so

▪ I. so, adv. and conj.
    (səʊ)
    Forms: (see below).
    [Common Teut.: OE. swa, swā (also swǣ, swē, etc.), = OFris. sa, so (Fris. sa, so, sô, sü, etc.), MDu. so, soo, soe (Du. zoo), OS. sô (MLG. so, LG. so, sou), OHG. sô, suo (MHG. sô, sâ, G. so), ON. svá (Icel. svo, † so, Norw. and Da. saa, Sw. så), Goth. swa (also swē). The precise relation of some of these forms to each other, and the ultimate origin of the stem, are uncertain.
    In OE. frequently strengthened by a preceding eall (all): for the subsequent history of this see also and as.]
    A. Illustration of forms.
    1. (α) 1 suae, suæ (suoæ), swæ.

c 725 Corpus Gl. (Hessels) Q 18 Quantisper, suae suiðe. 805 Charter in O.E. Texts 442 Suæ hueðer hiora suæ leng lifes. c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxiv. §9 Swæ me ðincð. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xiii. 32 Suoæ þæt fleᵹendo heofnes cymes.

    (β) 1 sue, suue, 1, 3 swe.

c 700 Cædmon Hymn 3 Sue he uundra ᵹihuaes..or astelidæ. c 825 Vesp. Psalter ii. 9 Swe swe fet lames. c 875 Erfurt Gloss., Quacumque, suue suidae. 971 Blickl. Hom. 23 Swe we nu ᵹeearnian willaþ. c 1205 Lay. 29805 And swe he dude seoððe.

    (γ) 1–3 se (2 sæ).

c 831 Charter in O.E. Texts 446 Suelc mon se ðet lond hebbe. 1154 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1137, War sæ me tilede. Ibid. an. 1140, Ware se he com. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 49 Se wide se þet lond wes.

    2. (Only OE., north., and Sc.) (α) 1–7 swa (5 swaa), 1, 4–7 sua, 4 squa; 6 sway, suay, swae.

Beowulf 29 Swa he selfa bæd. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. v. 31 Sua hua forletas wif his. c 1200 Ormin Ded. 107 Þatt he't write swa. c 1325 Metr. Hom. 6 That it be sua. c 1375 Cursor M. 522 (Fairf.), Squa ys þe firmament. a 1400 Syr Perc. 524, I rede at it be swaa! c 1470 Henry Wallace i. 250 Thai left him swa. 1537 Registr. Aberdon. (Maitl. Cl.) I. 413 And sway to continue. 1539 Lib. Officialis Sti. Andree (Abbotsford Cl.) 85 Suay þat þe said mareage cum nocht to effect. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 274 Sua sal ȝe find na place. 1597 Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae (ed. 2) 502 Thou sal sie it swae. a 1670 Spalding Troub. Chas. I (Spalding Cl.) I. 88 Right sua Caithness, Sutherland [etc.]. 1678 Sir G. Mackenzie Crim. Laws Scot. i. xxi. ii. (1699) 111 In swa far as he came.

    (β) 5–7, 9 sa, 6 saa.

a 1400–50 Alexander 259 Sa clere a witt & sa clene. 1513 Douglas æneid i. i. 16 Sa feill dangeris. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. II. 104 Althoch neuir saa Just. 1673 Yorkshire Dial. 4 (E.D.S.), Thou stayes sa lang. 1801 Lonsdale Dial. 4 (E.D.S.), I sat up sa lang yesternete. 1887 Hall Caine Son of Hagar i. i, The..days you crack on sa often.

    (γ) 5–6 say, 7– sae; 6, 9 sea, 7 seay; 6, 9 see, 9 seea.

14.. Sc. Leg. Saints xviii. (Mary Egypt) 290 Lyand say one athyr syd. 1533 Gau Richt Vay 102 Say greit faith. c 1566 Merie Tales of Skelton S.'s Wks. 1843 I. p. lviii, In gewd faith, saith the Kendallman, do see. 1583 Leg. Bp. St. Androis 899 Threttie pundis he conqueist sea. c 1620 A. Hume Brit. Tongue 17 Sae soft a mynt. 1684 Yorkshire Dial. 15 (E.D.S.), What need thou be seay flaid? 1728 Ramsay Anacreontic on Love 12, I thought it sae. 1785 Burns 2nd Ep. Lapraik vii, Sae I've begun to scrawl. 1808 J. Stagg Misc. Poems 143 Suld ye..be sea daft. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xvi, Do sae, minister—do sae.

    3. (α) 2–3 swo, 3 suo, 4 zuo.

a 1200 Vices & Virtues 33 Swo he mai me folȝin. c 1275 Passion our Lord 543 in O.E. Misc., Iesus crist þet suo aros. 1340 Ayenb. 1 Zuo by hit.

    (β) 3– so, 4–6 soo, 5–7 soe; dial. 8–9 soa, zo, 9 soo, zoo, zaw, etc.

a 1240 in O.E. Hom. I. 203 Nere þe heorte so cold. a 1300 Cursor M. 16762 + 41 Mony grete clerkez..Seghen þe son fare soo. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 43 Þat his broþer..was so i-slawe. a 1400–50 Alexander 4772 Þat þai suld wax soo. c 1420 Avow. Arth. xxiv, Is hit soe? 1482 Cely Papers (Camden) 131, Y would nott a wreten so. 1557 Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) 463 The fynes..soo by hym not executed. 1683 Col. Rec. Pennsylv. I. 71 Which was soe done. 1746 Exmoor Scolding 195 (E.D.S.), And more an zo. 1785 W. Hutton Bran New Wark 421 (E.D.S.), Soa far fra loving the man. 1867 Rock Jim an' Nell xcv, Zo let us muve along.

    B. Signification. I. 1. In the way or manner described, indicated, or suggested; in that style or fashion.
    Contextually the sense may be ‘in the same way’, ‘by that means’, etc. For the elliptic phrase so please you, etc., see please v. 3 c.

c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. v. §3 Ᵹelefst ðu þæt..auht godes swa ᵹeweorðan mæᵹe butan þæ m wyrhtan. c 1200 Ormin Ded. 44 Icc hafe sett her..maniȝ word Þe rime swa to fillenn. a 1250 Prov. ælfred 350 So me may þane loþe lengust lede. a 1300 Cursor M. 19005 Fra dede to lijf nu resin es he,..Raisd sua wid godds might. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 102 A Yeman had he, and servantes nomoo At that tyme, for him luste ride soo. a 1450 Mirk's Festial 26 A well yn Rome of watyr turned ynto oyle and ran soo all þat day. 1563 Homilies ii. Right Use Ch. i. (1859) 154 His heavenly grace, wherewith he..endueth his people so there assembled. 1580 in W. H. Hale Prec. Causes of Office (1841) 85 They had in their church a godly interlude..Dominus monuit that herafter they do not so prophane their churche. 1643 Denham Cooper's Hill 202 For so our Children, thus our Friends, we love. 1725 Pope Odyss. iv. 159 So moves..The silver-shafted goddess of the chace! 1780 Mirror No. 106, A person, engaged in the ordinary business of life,..and, while so engaged [etc.]. 1840 Thackeray Shabby-genteel Story viii, There was the woman at Pau; and that girl..at Vienna. He went on just so about them all. 1874 T. Hardy Far from Madding Crowd xx, ‘You don't hold the shears right, miss... Incline the edge so,’ he said.

    2. a. With the verbs do, say, think, etc., latterly assuming the function of an object and passing into the sense of ‘that’.
    Placed either after or before the verb; but the latter order is now only literary and archaic, as in the phrase so to do (after quot. 1552).

(a) c 825 Vesp. Psalter cxlvii. 20 Ne dyde swe ylcre cneorisse. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. John xviii. 22 Andswarast ðu swa? c 1055 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia VIII. 301 Do eall swa be eallum þam oðrum. c 1205 Lay. 2348 Ah ne dude he nawiht swo. a 1300 Cursor M. 13056 Qui sais þou sua? 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. ii. 90 Þe Tixt telleþ not so. a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxiii. 224 Offreþ þe lombes of Innocensye, For he comaundet so. c 1450 in Aungier Hist. Syon (1840) 251, I haue not in mende that I seyd so or dyd so. a 1536 Songs, Carols, etc. (E.E.T.S.) 21 Pesse, dere son, tell me not soo. 1611 Bible Isaiah xx. 2 And he did so, walking naked. 1697 J. Lewis Mem. Dk. Glocester (1789) 24 When the Princess asked him, who taught him so? he said, Lewis. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxxviii, ‘I must believe so, sir,’ replied Emily. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xxiii, It was now the presiding Judge's turn to address the jury. He did so briefly and distinctly. a 1834 Coleridge Confess. Enq. Spirit iii. (1840) 37, I cannot doubt that they think so. 1892 Law Times Rep. LXVII. 252/1 If this had not been true, the pilot would have taken very good care to tell us so.

(b) a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 656, Ða seonde se kyning æfter þone abbode, þet he æuestlice scolde to him cumon, & he swa dyde. a 1275 Prov. ælfred 292 Ȝif he for-swunken swoti wuere, swo hie ne þochte. a 1300 Cursor M. 4933 Sa þai me tald. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 123 Yf ye So do, ye may haue hoppe [etc.]. 1496 Cov. Leet Book 572 Þat they may be compelled so to do. 1535 Coverdale Judith vi. 17 He tolde them..how Holofernes people wolde haue slayne him for so sayenge. 1552 Bk. Common Prayer, Morning Prayer, Yet oughte we most chiefly so to doe, when [etc.]. 1660 Sharrock Vegetables 16 You must not sow them too thick, for so doing hath lost many a peck of seed. 1816 Scott Bl. Dwarf xiv, So exclaimed Ellieslaw. 1844 Disraeli Coningsby v. iii, So saying, the secretary effected his escape. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commonw. I. xxxiv. 521 Some State legislatures have affected so to do.

    b. With auxiliary verbs in elliptic use (requiring the addition of do or to do). Sometimes emphasizing a previous statement (quot. 1777).

Beowulf 797 Ðær hie meahton swa. a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. xv. 49 Me thunketh myn herte breketh a tuo; Suete God, whi shal hit swo? a 1400 Isumbras 57 In ȝouthe I maye bothe ryde and goo, When I ame alde I may nott so. a 1425 Cursor M. 9342 (Trin.), Kyngis anoynt ȝe haue to⁓fore; So shul ȝe þenne no more. c 1475 Babees Bk. 127 Now must I telle in shorte, for I muste so [i.e. in brief], Youre observaunce that ye shalle done. 1607 Shakes. Cor. ii. iii. 262 Brut[us]. Repaire to th' Capitoll. All. We will so. 1777 Sheridan Trip Scarb. iii. iv, It's well I have a husband a-coming, or ecod I'd marry the baker, I would so. 1860 Ruskin Unto this Last iv. §81 All England may, if it so chooses, become one manufacturing town. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxi. 97 Forth, fair bride, to the people, if So it likes you.

    c. In this way; thus; as follows.

a 1250 Prov. ælfred 405 For so seyde Salomon, þe wise: ‘Þe mon þat her wel deþ’ [etc.]. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. i. 480 For when it es born it cryes swa: If it be man it says ‘a. a’ [etc.]. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 462 So, or on thys wyse,..sic, siccine. 1611 Bible Isaiah xviii. 4 For so the Lord sayd vnto me; I will take my rest [etc.]. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair vi, How Amelia trembled as she opened it! So it ran—[etc.].

    3. a. Used as predicate with the verb be.
    In literary use still placed before the verb for emphasis, or in archaic phrases, as so be it (formerly used as a rendering of amen).

(a) Beowulf 1471 Ne wæs þæm oðrum swa. c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxvi. §7 Ac ðeah hi his nu næfre ne ᵹe⁓lefen, ðeah hit is swa. a 1000 Rel. Ant. I. 35 Ic ᵹe-lyfe on..þat ece lif. Sy it swa. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 55, I praye God, if it were so, I strangle of þis brede. a 1400–50 Alexander 179 Sen it is sett to be soo, & slipe it ne may. 1530 Palsgr. 586 I holde you a noble it is nat so. 1611 Bible Judges vi. 38 If the deaw be on the fleece onely... And it was so. 1697 Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. i. (1703) 164 You argue from fact to necessity; 'Tis so, therefore it must be so. 1756 Burke Vind. Nat. Soc. Wks. I. 27 It is always so; but was here emphatically so. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xviii, If this be all so, is it not reasonable [etc.]. 1862 M. E. Braddon Lady Audley xxiii, I pray that it may be so, but I cannot think that it is so—I cannot even hope that it is so. 1880 ‘Mark Twain’ Tramp Abroad xxvii. 246 No! Is that so?

(b) c 1000 ælfric Exod. x. 11 Hit ne mæᵹ na swa beon. 1340 Ayenb. 1 Ich bidde þe hit by my sseld..al to mi lyues ende, zuo by hit. c 1375 Cursor M. 1148 (Fairf.), For if I walde for-gif hit þe, hit nys noȝt worþi so to be. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints ii. (Paul) 1015 Gif it swa be, we mon all obey till his lare. 1535 Coverdale Judith xiii. 15 That thou mayest se that it so is, beholde, this is y⊇ heade of Holofernes. 1536 Primer Salisb. Use 48 As it..euer shalbe. So be it. 1599 Porter Angry Wom. Abingt. (Percy Soc.) 8 And his men be good fellowes, so it is. 1682 Bunyan Holy War Wks. 1768 II. 7 No reason being annexed, but so I will have it, so it shall be. 1812 Crabbe Tales xviii, If he On aught determined, so it was to be. 1833 T. Hook Parson's Dau. i. ix, How the conversation took that particular turn, I do not presume to know—so it was.

    b. With auxiliary verbs in elliptic use (requiring the addition of (to) be, (to) have it, etc.).

