Compared longer, longest. Forms: 1 lange, longe, 2 lange, Orm. lannge, 3–5, Sc. 6–9 lang, 3–5 longe, 5– long. See also LENG, LENGER, LENGEST. [OE. lange, lǫnge, OFris. lang(e, long(e, OS. lango (Du. lang), OHG. lango (MHG., mod.G. lange):—OTeut. *laŋgô, f. *laŋgo- LONG a.]
1. For or during a long time.
† Long a day (Spenser): for a long time. [Prob. for long of the day; cf. ‘long time of þe dei,’ quot. a. 1225 in A. 7. Possibly the rare phrase long the day may have had this origin; but see 6 below.]
Beowulf (Z.), 2344. Þeah ðe hord-welan heolde lange.
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth. (Sedgefield), xxxv. § 7. Ða he ða longe and longe hearpode, ða cleopode se hellwara cyning.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 25. Ȝet ic mei longe libben.
c. 1200. Ormin, 219. Forrwhi þe preost swa lannge wass þatt daȝȝ att Godess allterr.
c. 1250. Owl & Night., 466. He nis nother ȝep ne wis, That longe abid war him nod nis.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 169. Iesus quen he lang had fast Was fondid wit þe wik gast.
1340. Ayenb., 205. A roted eppel amang þe holen, makeþ rotie þe yzounde, yef he is longe þer amange.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), ii. 5. Þai wald þat it schuld hafe lang lasted.
1495. Act 11 Hen. VII., c. 22 § 4. Laborers … longe sitting at ther brekfast at ther dyner and nonemete.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Edw. IV., 192 b. This matter … hangyng long in consultacion.
1562. Pilkington, Expos. Abdyas, Pref. 9. Tyrannes raygne not long.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. x. 9. Most vertuous virgin … That … hast wandered through the world now long a day. Ibid. (1596), VI. iii. 4. Is this the timely joy, which I expected long.
c. 1605. Acc. Bk. W. Wray, in Antiquary, XXXII. 178. 1469. K. henry 6 proclamed kinge, but continued not longe.
1659. Burton’s Diary (1828), IV. 372. If they could spare members, they must attend long.
1697. Dryden, Æneid, X. 501. They long suspend the Fortune of the Field.
1721. Ramsay, Prospect Plenty, vii. Lang have they ply’d that trade.
1766. Goldsm., Hermit, viii. Man wants but little here below, Nor wants that little long.
1787. T. Jefferson, Writ. (1859), II. 322. We have long been expecting a packet.
1844. Thirlwall, Greece, VIII. 115. The principle, which had long been generally admitted in the Greek republics, that [etc.].
1883. R. W. Dixon, Mano, I. i. 1. Gerbert’s disciple once, but long a monk Of Sant Evreult.
1895. F. Harrison, in 19th Cent., Aug., 215. Many of his criticisms of modern scientific philosophy are precisely those which I have long urged.
b. In the comparative and superlative, or preceded by advs. of comparison (as, how, so, thus, too, etc.), the adv. indicates amount of relative duration. (Cf. LONG a. 8.) So (or as) long as: often nearly equivalent to ‘provided that,’ ‘if only.’
c. 900. trans. Bæda’s Hist., IV. xxv. (Schipper), 496. Ic … þe … ætywde … hu lange þu on hreowe awunian sceole.
971. Blickl. Hom., 169. Swa lange swa ʓe ðis dydon ðara anum ðe on me ʓelyfdon.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 1816. To longe we habbeð idriuen ure dusischipes.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, vii. (Jacobus Minor), 623. Ay þe langare he sat sa, Þe mare grew his sorow & va.
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 37. If þat a wounde haþ be to longe in þe eir open … þanne [etc.].
1433. Rolls of Parlt., IV. 424/1. Whiles and as longe as hit is or shall be soo.
c. 1500. Melusine, lv. 331. So long rode geffray that he came to the Castel.
