4 His wither'd cheek and tresses grey Seem'd to have known a better day. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 403 To this day Palamon and Arcite..are the delight both of critics and of schoolboys. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 48 They were..more just than the men of our day. [1917 A. Woollcott Let. 4 Dec. (1944) 41 You will receive a modest Christmas gift..of no conceivable use in this day and generation.] 1933 Week-end Rev. 7 Oct. 348/1 (title of film) This day and age. 1941 Time 13 Jan. 44/1 She knew that in this day and age a nun could be a scientist, if she were smart as well as conscientious. 1944 H. Croome You've gone Astray xxi. 209 Do you mean to say that in this day and age..you're going to come the conventional? 1958 Spectator 18 July 116/2 The needs of this day and age. 1970 New Yorker 17 Oct. 39/2 What a comfort it was in this day and age to meet someone obliging. |
(
b)
the day: the time under consideration, time (now or then) present; (
cf. the hour,
the moment).
order of the day: see
order.
the day:
Sc. for to-day,
q.v.| 1814 Scott Wav. xlii, ‘But we maun a' live the day, and have our dinner. 1839 Sir C. Napier in W. N. Bruce Life iv. (1885) 127 Funk is the order of the day. 1893 W. P. Courtney in Academy 13 May 413/1 The gardens were planned by the best landscape gardeners of the day. a 1895 Mod. Men and women of the day. The book of the day. |
14. With personal pronoun: Period of a person's rule, activity, career, or life; lifetime.
a. in
sing.| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 376 Heye men ne dorste by hys day wylde best nyme noȝt. a 1300 Cursor M. 8315 (Cott.) Salamon..sal be king efter þi dai. c 1300 Beket 649 Heo that was so freo and heȝ bi myn ancestres daye. c 1400 Gamelyn 65 Thus dalte the knight his lond by his day. a 1500 Childe of Bristowe 360 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 124 Yet dwel y stille in peyn..tyl y haue fulfilled my day. 1795 Southey Joan of Arc iii. 293 Holy abbots honour'd in their day. 1850 L. Hunt Autobiog. (1860) 1, I have had vanities enough in my day. |
b. in
pl. Time of one's life, span of existence.
to end one's days: to die.
| 1466 Paston Lett. No. 552 II. 282 Like as the said John Paston deceased had in any time of his daies. 1484 Caxton Curiall 1 That thou myghtest vse thy dayes in takyng companye wyth me. 1513 More in Grafton Chron. II. 756 In his later dayes..somewhat corpulent. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 289 b, They had neuer feled suche before, in all theyr dayes. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxv. 222 There myserably he shall ende his dayes. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. xcv, That tongue that tells the story of thy days. 1600 E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 304 The griefe he conceived..hastened his daies. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 815, I at Naples pass my peaceful Days. 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. App. 753 The kingdom of Burgundy was now in its last days. |
15. Time of action, period of power or influence. Proverb.
a (every) dog has his (a) day.
| 1550 Queen Elizabeth in Strype Eccl. Mem. II. xxviii. 234 Notwithstanding, as a dog hath a day, so may I perchance have time to declare it in deeds. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 30 But as euery man saith, a dog hath a daie. 1602 Shakes. Ham. v. i. 315 The Cat will Mew, and Dogge will haue his day. 1633 B. Jonson Tale Tub ii. i, A man has his hour, and a dog his day. 1703 Rowe Ulyss. i. i. 71 Suffer the Fools to laugh..This is their Day. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. i. 2 Each dog has but his day. 1841 Miall Nonconf. I. i Diplomacy has had its day, and failed. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. Prol. v, Our little systems have their day, They have their day and cease to be. |
V. Phrases.
16. a-day, a-days,
q.v. (see also 1 b); by day, bi-day (see 1 and
by prep. 19, 20);
by the day (
by prep. 24 c); to-day.
† 17. of daw(e (
OE. type
*of daᵹum,
ME. of daȝen,
of daȝe,
of dawe,
of dawes,
of daw (
day),
a daw; corruptly
on,
to daw(e): in
to bring, do of or out of dawe, life's dawe, to deprive of life, to kill;
to be of dawe, to be dead.
Obs. See also
adawe adv.| a 1225 Juliana 31 He walde don hire..ut of dahene. a 1300 Cursor M. 4168 (Gött.) Þan wil na man of vs mak saue, Þat we him [Joseph] suld haue done of daue [v.rr. on dau, of daghe]. Ibid. 7808 (Fairf.) He me be-soȝt..I sulde him bringe on liues dawe [v.rr. o dau, o daw, of dawe]. c 1300 Seyn Julian 193 Þat heo of dawe be. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 282, I trawed my perle don out of dawez. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 2056 That oure soveraygne sulde be distroyede, And alle done of dawez. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 107 Mony a mon was þ{supt} day y do to dawe. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xxxi. 119 Ðe erle þus wes dwne of day. 1513 Douglas æneis ii. iii. 58 He was slane, allace, and brocht of daw. |
18. this or that day week (in
Sc. eight days),
twelve months, etc.: used of measurement of time forward or backward: the same day a week or a year after or before.