Beowulf 2091 He mec þær on innan..ᵹedon wolde..: hyt ne mihte swa. c 1205 Lay. 131 Mid wintre he wes bi⁓weaued; Swo hit wolde godd. c 1440 Alph. Tales 83 And Saynt Petur wolde nevur so, it myght nevur com samen agayn. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xvii. 392 Ye saye well,..and I am soo contente. 1594 Greene & Lodge Looking Gl. G.'s Wks. (Rtldg.) 130 You are a welcome guest, if so you please. 1701 J. Norris Ideal World i. ii. 95 We need but.., instead of I affirm so if so, say If so I affirm so. 1731 Pope Let. to Hill 15 Feb., I am very desirous to leave out that note if you like so.

    c. Followed by a clause introduced by that.

a 1300 Cursor M. 11725 Quer it es sua, yee wat it noght, Þat handes mine þis tre has wroght. c 1400 Beryn 3569 Sith þat it so is, That of the first pleyntyff wee have sikirnes. a 1450 Le Morte Arth. 2517 The knyghtis..said..that so them thought That syr mordred the sekereste was. 1538 Starkey England i. i. 10 Though hyt be so that man abusyth the..cumpany of man. 1663 S. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. (1687) 474 Yet so it was, that one day he seriously told his Friend. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 144 ¶1 Yet so it is, that People can bear any Quality in the World better than Beauty. 1763 J. Brown Poetry & Music v. 61 How came it so to pass, that the first Race of Men were..of a stronger Turn to Poetry?

    d. In clauses of supposition (sometimes with omission of that). by so (that): see by prep. 23 d.

13.. in Horstman Hampole's Wks. (1896) I. 169 If so be þat þo haf les schame with þi foule herte þen with þi foule body. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 48 That can I do wel, Be so my lif therto wol laste. c 1482 in Cal. Proc. Chanc. Q. Eliz. II. (1830) Pref. 64 If it hadde be soo that the forsaide John Ferrers hadde not made feithfull promyse. 1495–1611 [see if conj. 8 f]. 1638 R. Brathwait Barnabees Jrnl. (1818) 193 Thus love I thee, so be thou loue me. 1665–1861 [see if conj. 8 f].

    4. a. Representing a word or phrase already employed: Of that nature or description; of or in that condition, etc.

c 1000 ælfric Saints' Lives II. xxix. 52 Paulus..ᵹemette ænne blindne mann, se wæ s ᵹeboren swa. c 1440 Alph. Tales 85 A preste þat trowid he was a passand gude synger, not-with-stondyng he was not so. 1563 Homilies ii. Fasting i. (1859) 284 Which works..are called good works, and are so indeed. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 128 Some come, some go, This life is so. a 1640 Massinger Old Law iv. ii, He's merry As if he had no such charge: one with that care Could never be so. 1664 H. More Myst. Iniq. ii. ii. i. 338 If the Devil be a Beast, that which makes him so is the wickedness of his nature. 1737 Pope Hor. Epist. i. vi. 2 To make men happy, and to keep them so. 1842 Borrow Bible in Spain vii, He was half intoxicated, and soon became three parts so. 1885 Law Reports 15 Q.B.D. 316 The catch..was worn away, and probably had been so for months.

    b. With verbs of thinking, considering, etc.: To be such, as such.

a 1300 Cursor M. 27573 Man es..prode for halines, And lates oft lightly o þaa Men þat er noght funden sua. 1609 Bible (Douay) 1 Macc. x. comm., It was not in the kings powre to make Jonathas highpriest, but..the king..did so account him. 1644 Vicars God in Mount 195 They taking us to be their friends, and wee them so too. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 126 ¶1 Her Attractions would indeed be irresistible, but that she thinks them so. 1784 J. Potter Virtuous Villagers II. 179 Though I am afraid it is not always considered so. 1847 C. Brontë J. Eyre ii, ‘Silence! This violence is all most repulsive;’ and so, no doubt, she felt it. 1896 Law Times C. 358/1 R. became a lunatic, and was so found by inquisition.

    c. As object after have.

1658 Whole Duty Man iii. 52 The first is the having a mean and low opinion of our selves, the second is the being content that others should have so of us. 1662 Stillingfleet Orig. Sacræ ii. iii. §4 Whether the person..hath divine authority for what he saith. What ground can I have to believe that he hath so?

    d. With call, name, etc.: By that name or designation. (Cf. 6.)

1608 Shakes. Per. iii. iii. 13 My..babe Marina, Whom, for she was borne at sea, I haue named so. 1617 Collins Def. Bp. Ely To Rdr. p. ix, Hee maruells that the Papists should be so called [sc. novitii]. 1659 Pearson Creed (1839) 446 The..Scriptures..term him plainly and expressly so. 1728 Swift Gulliver i. viii, My son Johnny, named so after his uncle. 1803 Wordsw. Blind Highland Boy 11 A Highland Boy!—why call him so? 1859 Hadley Ess. x. (1873) 194 This mode of ‘futurizing’ (if we may so call it).

    5. In various elliptic uses: † a. = Yes. Obs.^—1

a 1425 Cursor M. 13560 (Trin.), Somme seide nay & somme so.

    b. After adverbs and conjunctions, as how so? not so, if so, etc.

a 1300 [see how adv. 17]. 1526 Tindale Luke i. 60 Not soo, but he shalbe called Jhon. 1579 Fulke Heskins' Parl. 155 This hath nothing lesse then that. Why so? 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. May 312 If Foxes bene so crafty, as so. a 1593 Marlowe Edw. II, v. ii, That Edmund laid a plot To set his brother free, no more but so. 1676 G. Etherege Man of Mode i. i, Dor. I am glad he pitcht upon Loveit. Bell. How so? 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xxviii, He will not die unless we abandon him; and if so, we are indeed answerable for his blood. 1842 Tennyson Lady Clare xi, ‘Nay now,..keep the secret all ye can.’ She said, ‘Not so’. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxxxv. 1 Half I hate, half love. How so? one haply requireth. 1896 G. Boothby Dr. Nikola i, ‘I know China as well as any living Englishman.’ ‘Quite so.’

    c. As an introductory particle. Also so, so.
    This and the two following uses are common in Shakespeare's plays.

1593 Shakes. Lucr. 330 So so, quoth he; these lets attend the time. 1602 How to choose Gd. Wife in Hazl. Dodsley IX. 55 So, let me see: my apron. 1605 1st Pt. Jeronimo i. i. 77 So, so, Andrea must be sent imbassador? 1741 Richardson Pamela III. 251 And I say..So, my good Friends!—I am glad to see you. 1775 Sheridan Rivals ii. ii, So, so, ma'am! I humbly beg pardon.

    d. As an expression of approval, or a direction to do something in a particular manner. Also in phr. so best.

(a) 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iii. i. 109 Giue me thy hand (Celestiall) so. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ix. 38 Steare steady & keep your course, so, you go wel. 1649 Lovelace Poems (1864) 112 Where now one so so spatters, t'other: no! 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. ii. 18 So, thus, keep her thus. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xxiii, Walk through the apartment... So; feel you not now that you are possessed of the full use of your limbs? 1833 T. Hook Parson's Dau. ii. i, Here, let me just turn that curl—there, so. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 637 So!, an order to desist temporarily from hauling upon a rope, when it has come to its right position.

(b) 1851 Mrs. Browning Casa Guidi Wind. ii. Wks. (1904) 372 Shaking Austria's yoke He shattered his own hand and heart. ‘So best’. 1860 Trans. Philol. Soc. LXI. 164 It is to be an omnium-gatherum, and if this be practicable, so best.

    † e. = Let it be so; it is well. Obs.

1591 Shakes. Two Gent. ii. i. 137 If it please you, so: if not: why so. 1611 ― Cymb. ii. iii. 16 If you can penetrate her with your fingering, so.

    f. With ellipse of ‘says’ or ‘writes’.

1613 F. T. Suppl. Discussion of Barlowe's Answer 220 So he; doubting as you see, of the truth of his witnesses. 1685 Stillingfl. Orig. Brit. i. 9 So Bale; but Pits places him ten years later.

    g. Ellipt. for is that so? expressing (a) recognition or realization of a fact or (b) questioning or dismissal of a statement (cf. so what, sense 10 c below).

1803 G. Colman John Bull i. 7 Peregrine. Is your house far from the sea-shore? Mrs. Brulgruddery. About three miles, Sir. Peregrine. So! I have been wandering about since day-break. 1886 Liverpool Even. Express 9 Jan. 3/4 ‘Oh, Mr. Blobbs, you can form no idea of the terrible dream I had last night.’.. ‘So?’ remarked Mr. Blobbs, continuing the perusal of the morning paper. 1903 Farmer & Henley Slang VI. 289/1 ‘The King returns to town to-day’ ‘So?’ 1973 H. Nielsen Severed Key i. 6 ‘Small craft warnings are out.’ ‘So?’ Simon queried. 1977 W. Tute Cairo Sleeper vii. 122 ‘You will see whoever Major Masri decides you should see,’ the officer said curtly... ‘So!’ she said to herself. 1978 A. Morice Murder by Proxy i. 13 ‘He's an estate agent.’.. ‘So?’ ‘So nothing.’

    h. Used to add emphasis to a statement contradicting a negative assertion made by the previous speaker. dial. or colloq. (chiefly U.S.).

1913 Dialect Notes IV. 55 So, adj., used sometimes as ‘too’ and ‘just the same’ are used to intensify an assertion in reply to an expression of scepticism. ‘You don't know anything about it!’ ‘I do so!’ 1931 Amer. Speech VII. 20 So, emphatic in absolute use. ‘I was—so!’ 1937 L. B. Murphy Social Behavior & Child Personality ii. 62 Eunice, ‘I don't.’ Anne, ‘You do so.’ 1951 N. M. Gunn Well at World's End xiv. 101 ‘You don't like butter!’ she cried. ‘I do so like butter!’ ‘You don't! You don't!’.. ‘I do so!’ he yelled. 1953 K. Tennant Joyful Condemned xii. 103 ‘How old are you?’ ‘Eighteen.’ ‘Eighteen, my fat aunt.’.. ‘I am so eighteen.’ 1979 G. Swarthout Skeletons 28 ‘I've published nineteen!’ ‘You haven't.’ ‘I have so.’

    6. In combinations: a. With past (or present) pples., as so-caused, so-formed, so-named, so-titled, etc., so-seeming.
    See also so-called, -styled, -termed.

c 1430 Hoccleve Minor Poems 124 If so-causid seeknesse on me fil As dide on the. 1467–8 Rolls of Parlt. V. 629/2 The which soo named brode sette Clothes. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iii. ii. 41, I will..plucke the borrowed vaile of modestie from the so-seeming Mist[ress] Page. 1602 W. Watson Decacord. 181 The so authorized deprives the authorizer of his superioritie over him. 1621 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. vii. (1626) 135 Whom now the so-instructed sisters led Into his chamber. 1815 Ann. Reg., Hist. 63 Forbidding all his subjects to pay taxes..to the so-titled imperial government. 1830 Herschel Study Nat. Phil. iii. iv. 304 The multiplication of so-considered elementary bodies. 1883 Nature XXVII. 326 The so-formed super-phosphate.

    b. With vbl. ns., as so-doing, so-saying.

1509 in Mem. Hen. VII (Rolls) 444 Farnando Duke and the do[ctor] de Puebla had byn dysstroyed for theyre so doyngys. 1803 tr. P. Le Brun's Mons. Botte I. 110 What! asleep yet, sluggard!.. And with so saying, pinched his ear. a 1834 Coleridge Confess. Enq. Spirit iii. (1840) 37 Because the so thinking supersedes the necessity of all after-thought.

    c. Sc. With advs., as so-like, so-wise. Cf. so-gates.

1533 Gau Richt Vay 104 To cal thayme selff..successours of the apostlis, o say lik? say lik? 1556 Lauder Tractate 428 Salyke sic Pryde pertenis to trew teaching. 1819 Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 158 Sae-wyse the Papists..Did scatter aff.

    7. As adj. a. (See quot. 1867.) so-fashion adv., in this or that manner. U.S. dial.

1867 J. F. Dimock Giraldus Cambrensis' Opera V. 431 Perhaps it was something like the modern Scotch plaid, wrapped round the body; the so use of which is certainly very ancient. 1890 Dialect Notes I. 23 So fashion, meaning so, in that way. Is this known all over New England? 1903 G. S. Wasson Cap'n Simeon's Store v. 86 It don't look right for nobody..to take and hang on to them tormented ole witch-bridles so-fashion! 1913 R. Frost in Poetry & Drama Dec. 415 I'll knock so-fashion and peep round the door When I come back, so you'll know who it is.

    † b. slang. Homosexual. Obs.

