a., adv., and sb. Forms: α. 3–5 (6 Sc.) verray (4 verrai, -aie, 6 Sc. varray), 4–6 werray (4 werrai, warrai, 6 Sc. warray), veray (5–6 veraye, weray), verai; 4–6 verrey (4 verrei, ferrey, 5 werrey), verey (5 uerey, vereye, 7 Sc. werey). β. 4–5 verra, 6 Sc. vera, werra; 8–9 Sc. vera, 9 Sc. and north. verra; 6–7 (9 north.) vara, 9 Sc. varra. γ. 4–5 verre (5 vere), 5–6 werre (6 were). δ. 4–5 verri, verry (5, 9 dial. werry), 6–7 Sc. verrie (6 werrie), 9. dial. varry, vurry; 4–6 veri, 5– very (5 vary, 5, 7 Sc., wery), 5–6 verye, 5–7 verie (6 werie, Sc. vearie). [a. AF. verrai, verrey, verai, veray, OF. verai, varai, vrai (mod.F. vrai, Pr. verai), f. the stem of L. vērus true.]
A. adj. I. 1. Really or truly entitled to the name or designation; possessing the true character of the person or thing named; properly so called or designated; = TRUE a. 5.
Very common from c. 1300 to c. 1600; now rare except as an echo of Biblical usage.
a. Of persons, or the Deity.
α, β. c. 1250. Kent. Serm., in O. E. Misc., 27. Be þet hi offrede gold … seawede þet he was sothfast kink, and be þet hi offrede Stor … seawede þet he was verray prest.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 22729. A clude … bar him vp, wonder bright; Warraiman and godd warrai.
13[?]. Guy Warw., 3568. Wele haþ Gij don þat day, As gode kniȝt & verray.
a. 1380. in Horstm., Altengl. Leg. (1878), 32/1. A mayden, forsoþe, wente her in, But now forsoþe, as i seo con, Ȝonde sitteþ a verrei mon.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 389. A verra victor a-vansid with all þe vayne werde.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), xv. 66. He … es a haly prophete and a verray in worde and in dede.
1413. Pilgr. Sowle, I. xv. (Caxton, 1483), 14. Ihesu,… that were of Mary veray mayd bore in veray flesshe and bloode.
c. 1470. Golagros & Gaw., 957. Grant me confort this day, As thow art God verray!
1509. Fisher, Funeral Serm. C’tess Richmond, Wks. (1876), 301. All the lerned men of Englonde to whome she was a veray patronesse. Ibid. (1521), Serm. agst. Luther, i. Ibid., 313. To be vnto her in all suche stormes a veray comforter.
1533. Gau, Richt Vay, 37. Be this word … he is veray God.
γ, δ. c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 310. Siþ Crist, verrest bischop of alle, cursede not for his tiþes.
c. 1403. Lydg., Temple Glas, 571. Nou am I cauȝt vnder subieccioun, Forto bicome a verre homagere, To god of loue.
c. 1450. Myrroure our Ladye, 323. Thow arte the certayne hope of wretches, very mother of motherlesse.
c. 1460. Wisdom, 15, in Macro Plays, 36. Þe belowyde sone…, Spows of þe chyrche, & wery patrone.
1526. Tindale, Mark xi. 32. All men counted Ihon, that he was a veri prophett.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VI., 150 b. She had one poynt of a very woman,… she was … mutable, and turnyng.
1549. Bk. Com. Prayer, Comm. Creed. Very God of very God.
1574. trans. Marlorat’s Apocalips, 21. In respect wherof he is called the sonne of man, that is too say, verie man.
1615. Bedwell, Moham. Imp., II. § 53. God is a very spirit.
a. 1680. Butler, Rem. (1759), I. 102. Th’ are very Men, not Things That move by Puppet-work.
1801. Mar. Edgeworth, Moral T., Mlle. Panache (1832), 252. ‘I confess, I am a very woman,’ said Lady Augusta, with a sigh.
1854. Trench, Synonyms, § 8 (ed. 2), 30. But he is ἀληθινός,… very God, as distinguished from idols and all other false gods.
1857. Hawthorne, Eng. Note-Bks. (1870), II. 329. Thence we went into Queen Mary’s room, and saw that beautiful portrait—that very queen and very woman.
b. Of abstract things, conditions or qualities.
α. a. 1300. Cursor M., 26103. And þan we sal þe pointes rede þat warrai scrifte al of has nede.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., A. 1184. So was hit me dere þat þou con deme, In þys veray avysyoun.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., I. 15. For riȝt-wisnesse generaly is fulfillinge of lawe, and so fulfillinge of Goddis lawe is verrei riȝt-wisnesse.
c. 1412. Hoccleve, De Reg. Princ., 3313. Mercy … Of herte is a verray compassioun Of othir menys harm.
c. 1440. Pallad. on Husb., IX. 91. The fertilitee Of withi, reede, aller, yvy, or vyne That ther is water nygh is verrey signe.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, I. 3. Our antecessowris … We lat ourslide, throw werray sleuthfulnes.
1539. Cromwell, in Merriman, Life & Lett. (1902), II. 202. Under the colour of a veray peax, whiche is neuertheles but a cloked and furred peax.
1562. Winȝet, Cert. Tractatis, i. Wks. (S.T.S.), I. 12. Thre of the gretast ydolis,… verray ydolis in deid.
β, δ. 1303. R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 1659. Þere was verry matrymony, with-oute fleshly dede of any.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., I. 315. Crist axiþ here mekenes and poverte, wiþ verri pees.
1422. Yonge, trans. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv., 146. This goodis of Fortune or of kynde … be not werry goodys, for now thay byth, and now thay byth agone.
c. 1450. Merlin, i. 11. Thou … haste very repentaunce of herte. Ibid., 13. I haue very trust in god, that [etc.].
1486. Bk. St. Albans, a ij. Therfore thys book fowlowyng in a dew forme shewys veri knawlege of suche plesure.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 24. A generall syght of ye principles & processe of very religyon.
1540–1. Elyot, Image Gov., 7. The moste preciouse garment of verie nobilitee.
1572. J. Jones, Bathes Buckstone, 5. Which wee abusively call worldely wealth, when as very wealth, is health.
1651. Hobbes, Leviath., II. xxvi. 147. Also, Unwritten Customes … by the tacite consent of the Emperour … are very Lawes. Ibid. (a. 1679), Rhet., xvi. (1681), 39. The written Law is but seeming justice; the Law of Nature very justice.