| 1526 Tindale Acts x. 30 This daye nowe .iiij. dayes I fasted. 1651 Cromwell Lett. 3 Sept. (Carlyle), The third of September, (remarkable for a mercy vouchsafed to your forces on this day twelvemonth in Scotland). 1801 E. Helme St. Margaret's Cave III. 244 On the day month that he had made the dreadful avowal. 1815 Byron Let. to Moore 10 Jan., I was married this day week. 1865 Kingsley Herew. xv. (1877) 189 Let Harold see how many..he holds by this day twelve months. Mod. He is expected this day week (or, in Sc., this day eight days). |
19. day about, on alternate days in rotation, each on or for a day in his turn:
cf. about, A. 5 b.;
day by day, on each successive day, daily, every day in its turn (without any notion of cessation); also
attrib.;
day after day, each day as a sequel to the preceding, on every day as it comes (but without intending future continuance);
day in (and) day out, every day for an indefinite number of successive days, continuously;
day off, a day away from work, school, etc.;
day out, a day away from home or one's lodgings;
spec. a servant's free day; also
fig.;
(from) day to day, continuously or without interruption from one day to another (said of a continuation of state or conditions); also
attrib.; hence
day-to-dayness.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 505 Fram daye to daye hii dude the mansinge. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. viii. 177 What þou dudest day bi day. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 175 In whiche me thoughte I myghte, day by day, Dwellen alwey. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 112 Day be day, or ouery day, quotidie. 1483 Cath. Angl. 88 From Day to day, die in diem, in dies, dietim. 15.. Moffat Wyf of Auchtirmuchty (Bannatyne MS.), Content am I To tak the pluche my day about. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer 2 b, Te Deum, Day by day we magnifie thee. 1556 Aurelio & Isab. (1608) I iij, From daye to daye you have beane worse. 1605 Shakes. Macb. v. v. 20 To morrow, and to morrow, and to morrow, Creepes in this petty pace from day to day. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 445 ¶3 Whether I should still persist in laying my Speculations, from Day to Day, before the Publick. 1771 E. Griffith tr. Viaud's Shipwreck 178, I cannot give you, day by day, an account of this..journey. 1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) I. 102 ‘Day in and day out’, all the day long. 1830 Tennyson Poems 33 A world of peace And confidence, day after day. 1836 Kingsley Lett. (1878) I. 38, I am sickened by its day-by-day occurrence. 1848 Punch 4 Nov. 182/2 The Servant-Girl's Idea of Life:—one long day out with ‘the journeyman’. 1865 Kingsley Herew. xv. (1877) 195 Passing each other day by day. 1869 Punch 20 Mar. 111/2 Having made this a holiday with a view to having a ‘day out’, my landlady had not had notice to call me at any particular hour. 1883 Manch. Exam. 8 Dec. 4/1 For day-to-day loans the general charge was 2 to 21/4 per cent. 1883 B. Harte Carquinez Woods ii. 51 It has been already intimated that it was his ‘day off’. 1887 M. E. Wilkins Humble Romance (1890) 127 Sewing as she did, day in, day out. 1890 Peel City Guardian 4 Jan. 5/5 It was Fayle's day out, and he made the most of the chances offered. 1892 Mrs. A. Ireland Lett. G. E. Jewsbury p. xiii, Their fulfilment is wholly incompatible with a migraine or a ‘day off’. 1893 Eng. Illustr. Mag. 488/2 The bus-driver spends his ‘day off’ in driving on a pal's bus, on the box-seat by his pal's side. 1898 A. E. T. Watson Turf i. 17 It may not have been the animal's ‘day out’, it may do better later on. 1904 Kipling in Windsor Mag. Dec. 10/1 Whatever 'e's done, let us remember that 'e's given us a day off. 1927 Public Opinion Jan. 56/3 The British Broadcasting Company will have to offer, day in and day out, a service. Ibid. Feb. 109/2 Work—day in day out—and not much money. 1933 S. Jameson (title) A day off. 1933 Granta 26 Apr. 370/1 Those interested only in the day to day politics of the fall of the dollar and the Russian embargo. 1942 W. S. Churchill End of Beginning (1943) 33 Even in the..United States the Executive does not stand in the same direct, immediate, day-to-day relation to the Legislative body as we do. 1948 F. R. Leavis Great Tradition iv. i. 200 That kind of self-sufficient day-to-dayness of living Conrad can convey. 1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day vi. 116 One boy..was kicked around, jeered at or ostracised, day in day out for several years. 1963 Higher Educ. (Cmnd. 2154) xv. 220 The day-to-day conduct of policy must rest with the heads of institutions. 1966 G. N. Leech Eng. in Advertising xv. 138 Lifebuoy Toilet Soap With Puralin gives day in–day out protection against B.O. 1971 Daily Tel. 1 July 1 (heading) Teachers' strike gives 400,000 pupils day off. |
20. a. all day: the whole day;
† every day: see 1 b, and
alday.
all days: always, for ever: see 6 b.
better days: see 13 a. every-day, first day,
q.v. good day: see
good.
late in the day: see
late.
now-a-days,
† now bi-dawe: see
now and a-days.
one day, one of these days: see 7 b.
the other day: two (or a few) days ago: see
other.
some day,
some of these days: see 7 b.
time of day: hour of the clock, period of the world's history, etc.: see
time.
the day after (or before) the fair: too late (or too early); see
fair n.1 days in bank, days of grace, etc.: see
bank2 2,
grace, etc. Also
All Fools' Day, Ascension,
black-letter, lawful day, etc.: see these words.
b. In various
colloq. phrases, as
to make a day of it: to devote a day to some pursuit,
usu. one of pleasure; to spend the day in enjoyment or revelling (see
make v.
1 18 c and
cf. night n. 4 e);
to make (one's) day: see
make v.