1937 in Partridge Dict. Slang. 1963 C. Mackenzie Life & Times II. 254 ‘I've come to the conclusion,’ he told me, ‘that I'm not really {oqq}so{cqq} at all. I much prefer girls.’ At this date [sc. 1899] the cant word among homosexuals for their proclivities was ‘so’. That seems to have vanished completely from current cant. 1968 J. R. Ackerley My Father & Myself xvi. 192 A young ‘so’ man, picked up by Arthur in a Hyde Park urinal. 1973 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 23 Feb. 51/4 Wilde used to call him ‘the architect of the moon’. Rothenstein, Beerbohm,..and Epstein were his more predictable friends, as he was not..at all ‘gay’, as it is now called, or, as it was then called, ‘so’.

    II. Placed at the beginning of a clause with continuative force, and freq. preceded by and.
    8. Used to confirm or strengthen a previous statement.

(a) 1154 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1135, Men..sæden ðæt micel þing sculde cumen herefter; sua dide. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. (Kölbing) 9817 Þe clerk Merlin..dede hem liȝt,..So þai dede & blisse made. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 1284 ‘Lo, yond he rit!’ Quod she, ‘ye, so he dooth’. 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 798 Abyde, syr, quod he! mary, so I do. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. v. i. 58 Ab. You should for that haue reprehended him. Adr. Why so I did. 1611 Bible Ezra iv. 24. 1653 Walton Angler ii, Now have at him with Killbuck, for he vents again. Venator. Marry! so he does. 1757 Foote Author i. Wks. 1799 I. 142 You had better hold your chattering, so you had. 1898 Watts-Dunton Aylwin iv. iii, My father's birthday? Why, so it is!

(b) c 1440 Alph. Tales 256 He bad þis whik man lay þe dead man ouerthwarte befor hym..; and so he did. 1510 Sel. Cas. Star Chamber (Selden) II. 72 Intendyng..to have drowned the same Shipp, and so hadd doon hadd nott the mariners..made great..defence. 1602 in Morris Troubles Cath. Foref. (1872) i. iv. 192 My abode at this present is, and so hath been for some years, altogether in London. 1864 Browning J. Lee's Wife iv. i, You wanted my love—is that much true? And so I did, love, so I do.

    9. Denoting similarity or parallelism in some respect between two facts, actions, etc.

(a) c 888 ælfred Boeth. xxv, Swa doð eac wudufuᵹlas. a 1200 Moral Ode 146 Ful wombe mei lihtliche speken of hunger..swa mei of pine þe ne cnauð hu þe scal a ilesten. a 1250 Prov. ælfred 308 Mony appel is bryht wiþ-vte, and bitter wiþ-inne; So is mony wymmon [etc.]. c 1350 Childh. Jesus 91 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 102/2 ‘Certes, me thrystyt wonder sore.’ ‘Certes,’ seyt Josep, ‘so do I’. c 1430 Lydg. Minor Poems (Percy Soc.) 24 The sonne chaungith, so doth the pale mone. 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 213 So again was Cyrus by Tomiris, who slue him and all his host. 1671 Milton Samson Pref., For so in Physic, things of melancholic hue and quality are us'd against melancholy. 1721 Ramsay Prospect of Plenty 7 Sae, th' heedless heir..Lets ilka sneaking fellow take a pluck. 1842 Browning Pied Piper ix, The Mayor looked blue; So did the Corporation too. 1890 Law Times LXXXIX. 165/1 If the lienors may insure, so may the owners of the injured ship and cargo.

(b) a 890 Charter in O.E. Texts 452 In þissum life ond⁓wardum, & eac swa in þæm towardan life. a 1225 Ancr. R. 130 Auh Dauid wende þider..& so deð þe gode ancre. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 11395 He sclow oure kyng Archilogus,..And so he did kyng Archomene. 1470–85 Malory Arthur ix. vi. 348 Thenne was sir Bryan ful gladde and soo was his lady & alle his knyghtes. a 1586 Sidney Ps. v. ii, Thou..in endles hatred hast The murd'rous man, and soe the fraudulent. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iii. xv. 142 Leeches will move both waies; and so will most of those animals, whose bodies consist of round and annulary fibers. 1786 Burns Ded. to G. Hamilton 7 When I'm tir'd—and sae are ye, Wi' monie a fulsome, sinfu' lie. 1842 Tennyson Dora 26 But in my time a father's word was law, And so it shall be now for me. 1884 Longman's Mag. Mar. 492 All other branches of athletic sport..have their ruling bodies, and so has cycling.

    10. a. For that reason, on that account, accordingly, consequently, therefore.
    The causative force is sometimes very slight, the use approximating to that in b.

(a) c 1250 Old Kentish Serm. in O.E. Misc. 32 Hise deciples hedde gret drede of þise tempeste, so hi a-wakede hine. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 1233 Fayn he wolde dye, So on a day he leyde him doun to slepe. c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 434 So forthe yn he went & spake wordys fell. 1563 Homilies ii. Sacrament i. (1859) 440 So then, as of necessity we must be our selves partakers of this Table [etc.]. 1616 J. Lane Contn. Sqr.'s T. vi. 334 What all pleasures dothe containe is greater, so is pleasures soveraigne. 1713 Swift Cadenus & Vanessa Wks. 1755 III. ii. 31 The cry'r was order'd to dismiss The court, so made his last O yes! 1821 Scott Pirate i, A shelter..is all I seek for. So name your rent. 1896 G. Boothby Dr. Nikola v, We leave at daybreak for Pekin, so I will wish you good⁓bye now.

(b) a 1200 Vices & Virtues 35 Karitas is heiȝest and betst of ðese þrie, and swo hie is ouer alle oðre. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2091 Maximian was suþþe aslawe,.. & so þei ssrewe robeours abbe hor wille an stounde. a 1390 Wycliffite Bible (1850) II. 738 And so alle the salmys of Dauid ben maad in noumbre of an hundrid and fifti. c 1440 Alph. Tales 164 He had not money enogh to pay for þaim; & so he frustid hym. 1549 in Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. Var. Coll. (1907) IV. 282 Quere yf this be not againste the profitt of the common people, and so voide. 1604 3rd Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. 11/1 All these Bills had the royal assent, and so were enacted. c 1680 Beveridge Serm. (1729) II. 566 He must love God with all his heart and soul, and so above all things in the world. 1818 Byron Juan i. v, But then they shone not on the poet's page, And so have been forgotten. 1888 Law Times LXXXV. 133/1 A mortgagor's tenant is emphatically a person interested in the equity of redemption, and so entitled to redeem.

    b. (a) As an introductory particle, without a preceding statement (but freq. implying one).

1710 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 21 Sept., So you have got into Presto's lodgings; very fine, truly! 1777 Sheridan Sch. Scandal ii. iii, Well—so one of my nephews is a wild rogue, hey? 1809 Byron in R. C. Dallas Corr. of B. (1825) I. 95 So Lord G* is married to a rustic! Well done! 1881 Jowett Thucyd. I. 42 And so we have met at last, but with what difficulty!

    (b) [Reflecting Yiddish idioms.] Without implication of a preceding statement, or with concessive force: = well then, in that case, very well; also (introducing interrogative clauses) with adversative force: = but then, anyway.

1950 B. Malamud in Partisan Rev. XVII. 666 Miriam returned after 11.30... ‘So where did you go?’ Feld asked pleasantly. 1952 M. Pei Story of English 182 The adverb so at the beginning of a sentence (‘So I'll pay for it!’), probably of Yiddish origin, occurs frequently in conversation. 1960 ‘E. McBain’ Give Boys Great Big Hand i. 4 ‘I warn you..I ain't got no wine.’ ‘So who wants wine?’ 1977 F. Branston Up & Coming Man v. 49 ‘How much profit..?’ ‘Impossible to do more than make a wild guess.’ ‘So make a wild guess.’

    c. so what?: a retort made to an assertion, implying that the problem expressed has no immediate interest or obvious solution. Also as attrib. phr. orig. U.S.

1934 M. H. Weseen Dict. Amer. Slang 399 So what?—What of it? What does it matter?.. What does that have to do with the matter? Your remark has no bearing or significance. 1935 F. Baldwin Innocent Bystander v. 83 ‘He has a wife,’ said the girl gloomily. ‘So what?’ asked Angela carelessly. 1938 C. Landery (title) So what? a young man's odyssey. 1949 Hansard Commons 21 Nov. 104 That is unfortunate and disappointing but, to use an American expression, ‘So what?’ 1953 in Shorter Oxf. Eng. Dict. (1955). Add., The tragedy of the ‘So what?’ generation. 1960 M. A. Sindall Matey xiii. 177 She suddenly yawned and flung the magazine on to the seat. ‘So what!’ she murmured. 1968 C. Watson Charity ends at Home x. 126 No, the fact is that Henny and I got along as well as most. Not around each other's necks all the time, but so what? 1970 T. Hilton Pre-Raphaelites viii. 201 Burne-Jones pushed art so far away from this world that our reactions to some of his paintings are of a merely so-what kind.

    11. Denoting sequence, freq. without implication of manner, and hence passing into: Then, thereupon, thereafter, subsequently.

(a) c 1300 Havelok 2858 Thanne he hauede sikernesse Taken.., so dide he calle Þe erl of Cestre. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. viii. 232 So [earlier texts þenne] shalt þow come to a court. c 1450 Holland Howlat 794 Sa come the Ruke. c 1614 Sir W. Mure Dido & æneas Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 72 Achates only he his convoy makes, Swa journey taks where fortune guides the way. 1697 J. Lewis Mem. Dk. Glocester (1789) 29 The Princess thought it high time to have him taught to walk regularly, so by degrees to dance.

(b) 1470–85 Malory Arthur ii. v. 82 Balyn hyt hym thorugh the sheld, and the hauberk perysshed, & so percyd thurgh his body. 1517 R. Torkington Pilgr. (1884) 2 The thursday I went to Seynt Denys.., and so retornyd a gayne the same nyght to Parys. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. vi. 4 b, The Ambassadour shewed hym his commission, and so tooke his leaue of him. 1620 E. Blount Horæ Subs. 349 But for a tast and so away. 1715 Maryland Laws vi. (1723) 20 Stakes..with Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so to an Hundred. 1821 Scott Pirate ii, Thence by a whaling vessel to Lerwick, and so to Jarlshof. 1892 A. J. Butler tr. Memoirs Marbot I. iii. 17 Then we marched out as we had come in, to the drum, and so to bed.

    † 12. Following on conditional clauses: Then.

a 1536 Tindale Doct. Treat. (Parker Soc.) 433 If thou believe not.., so is it impossible that [etc.]. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 18 Will thow thy sinfull lyfe confes,..Sa ar ȝe worthie, small and greit.

    III. To that extent; in that degree.
    For ever so, never so, in emphatic use, see ever adv. 9 b, c, and never adv. 4.
    13. a. With adjs. or advs. (or equivalent phrases), in negative and interrogative clauses. not so preceding an adj., in the sense ‘not very, none too―’: see not adv. and n. C 2 d.

(a) c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. v. §3 Ne ᵹelyfe ic no þæt hit ᵹeweorþan meahte swa endebyrdlice. c 975 Rushw. Gosp. Matt. viii. 10 Swa micel ᵹeleafa ne ᵹemotte ic in Israhele. c 1205 Lay. 600 Nes castel nan swa strong. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7551 Þer nas prince in al þe world of so noble fame. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 54 In suilk apparaille dight, þat so riche armes was neuer sene with sight. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 15509 In al this world is non silke, So noble werk, ne so riche. 1501 Plumpton Corr. 157, I was never so werie & soferd of my life, since I was borne. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 22 The great Bistorte hath long leaves like Patience, but smaller, and not so smothe or playne. 1646 Fuller Wounded Consc. (1841) 335 A meaner man, of whose spirituality the patient hath not so high..conceits. 1746 Francis tr. Horace, Epist. ii. i. 46 They neither wrestle, sing, or paint so well. 1797 Godwin Enquirer i. vi. 38 Men were no longer shut up in so narrow boundaries. 1803–5 Wordsw. Solitary Reaper 13 A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 89 The Cavaliers..were by no means disposed to revive an institution so odious.

(b) c 900 tr. Baeda's Hist. v. ix. (1890) 410 Forhwon seᵹdes ðu æcgbrihte swa ᵹemeleaslice & swa wlæclice þa ðing..? c 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 340 And if a man wol aske hem prively Why they been clothed so unthriftily [etc.]. 14.. 26 Pol. Poems xxvi. 24, I..asked who had..brought her in so drowpyng chere. 1445 in Anglia XXVIII. 281 Is his worship of so litel peys? 1598 Marston Sco. Villanie iii. ix, Why lookes neat Curusall so simpringly? 1611 Bible John xiv. 9 Haue I bin so long time with you? 1690 Locke Hum. Und. iii. v. §9 The reason why I take so particular notice of this. 1735 Berkeley Querist §215 Whence is it that Barbs and Arabs are so good horses? 1780 Mirror No. 95, She..asked me, with her usual good-humour, what made me look so grave? 1850 Newman Difficulties Anglicans i. v, What am I to say in answer to conduct so preposterous?

    b. Followed by a relative clause or equivalent complement. (Cf. 24.)
    Rarely when the antecedent clause is affirmative.