1868. Morris, Earthly Par., I. 58. Half dead with very death still drawing nigh.
c. Of material things.
a. 1330. Roland & V., 129. For to wite þe soþe þere, Ȝif þe relikes verray were.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xvii. (Martha), 188. Scho … bad þame hyre in askis lay, & schaw til hyre a croice verra.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., II. ix. 193. Ech lyuyng man is verier … ymage of Crist … than is eny vnquyk stok.
1495. Trevisa’s Barth. De P. R., XVI. xlvii. 569. It is harde … to knowe betwene the very precyous stones and fals.
1555. Eden, Decades (Arb.), 356. Many bouwes and branches,… muche like vnto verye trees that are in owlde woddes.
1581. Pettie, Guazzo’s Civ. Conv., I. (1586), 23. The other parts which we call compound, or instrumentall, which are the verie members of the bodie.
1592. Timme, Ten Eng. Lepers, K j b. They which are out of their wittes do not see the verie things, but the fantasies of their passion.
1678. Hobbes, Decam., ix. 106. Such Iron were indeed a very and vigorous Loadstone.
† d. Full, thorough, unqualified. Obs.
1446. in Willis & Clark, Cambridge (1886), I. 339. The said maister … shal do his verray diligence to pourvey … a place as gode.
1496. Rolls of Parlt., VI. 512/1. The said Quene is of verrey will and mynde, that the same Erle shall be truly and fully contented.
† e. spec. in Law. (See quot. 1607.) Obs.
1544. trans. Littleton’s Tenures (1574), 96 b. But if it be verye lord and verye tenaunt, and the tenaunte maketh a feoffement in fee. [So Coke, On Litt. (1628), 269.]
1607. Cowell, Interpr., s.v., Very Lord, and very Tenent,… are they that be immediate Lord & Tenent one to the other.
2. With limitation (usually expressed by the or a possessive) to particular instances: The true or real; that is truly or properly entitled to the name. Now arch. a. Of material things or places.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xix. (Christopher), 61. Þe king can ma Þe takine of þe croice verra on hyme.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), I. 255. Ysidre seiþ þat verray [L. proprie dicta] Germania haþ in þe est side þe mouth of þe ryuer Danubius.
1414. Lay Folks Mass Bk., App. ii. 120. The materyall bred that was before is turnyd into Chrystys verray body.
c. 1450. Merlin, xx. 329. Than he made vpon hym the signe of the very crosse.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 4. Theyr iourney … signifyeth the journey to ye very Jerusalem.
1535. Coverdale, John vi. 55. For my flesh is ye very meate, and my bloude is ye very drynke.
1567. Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.), 61. He is the way, trothe, lyfe, and lycht, The varray [v.r. verray, verie] port, till heaven full rycht.
1651. Hobbes, Leviath., I. i. 4. Though … the reall, and very object seem invested with the fancy it begets in us.
1849. Neale, Hymns for Sick (1906), 26. Thy very Flesh and Blood.
b. Of abstract things, conditions, etc.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Boeth., III. pr. iii. (1868), 69. And by a maner þouȝt … ȝe looken from a fer til þilk verray fyn of blisfulnesse.
c. 1400. Maundev. (1839), xii. 139. Thei that scholden ben converted to Crist … ben thorghe oure Wykkednesse … fer fro us and straungeres fro the holy and verry Beleeve.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., I. xii. 65. But the trewe and verry vndirstonding ther of is this.
c. 1465. Pol., Rel., & L. Poems (1903), 3. Þe welfare of Edward Rex moste riall, That is þe verie purpos that we labure fore.
c. 1470. Golagros & Gaw., 161. The verray cause of his come I knew noght the cace.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 1 b. Euery religious persone sholde intende the perfeccyon of his soule, whiche is the very peace of the spiryte.
1538. Starkey, England, I. i. 10. Thys ys the veray true and cyuyle lyfe.
1577. St. Aug. Manual (Longman), 106. The very wisedome of God shall shew himselfe to them.
1647. Saltmarsh, Sparkles Glory (1847), 80. Pastors,… who cannot now minister as the oracles of God, nor according to the very gifts of the Holy Ghost then.
1859. Gen. P. Thompson, Audi Alt. Part., II. lxxxvii. 57. The vulgar animosity against a skin,—the stamp of lowly-mindedness, and very indication of cart blood.
c. Of persons or the Deity.
c. 1450. Mirour Saluacioun, 3. Xrist, goddes verray son and wysdame.
1456. Sir G. Haye, Law Arms (S.T.S.), 24. The verray pape sanct Innocent had bene put out [by a false pope].
1523. [Coverdale], Old God & New (1534), B j. After yt ye eternall & the verye god had shewed hym selfe vnto Adam.
1548–9. (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Comm., Pref. Easter, 126. He is the very Pascall Lambe.
1567. Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.), 184. The Priestis … ar the verray Antichristis.
1600. Shaks., A. Y. L., IV. i. 71. What would you say to me now, and I were your verie, verie Rosalind?
1613. Purchas, Pilgrimage (1614), 21. His minde was enlightened to know the onely very God.
† d. Proper, correct. Obs.–1
c. 1410. Master of Game (MS. Digby 182), xv. Þough þer be alauntes of alle hewese, þe verrey hewe of þe good alauntes … shuld be white with a blake spotte aboute þe eres.
3. In emphatic use, denoting that the person or thing may be so named in the fullest sense of the term, or possesses all the essential qualities of the thing specified. Cf. VERITABLE a. 3.
Common from c. 1550 to c. 1700; now chiefly in the superlative, freq. qualifying something bad, objectionable or undesirable. Occasionally repeated in order to give additional emphasis.
a. With a or the preceding (or rarely without article), or with pl. sb.
(a) 1384. Chaucer, L. G. W., 259 (Prol.). Thow thynkist in thyn wit … That he nys but a verray propre fole.
1484. Caxton, Fables of Auian, vi. He … is a very fole.
1535. Coverdale, 2 Kings xxii. 19. They shall become a very desolacion and curse.
1545. Brinklow, Compl., xxv. 75. Euery one of them is become a very Nero.
1576. Gascoigne, Kenelworth Castle, Wks. 1910, II. 122. Heaven was not heaven, it was rather a verye Hell.
1609. Holland, Amm. Marcell., F j b. When he was dead, Valentinian his sonne a very childe, was by the army stiled Augustus.