1;
if it's (or he's, etc.) a day: of a period of time or a person's age, at least;
any day (of the week): at all times; without exception or doubt;
cf. every time (
every a. 1 e and
time n. 18 b);
to call it (half) a day: to consider that one has done a day's work;
fig. to rest content, to leave off;
between two days U.S.: overnight;
that'll (or that will) be the day (
app. orig. N.Z.): (
a) that will be a day worth waiting for, experiencing, etc.; (
b) (
ironically) that is most unlikely; that will never happen;
those were the days: an expression (nostalgic or ironic) of regret for time past.
| 1660 [see make v.1 18 c]. 1731–8 Swift Polite Conv. (1963) 78 She's on the wrong Side of thirty, if she be a Day. 1763 Boswell London Jrnl. 28 July (1950) 327 Come..let us make a day of it. Let us go down to Greenwich and dine. 1777 [see if conj. 1 a]. 1828 Lamb Let. Dec. (1935) III. 198 From this paradise, making a day of it, you go to see the ruins of an old convent at March Hall. 1829 G. Griffin Collegians II. xxiii. 169 It's a long time since you an' I met... 'Tis six years if its a day. [1833 J. Neal Down-Easters I. ix. 134 He'll do it any day o' the week..let alone Saturdays—of course the speaker was a Marylander of Irish parentage.] 1838 J. C. Neal Charcoal Sk. 140, I've a great mind to knock off and call it half a day. 1839 Thackeray Catherine i, in Fraser's Mag. May 609/2 She's seventeen if she's a day, though he is the very first sweetheart she has had. 1840 Dickens Old. C. Shop xxxix, in Master Humphrey's Clock (1841) II. 11 Why you are a good deal better-looking than her, Barbara... You are, any day. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast (1854) xxviii. 177 Some rascally deed sent him off ‘between two days’. 1843 Spirit of Times 4 Mar. 1/2 When a thing isn't ‘worth a fig’, one ‘might as well call it half a day and quit’. 1885 [see night n. 4 e]. 1889 ‘Mark Twain’ Yankee 271 It would have been best for Merlin..to quit and call it half a day. 1902 Conrad Youth 4 He was sixty if a day. 1903 A. D. McFaul Ike Glidden in Maine ii. 12 Hadn't been't he left town 'tween two days he'd be good way on the road to the pen'tentiary now. 1906 G. K. Chesterton Dickens viii. 188 Susan Nipper..is more of a heroine than Florence any day of the week. 1919 Wodehouse Damsel in Distress ix. 116 Albert rose, not unwilling to call it a day. 1922 S. Lewis Babbitt xv. 193 ‘Remember how..we pinched the pants-pressing sign and took and hung it on Prof. Morrison's door? Oh, gosh, those were the days!’ Those, McKelvey agreed, were the days. 1930 W. S. Maugham Cakes & Ale 268 I've had my time and I'm ready to call it a day. 1931 A. L. Rowse Politics & Younger Gen. 155 They would prefer a despotism of the civil service to a despotism of the law any day. 1934 J. T. Farrell Young Manhood xvi, in Studs Lonigan (1936) 347 Jesus, those were the days, weren't they, Studs? 1936 J. B. Priestley They walk in City 240 He had to be there at nine..and then worked on until the Belvedere Trading Company..‘called it a day’. 1941 Baker N.Z. Slang vi. 50 That'll be the day!..a cant phrase expressing mild doubt following some boast or claim by a person. 1943 N. Marsh Colour Scheme vi. 101 He's a beaut. Wait till I get him. That'll be the day. 1951 ― Opening Night xi. 248 ‘If I've bungled,’ Alleyn muttered, ‘I've..bungled in a big way.’.. Bailey astonished everyone by saying..‘That'll be the day.’ ‘Don't talk Australian,’ Mr. Fox chided. 1957 G. Bellairs Death in High Provence xiii. 149 Madeleine's sister is a great age, too. Eighty, if a day. 1957 J. Braine Room at Top xiii. 129 We'll call it a day... Don't think badly of me. 1960 H. Pinter Room in Birthday Party 107 ‘Maybe there are two landlords.’.. ‘That'll be the day.’ 1963 V. Nabokov Gift iii. 185 A friend of his..complained that Carlsbad was no longer what it used to be. Those were the days! he said: ‘you stand with your mug of water and there next to you is King Edward.’ 1965 L. Sands Something to Hide v. 83 ‘Got any free road-maps?’ ‘That'll be the day. Bob apiece.’ |
VI. Attributive uses and Combinations.
21. The common use of the possessive genitive
day's (as in other nouns of time) somewhat restricts the simple attributive use of
day. The genitive is used in,
e.g.,
the day's duties,
day's needs,
day's sales,
day's takings;
a day's length,
day's sunshine;
a day's fighting,
day's journey,
day's march,
day's rest;
a day's allowance,
day's fast,
day's pay,
day's provisions,
day's victuals,
day's wages, etc. So with the
pl. two days' journey,
three days' pay, etc. See also
daysman, day's work.
| a 1250 Owl & Night. 1588 That gode wif..Haveth daies kare and niȝtes wake. 1388 Wyclif Luke ii. 44 Thei..camen a daies iourney [1382 the wey of a day]. 1422 E.E. Wills (1882) 50 Myn eche daies gowne. 1548 Hall Chron. 228 b, Ponderynge together yestardayes promise, and two-dayes doyng. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 6 My ear is pained..with every day's report. 1859 Tennyson Enid 476 In next day's tourney. Mod. ‘He has neither night's rest nor day's ease’, as the saying is. A distance of three days' journey. |
22. Such combinations as
eight days when used
attrib. may become
eight-day.
| 1803 M. Wilmot Jrnl. 13 Apr. in Londonderry & Hyde Russ. Jrnls. (1934) I. 3 My precious Father..saw us safely into the two day Coach. 1836 [see eight]. 1847 Nat. Encycl. I. 413 Six-day licenses may be granted. Mod. An eight-day clock. |
23. General combinations:
a. simple attrib. ‘of the day,
esp. as opposed to the night, the day's’, as
day-beam,
day-blush,
day-fall,
day-glory,
day-god,
day-going,
day-hospital,
day-hours,
day-season,
day-spirit; ‘of a day, as a period of time, a day's’, as
day-bill,
day-journey,
day-name,
day-respite,
day-sum,
day-ticket,
day-warning;
day-old adj. (also
n. = day-old chick, etc.).