1581 in Allen Martyrdom Campion (1908) 17 Is it possible to find xii so wicked..men in this citye..that will finde us guiltie togeather of this one crime? 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 853 No perfection is so absolute, That some impurity doth not pollute. 1601 ― Jul. C. i. ii. 316 Who so firme, that cannot be seduc'd? 1610 ― Temp. v. 269 A Witch..so strong That could controle the Moone. 1611 Bible Job xli. 10 None is so fierce that dare stirre him vp. 1753 L. M. tr. Du Boscq's Accompl. Woman 26 There is no design so black, which Ambition scruples to conceive. 1780 Mirror No. 92, There is nothing so absurd or extravagant, which riches..will not tempt him to commit. 1821 Scott Kenilw. viii, He..came not thither so private but what he was espied by one who told me.

    14. a. In affirmative clauses, tending to become a mere intensive without comparative force, and sometimes emphasized in speaking and writing.

(a) Beowulf 347 Ᵹif he us ᵹeunnan wile, Þæt we hine swa godne gretan moton. c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxv. §3 Nu ðu þæt swa openlice onᵹiten hæfst, ne ðearfe ic nu..ymb ðæt swincan. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 171 Þe wrecches þet ha seh swa wraðe werkes wurchen. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 590 Þat king lotrin..dude al his wille, vor he lokede so rowe. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 4073 Þe empire, þat was swa myghty, Es now destruyed a grete party. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 1 This vice, which so out of rule Hath sette ous alle, is cleped Gule. 1412 26 Pol. Poems xi. 50 God dede þe make, Put soule of resoun in flesche so frele. 1503 Hawes Examp. Virt. xii. 238 Amonge the floures so swete of ayre. 1626 W. Sclater Exp. 2 Thess. (1629) 297 The bones of so dogged Contentions. 1678 Dryden All for Love iii. i, I fear'd he loved her:..For 'twere impossible that two, so one, Should not have lov'd the same. 1741 Richardson Pamela III. 168 My Face..was hid in my Bosom, and I looked so silly! 1820 Keats Lamia i. 183 To see herself escap'd from so sore ills. 1839–52 Bailey Festus 208 The Norman! so noble, and stately and tall. 1882 Floyer Unexpl. Baluchistan 302 The absence of ruined buildings, which so invariably form the major part of a Persian town.

(b) 1837 Dickens Pickw. iv, My dear brother is so good. 1853 Mrs. Gaskell Cranford i, A man is so in the way in the house. 1875 E. FitzGerald Lett. (1889) I. 369, I am so glad (as the Gushingtons say) that you like the Carlyle.

    b. Preceded by a, the, this, etc., or possessive pronouns. Now rare except in combs.

c 1205 Lay. 3812 Þu eært a swa hende gome. 13.. in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1875) 75 Of a so ȝong þing. 1340 Ayenb. 100 To by zone to ane zuo greate emperur. 1535 Joye Apol. Tindale 19 Nothinge performing his so large promyses. 1545 Brinklow Compl. 18 Ye may set to reforme thes so wicked lawes. 1629 Gaule Holy Madnesse 329 You may see your face in his so transparant cheeks. 1667 Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 81 The reason of our so long silence. a 1700 Evelyn Diary June 1645, Divers statues.., amongst which is the so celebrated Eve. 1865 Ruskin Sesame ii. §57 The one weakness of his so mighty love. 1887 Hall Caine Deemster xxxix, The so heavy burden thou bearest.

    c. With adj. and singular n., in cases similar to next, but without a. Now rare.

1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1490 Vor he was so god kniȝt & al so so noble king, He bed vor to ȝiue him is doȝter in spousing. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) vi. 66 Thei seyn, that thei scholde not entre in to so holy Place. c 1425 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 1417 Syth they so long tyme haue made me so madde. 1557 North Gueuara's Diall Pr. 110 In the time of so great and excellent philosopher. 1814 Scott Let. in Lockhart (1837) III. ix. 292 So short time have I been absent. 1867 Ruskin Time & Tide ix. §40 In so apparently desultory manner.

    d. With adj. followed by a. † Sometimes preceded by this.

(a) 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1538 Gret is þe gode gle,..Þat.. ȝe wolde..pyne yow with so pouer a mon. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy iv. 1855 Hector, þat was so noble a knyȝt. 1548 Hall Chron., Rich. III, 56 b, Yf we dye so glorious a death in so good a quarell. 1624 Quarles Sion's Sonn. viii. 4 To kisse the lips of so, so faire a Bride. 1780 Mirror No. 95, I thought I had never beheld so interesting an object. a 1845 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. iii. Brothers Birchington lxvi, So barefaced a blunder. 1902 Gairdner Hist. Eng. Ch. 16th Cent. viii. (1903) 140 So insulting a message was clearly out of the question.

(b) 1611 Bible 1 Kings iii. 9 Who is able to iudge this thy so great a people? 1632 Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 169 Of such as were privy to this so important a secret. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 22 Apr. 1694, How this so young a gentle⁓man..could live in such an expensive manner. 1736 Butler Anal. ii. vii, This so remarkable an Establishment.

    † e. With a or an inserted before the adj. (cf. such a.). Also so very a. Obs.

1569 J. Sandford tr. Agrippa's Van. Artes 66 b, The feeble definition of so an approved philosopher. 1614 Selden Titles Honor 148 Vpon so an apparant diminution of the peoples libertie. 1657 Fuller Notes Jonah i. 5 So an unnatural sin was atheism. 1664 Pepys Diary 10 Jan., We are all glad, so very a known rogue he was.

    † f. With a inserted between the two parts of a combination. Obs.

1595 Shakes. John iv. ii. 27 Putting on so new a fashion'd robe. 1631 Massinger Believe as You list ii. i, Was there ever So sweete a temperd Roman? 1682 A. Mudie Pres. St. Scotl. Ep. Ded. A iiij b, The constitutions of so well a Governed Kingdom. 1756 W. Toldervy Hist. 2 Orphans III. 173 So jealous a pated fellow.

    g. With an adj. of size or quantity, with the implication of an accompanying gesture: = as—as this. Esp. in phr. when I (he, etc.) was so high, when I (etc.) was a small child. Hence so-high adj. Cf. that dem. adv. b, quot. 1870.

1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. IV. vii. liii. 89 ‘You would have me love what I have from the time I was so high’—here she held her left hand a yard from the floor. 1899 Kipling Stalky 226 ‘Do 'ee lov' me, Mary?’ ‘Iss—fai! Talled 'ee zo since yeou was zo high!’ 1916 A. Huxley Let. c 12 July (1969) 105 Vassall..seems..to have known me when I was ‘so high’. 1963 ‘B. Graeme’ Almost without Murder xiv. 157 As a so-high kid I had ‘liked’ ice cream.

    15. With verbs. Now usually intensive.

c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xlviii. (Juliana) 245 For þe desert þat þu can ma to god, þat þe a-wansit sa. a 1425 Cursor M. 5290 (Trin.), He haþ delyuered me of my woo, And put me to welþe, no mon so. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Aug. 15 What payne doth thee so appall? 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 1 Celebrated for quarries of excellent marble, which do so adorne the Venetian palaces. 1626 T. H[awkins] Caussin's Holy Crt. 436, I cannot so harden my hart, but that it may be softned. 1833 H. Martineau Manch. Strike i. 2 O father, my knees have been aching so all day. 1849 [Eastwick] Dry Leaves 22 The waves, which..did in this place so confound and toss about the triremes of Alexander. 1884 C. Gibbon Fancy Free xiv, I held back because I loved you so.

    † 16. Equally; to the same extent. Obs.^—1

1697 W. Dampier Voy. (1729) I. 228 The Tree or Shrub that bears it is like the Prickle-Pear-Tree, about 5 foot high, and so prickly.

    IV. Introducing one or both of two clauses expressing comparison or correspondence.
    † 17. a. In the way that; as much as; as. Obs.
    soon so, as soon as: see soon adv.

Beowulf 490 Site nu to symle,..swa þin sefa hwette. c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxix. §12 He..swincð þonne ymb þæt swa he swiðost mæᵹ. 971 Blickl. Hom. 19 Cleopian we nu in eᵹlum mode.., swa se blinda dyde. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1016, Se here..sloᵹon & bærndon..swa heora ᵹewuna wæs. a 1275 Prov. ælfred 608 Sone min so dere, do so ich þe lere. 13.. K. Alis. 6260 (W.), A folk..Al blak so cole-brond. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 5383 Gweynes fleȝ forþ so wynd and rayn.

    † b. After numerals: As. Obs.
    In OE. also in other forms of expression.

a 1000 in Thorpe Laws I. 190 Syx swa micel. c 1330–c 1420 [see ten C]. 1587 L. Mascall Govt. Cattle, Sheepe (1627) 203 Others with twise so great a stocke.

    † c. As if. Obs.

a 900 Cynewulf Crist 850 Nu is þon ᵹelicost, swa we on laguflode..ceolum liðan. 971 Blickl. Hom. 205 And þa fotlastas wæron swutole..on þæm stane, swa hie on wexe wæron aðyde. c 1250 Owl & Night. 142 Heo song so lude.., Ryht so me grulde schille harpe. c 1275 Passion Our Lord 542 in O.E. Misc. 52 Hi vellen so hi were ded. c 1300 Havelok 594 Also lith was it þer-inne, So þer brenden cerges inne.

    † d. After relative pronouns or advs.: So ever.
    In OE., and very early ME., the pronoun or adverb was preceded as well as followed by swa.

c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 145 Hwa se wile cume efter me. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. iii. 2595 In what state swa he be þan. c 1350 Will. Palerne 2565 What man so vs metes, may vs sone knowe. c 1400 Cursor M. 28788 (Cott. Galba), Whether so askes more rightwisly, Sall be herd of god. c 1425 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 1406 Dredde shalt thow be, wher so thow become. c 1440 Alph. Tales 34 Promysyng hym to do what þing so he commanddid hym. 1559 Mirr. Mag. (1563) B iv, Whom so they take they slay. a 1593 Marlowe Edw. II, i. i, Commaund What so thy mind affectes.

    † 18. so..so. a. = So..as (see 20). Obs.
    In OE. also swa swa without intervening words, and sometimes swa..swa swa.

c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxix. §4 Swa hit is swa þu sæᵹst. 971 Blickl. Hom. 137 Hit wæs þa swa leoht swa se merᵹen⁓lica steorra. a 1240 Ureisun in O.E. Hom. I. 193 Heo beoð so read so rose, so hwit so þe lilie. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 5369 Þat londfolc to him com so þikke so it miȝte go. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 6827 Þe arewes come so þykke so reyn. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xiv. 188 Ich see noone so ofte sorfeten, Soþliche so mankynde.

    † b. = As..so (see 22). Obs.
    In OE. also swa swa..swa.

c 825 Vesp. Psalter cii. 13 Swe mildsað feder bearnum, swe mildsiende bið dryhten ondredendum hine. 971 Blickl. Hom. 9 Swa se hyhtenda ᵹigant, swa Drihten on middanᵹearde bliðe wunode. a 1175 Lamb. Hom. 39 Swa se þu forȝeuest..swa þin drihten forȝeueð þe þine misdede. 13.. K. Alis. (Laud MS.) 2210 So on þe shyngel liþe þe haile, Euery kniȝth so lijþ on oþer. [1667 Milton P.L. vii. 288 So high as heav'd the tumid Hills, so low Down sunk a hollow bottom.]

    † c. With comparatives: The..the. Obs.

c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. vii. §4 Swa him mon mare selð, swa hine ma lyst. 971 Blickl. Hom. 15 Swa hie him swyþor styrdon, swa he hludor cleopode. a 1225 Ancr. R. 182 So þe sicnesse is more, se þe goldsmið is bisegure. a 1240 Lofsong in O.E. Hom. I. 215 Þet hit ontende me..in þine luue, so lengre so more. a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxix. v. 47 Hym þhouȝte euere so leng so wors.

    19. In adjurations or asseverations.
    So has here the sense of ‘in that way’ or ‘to that extent’, the complementary clause being omitted. The two usual types are here illustrated separately. For so help see also s'elp, s'help, and swelp.

(a) Beowulf 435 Ic þæt þonne forhicᵹe, swa me Hiᵹelac sie..modes bliðe, þæt [etc.]. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 33 Swa me helpe drihten. c 1205 Lay. 3041 Iheren ich wlle,..sua þe helpe Appolin, hu deore þe beo lif min. 1382 Wyclif Exod. x. 10 So the Lord be with ȝow, what maner thanne Y shal leeue ȝow? c 1386 Chaucer Merch. T. 931 This schal ben doon.., So wisly God my soule bringe in blisse! [See also save v. 2 b.] c 1440 Lovelich Merlin 12034, I wolde, so god me spede, that pes purchaced were betwixen vs two. 1480 in Gross Gild Merch. II. 71 Soo god yow help and holydome. 1508 [see help v. 1 c]. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Ita, So god saue me. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 572 So helpe me great Mahomet it shall not so be. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xxviii, This seat..I claim as my right—so prosper me God and St. Barr! 1868 [see help v. 1 c].

(b) a 1300–c 1386 [see thee v.1 1 b]. c 1400 [see thrive v. B. 2]. c 1400 Gamelyn 515 And I wil kepe þe dore, so ever here I masse. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 6 Þis seȝe I preved, so have I blys. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 53 ‘Sa mot I thrife,’ said the King, ‘I speir for nane ill’. c 1500 H. Medwall Nature 753 (Brandl), The scald capper sware sythyche [= so thee ich] That yt cost hym euen as myche. a 1553 Udall Royster D. iii. v. (Arb.) 56 The selfe same that I wrote out of, so mote I go. 1598 [see thee v.1 1 b].

