▪ I. staid, a.
(steɪd)
Forms: 6 sta(i)de, (steyed), 6–7 staied, stayd, 6–9 staid, stayed.
[Adjectival use of stayed, pa. pple. of stay v.]
1. Of beliefs, institutions, etc.: Fixed, permanent; settled, unchanging. Of a person's gaze: Fixed, set. Now rare.
| 1541 Copland Guydon's Quest. Cyrurg. Q iv, Than beholde..yf his [the lazar's] loke be steyed and horryble [orig. aspectus fixus & horribilis]. 1559 Fecknam in Strype Ann. Ref. App. ix. (1709) I. 24 Your Honours must observe which of bothe these is the most stayed Religion, and allwayes forthe one, and agreeable with it self. 1584 D. Powel Lloyd's Cambria 20 This was a troublesome time and as yet no staied government established in Wales. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. iii. §2 The variable inclination of his owne mind carryed his actions past the limits of any stayed compasse. 1863 Cowden Clarke Shaks. Char. xvi. 393 His staid opinion. 1867 Macgregor Voy. Alone (1868) 38 That staid glazy eye which a hard-worked seaman generally has. |
b. Of persons: Settled in faith, purpose, etc. ? Obs.
| 1631 Weever Anc. Funeral Mon. 104 So stayed in sacred resolutions as was Henry the fourth. 1812 Cary Dante, Parad. v. 73 Be ye more staid, O Christians! not like feather, by each wind Removeable. |
2. Settled in character; of grave or sedate deportment; dignified and serious in demeanour or conduct; free from flightiness or caprice. a. of a person, his actions, attributes, etc.
| 1557 North Gueuara's Diall Pr. Ded. A j, By his stayed life God hath bene glorified. 1574 Hellowes Gueuara's Fam. Epist. (1577) 285 A physician that is learned, wise, stayed, and of experience. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. June 38 But ryper age such pleasures doth reproue, My fancye eke from former follies moue To stayed steps. 1620 Shelton Don Quixote ii. xlii. 273 Hee..with a stayed voyce [orig. con reposada voz] said: I giue infinite thankes, friend Sancho, that [etc.]. 1638 Bp. R. Montagu Art. Enq. Norwich B 1 b, For his person and deportment, is he [your Minister] stayed, grave, humble, modest [etc.]? 1709 Steele Tatler No. 61 ¶4 Not that she is against a more stay'd Conduct in others. 1756 Wesley Wks. (1872) II. 360 The whole congregation appeared stayed and solid. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. i. 528 On widow fair and staid, He fixed his eye. a 1834 Lamb Good Clerk Misc. Wks. (1871) 386 His whole deportment is staid, modest, and civil. 1864 Tennyson En. Ard. 112 A grave and staid God-fearing man. |
| Comb. 1872 C. Gibbon For King iii, There spoke a lover, and not a staid-minded husband. |
b. of things personified, their attributes, etc.
| 1622 Drayton Poly-olb. xxii. 18 Ouze hauing Ouleney past, From her first stayder course immediately doth gad. 1632 Milton Penseroso 16 Ore laid with black staid Wisdoms hue. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) II. 335 Staid Order, gentle Peace, Twin-born of Justice, smiled. |
c. of animals.
| 1618 Baret Horsemanship i. 13 There must be a time to reforme the will of the Horse, and after that to giue him a stayed body, and an euen carriage of the same. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. vi. 289 Thus husbandmen couple young colts with staid horses, that both together may draw the better. 1823 Scott Quentin D. ix, A staid and quiet palfrey. |
d. Characterized by or indicating sedateness.
| 1567 Drant Horace, Art Poetry A viij b, The stade Spondeus foote [spondeos stabilis]. 1820 L. Hunt Indicator No. 19 Prudence..Humanized into Pru. We suspect that these prodigiously staid names are apt to overshoot themselves, and disgust the possessor. 1865 Le Fanu Guy Deverell xl. II. 169 Monsieur Varbarriere entered the staid mansion. |
3. Of the intellect and intellectual operations: Sober, steady, well-regulated; free from extravagance or caprice.
| 1555 Hooper in Coverdale Lett. Martyrs (1564) 160 Such as be of a right and stayed iudgement. a 1568 R. Ascham Scholem. ii. (Arb.) 110 This exercise may bring moch profite to ripe heads, and stayd iudgementes. 1664 R. Flecknoe Discourse Engl. Stage G 6, Wit being an exuberant thing..but Judgement a stayed, and reposed thing. a 1676 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. i. ii. 57 Deliberation; a staid and attentive consideration of things to be known. 1870 J. Bruce Gideon xiv. 246 A staid and considerate understanding. |
▪ II. staid
Sc. f. stade; pa. tense and pple. of stay v.