Obs. exc. dial. Forms: 1 ʓeond, ʓiond, ʓeondan, iand, 2–3 ȝeond, 3 ȝeont, ȝuond, 3–4 ȝeonde, ȝund, ȝont, 3–5 (6 Sc.) ȝond, 4–5 ȝonde, yonde, (5 yande, 6 Sc. ȝound), 6, 8–9 Sc. yont, (prep. only 8 Sc. ’yont, 8–9 ’yond), 4– yond. β. 3–4 ȝend, 4 ȝende, ȝent, yent, (ȝendis). [OE. ʓeond prep., also ʓeondan (cf. BEYOND), corresp. to MLG. gint, genten, jint there, LG. gunt, gunten, early Flem. ghins, Du. ginds, Goth. jaind: see YON a.] A. prep.
† 1. Through, throughout, over, across. Obs.
c. 888. Ælfred, Boeth., xviii. § 2. Þæt ʓe woldon eowerne naman tobrædan ʓeond ealle eorþan.
a. 1000. Gloria, 2 (Gr.). Sy þe wuldor & lof wide ʓeopenod ʓeond ealle þeoda.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Matt. xii. 43. He gæð ʓeond driʓe stowa secende reste.
a. 1122. O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1048. & com þa Eustatius fram ʓeondan sæ sona æfter þam biscop.
c. 1205. Lay., 28. Laȝamon gon liðen wide ȝond þas leode. Ibid., 423. Wide ȝend [c. 1275 ȝeont] þane londe.
13[?]. K. Horn (Harl. MS.), 1078. He sende þo by sonde, ȝend al is londe, after knyhtes to fyhte.
c. 1320. Cast. Love, 1448. He … sette tweyne and tweyne to gon Ȝond al þe world to prechen vchon.
c. 1325. Chron. Eng., 809, in Ritson, Metr. Rom. II. 304. He wes … Cleped yent this lond wide Edmound Inneneside.
2. On (or to) the farther side of, beyond. In later use poet., or Sc. (chiefly in form yont); often written with apostrophe as if aphetic f. beyond or ayont.
1388. Wyclif, Ezra iv. 16. Thou schalt not haue possessioun biȝende [v.r. ȝendis] the flood [Vulg. trans fluvium].
1567. Drant, Horace, Ep., I. xi. E ij. if those chaunge weather, not their wit, which yont the sea do run.
1579. Hake, Newes out of Powles (1872), E iij b. Thou God of grace,… yond whome we can not roaue Or raunge aright.
1720. Ramsay, Rise & Fall of Stocks, 169. ’Yond Seas I saw the Upstarts drifting. Ibid. (1725), Gentle Sheph., III. ii. A’ that’s done In ilka place beneath, or yont the moon. Ibid. (c. 1730), Eclipse, iv. Imprudent men … Rax yont their reach.
1789. D. Davidson, Seasons, 58. The silent night … sinks ’yond the western main.
1866. ’Sarah Tytler,’ Days of Yore, IV. iv. She would have a hoard to fill Elspa’s drawer ‘yont the coast.’
a. 1870. Riddell, Poet. Wks. (1871), II. 317. Desperate deeds ’Yond ocean [they] had been doomed to dare.
B. adv. 1. = YONDER adv. 1.
c. 1300. St. Brandan, 1. Seint Brendan the holi man was ȝund of Irlande.
a. 1327. in Rel. Ant., I. 123. Ȝent ryd Maximon.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Knt.’s T., 241. The fairnesse of that lady þat I see Yond in the gardyn romen to and fro.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. XXI. 263. Ihesus as a gyaunt with a gyn comeþ ȝonde [v.rr. ȝont, ȝeonde, ȝende, ȝender].
c. 1475. Partenay, 5827. Be-hold yande that hiduous montain.
a. 1553. Udall, Royster D., I. ii. (Arb.), 19. Who commeth forth yond from my swete hearte Custance?
a. 1592. Greene, Jas. IV., II. ii. Yond comes the messenger of weale or woe.
1610. Shaks., Temp., I. ii. 409. Say what thou see’st yond.
1639. Cokaine, Masque, Poems (1669), 124. Sweet youth! yon’d is your Father, kiss his hand.
1815. Scott, Guy M., iii. Sit down yont there at the door.
1898. Hardy, Wessex Poems, 204. Young Tim away yond … Through brimble and underwood tears.
b. = YONDER adv. 1 b.
c. 975. Rushw. Gosp., Matt. xxvi. 36. Sittaþ her oþ þæt ic gange ʓeond [Lindisf. ðider; Ags. Gosp. & Hatton hiderʓeond].
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 263. Goþ yond to a gret lord þat gayly is tyred.
c. 1375. Cursor M., 3065 (Fairf.). Lede him ȝonde.
c. † Here and yond, here and there (obs.); hither and yond (now Sc.), hither and thither. Cf. YON adv. b, YONDER adv. 1 c.
c. 900. trans. Bæda’s Hist., V. xiii. [xii.] (1890), 428. Ða ahof ic mine eaʓan upp & locade hider & ʓeond.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 3851. Her and ȝund ðor he biried lin.
1831. Campbell, Lines on View from St. Leonards, 83. Moored as they cast the shadows of their masts In long array, or hither flit and yond Mysteriously.
1898. N. Munro, John Splendid, iv. 47. In the heart of the commotion young MacLachlan tossed hither and yond—a stick in a linn.
2. At or to a distance; (far or farther) away. Far yond, in an extremely bad state, ‘far gone.’ In later use Sc.
13[?]. K. Horn (Harl. MS.), 1261. Ich eode mony a myle, wel fer ȝent by weste [Camb. MS. Wel feor bi ȝonde weste].
1513. Douglas, Æneis, XII. Prol. 9. Nor frawart Saturn … Durst langar … appeir, Bot stall abak ȝond in his regioun far Behynd the circulat warld of Jupiter.
a. 1665. W. Guthrie, Serm. (1709), 24 (Jam.). When he that reproves in the gate makes himself a prey, then they are far yond, when they refuse to return.
1721. Ramsay, Prosp. Plenty, 19. Sweet prolifick Plains … Stand yont; for Amphitrite claims our Sang.
1893. Stevenson, Catriona, xxx. I’ll be getting a wee yont amang the bents, so that I can see what way James goes.