| 1811 Shelley Let. 6 Jan. (1964) I. 38 The *day-beam returning. 1813 Hogg Queen's Wake 265 The day-beam..O'er Queensberry began to peep. 1825 D. L. Richardson Sonnets 60 The day-beams fade Along the crimson west. 1952 C. Day Lewis tr. Virgil's Aeneid iv. 76 As Aurora was rising out of her ocean bed And the day-beam lofted. |
| 1824 Byron Juan xv. lxii, A single *day-bill Of modern dinners. |
| 1813 ― Br. Abydos ii. xxviii, When the *day-blush bursts from high. |
| 1889 F. Thompson in Merry England XIII. 300 Who set upon her brow the *day-fall's carcanet? 1960 T. Hughes Lupercal 55 Waking, dragged suddenly From a choir-shaken height By the world, Lord, and its dayfall. |
| 1827 Blackw. Mag. XXI. 81 Why, *Day-god, why so late? |
| 1638 Jackson Creed ix. xxiv. Wks. VIII. 353 Betwixt three of the clock and the *day-going. |
| 1843 Chambers's Jrnl. 30 Dec. 398/1 A kind of *day-hospital, to keep the children from wandering idly abroad. 1951 Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. Aug. 307 The Day Hospital does not belong to the era of Individual Psychiatry. 1958 New Statesman 10 Jan. 34/1 It has long been recognised that given adequate out-patient facilities, day hospitals, occupation centres and hostels, many persons suffering from mental disorder need not enter a mental hospital. 1963 Guardian 16 May 4/6 The Marlborough day hospital, in London..had had no beds and has been working as a ‘day’ hospital where patients after attendance return to their homes and families at night; and as a ‘night’ hospital where patients can go to work during the day, returning for help in the evenings. |
| 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. ii. 77 The upper half of the circle..is the *Day-Hours, and the lower..is the Night-Hours. |
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 88 A *Day iornay, dieta. |
| 1907 Daily Chron. 8 July 4/4 Many poultry-keepers dispose of several thousand *day-old chicks every season. 1911 R. Brooke Let. Feb. (1968) 280 Every night I sit in a café near here..and read the day-old Times. 1928 Daily Tel. 11 May 19/4 Day-olds from reliable pedigree strains cost only 21s a dozen. 1930 Masefield Wanderer of Liverpool 67 It was fine clear easterly weather with a day-old moon. 1959 B.S.I. News Apr. 18/2 Priority is being given to arrangements for the carriage of day-old chicks. 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 5 Jan. 109/3 Year after year crops of goslings are..in big demand as day-olds or ‘growers’. |
| c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xix. 429 A *day respyte is worthe moche. |
| a 1568 Coverdale Bk. Death i. xxi, Neither need to fear any inconvenience by night, neither swift arrow in the *day-season. |
| 1850 Mrs. Browning Poems II. 274 Thy *day-sum of delight. |
| c 1530 Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814) 443 To be redy at a *day warning. |
b. attrib. ‘Pertaining to or characteristic of the day, existing by day, diurnal’; as
day-bell,
day-bird,
day-breeze,
day-clothes,
day-guest,
day-haul,
day-moth,
day-shift,
day-task,
day-watch,
day-watchman,
day-wind.
| 15.. Tale of Basyn 172 in Hazl. E.P.P. III. 51 Thei daunsyd all the nyȝt, till the son con ryse; The clerke rang the *day-bell, as it was his gise. |
| 1774 White in Phil. Trans. LXV. 266 It does not withdraw to rest till a quarter before nine..being the latest of all *day-birds. |
| 1808 J. Barlow Columb. ii. 540 The *day-breeze fans the God. |
| 1644 A. Burgesse Magistrates Commission 15 It ought to be your *day-care and your night-care, and your morning-care. |
| 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Voy. to Eng. Wks. (Bohn) II. 12 The master never slept but in his *day-clothes whilst on board. |
| 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 33 If griefe lodges with us over night, Joy shall be our *Day Guest. |
| 1888 E. J. Mather Nor'ard of Dogger 103 The smacks had their gear down for a *day-haul. |
| 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. (1858) 73 Your very *Daymoth has capabilities in this kind. |
| 1872 Daily News 12 Oct., The people of the *day-shift trooping in to relieve the night-workers. |
| 1630 R. Brathwait Eng. Gentlem., Our Ordinary Gentleman, whose *day-taske is this. |
| 1837 Wheelwright tr. Aristophanes I. 263 Eluding our *day-watch. |
| 1722 De Foe Plague (1840) 51 Till the morning-man, or *day-watchman, as they called him, came to relieve him. |
| 1846 Keble Lyra Innoc. (1873) 50 How soft the *day-wind sighed. |
c. With agent-nouns and words expressing action, ‘(that acts or is done) by day, during the day, as distinguished from night’, as
day-devourer,
day-drudge,
day-flier,
day-lurker,
day-nurse,
day-seller,
day-sleeper,
day-trip,
day-tripper;
day-drowsiness,
day-fishing,
day-journeying,
day-reflection,
day-slumber,
day-somnambulism,
day-vision; also adjectives, as
day-appearing,
day-flying,
day-shining, etc.