    20. a. so..as, so as, in such or the same way, manner, etc., as.

a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1055 Unweoten, þe weneð þet hit beo swa as hit on ehe bereð ham. a 1300 E.E. Psalter i. 3 Al his liue swa sal it be, Als it fares bi a tre. 1390 Gower Conf. Prol. I. 5, I thenke forto touche also The world..So as I can, so as I mai. c 1440 Alph. Tales 85 Þis preste askid hur whi sho wepud so as sho did. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon iv. 119 Soo well clothed & arrayed, as I have tolde you above. 1535 Coverdale Gen. xviii. 5 Do euen so as thou hast spoken. 1554 Act 1 & 2 Phil. & Mary c. 8 §52 Hereditaments, so to be amortized as is aforesaid. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 1811 He with the Romans was esteemed so As silly-jeering idiots are with kings. 1611 Bible Ps. lxiii. 2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I haue seen thee in the Sanctuary. 1681 J. Flavel Meth. Grace xxix. 496 They must so walk, as he walked. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVII. 407/1 Lay the bend mould upon it, so as may best answer the round.

    † b. In adjurations. Obs.

c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 493 Sche to the sergeant preyde, So as he was a worthy gentilman, That [etc.]. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 310, I..beseche Unto the mihti Cupido,..So as he is of love a godd [etc.]. 1463 in Somerset Medieval Wills (1901) 197, I charged ham so as they will answere afore God.

    † c. With as = as if. Obs.

1596 Spenser F.Q. v. viii. 5 So ran they all, as they had bene at bace.

    21. so..as, to the same extent, in the same degree, as: a. In negative or interrogative clauses.

a 1225 Ancr. R. 150 Þenne nis hit to nout so god ase to þe fure of helle. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. viii. 167 Bote trustene to Trienals..Is not so syker for þe soule, sertes, as do-wel. c 1386 Chaucer Merch. T. 45 Who is so trewe and eek so ententyf To kepe him..as is his make? 1581 Allen Apol. 121 Death and dungeons be not so terrible things..as they seeme. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vi. iii. 1 For a man by nothing is so well bewrayd As by his manners. 1646 in Verney Mem. (1907) I. 343 Women were never soe usefull as now. 1670 Dryden Conq. Granada i. ii. i, His victories we scarce could keep in view, Or polish them so fast as he rough-drew. 1763 C. Johnston Reverie I. 260 This is not so strange or ingrateful as it may appear. 1779 Mirror No. 58, Emilia, who now observed that her husband was nowhere so happy as in the country. 1842 Tennyson Morte d' Arthur 156, I never saw..So great a miracle as yonder hilt. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 667 Never..had the condition of the Puritans been so deplorable as at that time.

    b. In affirmative clauses: As..as. Now arch. or dial. (except in such phrases as so far as, so much as: see 35 b, etc.).
    so long as: see long adv. 1 b. † so soon as: see soon adv.

1390 Gower Conf. I. 154 So seker as I have a lif, Thou scholdest thanne be my wif. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. (1885) 128 A prince double so myghty as was thair old prince. 1535 Coverdale 2 Sam. xix. 32 Barsillai was very olde, so good as foure score yeare olde. c 1550 R. Bieston Bayte Fortune A vj b, Smockes as snow so white. 1621 Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 252 The one is become so old as the other. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. i. ii. §14 This Way of arguing is so frivolous, as the Supposition of itself is false. c 1790 J. Imison Sch. Arts I. 303 This planet being but a fifth part so big as the earth. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xiv, Although I readily gave my uncle the advantage of my pen..so often as he desired to correspond with a neighbour. 1876 Pearse Daniel Quorm 155 'Tis a'most so good for ourselves as 'tis for those we try to save.

    c. Preceding the citation of a special example or instance.

1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. 123 So small a kingdome as that is of Portingale. 1664 Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 167 Seeing upon so extraordinary occasions as these, the boldest eloquence would lose its speech. 1779 Mirror No. 63, It was impossible that a girl so amiable as Emily Hargrave could fail to attract attention. 1820 Keats Hyperion ii. 321 Have I rous'd Your spleens with so few simple words as these? 1861 Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 37 The interest excited in England by events passing in so distant a quarter as Moravia. 1878 T. Hardy Ret. Native vi. iii. (1890) 399, I am not fit for town life—so very rural and silly as I always have been.

    d. With as taking the place of an object to the following verb.

1555 J. Proctor Hist. Wyat's Rebellion 37 It is so straunge a case as the world neuer saw. 1629 Drayton in Sir. J. Beaumont's Bosworth Field 14 So lasting Pillars to prop up thy Praise, As time shall hardly shake. 1676 Dryden State of Innocence iv. i, Is our Perfection of so frail a Make, As ev'ry Plot can undermine or shake?

    † e. With a comparative: So much. Obs.^—1

1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. II. 46 Their Arch may come..so lower as you think fit.

    22. as..so: a. Denoting more or less exact correspondence, similarity, or proportion.
    Ormin has all swa summ..swa in this use.

a 1300 Cursor M. 17465 Als þai war for-boght sua þai did. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 32 Als he was ay God in trinite Swa be es, and ay God sal be. a 1400–50 Alexander 14 For as þaire wittis ere with-in, so þer will folowis. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxvii. 232 Such as the mayster was so was the seruuant. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. Prol. (1580) A v b, As it was, so it is, and so be it still hereafter. 1611 Bible Prov. xxiii. 7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 47 ¶7 In proportion as there are more Follies discovered, so there is more Laughter raised. 1821 Keats Lamia i. 260 Even as thou vanishest so shall I die. 1830 Tennyson Poet xiv, And as the lightning to the thunder..So was their meaning to her words. 1887 Morris Odyssey xi. 586 For as often as stooped the elder when he longed for the water sweet So often it waned.

    b. Denoting a simple parallelism between two different acts, concepts, etc., and sometimes approaching the sense of ‘not only..but (also)’.

c 1340 Hampole Prose Tr. 2 Als ded slaas all, Swa lufe ouer-comes all. 1563 Homilies ii. Sacrament i. (1859) 439 As of old time God decreed.., so our loving Saviour hath ordained [etc.]. 1588 A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. 67 As it vald be verray lang, sa is it verray hard. 1619 in W. Foster Eng. Factories India (1906) I. 79 As itt is an unsupportable wrong, soe itt inthralleth us to many other inconveniences. 1677 Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 549 As he loved not to make work, so not to leave it imperfect. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. iv, As we rose with the sun, so we never pursued our labours after it was gone down. 1831 Loudon Encycl. Agric. §6009 As the planters differ in the number of hills.., so are they no less capricious as to the manner of placing them. 1881 Jowett Thucyd. I. 45 As in the arts, so also in politics, the new must always prevail over the old.

    V. 23. so that (also so alone), denoting result or logical consequence; also sometimes = ‘in order that’.
    In the revived use of so alone, orig. U.S.

(a) Beowulf 1508 Bær þa seo brimwylf..hringa þengel to hofe sinum, swa he ne mihte no..wæpna ᵹewealdan. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 64 Thanne seide I to my-self, so Pacience it herde. 1851 H. Melville Moby Dick III. 564 Take your leg off from the crown of the anchor here, though, so I can pass the rope. 1902 E. Banks Autobiogr. Newspaper Girl xii. 143 One of the books in front of mine was six shillings. I bought it so mine would show. 1913 [see sense 7 a above]. 1949 W. Rogers Autobiogr. 44 The reason they leave some of our boys over there..is so they can get mail that was sent to them during the war. 1951 C. P. Snow Masters i. 3 Shovelling coal up the back of the chimney, throwing it on so it would burn for hours. 1968 Los Angeles Times 3 Mar. e6/3 The main reason Gender is back in the classroom is so he can converse in the many languages he knows. 1977 A. Thwaite Portion for Foxes 28, I shall make it simple so you understand.

(b) c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. i, He ᵹehet Romanum his freondscipe, swa þæt hi mostan heora ealdrihta wyrðe beon. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xv. 31 [He] ᵹelecnade hea.., sua þæt ðreatas wundradun. c 1200 Ormin Ded. 293 Swa þatt he mannkinn wel inoh Off helle mihhte lesenn. c 1300 Havelok 216 Þe king..dede him sore swinge,..So þat þe blod ran of his fleys. 1340 Ayenb. 53 Þe ilke..wylleþ hyealde hire fole uelaȝredes, zuo þet hi ne conne ne hi ne moȝe healde mesure. c 1440 Alph. Tales 65 Such weddur þat stroyed all þe vynys,..so at þer wyne had nowder colour nor savor. 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. IV, 28 b, [They] had conveighed their shippes in to the havens, so that he could not fight with them on the sea. 1600 Pory tr. Leo's Africa vi. 280 Of..flesh heere is great scarcitie, so that they are constrained to eate camels flesh onely. 1670 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. V. 21 The under pettycoatt very richly laced.., so that 50 or 60 pounds [is] but an ordinary price. c 1760 Challoner in E. Burton Life (1909) II. xxiv. 28 We will spend our evenings..at our own lodgings, so that we may be found. 1820 Scott Monast. xiv, So that Mary Avenel..was regarded with a mysterious awe. 1886 Stevenson Kidnapped xiv, The turf roof of it had fallen entirely in; so that the hut was of no use to me.

    24. so..that, in such a way, to such an extent, that: a. With adjs. and advs., or equivalent phrases.

a 900 Cynewulf Crist 323 Hio..ece stondað..swa beclysed þæt næniᵹ oþer..hy æfre ma eft onluceð. a 1240 Ureisun in O.E. Hom. I. 183 [Thou art] swo leoflic and swa lufsum þet te engles a biholdeþ þe. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2207 Þe romeins beþ anud of hor trauail so sore..þat hii nolleþ come here nanmore. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 324 Swilk men er ay swa unstedfast, Þat na drede may with þam last. c 1450 Merlin ii. 37 The water maketh so grete bruyt that all that is made a-boven it moste nede falle. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §151 Theyr cotes be so syde, that they be fayne to tucke them vp whan they ryde. 1574 Hellowes Gueuara's Fam. Ep. (1584) 165 You aske me histories so straunge.., that my wits may not in anye wise but needes goe on Pilgrimage. 1625 Purchas Pilgrims II. 1138 The wind..came with so great gales, that it raised the sands of the coast very high. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones vi. iii, The Squire was so delighted with this conduct of his daughter, that he scarce eat any dinner. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral Tales (1816) I. iv. 21 So ill that she could hardly speak. 1862 M. E. Braddon Lady Audley viii, He sat so long in this attitude, that Robert turned round at last.

    b. With verbs.
    In verse (more rarely in prose) sometimes placed after the verb, and immediately followed by that, but separated from it by a pause.

(a) c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John iii. 16 Suæ..lufade god ðone middanᵹeard þætte sunu his ancende ᵹesalde [etc.]. c 1320 Cast. of Love 1523 God leeue vs here so ende, Þat we ben worþi to heuene wende. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 32 So hadde I spoken with hem..That I was of here felawschipe anon. 1411 Rolls of Parlt. III. 651/1 The same Loord the Roos schall so doon to hem, that they schall tellen hem wel payed. 1480 Cov. Leet Bk. 437 To so direct that your said Oratours haue all þat..shall accorde with right. a 1592 Greene Alphonsus i. i, Now a days so irksome idless' sleights..have witch'd each students mind, That death it is [etc.]. 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. ii. 130 The example doth so suite the Text, that I could not pretermit it here. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 719 So frownd the mighty Combatants, that Hell Grew darker. 1735 Johnson Lobo's Abyssinia, Descr. v. 75 This Answer and the Present so provok'd Mahomet..that [etc.]. 1883 Harper's Mag. Nov. 905/2 To so cut down his power..that he would be inclined [etc.].

(b) a 1175 Cott. Hom. in O.E. Hom. I. 231 Þa be-fel hit swa þat him a þance befell. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3503 Wurð ðin fader and moder so, ðat ðu hem drede and helpe do. a 1300 Cursor M. 7509, I..scok þam be þe berdes sua Þat i þair chafftes raue in tua. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 12 Whil the lawe is reuled so That clerkes to the werre entende. 1535 Coverdale 2 Chron. iv. 4 It stode so vpon the bullockes, that thre were turned towarde the north [etc.]. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. lxxi, I loue you so That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot, If [etc.]. 1697 Protestant Mercury No. 189, A Porter's Wife..Beat her Husband so, that she forced him to leap over a Balconey.

    † c. Expressing a contrast: Although..yet.

1633 Bp. Hall Hard Texts, Isaiah xlii. 2 Yet so shall he be gracious to the penitently dejected, that he shall not beare with the obstinate sinner.

    d. With but (= that..not).