1662. Petty, Taxes, 83. Not to rate … wool until it be cloth, or rather until it be a very garment.
1693. Dryden, Juvenal, vi. 592. When Poor, she’s scarce a tollerable Evil; But Rich, and Fine, a Wife’s a very Devil.
1711. Steele, Spect., No. 157, ¶ 1. Marius was then a very Boy.
1771. Franklin, Autobiog., Wks. 1840, I. 55. The attorney was a very knave.
1826. Disraeli, Viv. Grey, III. vi. Yes, it is madness; very, very madness.
1829. Scott, Anne of G., xxi. Sigismund Biederman will aid him willingly, and he is a very horse at labour.
1888. J. Inglis, Tent Life in Tigerland, 1. North Bhangulpore … is admittedly even for India a very sportman’s paradise.
(b) 1593. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., II. vii. § 6. Which insolency must be repressed, or it will be the very bane of Christian religion.
1648. Art. Peace, in Milton’s Wks. (1851), IV. 546. The intermedling of Governours and Parties in this Kingdom, with Sidings and Parties in England, have been the very betraying of this Kingdom to the Irish.
1712. Addison, Spect., No. 393, ¶ 2. A Region, which is the very Reverse of Paradise.
1729. Law, Serious C., xiv. 234. Mortification, of all kinds, is the very life and soul of piety.
1779. Warner, in Jesse, Selwyn & Contemp. (1844), IV. 308. And then for owls, it is their very kingdom.
1872. Morley, Voltaire, 5. Voltaire was the very eye of modern illumination.
1883. Manch. Exam., 29 Nov., 5/4. The atmosphere of most of the courts … is the very reverse of healthy.
b. With a inserted between the adj. and the sb. qualified, esp. as or so very a. Cf. SO adv. 14 d. Now rare or Obs.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 405. There can no man be imagined so very a coward or so barbarouse.
1565. Cooper, Thesaurus, Adæque miser, euen as very a wretch.
1573–80. Tusser, Husb. (1878), 69. For oftentimes seene, no more verie a knaue than he that doth counterfait most to be graue.
1634. W. Tirwhyt, trans. Balzac’s Lett. (vol. I.), 352. I will onely content myself to protest that you were never so very a poet, as when you spake of me.
1667. Pepys, Diary, 29 July. He is as very a wencher as can be.
1704. J. Trapp, Abra-Mulé, III. i. 1047. Thou cam’st to find as very a Madman As ever rav’d in Chains.
1739. A. Hill, in Richardson’s Corr. (1804), I. 36. I was so very a boy when I suffered that light piece of work to be published, that [etc.].
1747–8. Richardson, Ibid., I. 182. A thing … so very a nothing in itself.
1804. H. Martin, Helen of Glenross, IV. 118. So very a soldier.
1828. Scott, Tapestr. Chamb., ¶ 47. I sank back in a swoon, as very a victim to panic terror as ever was a village girl.
1844. C. Macfarlane, Camp of Refuge, v. (1897), 77. Without knowing … how very a prisoner she is in her own manor-house.
c. In the comp. verier and (in later use more commonly) the superl. veriest.
(a). 1548. Cooper, Elyot’s Dict., s.v. Certus, There is no veryer knaue.
1579. Tomson, Calvin’s Serm. Tim., 767/1. The Lord will … suffer vs to come home verier fooles and doltes then wee went.
1648. Hunting of Fox, 40. Your selves, veryer beasts then the hogs you lost.
1681. Flavel, Meth. Grace, vii. 145. To represent it as a verier trifle, and needless thing than these his agents have done.
a. 1701. Maundrell, Journ. Jerus. (1732), 94. Where the stump of the Tree stood it meets with not a few Visitants so much veryer stocks than it self, as to fall down and worship it.
1735. Pope, Donne’s Sat., iv. 28. A verier monster than on Africk’s shore, The Sun e’er got, or slimy Nilus bore.
1814. Southey, ‘Who counsels peace?’ iv. All too long in blood had he been nurst, And ne’er was earth with verier tyrant curst.
1840. Clough, Dipsychus, II. iv. 111. A verier Mercury, express come down To do the world with swift arithmetic.
1856. Aytoun, Bothwell (1857), 8. A verier knave ne’er stepped the earth.
(b) 1530. Palsgr., 327/2. [The] Veryest foole, le plus fol.
1571. Digges, Pantom., I. xxx. K j b. He hath erred euen in the principall, and as I might tearme them the veriest trifles.
1581. Pettie, Guazzo’s Civ. Conv., III. (1586), 126. I know not which of these two sortes are the veriest fooles.
1630. Prynne, Anti-Armin., 155. He is no more … for the Elect, than hee is for the veriest Reprobate.
1695. Congreve, Love for L., III. vi. I swear Mr. Benjamin is the verriest Wag in nature; an absolute Sea-wit.
1709. Steele, Tatler, No. 11, ¶ 5. His Sons and his Sons Sons, have all of ’em been the veriest Rogues living.
1742. Blair, Grave, 642. The veryest Gluttons do not always cram.
1780. Mirror, No. 104. From the same causes, the veriest trifle … had become to him an object of importance.
1833. Chalmers, Const. Man (1835), I. ii. 129. There is no enjoyment whatever in the veriest hell of assembled outcasts.
1859. Kingsley, Misc. (1860), I. 227. Poetry, which read by the veriest schoolboy makes music of itself.
1878. Huxley, Physiogr., 200. Even the deep sinking at the Rosebridge Colliery is but the veriest dent in the earth’s surface.
4. † a. Truthful, true; sure, reliable. Obs.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 3473. Oure lauerd … Had don hir in to sikernes, Thoru his werrai prophecie, Quat suld be þaa childer vie.
1303. R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 9965. Þese wurdes are verry and clere; Dauyd hem seyth yn þe sautere.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, II. 87. Sekyrly I hop that Thomas prophecy Off Hersildoune sall verray be In him.
c. 1450. Mirour Saluacioun, 34. Come lord yt thi prophets be fonden lele and verray.
c. 1450. Harl. Contin. Higden (Rolls), VIII. 516. A verey prove cowthe not be hade in that mater, wherefore the kynge grawntede to þeim bothe theire lyves.
a. 1505. Chron. Lond. (Kingsford), 222. This yere … came veray tydynges into the kyng … that the frensh kyng was dede.
b. Of truth: Exact, simple, real, actual.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Sqr.’s T., 158. This is a verray sooth with outen glose.
c. 1400. Laud Troy Bk., 66. Herkenes now, and ȝe may here The werre sothe alle plenere.
c. 1425. Lydg., Assembly of Gods, 1226. And I shall yow tell the verrey sothe of all.