| 1821 Shelley Fragments, Wandering i, Like a *day-appearing dream. |
| 1725 Pope Odyss. xix. 83 A *day-devourer, and an evening spy! |
| 1852 Meanderings of Mem. I. 149 *Day-drowsiness—and night's arousing power. |
| 1837 J. S. Mill in Westm. Rev. XXVII. 22 He [sc. Carlyle] possesses in no less perfection..the quality of the historical *day-drudge. 1840 Carlyle Heroes (1858) 237 Show him the way of doing that, the dullest daydrudge kindles into a hero. |
| 1653 Walton Angler 126 There is night as well as *day-fishing for a Trout. |
| 1889 A. R. Wallace Darwinism 248 *Day-flying moths. |
| 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. IV. lxiv. 274 In leisurely *day-journeying from Genoa to London. |
| 1657 Tomlinson Renou's Disp. 4 Jugglers, *Day-lurkers, and Deceivers. |
| 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. xxv. 309 The night-nurse..well beknown to Mrs. Prig the *day-nurse. 1855 J. R. Beste Wabash I. ii. 48 Our little Isabel amused the youngest children, and constituted herself their day nurse. |
| 1725 Pope Odyss. iv. 1062 The *day-reflection, and the midnight-dream! |
| 1889 Tablet 3 Aug. 167 Two classes of flower-girl—the *day-sellers and the night-sellers. |
| 1580 Sidney Arcadia (1622) 2 The *day-shining starres. |
| 1549 Cheke Hurt Sedit. (1641) 41 *Day-sleepers, pursse-pickers. |
| 1836–9 Todd Cycl. Anat. II. 767/2 The bat..awoke from its deep *day-slumber. |
| 1849 H. Mayo Truths in Pop. Superst. vi. 86 Let me narrate some instances..one of *day-somnambulism. |
| 1903 A. Bennett Leonora viii. 215 He had gone to London by a *day-trip on the previous Thursday. 1967 C. Drummond Death at Furlong Post viii. 107 A customer who had taken a day trip to Calais. |
| 1897 Daily News 27 Sept. 3/5 The ‘*day-tripper’ class of excursionists. Ibid., Day trippers by the Marguerite from the Thames. 1960 E. W. Hildick Jim Starling & Colonel vii. 57 Day-trippers on their way to Blackpool. |
| 1677 Gale Crt. Gentiles II. iii. 58 Their night-dreams and *day-visions, whereby they divined things. |
d. objective or objective genitive, as
day-dispensing,
day-distracting,
day-loving adjs.;
day-hater,
day-prolonger;
e. instrumental, as
day-lit,
day-wearied adjs.;
f. adverbial, as
day-born,
day-hired,
day-lasting,
day-lived adjs.;
g. similative and parasynthetic, as
day-bright,
day-clear,
day-eyed adjs.| 1849 Thoreau A Week 59 The Society Islanders had their *day-born gods. 1903 Westm. Gaz. 26 Nov. 2/3 The day-born, hopeless longing dies. |
| 1590 T. Watson Poems (Arb.) 159 Virgo make fountains of thy *daie-bright eine. a 1592 Greene & Lodge Looking Glasse (1861) 124 The day-bright eyes that made me see. |
| 1785 Burns 2nd Ep. to J. Lapraik xvii, Some *day-detesting owl. |
| 1725 Pope Odyss. xx. 102 The *day-distracting theme. |
| 1796 T. Townshend Poems 49 *Day-eyed Fancy. |
| 1597 Daniel Civ. Wars ii. c, The *day-hater, Minerva's bird. |
| 1751 Female Foundling II. 159 *Day-hired Servants. |
| a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Fam. Epist. Wks. (1711) 139 *Day-lasting ornaments. 1885 R. L. Stevenson Dynamiter 136 The broad, *daylit unencumbered paths of universal scepticism. |
| 1839 Bailey Festus v. (1848) 48 Things born of vice or *day-lived fashion. |
| 1824 J. Bowring Batavian Anthol. 158 *Day-prolonger—summer's mate. |
| 1595 Shakes. John v. iv. 35 Feeble, and *day-wearied Sunne. |
24. Special combinations:
day-and-night attrib., throughout the day and night;
† day-and-night-shot, the name of some disease;
day-before attrib., of the previous day;
day-boarder, see
boarder;
† day-body, a person taken up with the things of the day;
day-boy, a school-boy (at a boarding-school) who attends the classes but goes home for the evening, as distinguished from a
boarder,
q.v.; also
transf. and
attrib.;
day-bug Schoolboy slang,
= day-boy;
day-car,
-coach U.S., any railway passenger carriage other than a sleeper; also
transf.;
day care, the supervision and care of young children during the day,
esp. while their mothers are at work;
freq. attrib.;
day centre, a non-residential centre which provides social, recreational, and other facilities,
esp. for the elderly or handicapped;
day-clock, a clock which requires to be wound up daily;
day-coal (see 5);
day continuation school, a school for educating young workers released temporarily by their employers;
† day, day! a childish expression for ‘good day’, ‘goodbye’ (
cf. ta-ta n.);
day-degree (see
quot.);
day dress,
= day-gown;
day-drift, -hole (see
quot. and 5);
day editor, the editor in charge of a newspaper during the day;
day-eye (
Coal-mining), a working open to daylight;
day-gang,
† (
a) a day's march or journey (
obs.); (
b) a gang of miners, etc., forming the
day-shift;
day-gown, a woman's gown worn by day;
day-holding, the holding of an appointed day (for arbitration);
day-hours (
pl.), those offices for the Canonical Hours which are said in the day-time;
day-house (
Astrol.), a house in which a planet is said to be stronger by day than by night (Wilson
Dict. Astrol.);
day-length, the length of the day,
esp. as it varies at different times of the year; also
attrib.,
spec. designating clothes of a suitable length for wear during the day (see also
quot. 1949);
† day-liver, one who lives for a day, or for the day;
dayman, one employed for the day, or for duty on a special day;
day-nettle: see
dead-nettle and
dea-nettle;
day nursery, (
a) a nursery used by children during the day (as distinguished from
night nursery); (
b) a nursery where children are cared for while their mothers are at work;
Day of Atonement [
tr. Heb. Yōm Kippūr], a Jewish fast day, observed from the ninth to the tenth of Tishri;
day-on Naut. slang, one who does duty as officer of the day;
day release, a system whereby employers allow employees days off from work for education; also
attrib.;
day-room, a room occupied by day only;
† day-set, sun-set;
day-shine, day-light;
† day-shutting, close of day, sunset;
dayside, (
a)
U.S., the division of a newspaper's staff that works during the day; more generally (
attrib.), of or pertaining to the day-shift; that works or is performed by day;
cf. night-side (c)
s.v. night n. 14; (
b) the side of a planet that is facing the sun and is therefore in daylight,
esp. in
phr. on the dayside;
cf. night-side (d)
s.v. night n. 14;
day-stone, a naturally detached block of stone found on the surface (see 5);
day-streak, streak of dawn;
day-student, a student who comes to a college, etc. during the day for lectures or study, but does not reside there;
day-ticket, a railway or other ticket covering return on the same day; also, a ticket covering all journeys or entrances made by the purchaser on the day of issue;
day-tide (
poet.,) day-time;
day-wages, wages paid by the day; so
day-wage attrib.;
† day-wait, a watcher or watchman by day;
day-ˈward n., ward kept by day;
ˈdayward a. and adv., towards the day;
day-water, surface water (see 5).