1842 Macaulay Horatius xviii, There was no heart so bold, But sore it ached.

    25. a. With omission of that, = sense 24.

a 1310 in Wright Spec. Lyric P. 74 Thou art so god a mon, Thi love y ȝyrne also y con. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 3458 (Kölbing), A dint he ȝaf him so hard, Þe launce ran þe brini þurch. c 1440 Contin. Brut II. 583 Caleis was so ferd of you, þey shitte neuer a gate. 15.. Christ's Kirk ii. in Bann. MS. 283 Thay wer so nyss..Thay squeilit lyk ony gaitis. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. vi, A plant, so unlike a Rose, it hath been mistaken..for Amomum. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 308 He..treads so light, he scarcely prints the Plains. 1742 Young Nt. Th. iii. 135 So man is made, nought ministers delight But what his glowing passions can engage. 1818 Byron Mazeppa xviii, Once so near me he alit, I could have smote. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede xiii, Hetty was blushing so, she didn't know whether she was happy or miserable.

    b. With the so-clause placed after that stating the consequence or result.

a 1225 Ancr. R. 222 He bihalt on oðre þet he ne mei nones weis makien vuele iðoncked, so lufful & so reouðful is hire heorte. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 2317 Out of witte þan þai shuld men flay, Swa orrible and swa foul er þai. a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xliii. 104 His herte þoruȝ-out his syde He ȝiueþ vs, he is so fre! 14.. Hoccleve Minor Poems xvi. 4, I may nat deliure hem by no weye, So me werreyeth coynes scarsetee. c 1500 Melusine vi. 28 Raymondin..herd ne saw nought, so sore was hys wit troubled. 1535 Coverdale 2 Sam. iii. 11 Then coulde he not answere him one worde agayne, he feared him so. 1626 Sir E. Cecil in J. Glanville's Voy. Cadiz (Camden) p. xliii, The shipp had sunke in the sea, she proved so leakie. 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. 813 Friends he has few, so high the madness grows. 1787 Burns Halloween iv, A runt was like a sow-tail, Sae bow't that night. 1822 Scott Nigel x, Habits..to young men are like threads of silk, so lightly are they worn, so soon broken. 1867 A. J. Wilson Vashti xvii, The azure mantle..seemed to melt in air, so dim were its graceful outlines.

    26. a. so (that), in limiting sense: On condition that, provided that, so long as, if only. Cf. 30.

(a) c 1000 Apollonius of Tyre (Thorpe) 20 Nim nu lareow appolloni, swa hit þe ne mislicyᵹe. c 1375 Cursor M. 5991 (Fairf.), To-morne þe fleys sal be þe fra, so þou be-gyle vs na mare. c 1386 Chaucer H. Fame i. 423 He had y-swore to hire..That so she saved hym hys lyfe, He wolde haue take hir to hys wife. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xx. 587 All my couandys holden shall be. So I haue felyship me abowte. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §43 Butter and swynes grease..are good, soo they be not salte. 1613 Jackson Creed ii. 453 The proofe were good, so it could be proued. 1658 Sir T. Browne Hydriot. §2 (1736) 18 Ulysses cared not how meanly he lived, so he might find a noble Tomb after Death. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 208 ¶4 It is no Matter how dirty a Bag it is conveyed to him in,..so the Money is good. 1750 Johnson Rambler No. 81 ¶2 Which duty ought to be most esteemed, we may continue to debate..; so all be diligently performed. 1812 Cary Dante, Purg. ix. 22 So but the suppliant at my feet implore. 1816 Byron Ch. Har. i. xiii. song, I'll swiftly go..; Nor care what land thou bear'st me to, So not again to mine.

(b) c 1000 ælfric Numb. xxii. 20 Far mid him, swa þæt [L. ita duntaxat ut] þu do, þæt ic þe bebeode. c 1320 Cast. Love 1042 Al þis wyde world I chul ȝeuen þe, So þat þou bouwe and honoure me. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. iv. 89, I forȝiue him þat gult.., So þat ȝe assented beo. c 1425 Eng. Conq. Irel. (1896) 8 Oft þe prince hym profred to delyuer hym out of prison, so þat he wold be his helppe to werry vpon þe kynge. c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn xlviii. 188 Yf nedes I shal dey, I were..wel content soo that it were in the absence of her. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lviii. 202, I offer to make you amendes..so that ye wyl ayde me. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. (1882) ii. 85 You condemne not funerall sermons then, so that they be good. 1652 J. Wright tr. Camus' Nat. Paradox ix. 211 Writing I am well contented to permit; So that I see your Letter. 1755 Monitor No. 8, Let us not regard by what name it shall be called, so that it be carried on vigorously. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. xix. 154 To M. it was..indifferent who was found guilty, so that he could recover his money. 1859 Tennyson Marr. Geraint 304 So that ye do not serve me sparrow-hawks For supper, I will enter.

    b. In the event that, in case that. rare.

c 1000 Charter in Thorpe Dipl. Angl. Sax. (1865) 202 He him þet land forbead, swa he æniᵹes brucan wolde. 1872 Tennyson Gareth & Lynette 268 But, so thou dread to swear, Pass not beneath this gateway.

    VI. † 27. so as, although. Obs.

c 1300 Havelok 337 Þat hire haued in sorwe brouth, So as sho ne misdede nouth!

    28. a. so.., or so..as, so as, followed by an infinitive denoting result or consequence.
    The omission of as is now regarded as irregular.

(a) c 1395 Plowman's Tale i. 373 Peter was never so great a fole To leve his key with such a lorell. c 1407 Lydg. Reson & Sens. 943 The Ryvers..so myghty and so large To bere a gret ship or a barge. c 1450 Merlin i. 6 How shulde I be so hardy to do as ye telle me. 1526 Tindale N.T. Prol., Who ys so blynde to axe why lyght shulde be shewed to them that walke in dercknes. 1579 Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 65, I am not so childishe to take euery bushe for a monster. 1658 Rowley et al. Witch of Edmonton ii. i, If you'll be so kind to ka me one good turn I'll be so courteous to kob you another. 1709 Swift Vind. Bickerstaff Wks. 1755 II. i. 171 He hath been indeed so wise to make no objections against the truth of my predictions. 1767 Wilkes Corr. w. Friends (1805) III. 223 Be so good to continue to favour me with your letters. 1803 M. Charlton Wife & Mistress IV. 161 She enquired if Mrs. Aubrey had been so kind to procure the child a new wardrobe.

(b) 1445 in Anglia XXVIII. 271 Nevir the[e] she so diseasyd as oonys..To folowe her wille. 1558 Kennedy Comp. Treat. in Misc. Wodrow Soc. (1844) 97 That I..durst be sua baulde, as to attempt sua heych ane purpose. 1648 Heylin Relat. & Observ. i. 78 Whosoever shall dare to be so good a Patriot as to oppose their Tyranny. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 747 A crop so plenteous, as the land to load. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 53 ¶7, I hope you will not be so apparently partial to the Women, as to let them go wholly unobserved. 1779 Mirror No. 17, Our shop was so well frequented, as to require the constant attendance of both of us. 1828 Duppa Trav. Italy, etc. 98 The others were so broken into small fragments as to be useless. 1885 Law Times Rep. LIII. 785/1 It is impossible to say that any one case is so in point as to carry this case.

(c) c 1680 Beveridge Serm. (1729) II. 283 They all run, but not so as to obtain. 1736 Gentl. Mag. VI. 716/1, I think it impossible to amend it..so as to make it a Bill fit for being passed. 1853 Zoologist II. 3724 Dismounting and hobbling the horse so as to allow him to feed. 1896 Law Times C. 488/1 To repair the drain so as to abate the nuisance complained of.

    b. With infinitive preceded by a n. rare.

1709 Swift Merlin's Prediction Wks. 1755 II. i. 177 The river Thames frozen twice in one year, so as men to walk on it.

    c. With pa. pples. (to have being omitted).

1790 Burns Tam o' Shanter 17 Hadst thou but been sae wise, As ta'en thy ain wife Kate's advice! 1797 in C. Kegan Paul W. Godwin (1876) I. 237 You might have been so good as told me a few more particulars.

    29. a. so as, in such a way that, so that. Now dial.

1523 Ld. Berners tr. Froissart I. xiii. 13 The quene..dyd gyue great Jewelles to eche of them,..so as they all helde them selfe ryght well content. 1609 in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) 82, I understood of the infection lately come to some houses there adjoining, so as I forbear to go thither. c 1651 in Morris Troubles Cath. Foref. (1872) i. vi. 304 This summer we also whited the church and choir,..so as our Monastery was made very handsome. 1751 R. Paltock P. Wilkins (1884) II. 217 So as the great and small shall be under mutual obligations to each other. 1817 H. T. Colebrooke Algebra, etc. Notes & Illustr. p. lxxvii, Then you desire to complete your square so as it shall amount to one whole square. 1905 Longman's Mag. Apr. 541 So as he could go and see his sweetheart.

    b. so..as, in similar use, with the subject of the second clause either expressed, or implied in the previous context.

(a) 1548 Wishart Conf. Faith in Misc. Wodrow Soc. (1844) 13 We attribute so free wyll to man as we,..wyllynge to do good, fele experience of euyll. 1581 Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 50 The words..beeing so set, as one word cannot be lost. 1608 E. Grimstone Hist. France 702 The Emperour..so terrifies the Pope, as hee abandons his vassall Octauio. 1654 Burton's Diary (1828) I. 42 This sounded so plausibly in every man's ear, as it was soon embraced. 1738 Gentl. Mag. VIII. 327/2 They had Guards so posted, as they were not to be surprized.

(b) 1611 Sir W. Mure Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 9 Greedie to behold So rair perfectioune as cannot be told. 1678 Walton Life Sanderson 11 Changes those cares into so mutual joys, as makes them become [etc.]. 1779 Forrest Voy. N. Guinea 66 With so heavy rain, as penetrated the new roof of the vessel. 1784 Miss Carter Lett. to Miss Talbot IV. 341 My wretched head has been so thoroughly uncomfortable.., as rendered me quite unfit for writing.

    c. so..as that, so as that, = prec. (a).

1583 T. Stocker Civ. Warres Lowe C. i. 1 b, The officers went so neere the consciences of men, as that they spared not to torment pore miserable soules. 1634 Milton Comus 366, I do not think my sister so to seek, Or so unprincipl'd in vertues book,..As that [etc.]. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 22 Mar. 1675, 2 distinct keeles crampt together.., so as that a violent streame ran betweene. a 1774 Goldsm. Surv. Exp. Philos. (1776) I. 55 When both flames have approached so near as that they join. 1817 H. T. Colebrooke Algebra, etc. 258 Here the least square quantity must be so devised, as that the second may be an integer.

    30. so as, provided that, etc. Cf. 26.

1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. i. 114 b, To be preferred vnto the gouernment.., so as they had passed their time..without reprehension. 1598 R. Grenewey Tacitus, Ann. iii. i. (1622) 64 Which was to him..honourable, so as there were a meane vsed. 1635 R. N. tr. Camden's Hist. Eliz. ii. 136 Henry Percy offered..to free the Queene of Scots out of prison so as Grange and Carre..would receive her at the borders. 1807 E. S. Barrett Rising Sun I. 127, I care not how you come by them, so as they are ready to supply my wants. 1853 Dickens Bleak Ho. xxvi, He could play 'em a tune on any sort of pot you please, so as it was iron or block tin.

    VII. In various phrases.
    so to say: see say v.¹ 11. so to speak: see speak v.
    † 31. than so, than that. Obs.

a 1425 Cursor M. 23568 (Trin.), Mony þingis may we do Þat better were vndone þen so. 1525 Ld. Berners tr. Froissart II. 754 Kyng Henry was more gentyll than so; for he had some pytie on hym. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. iii. 104 Lord Aubrey Vere Was done to death, and more then so, my Father. 1677 W. Hughes Man of Sin ii. v. 96 'Tis reasonable to suppose, that the Sacrament may be celebrating in more places than so, at once. a 1716 Bp. O. Blackall Wks. (1723) I. 213 If it be not more than so, it will not be such an Obedience as God will accept.

    32. † a. and so, = next. Obs. rare.

a 1400–50 Alexander 1565 Sum with sensours & so with silueryn cheynes. Ibid. 2551 If þai were sary & so, na selly me thingke. 1602 [see 33 a].

    b. and so on, used as an abbreviating phrase to avoid further description or the enumeration of further details.
    and so forth: see forth adv. 9 b. and so forward: see forward adv. 1.

1724 Welsted Epist., etc. 123 Till, in time, the English we now speak is become as obsolete and unintelligible as that of Chaucer, and so on. 1837 P. Keith Bot. Lex. 258 An incipient stem,..which in the following year is augmented in height as before, and so on in succession as long as the plant grows. 1847 Howitt's Jrnl. II. 201/2 While the East London Water Company is supplying an impure water at 5l. 12s., and so on, per house. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 488 There may be high fever,..nausea, vomitings, smart diarrhœa and so on.

    33. or so: a. Or something of that kind; or the like.

1588 Shakes. L.L.L. ii. 212 Ber. Is she wedded, or no? Boy. To her will sir, or so. 1602 ― Ham. v. ii. 157 Girdle, Hangers or so [Qq. and so]. 1663 Butler Hud. i. i. 49 He..therefore bore it not about; Unless on Holy-days, or so. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 44 Some⁓times he pores upon a Pack of Cards, or so. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxxi, I used to think nothing on earth could fluster them, unless, indeed, it was a ghost, or so. 1818 Byron Juan Ded. iii, And then you overstrain yourself, or so. 1842 Tennyson Day-dream, Revival iv, My joints are somewhat stiff or so.

    b. Or about that amount or number; or thereabout.

1598 Shakes. Merry W. ii. i. 50 For an eternall moment, or so. 1601 ― Twel. N. iii. ii. 59 Some two thousand strong, or so. 1814 Scott Diary 17 Aug. in Lockhart (1837) III. vi. 207 A King's ship about eighteen guns or so. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. III. ii. 35 He returned in an hour or so. 1885 Manch. Exam. 10 July 5/3 A Sunday or so ago.