1513. More, in Grafton, Chron. (1568), II. 775. The Cardinall perceyved that the Queene waxed ever the longer the farther of.
c. 1560. A. Scott, Poems (S.T.S.), xix. 13. How lang sall I this lyfe inleid.
1567. Gude & Godlie Ball. (S.T.S.), 27. Als lang as I leue on this eird.
1568. Tilney, Disc. Mariage, C viij b. I have alreadie troubled them to long.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., II. viii. 23. The guilt, which if he liued had thus long, His life for dew reuenge should deare abye.
1631. Gouge, God’s Arrows, III. lxv. 304. A liquour … which kept them from rotting, and made them last the longer.
1642. J. Shute, Sarah & Hagar (1649), 171. Absalon … kept his wrath so long; until it burst out into blood.
c. 1680. Beveridge, Serm. (1729), I. 68. So long as there are devils in hell.
1715. Atterbury, On Matt. xxvii. 25, in Serm. (1734), I. 127. Thus long have they [Jews] been no Nation.
1732. Berkeley, Alciphr., II. § 20. The world … always will be the same, as long as men are men.
1776. Trial of Nundocomar, 29/2. How long did you live with Sielabut at Delhi?
1825. Thirlwall, Lett. (1881), 85. To cling to your profession as long as you can.
1834. Southey, Lett. (1856), IV. 391. God has mercifully supported me thus long.
1846. Browning, Lost Mistress, v. I will hold your hand but as long as all may, Or so very little longer.
1863. H. Cox, Instit., III. ix. 730. One-third who have been longest in office retire annually.
1870. Morris, Earthly Par., I. I. 394. She stood so long that she forgot to weep.
1887. ‘L. Carroll,’ Game of Logic, Pref. Is there any great harm in that, so long as you get plenty of amusement?
c. colloq. So long: good-bye, ‘au revoir.’ [Cf. G. so lange.]
1865. F. H. Nixon, P. Perfume, 8. Will wish you ‘ta ta’—gentle reader—‘So long!’
a. 1868. W. Whitman, Poems, 398. I whisper So long! And take the young woman’s hand … for the last time.
1889. Chamb. Jrnl., 22 June, 397/1. ‘And when shall we see you again? Not for another six months, I s’pose.—So long.’
1894. A. Robertson, Nuggets, etc. 199. ‘So long then; wish you luck.’
d. I, you, etc., may (do something) long enough: a colloquial phrase expressing hopelessness of result. Now usually followed by before or equivalent conjunction.
1530. Palsgr., 616/2. I may do a thing longe ynough, which sayeng we use whan we signyfye our labour to be in vayne…. Thou maye krye longe ynough: tu as beau braire.
1871. Browning, Hervé Riel, xi. Search the heroes flung pell-mell On the Louvre, face and flank; You shall look long enough ere you come to Hervé Riel.
2. The suppression of the qualified adj., adv., or phrase, in expressions like to be long about one’s work, causes the adv. long to assume the character of a quasi-adjectival predicate = ‘occupying a long time,’ ‘delaying long.’ Const. in, † of, † a (with gerund), also followed by conj. ere, or, before.
The originally advb. character of the word in this use is shown by the form longe (rhyming with fonge) in the first example, and by the analogy of the similar use of the advb. phrase in to be a long time.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 145/1368. Sumdel þe pope was anuyd þat he hadde i-beo so · longe.
1479. Paston Lett., III. 258. Let myn oncle … kepe the patent … tyll he have hys mone, and that shall not be longe to.
1530. Tindale, Num. xiv. 18. The Lorde is longe yer he be angrye, and full of mercy.
1539. Cranmer’s Bible, Matt. xxiv. 48. My lord will be long a commyng.
1542. Udall, Erasm. Apoph., 268. Whiche thyng forasmuch as it was veray slacke and longe in dooyng … he assaied to passe ouer the sea of Adria.
1560. J. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 86 b. Went to mete … the Emperour, but they were longe or they myght be suffered to come to his speche.
