Forms: 1–4 feor(r, 2–6 fer, 3–7 farr, 5–7 farre, 3– far. Compar. 1 fyrra (fem. and neut. -e), 3–4 fyrre, furre, 3–6 ferre(r(e, 3 ferror(e, south. verrore, 4–7 farrer. Superl. 1 fyrrest, 3–5 ferrest, 3–6 farrest. [OE. feorr = OFris. fer, fir, OS. fer, OHG. fer:—WGer. type *ferro-. As the adj. does not occur in Gothic or ON., it is prob. derived from the adv.]
1. Remote: a. in space; chiefly of countries or places; occas. of persons, etc. The far east, north, west, south: the extreme eastern, etc. parts of a region, or of the world. The Far West: now esp. the western parts of the U. S. or of North America. † Far absence: absence in a distant part.
a. 1000. Wife’s Complaint, 47 (Gr.). Feorres folclondes.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 1565.
| Into þe ferreste ende | |
| of Alixandre. |
a. 1300. Cursor M., 4820 (Cott.).
| Sir, wee are o farr cuntre, | |
| Of a land hait chanaan. |
1340. Ayenb., 204. Huerof yealde filozofes hem uledden in-to uerre stedes in-to dezert.
1381. Wyclif, Joel iii. 8. They shule selle hem to Sabeis, a fer folc.
c. 1450. The Miroure of Mans Salvacionne, 1643.
| Of thilk ffolewastoure son of whaym mynde makes seint Luke | |
| Whilk from his fadere departid to ferre lande. |
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, xxviii. 585. Folke cam … from ferre ways for to seke hym.
1548. Hall, Chron., 101 b. The Englishemen consideryng … the farre absence of their frendes.
1553. Eden, Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.), 8. To returne home from these farre countreys.
a. 1605. Montgomerie, Misc. Poems (1886), xxxii. 38. Far foullis hes ay fair fethers, sum will say.
1682. Dryden, Mac Fl., 131.
| Heavens bless my son, from Ireland let him reign | |
| To far Barbadoes on the western main. |
1808. J. Barlow, The Columbiad, I. 45.
| A far dim watch-lamp’s thrice reflected beam | |
| Throws thro his grates a mist-encumber’d gleam. |
1822. Shelley, Hellas, 813. Ahasuerus. What nearest thou? Mahmud. A far whisper.
1839. Bailey, Festus (1854), 56.
| It is fear which beds the far to-come with fire | |
| As the sun does the west. |
1890. Howells, in Harper’s Mag., LXXXI., Nov., 965/1. The cattle king of the great plains cow-boyed his innumerable herds in the far West.
absol. c. 1386. Chaucer, Prologue, 494.
| In sicknesse and in mischief to visite | |
| The ferrest in his parish moche and lite. |
b. fig. of remoteness or difference in time, relationship, or nature.
1531. Elyot, The Boke Named the Gouernour, II. vi. (1557), 100. Called vulgarely wrathe, a vice moste ugly, and farrest from humanitee.
1583. Hollyband, Campo di Fior, 309. How farre this fielde is to that which bordereth upon it.
1630. Crashaw, Poems, 129.
| By optic skill pulling far history | |
| Nearer. |
1839. Tennyson, Elaine, 709.
| Sir Torre … Past up the still rich city to his kin, | |
| His own far blood, which dwelt at Camelot. |
1860. Hawthorne, Marble Faun (1879), II. xx. 200. He should learn to bear patiently his individual griefs, that endure only for one little lifetime, when here are the tokens of such infinite misfortune on an imperial scale, and when so many far landmarks of time, all around him, are bringing the remoteness of a thousand years ago into the sphere of yesterday.
c. The far end, † the far: the very end, or extremity; the last stage (of life, strength, or resources). Now only dial.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 78.
| In this shall faithfully be founden to the fer ende, | |
| All þe dedis. | |
| Ibid., 8272. | |
| The next tym þou noyes me, þou neghis to þe fer. |
1637. Rutherford, Lett., clxxxiii. (1863), I. 447. What standeth beyond the far end of my sufferings, and what shall be the event, He knoweth.