1483. Caxton, G. de la Tour, e vij b. And alle this is very trouthe.
1534. More, Comf. agst. Trib., II. Wks. 1193/2. If he … can by no meane be shogged oute of his deadde slepe, but wil nedes take hys dreame for a verye trouth.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., III. ii. 237. In very truth, sir, I had as lief be hang’d sir, as goe.
1611. Florio, Verità, truth, veritie, verie-sooth.
1668. Culpepper & Cole, Barthol. Anat., I. v. 8. To speak the very truth.
1850. Hawthorne, Scarlet L., xi. (1852), 133. He had spoken the very truth, and transformed it into the veriest falsehood.
1882. Myers, Teneriffe, vii. And is the World’s in very truth An impercipient Soul?
† c. Of decisions, etc.: Just, true. Obs.
c. 1440. Gesta Rom., I. xlvii. 202 (Addit. MS.). Therfore we are turned agayn, to here a verrey dome, what is for to done of this thynge.
1483. Caxton, Gold. Leg., 86 b/1. Alle they meruaylled and said that thys was a veray and ryght good answere of the question.
† d. Of very (due) right, justly, properly, rightly, truly. Obs.
a. 1366[?]. Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 1627. This welle is clepid, as welle is knowen, The welle of Love, of verray right.
c. 1430. Lydg., Min. Poems (Percy Soc.), 7. Fortune gaff him eke prosperite, and richesse, Withe scripture appering in ther sighte, To him applyed of verray dew righte. Ibid. (c. 1440), Hors, Shepe & G., 57. Eques, ab ‘equo’ is seid of verray riht And cheualere is saide of cheualrye.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, X. lxxxvi. 565. I and ony knyght … oughte of veray ryght socoure and rescowe soo noble a knyghte as ye are.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 117. He that of very ryght owed ye cappe.
e. In (or † of) very deed: see DEED sb. 5 c.
† 5. Exact or precise, as opposed to approximate; = TRUE a. 4. Obs.
1338. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 83. How mykelle lond & rent holy kirke had to a prowe, Alle þei did extend to witte þe verrey valowe.
1382. Wyclif, Deut. xxv. 15. Weiȝt thow shalt haue iust and verrey, and euen busshel and verrey shal be to thee.
c. 1391. Chaucer, Astrol., I. § 17. Euermo this cercle equinoxial turnyth Iustly fro verrey est to verrey west.
1463. Bury Wills (Camden), 40. The seid places with the portenances [to] be soold to the verray valew.
1485. 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 318. The veray value of the same.
1577. B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., II. (1586), 53. The verie time, as Theophrastus writeth, is at the spring.
1594. West, Symbol., II. Chancerie, § 95. Gently requiring him … to deliver … such and so many of the said sheepe,… or the verie value thereof.
1652. Needham, trans. Selden’s Mare Cl., 33. They are not well agreed about the very particular place.
1657. Trapp, Comm. Job xxxix. 25. Horses will perceive aforehand the very time of the fight.
† b. Of a copy, writing, etc. Obs. (Cf. 10 c.)
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, XIX. xiii. 796. And by cause I haue lost the very mater of la cheualer du charyot I departe from the tale of sir Launcelot.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VII., 49 b. His awne confession written with hys awne hande, the very copy wherof hereafter ensueth.
† 6. Of a friend, servant, etc.: True, faithful, sincere, staunch; = TRUE a. 1. Obs.
Very common in the 16th c. In later use perh. merely intensive.
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 1686, Lucretia. To … drawe to memorye The verry wif, the verry trewe Lucresse. Ibid. (c. 1386), Wife’s T., 348. Pouerte a spectakele is, as thynkyth me, Thorw whech he may his veray frend i-see.
a. 1475. G. Ashby, Dicta Philos., 245. Who that cannat disseure wise from bad Shal haue no verrey freendes þat be sad.
c. 1487–1500. in Willis & Clark, Cambridge (1886), I. 474. Your verrey bedeman the provost of the kynges College.
1532. Cromwell, in Merriman, Life & Lett. (1902), I. 347. My veraye Frend and Felow Mr. John Welsborne.
1584. B. R., trans. Herodotus, To Rdr. I ende. Your very friende. B. R.
1607. R. C[arew], trans. Estienne’s World of Wonders, 283. A gentlewoman of Lorraine, my very friend.
1608. Rowlands, Humors Looking Gl., 14. A Gentleman a verie friend of mine.
1676. Wycherley, Pl. Dealer, III. i. Sir, Sir, your very Servant; I was afraid you had forgotten me.
† 7. Of persons: Truly or rightfully standing in a certain position or relationship; rightful, lawful, legitimate. Obs.
1461[?]. Paston Lett., II. 68. I am very heyre, by the disceas of my fader, to a place called Keswyk.
1495. Act 11 Hen. VII., c. 56. Preamble, Landes … to the whiche the vere owners be now restored by dyvers actes.
1513. Test. Ebor. (Surtees), V. 51. I do give my full power … unto my saide suster Lucie, and I do charge hir, as she is very mother of my saide nece [etc.].
1545. Charters rel. Glasgow (1906), II. 509. His varray lawful cessionaris, donatouris and assignais.
1568. Grafton, Chron. (1809), II. 105. Neither King Edward himselfe nor the Duke of Clarence were lawfully begotten, nor were they very children of the Duke of Yorke.
1606. Munim. Melros (Bann. Cl.), 657. We … constitutis … Oure verrie lauchfull vndoubtit and irreuocabill Procuratouris, actoris, factoris [etc.].
transf. 1570–6. Lambarde, Peramb. Kent (1826), 203. In the yeere, 1146, was founded Boxley in Kent, the verie daughter of Clarevalle.
† b. Legally valid or established. Obs.
1475. Bk. Noblesse (Roxb.), 24. To be put in rememoraunce of youre auncien enheritaunce, verray right and title in youre duchies of Gascoigne and Guien.
1487. Munim. Melros (Bann. Cl.), 618. Þe Abbot … hes verray richt to þe erde siluer of þe quer of þe said Kirk.
II. 8. Used as an intensive, either to denote the inclusion of something regarded as extreme or exceptional, or to emphasize the exceptional prominence of some ordinary thing or feature.
In very common use from the 16th cent. With slight change of syntax the sense may commonly be expressed by the advs. ‘even’ or ‘actually.’ Various types of context (with the, possessives, etc.) are illustrated in the several groups of quotations; the use in (d) is now obsolete, and that in (c) a rare archaism.