1606. G. W[oodcocke], Hist. Ivstine, VI. 31. That the Empire which was so long a getting … might not come to wracke.
1611. Shaks., Wint. T., III. iii. 8. Ile not be long before I call vpon thee.
1612. Chapman, Widdowes Teares, I. Dram. Wks. 1873, III. 19. Goe, Ile not be long.
1637. Earl Monm., trans. Malvezzi’s Romulus & Tarquin, 294. The witchcraft of Rhetorique being ended, which is not long a doing.
1671. H. M., trans. Erasm. Colloq., 545. I advise to be long a chusing a kind of life.
1780. H. Walpole, Lett. (1902), 26. It is from Glasgow, whence I am still longer before I believe.
1796. Mrs. E. Parsons, Myst. Warning, IV. 242. You shall … remain … till I have discovered the whole of your vile plot, which will not be long first.
1799. Anna Seward, Lett. (1811), V. 257. The real author cannot be long of being déterré.
1803. Loriman, II. 57. The wound was long before it was healed.
a. 1814. Last Act, II. i. in New Brit. Theatre, II. 381. Is not our old gentleman rather beyond his time? in truth, I think him long.
1829. Scott, Anne of G., ix. They were not long of discovering the tête-du-pont.
1880. Froude, Bunyan, 53. His remarkable ability was not long in showing itself.
1894. Pall Mall Mag., March, II. 740. The opportunity was not long in coming.
b. Not to be long for this world: to have only a short time to live.
1822. Byron, Lett. to J. Murray, 23 Sept. If it is, I cannot be long for this world.
3. With an agent-noun, as long-liver. Also longer, longest liver, in legal use for ‘the survivor, the last survivor.’
1485. Rolls of Parlt., VI. 271/2. The longest liver of them.
1522. in Eng. Gilds (1870), 237. The sayd Elizabethe nowe hys wyffe yf she be longer lyuer.
1530. Palsgr., 317/2. Longe taryer.
1602. Narcissus (1893), 241. Why am I longer liver?
1662. Bp. Hopkins, Funeral Serm. (1685), 13. The longest liver hath no more but that he is longer a dying than others.
1781. Mad. D’Arblay, Diary, Aug. He is strong-built,… I dare say he will be a very long liver.
1818. Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), II. 311. For and during the term of their natural lives, and the life of the longer liver of them.
1869. Hughes, Alfred Gt., iv. 53. The longest liver … should take land and treasure.
1873. H. Spencer, Stud. Sociol. (1882), 94. The qualities which make him likely to be a long-liver.
4. Followed by after, before, † eft, ere, † or, or since (advs., conjs. or preps.): At, from, or to a point of time far distant from the time indicated.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 5259. Sun i wend, lang siþengan, þat wild beistes had þe slain. Ibid., 15938. Him … i sagh lang ar wit him in rute.
c. 1425. Wyntoun, Cron., III. iii. 598. Scotland was dyssawarra left And wast nere lyand lang thare eft.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 1145. Þare he lies with his ledis lang or he foundes.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, I. iii. Alle the estates were longe or day in the chirche for to praye.
1513. More, in Grafton, Chron. (1568), II. 759. One Nistlebrooke long before morning came in great haste.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. vii. 5. The kyng sawe his suster, whom he had nat sene long before.
c. 1530. Tindale, Prol. to Jonah (1551). Wycleffe preached repentaunce vnto our fathers not longe sence.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 26 b. And so not longe after they burned Luthers workes.
a. 1649. Drumm. of Hawth., Poems, Wks. (1711), 25. The long-since dead from bursted graves arise.
1662. Stillingfl., Orig. Sacr., III. iv. § 1. If there were persons existent in the World long before Adam was.
a. 1774. Goldsm., Surv. Exp. Philos. (1776), I. 9. Wanting the basis of reason, the whole fabric has long since fallen to the ground.
