a. Obs. exc. Sc. Forms: 1 ʓifre, ʓyfre, ʓifer-, 2 ȝifer, (Orm.) ȝiferr, 2–4 ȝiuer, 3 ȝifre, ȝiure, ȝefere, yuor, 5 ȝeuer, yeuer, ȝyuer, youre, 9 Sc. aiver. [OE. ʓífre, corresp. to ON. gífr (found only in pl. witches, fiends), whence gífrliga savagely, in mod.Icel. exorbitantly, gífrligr in mod.Icel. immoderate, exorbitant. The Icel. form is represented by north. Engl. givour ‘greedy,’ giverous (see YEVEROUS).]
1. Greedy, covetous.
Beowulf, 1277. And his modor þa ʓyt ʓifre and galʓmod ʓegan wolde sorhfulne sið.
c. 888. Ælfred, Boeth., xxxv. § 7. Tantulus se cyning ðe on ðisse worulde unʓemetlice ʓifre wæs.
c. 1205. Lay., 7337. Þu sulf ært swiðe gripel Þine gumen sunden ȝefere [c. 1275 ȝifre].
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 214. Þe ȝiure glutun is þes feondes manciple.
2. Eager, quick, prompt.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 3955. Polidamas þe pert … was … Full ȝeuer and ȝepe, and a yong knight.
c. 1425. Engl. Conq. Irel., 114. Thys legat was youre [v.r. besy] aboute, pees to make betwene the kynge & Iohn.
1847. J. Halliday, Rustic Bard, 94. Forbye the body’s clean an’ aiver, Wi’ little blust, he ’s doonright clever.
Hence Yeverly adv., greedily; quickly; Yeverness, greediness, gluttony; eagerness, impetuosity.
c. 888. Ælfred, Boeth., xxxv. 67. Him ðær ðæt ilce yfel filʓde ðære ʓifernesse.
c. 900. trans. Bæda’s Hist., III. ix. (1890), 178. Ongon ʓiferlice þæt gærs etan.
971. Blickl. Hom., 25. Þurh heora ʓifernesse & oferhyʓde.
a. 1100. Aldhelm Gloss., I. 766 (Napier 22/1). Pertinaciter, i. insuperabiliter, ʓyferlice.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 33. Hordomes and ȝifernesse and druncnesse.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 240. Ne beo hit neuer so bitter, ne iueleð heo hit neuer: auh gulcheð in ȝiuerliche, & ne nimeð neuer ȝeme. Ibid., 286. Golnesse cumeð of ȝiuernesse & of flesches eise.
c. 1250. Lutel Soth Serm., 11, in O. E. Misc., 186. To ȝiuernesse and prude none neode he nedde.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 543. I haue pittye of your person & your pert face, And ȝeuernes of ȝowthe. Ibid., 869. I am ferd lest þou … for ȝeuernes for-ȝete þat þe ȝeme shuld. Ibid., 13231. With-in a yere, full yeuerly, þat yepe was with child.