| 1899 Westm. Gaz. 16 Mar. 10/2 The work will be carried out by *day and night relays of men. 1964 S. Duke-Elder Parsons' Dis. Eye (ed. 14) xxvii. 436 Unless day-and-night nursing is available it is a wise precaution with many patients to tie their hands loosely to the bed at night. |
| 1527 Andrew Brunswyke's Distyll. Waters K ij b, The same water is good agaynste a sore named the *daye and nyght shotte. |
| 1828 Cobbett Serm., Drunkenness 45 Nobody is so dull as the *daybefore drunkard. |
| 1853 E. Sewell Exper. Life iii. 26 A very tolerable school..where they were allowed..to attend as *day boarders. |
| 1567–8 Abp. Parker Corr. 310, I trust, not so great a *day-body..but can consider both reason and godliness. |
| 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair II. xxi, Georgy was, like some dozen other pupils, only a *day-boy. 1888 Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men I. iii. 302 The attempt was made to send [him]..as a day-boy, to Rugby school. 1914 Spectator 17 Oct. 516/2 We would train a portion of the men in what we may describe as ‘day-boy’ battalions... Up till the time of the Boer War..there were two battalions of London Militia who were always trained on the ‘day-boy’ system. The men lived in their own homes, and came to the depot each day for their recruit training. |
| 1909 Ware Passing Eng. 105/1 Don't row with that fellow, he's only a *day-bug. 1913 C. Mackenzie Sinister Street I. i. vii. 103 When an older boarder called him a ‘day-bug’ Michael was discreetly silent. |
| 1870 W. F. Rae Westward by Rail (1871) 50 This company build and run their own elegant sleeping coaches and palace *day cars. 1904 Westm. Gaz. 26 Sept. 6/3 [Accident in Tennessee] Day-car and day-car were telescoped, buckled, and thrown over. 1964 Economist 4 Jan. 24/2 Adequately staffed day-care centres for children. |
| 1961 Lancet 16 Sept. 6481 A local authority can provide *day-centres or social clubs for them if it wishes to do so. 1976 Bridgwater Mercury 21 Dec. 1/3 Grant aid to elderly persons' clubs, luncheon clubs and day centres will be continued. 1984 Listener 26 July 21/1 The health team beavers unobtrusively, arranging a home help here, a weekly visit to a day centre there. |
| 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede 38 No sound..but the loud ticking of the old *day-clock. |
| 1873 Winfield (Kansas) Courier 11 Jan. 2/7 Elegant *Day Coaches, [etc.]..are some of the modern improvements used on this Line. 1887 C. B. George 40 Yrs. on Rail xi. 226 A passenger on his way to the dining-car came out of the day coach into the ladies' end of my car. 1947 Shell Aviation News CXII. 4/1 Atlantic has applied to the Civil Aeronautics Board for permission to operate day coach services in the triangular area, New York, Washington and Pittsburg. |
| 1919 Times Educ. Suppl. 25 Sept. 487/1 The *day continuation school must sit between eight in the morning and seven in the evening. 1943 Ann. Reg. 1942 68 The Council..advocated..day continuation schools for young persons up to the age of 18. 1952 Oxf. Jun. Encycl. X. 142/2 A system of Day Continuation Schools was also included in the 1918 Fisher Act. All young people between the ages of 14 and 18 who had ended full-time schooling were to continue their education at such schools for a period of 320 hours each year. |
| 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull iv. vii, Bye! bye, Nic!.. Won't you like to shake your *day-day, Nic? 1784 P. Oliver in T. Hutchinson's Diary II. 213 Day, day! Yrs, P. Oliver. |
| 1886 Daily News 17 May 3/4 The result is expressed in *day-degrees, a day-degree signifying one degree of excess or deficit of temperature above or below 42 deg. continued for 24 hours, or any other number of degrees for an inversely proportional number of hours. |
| 1922 Liberty Dresses Spring 10 *Day Dress, in crèpe-de-chine... Price 12½ guineas. |
| 1891 Labour Commission Gloss., *Day drifts or day holes, galleries or inclined planes driven from the surface so that men can walk underground to and from their work without descending and ascending a shaft. |
| 1873 W. Mathews Getting on in World xiv. 218 Mr. Brooks..acting as leading editor [of the New York Express], reporter, *day editor, night editor, and even typesetter. 1877 Harper's Mag. Dec. 53/2 The day editor in charge. |
| 1890 H. T. Crofton in Trans. Lanc. & Cheshire Antiq. Soc. VII. 27 Coal would probably be obtained first by ‘drifts’, ‘*day-eyes’, or ‘breast-highs.’ |
| a 1300 Cursor M. 5842 Vte of his land *dai-ganges thre. 1840 T. A. Trollope Summ. Britt. II. 163 When the day-gangs come up, and those for the night go down. |
| 1875 L. Troubridge Life amongst Troubridges (1966) x. 116 My old peacock cashmere evening, transformed into a *day gown with long sleeves. 1889 Pall Mall G. 14 Nov. 1/3 Another day gown for a well-known society woman. |
| 1565 in Child Marriages (E.E.T.S.) 44 Ther was diuerse *daie-holdinges to get them to abide together; which they neuer cold bringe to passe. |
| 1892 Pall Mall. G. 11 Feb. 5/1 The coal is won by means of a *day hole. |
| 1855 P. Freeman Princ. Div. Service I. 220 There is, however, attached to each of these ‘*day-hours’ a ‘mid-hour’ Office. |