1790. W. Combe, The Devil upon Two Sticks in England (1817), II. 58. Whose … love of pleasure will soon get to the far-end of a moderate fortune.
1855. Robinson, Whitby Gloss. ‘He seems almost at the far end,’ fast declining in health or circumstances.
1888. Sheffield Gloss., s.v. Far end, ‘Ah’m ommast at t’ far end.’
2. Extending to a distance, long. Far traveller: one who comes from or goes to a distance.
† (A person) of a far fetch: far-reaching, far-sighted. † Far way: a long way, by far.
c. 1340. Cursor M., 11385 (Laud.).
| For els might not tho thre | |
| haue rawght to ride so farre wai, | |
| And come to cryst thilk day. |
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. XVII. 51.
| Of wyt and wysedome þat fer way is bettere | |
| Than richesse. |
1508. Fisher, Psalms, N vj b. Her grete & ferre Journey.
1550. Coverdale, Spir. Perle, xxix. A merchant-man maketh far voyages and great journeys.
1574. Hellowes, Gueuara’s Fam. Ep. (1577), 314. Some men so euill and of so farre a fetch, that they procure friendshippe with the husband, to no other purpose, than to haue an entrie more sure to deale with his wife.
1605. Verstegan, Dec. Intell., ii. (1628), 30. I haue heard of India in Asia, which taketh name of the riuer Indus, a verie farre way from Africa.
1624. Gataker, A Discussion of the Popish Doctrine of Transubstantiation, 204. Far Trauellers may lye by authority, or (as it may be hee hopeth) rather, that they may tell lyes without controll.
1820. Scott, The Monastery, xxix. You could not miss the road for Edinburgh, in respect it was neither far way nor foul gate.
1830. Gen. P. Thompson, Exerc. (1842), I. 287. It would not be a far stretch of intellect to infer, that one step towards removing the misery would be to undo them.
† b. Of authority: Extensive.
c. 1400. An Apology for Lollard Doctrines, 29. God ȝaue him no farrer power.
† c. Of a difference in kind or value: Great. Obs.
1509. Fisher, Fun. Serm. C’tess Richmond, Wks. (1876), 304. This shall be a farre dyfference.
1631. J. Weever, Ancient Funerall Monuments, 578. Valued, at a farre vnder rate, to bee worth of yearely reuenue, two thousand fiue hundred and ten pound, [etc.].
† d. Of a person: Advanced (in age or knowledge). Obs.
c. 1340. Cursor M., 15124 (Trin.).
| For þis ihesus þat was so wis | |
| & so fer in lore. |
1591. Spenser, M. Hubberd, 217.
| In stead of them a handsome bat he held, | |
| On which he leaned, as one farre in elde. |
3. The remoter of two; in early use also in the comparative. † The far side (of a horse, etc.): the off or right-hand side. The fur ahin (Sc.): the hind right-hand (horse) in a team of four.
Prob. far here represents the original compar. form fyrre.
c. 1400. Rowland & O., 1227.
| With hym Rowlande and Olyuere, | |
| Appon þe ferrere syde. |
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 9054.
| Ne hade Priam the prise kyng preset hom aboute, | |
| Þ was feghtyng in the feld on the fer syde. |
1486. Bk. St. Albans, D j b. Iff yowre hawke nym the fowle at the fer side of the Ryuer … then she sleeth the fowle at the fer Jutty.
1540. Act 32 Hen. VIII., c. 17. The farre ende of high holborn.
1607. Markham, Cavelarice, II. 4. The good are, the white fore-foote, on the right side, commonly cald the farre side.
1641. H. Best, Rural Economy in Yorkshire in 1641 (Surtees), 12. To give them [lambes] onely the botte on the farre buttocke.
1724. Lond. Gaz., No. 6294/. The Coronett of the far Hoof before.
1768. Sterne, Sent. Journ., 95. She sat in a low chair on the far side of the shop.
1786. Burns, Inventory, 20. My fur ahin’s a wordy beast.
1883. Stevenson, Treasure Isl., III. xiv. 110. On the far side of the open stood one of the hills.