    34. a. so or so, after this or that manner; this or that. Also with many (cf. 37 e).

c 1449 Pecock Repr. iii. 350 For that so or so or so (and in noon other wise) it is writun in storie or cronicle. 1570 Googe Pop. Kingd. (1880) i. 3 b, For no man dare demaunde of him, why dost thou so or so. 1687 Settle Refl. Dryden's Plays 85 I'le die a thousand deaths before I'le do so or so. 1749 Richardson in Mrs. Barbauld Corr. (1804) IV. 291 From her air and..her face, he sets her down in his mind as so or so. 1784 Phil. Trans. LXXIV. 189 A clock, of such a construction, kept or altered its rate so or so. 1835 T. Mitchell Aristoph. Acharn. 307 note, Wine..is said..to bear or admit so or so many portions of water.

    † b. neither (also nothing) so nor so, neither the one nor the other; neither this (way) nor that; not at all the fact or case. Obs.

1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. (1882) ii. 34 They persuade the buier it is good, and that it is woorth the money, whereas indeed it is nothing so, nor so. 1584 R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. vi. i. 90 Making you beleeve a thing which is neither so nor so. 1610 A. Cooke Pope Joan 12 As though that Temple had had a spire steeple like ours; which is neither so, nor so. 1611 Cotgr., Rien rien, no no, neither so nor so. 1682 T. Flatman Heraclitus Ridens No. 73 (1713) II. 198 Earn. Most of 'em are said to have either a Competency, or another Trade... Jest. This is neither so nor so.

    VIII. With various adjs. and advs. of quantity, number, etc.
    35. so far, in literal and transferred senses (see far adv. 6 and far-forth adv. 2): a. Without correlative word or clause.

a 1300 Cursor M. 2253 Now we haue vs sped sa ferr, Vr wil may he noght vs merr. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 33 Yit so fer cowthe I nevere finde Man that..Me cowthe teche such an art. 1535 Coverdale Ps. cii. 12 Loke how wyde the east is from the west, so farre hath he set oure synnes from vs. 1611 Bible Ps. xxii. 1 Why art thou so far from helping me? 1696 A. Telfair's New Confut. Sadd. Pref. A 2 Having once gone so far, they will easily be induced to believe, that there's no Resurrection at all. 1754 Hume Hist. Eng. (1812) I. App. i. 198 He [the King] was even, so far, on a level with the people. a 1797 H. Howard in 3rd Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. 433/2 Every place given to an Englishman is so far a loss to the people. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xxvii, Will you so far trust me? 1832 Greville Mem. 27 Mar. (1874) II. 273, I have no doubt that all the ultras will be deeply mortified..at the success so far of ‘the Waverers’. 1892 Speaker 3 Sept. 288/1 Nothing has, so far, been allowed to transpire as to its name and contents.

Comb. 1880 Nature XXI. 407 This so-far improved feature of temperature.

    b. Followed by as, with various constructions.
    Examples of the literal sense are placed under (b).

(a) [a 1300 Cursor M. 16386 Sacles es he sa feir se sum i can (= so far as I can see).] 1485 Sc. Acts, Jas. III (1814) II. 172 Þe Custumaris at þair comptis making..to be dischargit of safer as þai deliuer to þe said wardan & changeour. 1565 Stapleton tr. Staphylus' Apol. 148 Some are.. courtly protestants, which admit Luther so farre as them list. 1723 Sir R. Blackmore Hist. Conspiracy Pref. A 8 b, Some..only advanced so far as to excite Popular Jealousies. 1742 Ld. Hardwicke in Johnson's Debates (1787) II. 161 The law..is however to be so far fixed, as that every man may know his own condition. 1779 Mirror No. 14, I had actually gone so far as to write three introductory sentences. 1801 Farmer's Mag. Jan. 39 So far as I can now recollect. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede xviii, Who played the part of steward so far as it was not performed by old Mr. Donnithorne him⁓self. 1876 Gladstone Glean. (1879) II. 313 So far as we can gather, a sober estimate prevails.

(b) 1513 Douglas æneid vi. iii. 83 Sa fer before Achates and Enee As thai mycht weil behald thaim with thair E. 1675 in Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. Var. Coll. IV. 247 Cleanseing the shallowes in the river so farre as Crane Bridge. 1806 T. S. Surr Winter in Lond. I. 76 Have you in your rambles, ever reached so far as the Park, Edward? 1898 E. P. Evans Evol. Ethics vi. 216 He sees clearly so far as his lantern casts its rays.

    c. In the phrase in so far as (see in prep. 39).

1546 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 31 In safer as concernis the said Williamys awine part. 1581 Burne in Cath. Tractates (S.T.S.) 140 In safar as thay confes Christ to be the sone of the leuing God. 1672 Justiciary Rec. (S.H.S.) 117 The complainer was no Magistrate in swa far as he had not taken the Declaration. 1780 Mirror No. 96, In so far as my improvement was concerned, they spared no expence. 1846 H. W. Torrens Rem. Milit. Hist. 11 The hieroglyphic inscriptions.., in so far as their characters have been decyphered. 1876 L. Stephen Hist. Eng. Th. 18th C. II. 418 Wesley..differs from Warburton and his like in so far as God is regarded as an active administrator.

    d. Followed by that.

c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon ii. 60 Sith that it is soo ferre come that ye wyll not here vs, we shall kepe owr peas. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. ii. (1877) 259 One of the accusers..had gone so ferre, that he spake moche what these wordes folowing. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 5 ¶3 This strange Dialogue awakened my Curiosity so far, that I immediately bought the Opera. 1845 Stephen Comm. Laws Eng. II. 577 It is also so far a source of strength..that it gives [etc.].

    e. so far from, used to give emphasis to a different statement following. Also with that.

(a) 1547 Homilies (1859) 112 David was so far from rejoicing at these news, that..forthwith he rent his clothes. 1677 Miége Dict. ii. s.v. Far, I am so far from loving her, that I hate her. 1736 Ainsworth Eng.-Lat. Dict. i. s.v., They were so far from selling, that they bought. 1868 J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. I. 479 So far was it from doing so that it caused a rapid under-current of reaction.

(b) 1779 Mirror No. 33, Which, so far from being inconsistent.., is the most probable means of accomplishing it. 1813 Milner in Suppl. Mem. Eng. Cath. 305 As to..the Bible, the Catholic Church, so far from locking that up, requires her Pastors to study the whole of it. 1870 Ruskin Arrows of the Chace II. 225 So far from wishing to give votes to women, I would fain take them away from most men.

    f. In the phr. so far, so good, used to express satisfaction with matters up to a certain point.

1721 J. Kelly Scottish Proverbs 300 So far, so good. So much is done to good purpose. 1754 Richardson Sir Charles Grandison V. x. 56 ‘So far, so good,’ said aunt Eleanor. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas vi. i. ¶11 So far, so good! said the worshipful commissioner; we have only to proceed in our examination. a 1843 Southey Doctor ccxxxix. (1848) 650 So far so good, but this once influential writer makes an erroneous conclusion. 1875 Ruskin Fors Clav. lxi. 11 So far, so good, Nature and facts are beginning to assert themselves.

    36. so long: (see long adv. 1 b, 1 c).
    37. so many. a. Such a (large) number (of).

attrib. c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxiii. §2 Þonne hi..heora God on swa moniᵹe dælas todælað, þonne [etc.]. c 1230 Hali Meid. 8 [It] deð hire in to drechunge,..& to se monie earmden. 13.. St. Augustin 1731 in Horstmann Altengl. Leg. (1878) 91 Þer weore laft so mani Signes of wax,..Þat seint Austines chapel [etc.]. 1508 Dunbar Poems vii. 66 Thow suld be hye renownit, That did so mony victoryse opteyn. 1577 St. Aug. Manual (Longman) 110 How shall it be capable of so many and so great ioyes? 1639 Burton Will in Anat. Mel. (1893) I. p. xxx, Because there be soe many casualties to which our life is subjecte. a 1648 Ld. Herbert Hen. VIII (1683) 257 Peradventure lying among so many his Writings and old Letters. 1780 Mirror No. 104, It is..a melancholy circumstance..to find so many noble palaces deserted by their illustrious owners. 1820 Keats St. Agnes xxxviii, Here will I take my rest After so many hours of toil and quest. 1878 Swinburne To Victor Hugo xv, Hast thou seen time, who hast seen so many things?

absol. c 897 K. ælfred tr. Gregory's Past. C. xxviii. 191 Buton he..sua moniᵹe ᵹecierre sua he mæsð mæᵹe. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints ii. (Paul) 162 Þe folk..þat saw..he gerte but resone sa mony sla, Raisit in hym sedicione. c 1450 Holland Howlat 237 Confess cleir can I nocht..The maner, nor the multitud, so mony thar was. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 8 Loiterers I kept so meanie, both Philip, Hob, and Cheanie. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. (Globe) 360 We are not so many of us, here is Room enough for us all. 1812 Crabbe Tales ii. 142 Believe it..glorious to prevail, And stand in safety where so many fail.

    b. so (or as) many.., so many, used to express equality in numbers. (See also how adv. 14 c.)

c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Prol. Matt. 1 Swæ moniᵹ aron bissena..swa moniᵹe boec. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. IV, 12 b, Verifiynge the olde Prouerbe, so many heades, so many wittes. a 1633 J. Austin Medit. (1635) 149 So many men, so many minds (saies the proverb): but here they were of one accord. 1718 Ozell tr. Tournefort's Voy. II. 181 When a Bassa is in march, so many robbers taken, so many heads off in an instant. 1735 Berkeley Free-think. in Mathemat. §44 As many men, so many minds.

    c. Followed by as († or the relative that).

1340–70 Alisaunder 441 Þat by strength of her strife þei straught to foote All so many as his menne mighten areche. c 1400 Brut ccxxvii. 299 Ȝet were þey threfold so meny of hem as of Englisshe men. 1489 Acta Dom. Conc. (1839) 131 Samony of the..cuschingis, weschale, and seruiotis, as aucht to be deliuerit. 1549 Compl. Scotl. 163 Sa mony of ȝou that ar defensabil men sal pas in propir person in battel. 1597 Jas. VI in 3rd Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. 422/2 Sa mony as are yet in hands sal be distributit. 1621 Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 426 In this passage there are so many particulars obseruable concerning tithing, as there bee words in the same. 1685 Caldwell P. (Maitl. Cl.) I. 150 A man..gives notice..by so many windings of his horn as there are horse⁓men coming. 1735 Johnson Lobo's Abyssinia, Descr. x. 98 Every Man being allowed so many Wives as he hath hundreds of Cows. 1825 Scott Talism. xxviii, Had I not brought up unexpectedly so many Arabs as rendered the scheme abortive.

Comb. 1665 J. Webb Stone-Heng (1725) 15 To be a so-many-sided Figure as there are Segments wanting.

    d. As many; an equal number (of). Freq. in vaguer sense, a number (pack, etc.) of.

(a) 1563–4 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 263 Thai and samony of thair freindis being present. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 43 Hauing with him onely ten horsemen, with so many Archers on horsebacke. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, v. iv. 79 We are but men; and what so many may doe,..we haue done. 1678 Wanley Wond. Lit. World v. i. §97. 468/1 In twenty eight Battels he became Master of so many Kingdoms.

(b) 1600 Pory tr. Leo's Africa ix. 348 The ostriches wander vp and downe..in orderly troupes, so that a far off a man would take them to be so many horsemen. 1631 Gouge God's Arrows v. §11. 422 A few couragious men to great armies of cowards, are as so many Lyons to whole heards of deere. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 50 ¶3 Pillars that stand like the Trunks of so many Trees. 1839 Thackeray Fatal Boots Oct., The carriage, the house in town, the West India fortune, were only so many lies which I had blindly believed. 1885 Manch. Exam. 20 May 5/1 They turned upon him like so many curs let loose.

    e. Used to denote an unspecified number.

1533 Gau Richt Vay 3 That thay..suld haiff sa mony thousand zeris of pardone. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Chete, The ship is so many foot deepe in hold. 1631 Gouge God's Arrows i. §29. 44 Papists..going barefoot so many miles. 1780 Mirror No. 87, Creeping on his knees up the steps of St. Peter's so many times a day.

    38. so mickle, = next. (See also insameikle.)

c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. i, Þa hit ða ᵹelomp þæt se arwyrða wæs on swa micelre nearanesse. 971 Blickl. Hom. 25 Nu he swa mycel for ure lufan ᵹeþrowode. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 31 Ne mahtic ȝelden swa muchel swa ic habbe idon to herme. a 1200 Moral Ode 357 in Trin. Coll. Hom., He haueð sswo muchel þat he ne bit no more. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 6013 Swa mykel folk com never togyder..sythen þe werld bygan. 14.. 26 Pol. Poems xxvi. 217 Hym was nat lefte so mekyll a clothe Hys naked body for to hele. 1503 in Littlejohn Aberd. Sheriff Crt. (1904) 48 The said corn was samekle of waile in tyme of the spoliacioun therof. 1581 Hamilton Cath. Traictise Ep. 2 Not samekle for the present calameteis.., as for [etc.]. 1609 [see mickle B. 1 c]. 1820 Scott Monast. Introd. Ep., There were few folk kend sae muckle about the Abbey.