(a) c. 1386. Chaucer, Nun’s Pr. T., 565. Ran cow and calf, and eek the verray hogges Sore fered were for berkyng of dogges.
1526. Tindale, Luke ii. 35. The swearde shall pearce the very hert off the.
1535. Coverdale, Ps. xcvi. 6. The very heauens declare his rightuousnes, & all people se his glory.
1590. Sir J. Smyth, Disc. Weapons, Ded. 8 b. All Coronells and Captaines of footmen, yea euen the verie Lieutenants generalls.
1632. J. Hayward, trans. Biondi’s Eromena, 180. Sore was she troubled with vomiting, so as having nothing in her stomack, she cast up the very pure bloud.
1655. Fuller, Ch. Hist., IV. 184. The Provost … being provided for in all particulars, to the very points of his hose.
1712. Steele, Spect., No. 306, ¶. It goes to the very Soul of me to speak what I really think of my Face.
1728. Pope, Dunc., III. Notes (1736), 223. All tastes and degrees of men, from those of the highest quality to the very rabble.
1782. Miss Burney, Cecilia, VII. ix. The very air was rent with cries.
1833. Scott, Quentin D., xxxiii. He flew like the very wind.
1832. Warren, Diary Late Physic., II. iii. 122. The room was crammed to the very door.
1874. Green, Short Hist., iii. § 5 (1882), 140. The very retainers of the royal household turned robbers.
1891. ‘J. S. Winter,’ Lumley, xv. It’s absurd on the very face of it.
(b) 1535. Coverdale, Hab. iii. 2. In thy very wrath thou thinkest vpon mercy.
1563. Homilies, II. Rogation Week, iv. ¶ 2. To striue for our very rightes and dueties, with the breche of loue & charitie,… is vtterly forbydden.
1595. Locrine, I. i. 68. A greater care torments my verie bones.
1600. in Morris, Troubles Cath. Foref. (1872), I. iv. 194. Oftentimes their very beds they lie upon … are sold before their faces.
1620. T. Granger, Div. Logike, 100. Yet in their verie mutuall relation there is also force of arguing to explicate a sentence.
1681. Dryden, Abs. & Achit., To Rdr. The Chyrurgeon’s work of an Ense rescindendum, which I wish not to my very Enemies.
1705. trans. Bosman’s Guinea, 27. You may imagine what Case we were in when one of them began to back our very doors with an Ax.
1768. Goldsm., Good-n. Man, I. i. His very mirth is an antidote to all gaiety.
1807. Crabbe, Par. Reg., I. 725. His very soul was not his own.
1831. Carlyle, Sart. Res., I. i. That we do not … see what is passing under our very eyes.
1836. J. H. Newman, Par. Serm. (1837), III. vi. 86. The plain and solemn sense which they bear on their very front.
1880. McCarthy, Own Times, III. xlvii. 433. His very defects were a main cause of his popularity.
(c) 1548. Udall, etc., Erasm. Par. John, 118 b. So nowe they sawe certainly at very hande the thing to be true.
1561. T. Hoby, trans. Castiglione’s Courtyer, II. (1577), K iij. There needeth no art, bicause very nature hir selfe createth and shapeth men apt to expresse pleasantly.
1571. Digges, Pantom., I. xvii. E iij b. And yet in conueying of waters any great distance, very experience wil bewray an error.
1609. Bible (Douay), Numb. xiv. comm. It is so absolutely necessarie in everie communitie to have one Superior of al, that verie mutiners themselves do ever choose such a one.
1617. Moryson, Itin., I. 233. They keepe the Roman Lent, but more strictly, abstaining from Fish, and very Oyle (which they use for butter).
1649. Earl Monm., trans. Senault’s Use Passions (1671), 81. The noise of Trumpets puts them in good humor, and … very hurts do animate their courage.
1657. Cromwell, in Burton’s Diary (1828), II. 329. Their greatest persecution hath been of the people of God,… as I think very experiences will sufficiently demonstrate.
1851. Keble, Occas. Papers & Rev. (1877), 240. By the way in which things are managed all Apostolic authority is denied in the Church, and very unbelievers may settle what we are to believe.
(d) 1616. in J. Russell, Haigs (1881), vii. 158. For fear that his very being my brother left … some impression of the truth of his accusations.
1665. Boyle, Occas. Refl., V. x. (1675), 335. Those Beams, which derive a new Glory from their very being broken.
b. Emphasizing sbs. that denote extremity of degree or extent.
c. 1391. Chaucer, Astrol., II. § 1. Ley thi reule vp that same day, & thanne wol the verray point of thy rewle sitten in the bordure, vp-on the degree of thy sonne.
1530. Palsgr., 806/1. At the very dawnyng of the daye. Ibid., 820/1. In the very myddes … of a thyng.
1560. Bible (Geneva), John viii. 4. The Scribes … said,… Master, this woman was taken in adulterie, in the verie act.
1565. Allen, Def. Purgat. (1886), 3. That matter which … I perceived of all other causes in the world, most to touch the very core of heresy.
1590. Swinburne, Testaments, 6. He that is at the very pointe of death.
1605. Camden, Rem., 1. It cannot be impertinent, at the verie enterance, to say somewhat of Britaine.
1609. Holland, Amm. Marcell., 116. From the very brims of Tigris banke, as farre as to Euphrates, there was no greene thing left.
1770. Luckombe, Hist. Printing, 401. He … then draws the lower part of that noose close up to the very corner of it.
1851. Gallenga, Italy, 359. The Milan government, we are informed, was a bankrupt from the very outset.
1872. Routledge’s Ev. Boy’s Ann., 347/1. Reduce this movement to the very minimum.
1878. Browning, La Saisiaz, 18. Quiet slow sure money-making proves the matter’s very root.
† c. Qualifying pronouns in order to give emphasis. Sometimes emphasizing identity (cf. sense 10 b). Obs.
1542. Udall, Erasm. Apoph., 281. I wys even veray I myself am ye manne. Ibid. (1548), Erasm. Par. Luke i. 17. And verai he shal be the expectacion of all nacions.
1561. T. Hoby, trans. Castiglione’s Courtyer, I. (1577), E v. For very such make the greatnesse and gorgeousnesse of an Oration.
1624. Quarles, Job, xv. 26. I’m turn’d a laughing-stock To boyes, & those, that su’d to tend my Flock,… these (euen very these) Flout at my sorrowes.