1816. Southey, Ess. (1832), I. 331. They ought, long ere this, to have been prevented.
1845. M. Pattison, Ess. (1889), I. 28. A prison … the ruins of which long after remained on the left bank of the Seine. Ibid. (1861), 47. Protestant and peaceful times, long after London had ceased to fear a foreign foe.
1860. Reade, Cloister & H., xxx. He and I were born the same year, but he cut his teeth long before me.
1889. Swinburne, Stud. Prose & Poetry (1894), 269. Such is life—as Mrs. Harris long since observed.
1897. Outing (U.S.), XXX. 167/2. You are hemmed in on every side by the long-since past.
5. The comparative is used (chiefly with qualifying adv., as any, no, much, a little, etc.) in the sense: After the point of time indicated by the context (= L. amplius, F. plus with negative, G. mehr). No longer: not now as formerly.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 1300. To liue moght he na langar drei.
1423. James I., Kingis Q., xi. Vp I rase, no langer wald I lye.
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., I. iii. 157. I can no longer hold me patient.
1662. Stillingfl., Orig. Sacr., II. vii. § 7. There should a time come when the Ceremoniall Law should oblige no longer.
1766. Goldsm., Vic. W., xxviii. Happiness I fear is no longer reserved for me here.
1802. Hatred, I. 126. I could no longer dissemble with myself.
1894. Hall Caine, Manxman, III. xix. 190. There was no longer any room for doubt.
6. Subjoined to expressions designating a period of time, with the sense: Throughout the length of (the period specified). [Cf. G. sein leben lang.] † Also rarely poet. in reversed order, as long the day (cf. long a day under 1).
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 264/122. Heore ȝat was swiþe faste i-mad: þoruȝ al þe ȝere longue.
1530. Tindale, Answ. More, IV. xi. Wks. (1573), 332. There were martyrs that suffered martyrdome for the name of Christ all the yeare long.
1568. Grafton, Chron., I. 169. He traveyled all night long to Winchester warde.
c. 1586. C’tess Pembroke, Ps. LXXI. v. Thy gratious glory Was my ditty long the day.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. i. 32. The Sunne that measures heaven all day long.
a. 1641. Bp. Mountagu, Acts & Mon. (1642), 478. Without any change or alteration all the Sabbath long.
1650. Trapp, Comm. Num., xxiii. 10. Carnall men … live all their lives-long in Dalilah’s lap.
1659. H. L’Estrange, Alliance Div. Off., 154. All Lent long … the very faithful themselves were cast upon their knees.
1720. T. Gordon, Humourist, I. 158. In Scotland … a Man must be all Sunday long tied either to the Kirk or his Chamber.
1825. Thirlwall, Crit. Ess., 36. Accustomed to pass their nights the whole summer long in the open air.
1849. Helps, Friends in C., II. iv. 92. You are out all day long with the sheep.
1875. Browning, Aristoph. Apol., 1064. While … the lesson long, No learner ever dared to cross his legs.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), III. 245. He was to continue working all his life long at that and at no other.
† 7. At or to a great or a specified distance in space; far. Obs. rare.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 2485. So longe he hauen ðeðen numen To flum iurdon ðat he ben cumen.
13[?]. in Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS., 502. Two wyues sat ȝonder, langare.
c. 1450. Merlin, 155. Thei smyten … so vigorously that oon myght here the crassinge of speres half a myle longe.
1523. Ld. Berners, trans. Froissart, I. ix. 7. She … rode to warde Heynaulte, and so long she rode that she came to Cambresys.
1532. in More, Confut. Barnes, VIII. M.’s Wks. (1557), 782/2. The church through oute all the worlde scattered farre and long.
1542. Lam. & Piteous Treat., in Harl. Misc. (1809), IV. 535. His gallyes … were harboured fyue legges longe frome the sayde towne of Argiere.
1586. D. Rowland, Lazarillo, II. (1672), R viij. All the way long did I nothing but think upon my good Gypseys.
† 8. With a long step. Obs.