    39. so much. (See also for-, insomuch.)
    * adj. a. So great, extensive, or abundant; so large a quantity or number of, etc.

a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1345 Godes sune, þet se muche godlec cudde us alle on eorðe. 13.. K. Alis. 1032 (W.), Alle the innes of the toun Haddyn litel foisoun,..So muche people with hire was. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 431 Siche signes drawen fro love of Crist þo þat setten so meche trist in hem. c 1400 Love Bonavent. Mirr. (1908) 49 Thowh there was so moche nede, I fynde no mynde of furres or pilches. a 1529 Skelton Sp. Parrot 443 So myche newe makyng,..So myche translacion in to Englyshe confused. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. i. 167 This last costly Treaty.., That swallowed so much treasure. 1651 Howell Venice 31 Seeing the English buy so much Currans. 1780 Mirror No. 110, A performance, the reception of which was liable to so much uncertainty. 1812 Crabbe Tales v. 178 That so much beauty..Raised strong emotions in the poet's mind. 1884 W. S. B. M{supc}Laren Spinning (ed. 2) 28 Some soda is often put into..potash soaps just because it will hold so much water.

    b. So largely possessed of something.

1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. iii. (Percy Soc.) 15 The fayre tower so muche of ryches Was all about sexangled. 1549–62 Sternhold & H. Ps. lxxxvi. 10 For why? thou art so much of might.

    c. An equal sum or amount of (something).

1557 in Marsden Sel. Pl. Crt. Admiralty (Selden Soc.) II. 72, I..do owe unto John Levytt..for so moche redy money of him resayved..the some of fyfty pownds. 1695 Telfair New Confut. Sadd. (1696) 3 He took up the Threshold, found the Tooth, and threw it into the Fire, where it burnt like so much Tallow. 1857 Ruskin Pol. Econ. Art ii. §90 Whenever you buy a copy, you buy so much misunderstanding of the original. 1885 Mrs. E. Lynn Linton C. Kirkland I. 219 Even my languages..were merely so much literary furniture.

    ** adv. d. Followed by the and a comparative (and sometimes with by preceding): To that extent, in that degree.

a 1225 Leg. Kath. 413 And swa muche þe swiðere þet he bihet to medin ham mid swiðe heh mede. c 1425 Eng. Conq. Irel. (1896) 6 He..soiourned thar a whill; & so mych the blethelier, for þer com oft shippes theder. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 216 b, He was brent in a small fire, that hys torment might be so mutch the greater. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 179 By how much the more thou excellest others in honours, by so much the more thou oughtest to exceed them in honestie. 1611 Bible Mark vii. 36 The more hee charged them, so much the more a great deale they published it. 1691 T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 95 It is so much the worse, by how much it deviates from Equality. 1741 Challoner Mem. Missionary Priests Pref. (1803) A 2 Which appeared.., by so much the more wanting, by how much the less [etc.]. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) I. 574 Others frequently concur to this end so much the better, the more that they seem to deviate from it. 1908 R. Bagot A. Cuthbert vii. 77 If the lady remained at Syracuse for a day or two, so much the better.

    e. To such an extent; in such a degree.

1388 Wyclif Eccl. ii. 13 And Y siȝ, that wisdom ȝede so mych bifor foli, as miche as liȝt is dyuerse fro derknessis. 1519 Interlude Four Elements in Hazlitt Dodsley I. 22, I marvel greatly, That ever ye would use the company So mich of such a knave. 1580 in Allen Martyrdom Campion (1908) 26 Rage man or devil never so much. 1692 E. Walker's tr. Epictetus' Mor. (1737) To Mr. E. W. on his Transl., Nor is your Author had in less esteem Than that great Man so much admir'd by him. 1742 Ld. Percival in Johnson's Debates (1787) II. 265 In so much a better manner than I thought my⁓self able to do. 1768–74 A. Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) I. 59 How much we desire an absent positive good, so much we are in pain for it. 1831 Scott Cast. Dang. ii, But wherefore..so much displeased but now at my young friend Charles? 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede xxxvi, Villages, and market⁓towns—all so much alike to her indifferent eyes.

Comb. 1664 Pepys Diary 1 Jan., Saw the so much cried-up play of ‘Henry the Eighth’. 1734 tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. i. ii. vi. (1841) I. 45 These so-much-boasted politicians. 1848 Dickens Dombey xxxi, The so-much-to-be-astonished chicken. 1860 E. Falkener Dædalus Introd. 2 The so-much-talked-of trabeated ceilings of the ancients.

    *** n. f. An equal amount; as much.

c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 3440 Thei prayed him alle that viage to take, To do so moche for her sake. c 1400 Brut civ. 105 If ȝe so miche..haue y-wonne, an C. tymes so miche..ȝe hauen loste. 1589 Pappe w. Hatchet in Lyly's Wks. 1902 III. 407 This is a good settled speech, a Diuine might haue seemd to haue said so much. c 1643 Ld. Herbert Autobiog. (1824) 32, I never saw him angry.., and have heard so much of him for many years before. a 1679 Hobbes Rhet. i. vii. 14 More, is so much, and somewhat besides. 1780 Mirror No. 94, I cannot say so much for his acquaintance C. D. 1810 Crabbe Borough ii. 55 note, I would answer, that I understand so much. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxxi, He kissed her hand. Except when she was married, he had not done so much for years before.

    g. A certain unspecified amount, sum, etc.

1382 Wyclif Acts v. 8 Womman, seye to me, if ȝe solden the feeld for so moche? And she seide, Ȝhe, so moche. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. (1882) ii. 23 That such a thing cost them so much, and so much, and it is woorth this much and that much. 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Pol. Touchstone (1674) 269 This..behaviour..is as so much of the best Sugar for you Italians, and as so much of the bitterest Poyson for the Spanish Nation. 1696 Caldwell P. (Maitl. Cl.) I. 171 They have..soe much a day for their pocket money. 1737 Gentl. Mag. VII. 552/1 They have nothing to do but to work them off as fast as They can, at so much a thousand. 1844 Mrs. Browning Cry of the Human v, Each soul is worth so much on 'Change. 1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 88 Life is lost, By so much, when you lose a perfect sense.

    h. Thus much, thus far. (Used to sum up or dismiss a matter.)

1588 Shakes. L.L.L. i. i. 240 So much for the time When. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ iii. ii. §10 And so much for this second Hypothesis. 1707 J. Stevens tr. Quevedo's Com. Wks. (1709) 350 So much for that; do you take me Sir. 1794 Scott Let. in Lockhart (1837) I. vii. 220 So much for public news. 1840 P. Parley's Ann. 364 So much for the love of slaughter! 1891 T. Hardy Tess (1900) 11/1 So much for Norman blood unaided by Victorian lucre.

    i. Such an amount, quantity, etc.
    See also ever adv. 9 b, 9 c, and never adv. 4.

1606 G. Woodcocke Hist. Ivstine xxv. 93 There was so much of merit in him. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 120 ¶1 Sir Roger is very often merry with me upon my passing so much of my Time among his Poultry. 1732–8 Swift Polite Conv. 131 (Footman fills him a Bumper.) Why do you fill so much? 1816 Shelley Mt. Blanc 117 So much of life and joy is lost. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lxxiii, So many worlds, so much to do, So little done.

    40. so much as, that, etc. a. With as (or † so), in ordinary comparative use.

adj. c 1275 Lay. 25351 Folk þar com wel sone.., so moche so þar neuere hear [= ere] no man ne gadere[de]. a 1400–50 Alexander 1249 The multitude was so much as menys vs þe writtez. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 18 Somuch grownd as might receyue..his poore Carkas. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado ii. iii. 263 Bene. You take pleasure then in the message. Beat. Yea iust so much as you may take vpon a kniues point. 1668 Wilkins Real Char. 339 The other Affix..is not of so much use or necessity as the rest. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xxxix, Take so much leisure as to peruse this letter. 1865 Ruskin Sesame ii. §80 Of half so much importance as [etc.].

n. a 1400–50 Alexander 3306, I..Has noȝt o maistri so meche as miȝt of my-selfe. c 1420 Sir Amadace (Camden) l, He wold gif hom..so muche..As any lord wold. c 1530 Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. 330 Often times it fortuned that a man can not attayne to do so muche as he would do. 1559 Boke Presidentes 9 That ye will do so muche as..to present A. B. to the same. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 18 Others account so much to Paradise as those foure Riuers doe water. 1678 Butler Hud. iii. ii. 1214 'Tis most true None bring him in so much as you. 1875 M. Pattison Casaubon 522 Casaubon knew of his own age so much as the average of educated men know. 1886 C. E. Pascoe London of To-day i. (ed. 3) 24 The poorest memory..will retain so much as that.

adv. c 1425 Eng. Conq. Irel. (1896) 16 He hatede nothynge so mych as that me shold spek of his stalwardnes. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. iii. 13 A man schulde loue..his neiȝbore as him silf, thouȝ not so miche as him silf. 1530 Palsgr. 567/1, I gave hym counsayle to the contrarye so moche as lay in me. 1595 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. V. 336 All the way he prayed,..so much as he might. 1634 Sir T. Hawkins Pol. Observ. 13 To these turmoyles, so much weighty as they were new, crosse omens of predictions were added. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 466 ¶3 With a Design to please no one so much as her Father. 1780 Mirror No. 79, Not so much by the class of people..as by the kind of sentiments. 1831 Scott Ct. Rob. xviii, Her attendant..kept herself modestly in the background, so much so as hardly to be distinguished.

    b. Used to emphasize a negation.

a 1425 Cursor M. 16960 (Trin.), He þat neuer synne dud, ne so muche as hit þouȝt. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 197 Not so muche as putting pen to paper. c 1643 Ld. Herbert Autobiog. (1824) 124 Without giving me so much as the least warning. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. I. 144 There was not so much as a Meal of Victuals left for them. 1713 Steele Englishman No. 40, I do not remember to have seen any small Birds, nor so much as a Crow or Magpye. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia viii. viii, I should not expect any lady would so much as look at him. 1854 Mrs. Oliphant Magdalen Hepburn II. 51 The priest's benedicite was not accompanied by so much as a glance. 1887 Birrell Obiter Dicta Ser. ii. 151 [He] never so much as attained to a seat in the Cabinet.

    c. With that, denoting result or consequence.

c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1794 Lordes han for to done So mych for hem-self, þat my mateere Out of hir mynde slippith away soone. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon iv. 119 Soo moche abode the foure sones of Aymon, that the nyghte came. 1595 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. V. 290 He..was so muche greeved that..he went presently to Confession. c 1670 Wood Life (O.H.S.) I. 45 This yeare he had the small pox so much that he was for a time blinded with them. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. iii, My attention was so much taken up..that I scarce looked forward. 1811 Byron in R. C. Dallas Corr. of Byron (1825) II. 26, I feel myself so much a citizen of the world, that [etc.]. 1850 Thackeray Pendennis xvi, So much so, that one afternoon..she..shook hands with him.

    d. Followed by infinitive without as.

1607 Tourneur Rev. Trag. i. i, I had so much wit to keepe my thoughts Vp in their built houses. 1874 Swinburne Bothwell ii. ix, Though I have not so much grace To bind again this people fast to God.

    
    

---

    
     ▸ slang (chiefly U.S.). As an intensifier, forming non-standard grammatical constructions. Cf. sense 14a. a. Modifying a noun, or an adjective or adverb which does not usually admit comparison: extremely, characteristically.
    Quot. 1923 represents an isolated use, app. without influence on later development of the sense.

1923 R. Firbank Flower beneath Foot i. 16 What can you see in her..? She's so housemaid. 1979‘W. Allen’ & M. Brickman Manhattan in Four Films W. Allen (1982) 194 Yale: He's a big Bergman fan, you know. Mary: Oh, please, you know. God, you're so the opposite! I mean, you write that absolutely fabulous television show. 1988 D. Waters Heathers (film script) 14 Grow up, Heather. Bulimia's so '86. 2001 Toronto Star 7 Apr. m2/3 Got ya, sucker! You are so dead! 2001 Heat 28 Apr.–4 May 81/2 Don't be expecting it to be cosy... The kid gloves are so off. 2004 Independent (Tabloid ed.) 14 July i. 27 (headline) Falling out of fashion: why African models are so last year.

    b. Modifying a verb: definitely, decidedly. Freq. in negative constructions.

1994 A. Heckerling Clueless (Buff Rev. pages) 14 Oh thank you, Josh, I so need lessons from you on how to be cool. 1996J. Whedon Harvest in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Script Bk. (2000) (1st Season) I. 79 We so don't have time. 2000 Brill's Content Aug. 110/1 It's the sort of slangy, informal use of so you might hear a teen of the MTV set employ, as in: ‘Omigod, I would so marry Carson Daly if he asked me’. 2004 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 26 Dec. v. 8/3 I am so getting the milkshake.

    c. so not——: emphatically not——.

1997 N.Y. Mag. 25 Aug. 152/3 Napoleons are so not fun to eat. 1999 S. Rushdie Ground beneath her Feet (2000) xvi. 501 We guess communism just got buried in the rubble there somewhere. And those Ceauşescus? So not missed. 2005 J. M. Czech Grace Happens xi. 62 You've seen the carousel and it's so not cool to be seen here if you're over nine years old.

▪ II. so
    var. soe; obs. inf. and pa. tense pl. of see v.

Oxford English Dictionary