1632. Holland, Cyrupædia, 200. And this is even very she, whom you … were wont to sport with.
a. 1701. Sedley, Venus & Ad., Wks. (1766), 56. I am ty’d to very thee By ev’ry thought I have.
d. Coupled with own.
1863. Kinglake, Crimea (1877), I. vi. 89. A prince who wielded with his own very hand the power of All the Russias.
1884. Mrs. Ewing, Mary’s Meadow (1886), 72. I had to have it, for my very own.
9. Neither more nor less than (that expressed by the sb. qualified); exactly that specified without qualification; SHEER a. 8.
Qualifying abstract nouns, esp. those denoting emotions or conditions, and usually following a prep., esp. for.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Frankl. T., 132. For verray feere so wolde hir herte quake.
a. 1440. Partonope, 849. She gynneth to wepe For verray joye.
1456. Sir G. Haye, Law Arms (S.T.S.), 69. [He] throu verray fors was the first lord of that realme.
1463. Bury Wills (Camden), 37. I yeve … to my neve … my best purs … and xx li. to put ther inne,… and wil he be servyd apart with the fyrst, of verray love.
1535. Coverdale, Zech. viii. 4. Soch as go with staues in their hondes for very age.
1568. Grafton, Chron., II. 168. The Sommer was so hote that men dyed with very heat.
1577. Holinshed, Hist. Scot., in Chron., I. 157/1. Through verie displeasure of suche iniuries as shee daylye susteyned at the handes of his concubines, shee founde meanes to strangle him.
1671. Milton, P. R., IV. 12. As a man who … for very spight Still will be tempting him who foyls him still.
1812. Crabbe, Tales, xviii. 73. Fondly she pleaded and would gently sigh, For very pity, or she knew not why.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., ii. I. 191. The sailors mutinied from very hunger.
1878. Masque Poets, 31. For veriest joy her red mouth laughs.
b. With a limiting or restrictive force: That alone to the exclusion of any thing else; = MERE a.2 5.
1546. Yorks. Chantry Surv. (Surtees), 495. Having no other promocions but theyre verye stipende or wages.
1574. W. Bourne, Regiment for Sea, xix. (1577), 50 b. Then haue they no other helpe but onely the very account of the shippes way.
1611. Shaks., Cymb., II. iv. 9. Your very goodnesse, and your company, Ore-payes all I can do.
1618. in Gutch, Coll. Cur., II. 424. There be … 17,000 Sheets of paper in that Book, which, upon ordinary account, cometh to eight hundred and fifty pound, the very writing.
1657. Cromwell, Speech, 23 Jan. (Carlyle). So give me leaue, in a very word or two, to congratulate with you.
1703. Rowe, Fair Penit., I. i. At thy very Name My eager Heart springs up. Ibid. Sure ’tis the very Error of my Eyes.
1817. Jas. Mill, Brit. India, II. V. vii. 595. The Governor-General treated the very request as a high offence.
1843. A. W. Pugin, Apol. Reviv. Chr. Archit., 40. The very weight and massiveness of the work causing it frequently to settle and give.
1894. P. H. Hunter, James Inwick, xii. 153. The verra mention o’ Tod-Lowrie’s name was eneuch.
10. Used (after the, this, that, etc.) to denote or emphasize complete or exact identity: a. Of points of time.
1582. N. T. (Rhem.), Luke x. 20. In that very houre he reioyced in spirit, and said [etc.].
1610. Day, Festivals, i. (1615), 20. Even in this nicke of time, this very, very instant.
1617. Moryson, Itin., I. 193. The bell of that Church was sounded upon the verie day of Saint Bartholmew.
1683. Brit. Spec., Pref. p. ii. To which … this our Island has been so fortunate as to have been subjected from its very first being inhabited to this very Day.
a. 1721. Prior, Down-Hall, xxviii. Come this very instant.
1738. Swift, Pol. Conversat., 141. She died just this very Day Seven Years.
1796. Stedman, Surinam, I. i. 29. On the very day of our debarkation.
1818. Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), II. 268. It is a rule of law … that a remainder must vest, either during the continuance of the preceding estate, or at the very instant of its determination.
1820. Keats, St. Agnes, xiv. My lady fair the conjuror plays This very night.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., v. I. 643. Jeffreys gave directions that Alice Lisle should be burned alive that very afternoon.
b. In general use.
In quots. under (b) corresponding to a defining clause that follows the sb.
1598. Shaks., Merry W., II. i. 84. Why this is … the very hand: the very words. Ibid. (1605), Macb., I. vii. 76. When we haue mark’d with blood those sleepie two…, and vs’d their very Daggers.
1611. Bible, Ps. xxxv. 8. Into that very destruction let him fall.
1657. Sparrow, Bk. Com. Prayer, 22. We are taught to pray, ‘And lead us not into temptation,’… which very method holy church here wisely imitates.
1661. Act 13 Chas. II., c. 9 § 6. All the Papers … shall bee duely preserved and … the very Originals sent up intirely and without fraud to the Court of Admiralty.
1712. Arbuthnot, John Bull, III. i. Timothy Trim; whom they did, in their conscience, believe to be the very prisoner.
1771. Luckombe, Hist. Print., 390. We put neither folio nor any thing else over the very Dedication.
1818. Scott, Hrt. Midl., xxxv. ‘Young woman,’ said he, ‘your sister’s case must certainly be termed a hard one.’ ‘God bless you, sir, for that very word!’ said Jeanie.
1836. J. Gilbert, Chr. Atonem., vii. (1852), 201. It must be made apparent, that what was demanded of human nature was the perfection of that very human nature.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 394. First of all answer this very question.
(b) 1641. J. Shute, Sarah & Hagar (1649), 151. We have but little reason to expect, that God should gratifie us in the very individual thing that we desire.
1681. Dryden, Abs. & Achit., I. 61. Those very Jews who at their very best Their Humour more than Loyalty exprest Now wondred.
1705. Stanhope, Paraphr., III. 566. Each are continually intent upon that very thing, to which Each are respectively appointed.
1780. Mirror, No. 99. The supposition, that this is the very character which Shakespeare meant to allot him.
1796. Jane Austen, Pride & Prej., x. Seeking the acquaintance of some of those very people, against whom his pride had revolted.
1857. Buckle, Hist. Civiliz., I. i. 6. They … take for granted the very question at issue.
1891. Law Times, XC. 463/1. The contents of the deed were falsely stated by the very person who ought to have advised her on such legal matters.
c. Of words: Exactly corresponding to those of an original or previous statement.
