abhor, v.
(æbˈhɔː(r))
Also 5–7 abhorre.
[ad. L. abhorrē-re to shrink back in dread, to be far from, to be inconsistent with; f. ab away from + horrē-re, to bristle, to stand with, or as, hair on end, to stand aghast, to shudder with fright, etc. Cf. Fr. abhorrer which may have given the trans. sense; the intr. ones are clearly from L.]
† 1. trans. lit. To shrink back from with shuddering, to view with horror or dread. Obs. rare.
| 1513 Douglas æneid xiii. x. 47 Abhor thou not the fyre and flambis bricht, From thy dere spousis hede glaid to the hicht. |
2. fig. To regard with horror, extreme repugnance or disgust; to hate utterly, loathe, abominate. a. Obj. a noun or noun-phrase.
| 1449 Pecock Repr. 563 Thei abhorren aboue alle othere..the Sacrament of the auter, the preciose bodi and blood of Crist. 1494 Fabyan i. xxvi. 19 (1542) The Brytons abhorred the lynage of Gorbodio. 1535 Coverdale Ecclus. l. 25 There be two maner of people, that I abhorre fro my hert. 1542 Boorde Dyetary (1870) viii. 247 To slepe on the backe vpryght is utterly to be abhorred. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. ii. v. 219 He will come to her in yellow stockings, and 'tis a colour she abhorres. 1611 Bible Ps. cvii. 18 Their soule abhorreth all manner of meate. 1726 W. Penn Life Wks. I. 137 I always abhorr'd discounting private favours at the Publick cost. 1793 Burke Let. to Comte D'Artois, Wks. 1844, IV. 186 Abhor intrigue, and you will have the benefit of counsel. 1860 Trench Serm. in Westm. Abbey xxvi. 297 How many shun evil as inconvenient, who do not abhor it as hateful... To abhor evil is to have it in a moral detestation; to shrink back from it with a shuddering horror, as one would shrink back from a hissing, stinging serpent. |
b. Obj. an infinitive phr.
| 1555 Fardle of Facions ii. x. 216 This people so despiseth al other men,..that thei abhor to speake to theim. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iv. ii. 357 Nature doth abhorre to make his bed With the defunct. 1644 Milton Areop. 53 Which I know ye abhorre to doe. 1718 Pope Iliad xiii. 331 Inglorious here, my soul abhors to stay. 1799 W. Taylor in Robberds Memoirs I. 306, I abhor to exceed my income. |
† 3. causally. To make one shudder, to horrify; to cause horror or disgust. Mostly impers. Obs.
| 1536 Ld. Berners Golden Boke of Marcus Aurel. (1546) J v. b, Flesshe oughte not to be so leane, that it abhorre, nor so fatte that it cloie the stomacke. 1541 Elyot Image of Gov. 7 It abhorreth me to expresse his beastly lyuyng. 1565 J. Halle Hist. Expost. (1844) 18 It would abhorre any honest mans eares to heare of it. 1604 Shakes. Oth. iv. ii. 162 I cannot say Whore; It do's abhorre me, now I speake the word. |
† 4. intr. lit. To shudder, feel horror or dismay. Obs. rare.
| 1535 W. Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 358 Quhen thai saw the greit Montanis thay abhorrit with thame. |
† 5. fig. To shrink with horror, repugnance, disgust, or dislike from. Obs.
| 1538 Starkey England 21 Wych [thing] hath causyd many grete, wyse, and polytyke men to abhorre from commyn welys. 1548 Udall etc. Erasm. Paraph. Matt. xvii. 23 Theyr mynd abhorred so muche from the remembrance of death. 1617 Fynes Moryson i. 3. i. 208 Most part of the Mariners are Greekes, the Italians abhorring from being sea men. 1651 R. Wittie tr. Primrose's Popular Errours iii. i. 133 Some doe so much abhorre from the use thereof, that they think it almost present poyson. a 1656 Hales Golden Rem. (1688) 423 They abhorr'd from the conceit of many men who would believe nothing but what they were able to give a reason for. |
† 6. To be repugnant, be at variance, be inconsistent, differ entirely from. Obs.
| 1553–87 Foxe A. & M. II. 357 It did nothing at all abhor from nature. 1650 F. G[regory] Maps and Charts, Posthuma 324 Our own Island useth to bee likened to a Triangle, and it doth not much abhor from that Figure. 1671 Evelyn Memoirs (1857) III. 234 This new-minted transubstantiation, abhorring from the genuine and rational sense of the text. |