| 1920 Garner & Allard in Jrnl. Agric. Res. XVIII. 582 The Stewart Cuban Mammoth tobacco which requires a *day length of 12 hours or less to attain the blossoming stage has been grown commercially to some extent under an artificial shade. 1944 A. G. Hatcher in Mod. Lang. Notes Dec. 515 Among the many relationships expressed by noun combinations..the three-member compound is peculiarly modern..day-length dresses..bronze-finish lamp. 1949 New Biol. VII. 52 Day length neutral plants..flowered whatever the length of day. 1965 Harper's Bazaar Jan. 54/1 He will charge you about 20 or 25 gns. for a day-length dress. |
| 1630 Drummond of Hawthornden Hymn to Fairest Fair, *Day-livers, we rememberance do lose Of ages worn. |
| 1880 Times 8 Oct. 8/5 The Liberal secretaries..mentioned the names of the chairmen, treasurers, executive ‘*daymen’, and captains of the respective wards. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 98 Marines, Idlers or Daymen. |
| 1844 Mrs. Parkes in Webster & Parkes Encycl. Domestic Econ. xxvi. i. 1187 *Day nurseries should be prepared for the children by having the windows open early in the morning. 1850 Househ. Words II. 110/1 These institutions were to be Day-Nurseries for the children of the poor. 1884 Harper's Mag. Apr. 782/2 A ‘Day Nursery and Temporary Home for Children’, charging two cents a day to busy mothers. 1896 H. Friederichs In the Evening of his Days 70 (caption) The Day Nursery at Hawarden Castle. 1908 H. de V. Stacpoole Patsy ii, They were in the day nursery, which was also the schoolroom. 1955 Times 15 July 5/7 Under the scheme the boroughs would become responsible for maternity and child welfare, day nurseries, [etc.]. |
| [1611 Bible Lev. xxiii. 27 On the tenth day of this seuenth moneth there shalbe a day of atonement.] 1819 L. Alexander Hebrew Ritual 82 The Conclusion Prayer..concludes the service of the *Day of Atonement. 1893 Zangwill Ghetto Tragedies 47 The great White Fast, the Day of Atonement. 1932 L. Golding Magnolia Street i. ii. 33 When she absented herself on the Feast of the New Year and the Day of Atonement, the understanding was she had a cold. |
| 1914 ‘Bartimeus’ Naval Occasions (1918) iv. 27 The *Day-on flopped exhaustedly on to a Wardroom settee. |
| 1945 Youth's Opportunity (Min. Educ. Pamphlet iii) 12 Part-time *day release by industry for the purpose of technical commercial and art courses. 1955 Times 23 May 6/2 In part-time day-release courses an effective proportion..of the students' time should be devoted to non-vocational work. 1965 J. Melville There lies your Love i. 24 She was what was called a day-release student: a student who also had a job but was continuing her education. |
| 1823 Nicholson Pract. Builder 577 A Small County Prison..A spacious *day room on the ground floor. |
| c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 718 At *day set he on his way is goon. |
| c 1822 Beddoes Pygmalion Poems 154 By moon, or lamp, or sunless *day shine white. 1872 Tennyson Gareth & Lynette 1065 Naked in open dayshine. |
| 1673 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 316 That every publick house hang out lanthornes..till 8 a clock at night, from *day shutting. |
| 1927, etc. *Day side [see night side s.v. night n. 14]. 1963 Daily Tel. 20 May 26/4 He could see the larger stars on the ‘dayside’ of the Earth if he kept both sunshine and earthshine out of his capsule window. 1979 Washington Post 8 Jan. d11/1 Postal clerks who sort mail for Zone 11 on the midnight shift..missed the big dayside collection. 1980 Washington Post Mag. 20 Jan. 8/3 At 11:30 he dropped it into the city desk basket and went home, thinking that the dayside would get a kick out of it. 1982 Nature 4 Feb. 365/2 When the solar wind magnetic field points south,..magnetic ‘reconnection’ can occur across the dayside boundary. |
| 1877 A. H. Green Phys. Geol. x. §3. 441 *Day-stones. |
| 1850 Clough Dipsychus 83 The chilly *day-streak signal. |
| 1883 Durham Univ. Jrnl. 17 Dec. 141 Sorry indeed to see the *day-student system becoming the rule. |
| 1846 Railway Reg. III. 248 *Day tickets—The charge is a fare and a half. |
| 1818 Keats Endym. iii. 365 At brim of *day-tide. |
| a 1592 Greene Orpharion Wks. (Grosart) XII. 86 A labourer for *day wages. 1625 tr. Camden's Hist. Eliz. i. (1688) 49 Souldiers, Servants, and all that took Day-Wages for their Labour. 1963 Times 10 May 6/5 The recent provisional agreement on pay increases for day-wage men and craftsmen had been endorsed. |
| 1496 Dives & Paup. (W. de W.) v. xi. 210, I haue made the a *dayewayte to the people of Israell. |
| 1597–1602 W. Riding Sessions Rolls 49 (Yorks. Archæol. Assoc.), Vigilias suas in diebus anglice their *daywarde. |
| 1876 Lanier Poems, Psalm of West 367 Whilst ever *dayward thou art steadfast drawn. |
| 1698 Cay in Phil. Trans. XX. 369 A meer *Day-Water..immediately from the Clouds. 1808 Curwen Econ. Feeding Stock 198 A poor clay..extremely retentive of day-water. |
Add:
[VI.] [24.] day letter U.S. (now
Hist.), a cheap-rate, low-priority telegram delivered on the day it is sent;
cf. night letter n. a.