1598. [see b].
1778. Jefferson, Autobiog., App., Wks. 1859, I. 146. Preserving, however, the very words of the established law.
1838–9. Hallam, Hist. Lit., II. II. i. § 57. 51. He has neglected to quote the very words of his authorities.
1865. Kingsley, Herew., xv. I said it, I said it. Those were my very words!
d. The very thing, the thing exactly suitable or requisite.
1768. Sterne, Sent. Journ., Montreuil (1778), I. 90. It occurr’d to me that that was the very thing.
1802. Mrs. J. West, Infidel Father, II. 123. This behaviour was certainly the very thing.
1868. Newman, Lett., in The Month, July (1909), 66. I am both surprised and glad at your news…. I think it is the very thing for you.
B. adv. † 1. Truly, really, genuinely; in or with truth or reality; truthfully. Obs.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., C. 333. I dewoutly awowe, þat verray bes halden, Soberly to do þe sacrafyse when I schal saue worþe.
c. 1375. Cursor M., 22973 (Fairf.). Bot mani man þat wele can rede vnderstandis noȝt al verray quat þe vale of Iosaphat is to say.
c. 1384. Chaucer, H. Fame, II. 571. It … hath so very hys lykenes That spack the word.
c. 1440. Bone Florence, 1928. The abbas, and odur nonnes by, Tolde hyt full openlye, That hyt was so verraye.
c. 1485. Digby Myst. (1882), II. 357. The compyler here-of shuld translat veray so holy a story.
† b. Qualifying an adj. or pa. pple. Obs.
Not always clearly distinguishable from next.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), V. 329. But for he was verray repentaunt he was exciled for þe fey.
1423. James I., Kingis Q., clxix. O! verray sely wrech, I se wele by thy dedely coloure pale, Thou art to feble of thy-self to streche Vpon my quhele.
c. 1450. in Aungier, Syon (1840), 335. None schal be ouer skypped in any wyse for any suche chaunge, withe oute a very resonable cause.
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, viii. 191. Two thousand knyghtes…, all yonge men of pryme berde, whiche were very frenshe.
1529. More, Dyaloge, III. Wks. 244/1. Both those tonges [i.e., Greek and Latin] wer as verye vulgare as ours.
c. 1593. in Spalding Club Misc., I. 5. Your Maiestie and the consell hes to Judg gif thay be lauchful, and uerray qualifiit.
2. In a high degree or measure; to a great extent; exceedingly, extremely, greatly.
Sometimes emphasized in speaking, and italicized in printing, to give additional force. (Cf. 4.)
a. Qualifying positive adjs. (and ppl. adjs.) used predicatively, attributively or absolutely.
α. c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, I. 86. Erle Patrik than till Berweik couth persew; Ressawide he was and trastyt werray trew.
1542. Udall, Erasm. Apoph., 328. In the latine it hath a veray good grace.
1554–5. in Feuillerat, Revels Q. Mary (1914), 173. Of verey fayer quaint & strange attier.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 255. Machlin (a veraye fayre Towne … in Brabant).
a. 1578. Lindesay (Pitscottie), Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.), I. 4. To pray me think it is verray necessarie.
δ. a. 1500–34. Cov. Corp. Christi Pl., II. 513. Those fowlys the ar full far fro me And werie yvill for me to fynde.
1530. Palsgr., 327/2. Very good, fort bon. Ibid., 828/1. Very farre, very hye, very lowe, etc.
a. 1578. Lindesay (Pitscottie), Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.), II. 317. The said pest come in the towne of kirkcaldie that thair deit verrie mony.
1588. Knaresborough Wills (Surtees), I. 169. My father … ys a verye old man.
1600. J. Pory, trans. Leo’s Africa, 56. This isle is very scarce of oile and of corne. Ibid., IV. 224. Batha, whereof now there remaine but very few ruines.
1661. Pr. Rupert, in 11th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 8. Tell him that [I] am very glad to heere of his recouvry.
1676–7. Marvell, Corr., Wks. (Grosart), II. 530. A Bill for exporting Coals free, or at a very easy custome.
1709. Steele, Tatler, No. 44, ¶ 6. I have, I fear, huddled up my Discourse, having been very busy.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), V. 56. They lay very large eggs, some of them being above five inches in diameter.
1799. E. Du Bois, Piece Family Biog. III. 175. You say this to relieve me, and ’tis very kind of you.
1803. Med. Jrnl., X. 304. An intermittent tendency was also very observable in some instances.
1838. T. Thomson, Chem. Org. Bodies, 580. A soft mass,… very soluble in alcohol.
1856. Ld. Granville, in Life (1905), I. 211. Very few of our Embassy were invited [to the party].
1880. Disraeli, Endym., lxvii. Cards of invitation to banquets and balls and concerts, and ‘very earlies.’
b. Qualifying another adverb.
1448. Paston Lett., I. 76. Vere hartely your, Molyns.
1530. Palsgr., 814/1. Very erly in the mornyng, au plus matyn. Ibid., 843/2. Very gladly, moult voulentiers. Very hardly, a paynes.… Very seldome, peu souuent.
a. 1553. Udall, Royster D., IV. vi. (Arb.), 70. But very well I wist he here did all in scorne.
a. 1578. Lindesay (Pitscottie), Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.), I. 22. The gouernour hard thir vordis verrey plesandlie.
1630. B. Jonson, New Inn, Dram. Pers. Sir Glorious Tipto … talks gloriously of any thing, but very seldom is in the right.
1664. Jer. Taylor, Dissuas. Popery, ii. § 8. 118. For if it were [necessary], very extremely few would do their duty.
1691. trans. Emilianne’s Frauds Rom. Monks (ed. 3), 130. The next day we set out very betimes in the Morning towards Mount Alverne.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 58, ¶ 4. Several Pieces which have lived very near as long as the Iliad it self.
1795. Gentl. Mag., 543/1. Nonjuring clergymen and their families partook very largely of his benevolence.
1818. Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), III. 510. Courts of equity would do very ill by not adopting that rule.
1835. Ure, Philos. Manuf., 158. The spindles should revolve very quickly in the spinning frame.
1867. Drane, Chr. Schools, II. iii. 129. The school at Sempringham very soon became famous.
c. Qualifying past pples. used predicatively or attributively: = Very much. (See MUCH adv. 1 c.) Also exceptionally with like vb.
The correctness of this usage, which has been prevalent from the middle of the 17th cent., depends on the extent to which the participle has acquired a purely adjectival sense.
1641. in Nicolas, Priv. Mem. Digby (1827), Introd. p. lix. At which the good Knight seemed very discontented.
1664. Extr. St. P. rel. Friends, III. (1912), 215. Faber, a Jerman,… being a very suspected person, reather of crafty principalls.
1702. Addison, Dial. Medals, ii. (1726), 35. Many very valued pieces of French, Italian, and English appear in the same dress [i.e., dialogue].
1782. R. Cumberland, Anecd. Painters (1787), II. 90. I was a very interested and anxious spectator.
1792. W. Roberts, Looker-on, No. 14 (1794), I. 179. Betty … looked very pleased at several passages.
1804. Syd. Smith, Mor. Philos. (1850), 54. A very over-rated man.
1842. Geo. Eliot, Life, in Lett. & Jrnls. (1885), I. 112. I am becoming very hurried.
1874. Dasent, Half a Life, III. 60. I should so very like to know who this Mr. Ball and his daughter are. Ibid., 177. Her foot is very swollen.
1876–7. Gladstone, Glean. (1879), I. 79. In this rather confused and very disappointed letter.
d. With a negative, freq. denoting ‘only moderately,’ ‘rather un—.’
1710. Swift, Jrnl. to Stella, 31 Oct. Then it went off, leaving me sickish, but not very.
1758. J. S., Le Dran’s Observ. Surg. (1771), 269. It was not very adherent to any other Place than the Coccyx.
a. 1871. Grote, Eth. Fragm., i. (1876), 24. They leave them unnoticed, and are not very willing to admit them in their full extent at all.
3. In purely intensive use. a. Emphasizing superlatives, esp. best, last, next.
† Also with virtual superlatives, as principal.
1567. Drant, Horace, Ep., vii. D iij. He will see the … wyth the swallowe verye firste that cummes into that place.
1654. Gataker, Disc. Apol., 17. This fel out to be the verie next day after Qeen Elizabeths decease.
1664. Extr. St. P. rel. Friends, II. (1911), 188. A greater meeting … at her house then ever, the very next Sunday after the Sessions.
1684. Scanderbeg Rediv., vi. 142. The City was now reduc’d to the very last Extremity.
1717. Atterbury, Serm., 1 Pet. ii. 21 (1734), I. vi. 163. How then should the very Best of us … expect … to be free from them?
1753. Miss Collier, Art Torment., Gen. Rules (1811), 199. If you know yourself to be of some consequence, although not the very principal person of the party.
1767. Sterne, Tr. Shandy, IX. xxx. In the very next page.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., iii. I. 308. Three of the very richest subjects in England.
1865. Baring-Gould, Were-wolves, v. 53. Whenever they stray in the very least.
1892. E. Reeves, Homeward Bound, 143. You have missed the very best thing in Kandy.
b. Denoting and emphasizing absolute identity or difference, esp. with same or opposite.
a. 1500[?]. Chester Pl. (Shaks. Soc.), 215. It is the vereye same [blind man].
1542. Udall, Erasm. Apoph., I. Socrates, § 86 e iij. Plato,… whiche in rebukyng hym [Socrates] did committe the veraye selfe same faulte, that he rebuked.
1601. Shaks., All’s Well, II. iii. 29. That’s it, I would haue said, the verie same.
1662. J. Davies, trans. Olearius’ Voy. Ambass., 182. That which happen’d on the very same day the year before.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 44, ¶ 6. Whose Murther he would revenge in the very same Place where it was committed.
1781. [see SELFSAME a. 1].
1833. I. Taylor, Fanat., i. 7. The very same spirit of kindness which should rule us in the performance of a task such as the one now in hand.
1835. T. Mitchell, Acharn. of Aristoph., 690, note. The very opposite word was of course expected.
† c. With advs. of time, place or manner: Exactly, precisely, just; = EVEN adv. 6. Obs.
(a) 1530. Palsgr., 808/1. Evyn very now, tout fyn mayntenant.
a. 1553. Udall, Roister D., IV. vi. (Arb.), 70. T. Trusty. But when gost thou for him! M. Mery. That do I very nowe.
a. 1555. Philpot, Exam. & Writ. (Parker Soc.), 334. It is possible some part of the Church for a time to be deceived when … they have a zeal of the truth,… yea, very then when they err, and plunge into any vice or sin.
1644. Maxwell, Prerog. Chr. Kings, 74. If we alleadge Ignatius, it is to be feared he’l fare no better, for a great Scholar … hath very now rejected all we have of him.
1645. Quarles, Sol. Recant., VIII. 41. Did not that voice, that voted Wisdome vain But very now, now cry it up again?
(b) 1530. Palsgr., 823/2. Very here, very ther, droit cy, droit la.
1612. Two Noble K., V. iv. 115. In this place first you fought: ev’n very here I sundred you.
(c) a. 1592. Greene, Alphonsus, II. ii. What newes is this? and is it very so? Is our Alphonsus yet in humane state?
1632. Sanderson, Serm., 98. Very so ought we to conceiue the meaning of the vniversall particle ‘Every man.’
4. Repeated in order to convey greater emphasis.
1649. Nicholas Papers (Camden), 128. I have a verry verry great jealousy Lord Digby will be left in the lurch.
1653. Walton, Angler, 137. He [the salmon] is very, very seldom observed to bite at a Minnow … and not oft at a fly.
1722. De Foe, Plague (1896), 46. It was indeed very, very, very dreadful.
1807. Sir R. Wilson, Priv. Diary, 13 July (1862), II. 317. The retribution may be just but it is very very severe.
1825. T. Hook, Sayings, Ser. II. Man of Many Fr., I. 306. ‘I think him pleasant, and handsome, and —.’ ‘Oh! very, very,’ said George.
1837. Dickens, Pickw., iii. Oh! I see…; negus too strong here—liberal landlord—very foolish—very.
† C. sb. Truth, verity. Obs.–1
1382. Wyclif, Rom., Prol. Thes reuokith the apostle to the verrey [1388 treuthe] and the gospels bileue.
† b. For, in, or into very, = Truly, verily. Obs.
15[?]. Smyth & his Dame, 52, in Hazl., E. P. P., III. 203. I am mayster of all, That smyteth with hamer or mall, And so may thov me call, I tell the for ueray.
c. 1550. Rolland, Crt. Venus, II. 96. Terpsichore [the] fift is callit in verray. Ibid., 772. Ane messinger said scho, into verray Thair erandis gais, baith nicht and als be day.