| 1910 H. L. Sellers in Hearing Bill 19402 (U.S. Congress. Senate Comm. on District of Columbia) 15 We naturally are very eager..to complete the line..so that the..capital may have..a real night letter that will mean something to them. It will be a *day letter as well as a night letter. 1960 Nanassy & Selden Business Dict. 57 The day letter is not handled so speedily as the full-rate message. |
▸
day trader n. Stock Market (
orig. U.S.) a person who buys and sells shares over the period of one day's trading, with the intention of profiting from short-term price fluctuations; (now)
esp. one who trades in such a manner from home via the Internet.
| [1900 N.Y. Times 29 Apr. 26/4 Day-by-day traders, speculators who gamble, may be careless of the characters of men managing corporations.] [1936 Times 6 Nov. 23/6 Some day-to-day traders, however, thought that the advance was too fast and were disposed to take profits.] 1953H. Working in Amer. Econ. Rev. 43 329 Perhaps the largest class of professional traders is that of ‘*day traders’—those who operate primarily on intraday price fluctuations. 1999 N.Y. Times 13 Aug. 6/5 Wall Street analysts and day-trading officials say many former professional traders, brokers and financial services professionals are quitting their jobs to work full time as day traders or money managers from home offices. |
▸
day trading n. Stock Market (
orig. U.S.) the practice of buying and selling shares over the period of one day's trading, with the intention of profiting from short-term price fluctuations; (now
esp.) such trading undertaken from home via the Internet.
| 1954H. Working in Proc. Chicago Board of Trade Ann. Symp. Sept. 114 (title) Price effects of scalping and *day trading. 1999 Daily Tel. 30 July 1/1 He was..a chemist who had been involved in day-trading, a form of share dealing in which self-taught investors buy and sell stocks and shares on the Internet. |
▸
day wear n. wear (
wear n. 1a) during the daytime; (hence, usually as one word) articles of clothing, etc., suitable for wearing during the day,
freq. as opposed to the more formal styles of evening wear (
cf. evening wear n. at
evening n.1 Additions).
| 1872 N.Y. Times 12 Dec. 5/4 Dress sleeves for *day wear are coat-shaped or quite tight-fitting, with the cuff worn outside. 1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage ii. 54 Gloves, with simple self-colour embroidery round the cuffs on the backs for day wear. 1980 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 27 Aug. d2/5 Mr. Kraft..added..that his efforts ‘primarily would be to expand our franchises in the foundations, sleepwear and daywear areas’. 1998 BBC Vegetarian Good Food May 64 Bobbi Brown's subtle formulations are perfect for daywear and particularly good for more mature complexions. |
▪ II. † day, v.1 Obs. In 3
dæȝen,
daiȝen.
[A form of daw v., assimilated to day n.] To dawn.
| c 1205 Lay. 21726 Lihten hit gon dæȝen [c 1275 daȝeie]. Ibid. 21854 Faire hit gon daȝiȝen. Ibid. 26940 Hit agon daiȝen [c 1275 daȝeȝe]. c 1275 Ibid. 1694 A morwe þo hit daȝede [c 1205 dawede]. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 112 Dayyn, or wexyn day..diesco. Ibid. 114 Dawyn idem est, quod dayyn [Pynson dayen], auroro. c 1460 Towneley Myst., Jacob 108 Farewell now, the day dayes. 1483 Cath. Angl. 88 To Day, diere, diescere. |
Hence
ˈdaying vbl. n. = dawing,
dawning.
| c 1420 Anturs of Arth. xxxvii, In þe daying of þe day. c 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 927 At the dayeng, a l'ajourner. |
▪ III. † day, v.2 Obs. [f. day n.; in several disconnected senses.] 1. trans. To appoint a day to any one; to cite or summon for an appointed day. [
transl. Flem. daghen.]
| 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 19 That he shold be sente fore and dayed ernestly agayn, for t[o] abyde such Iugement. |
2. To submit (a matter) to, or decide by, arbitration.
Cf. dayment.
| 1484 [see daying vbl. n.]. 1580 Lupton Sivqila 117 They haue bin enforced when all their money was..spent, to haue their matter dayed, and ended by arbitrement. |
3. To give (a person) time for payment;
absol. to postpone payment. (
Cf. day n. 12.)
| 1566 Wager Cruell Debter, The most part of my debtters have honestly payed, And they that were not redy I have gently dayed. 1573 Tusser Husb. lxii. (1878) 139 Ill husbandrie daieth, or letteth it lie: Good husbandrie paieth, the cheaper to bie. |
4. To appoint or fix as a date.
| 1594 Carew Tasso (1881) 114 So when the terme was present come, that dayd The Captaine had. |
5. To measure by the day; to furnish with days.
| 1600 Abp. Abbot Exp. Jonah 545 Is it nothing that their life is dayed and houred, and inched out by a fearful God and terrible? 1616 Budden tr. Aerodius' Parent's Hon. 168 Naturall duty, can neither be dayde nor yeard, nor determined by age, or eldership. 1839 Bailey Festus xiii. (1848) 122 When earth was dayed—was morrowed. |
6. to year and day: to subject to the statutory period of a year and a day.
| 1523 Fitzherb. Surv. 28 b, And put them in sauegarde to the lordes vse till they be yered and deyd. a 1626 W. Sclater Serm. Exper. (1638) 186 Whiles favours are new, we can..say, God be thanked; but, once year'd and day'd, they scarce ever come more into our thought. |
▪ IV. day var. of
dey, dairywoman.