1705. Lond. Gaz., No. 4116/4. Paces and gallops well, trots a little long.
9. Comb. When qualifying a ppl. adj. used attrib., the word, like most other advs., is commonly hyphened, forming innumerable quasi-compounds: as long-accustomed, -borne, -expected, etc. Also LONG-CONTINUED, LONG-LASTING, LONG-LIVING.
a. With the sense ‘for a long time.’
1540. Coverdale, Fruitf. Less., To Rdr. (1593), ¶ 2 b. After *long accustomate doing of vertuous deeds.
1711. Shaftesb., Charac. (1737), II. 64. The abject and compliant state of *long-accustom’d slaves.
1789. Cowper, Annus Mirab., 47. Our Queen’s *long-agitated breast.
c. 1620. S. A. Gorges, To the King, in Farr, S. P. Jas. I. (1847), 315. Yet in my *long-borne zeale Time’s chaunge Can make no chaunge appeare.
1817. Lady Morgan, France (1818), I. 194. The sudden resurrection of a *long-buried aristocracy.
1833. J. H. Newman, Arians, V. ii. (1876), 381. That resurrection which now awaited the long-buried truths of the Gospel.
1725. Pope, Odyss., XX. 400. The *long-contended prize.
1868. Lightfoot, Comm. Philipp. (1873), 199. The *long-delayed judgment of God.
1570. J. Phillip, Frendly Larum, in Farr, S. P. Eliz. (1845), II. 526. And eke enioy, as wee doo wish, Our *long-desired masse.
1877. Bryant, Odyss., V. 534. To thee, the long-desired, I come.
1533. Elyot, Cast. Helthe, II. xxxiv. (1541), 52. These exercises,… may put out of the body, all *long duryng sicknesses.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., IV. iii. 307. As motion and long during action tyres The sinnowy vigour of the trauailer.
1567. Turberv., Ovid’s Epist., Q ij. And all my wit is me bereft by *long enduring smart.
1876. Geo. Eliot, Dan. Der., IV. lxiii. 251. The long-enduring watcher.
1640. Waller, Sp. Ho. Com., 22 April, Wks. (1729), 406. A *long-establish’d government.
1837. Ht. Martineau, Soc. Amer., III. 124. A long-established and very eminent lawyer of Boston.
1622. Drayton, Poly-olb., XXII. 929. Their *long expected hopes were vtterly forlorne.
1878. Bosw. Smith, Carthage, 302. They … balked their Roman conquerors of their long-expected revenge.
1605[?]. Drayton, Eclogue, I. xii. And that all-searching and impartiall Fate Shall take account of *long-forgotten dust.
1725. Pope, Odyss., XIX. 191. Tears repeat their long-forgotten course.
1593. Shaks., Lucr., 1816. Now he … armed his *long-hid wits advisedly.
1843. Browning, Return Druses, I. 229. Tell them the *long-kept secret.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. iii. 27. Ah my *long-lacked lord, Where have ye bene thus long out of my sight?
1860. Pusey, Min. Proph., 483. He, the *long-longed for, the chosen of God.
1606. Day, Ile of Guls, D iij. *Long lookt for comes at last.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, i. Exulting in the long-looked-for event.
1738. Gray, Propertius, III. 83. To Chiron Phœnix owed his *long-lost Sight.
1887. Besant, The World went, etc. xi. 87. The safe return of the long-lost sailor.
1760–72. H. Brooke, Fool of Qual. (1809), IV. 156. The images of his *long-parted friends.
1870. J. H. Newman, Gram. Assent, II. x. 481. During His *long-past sojourn upon earth.
1792. Burke, Corr. (1844), III. 388. The solid, permanent, *long-possessed property of the country.
1725. Pope, Odyss., IV. 9. Hermione … Was sent to crown the *long-protracted joy. Ibid. (1715), Iliad, II. 185. With *long-resounding Cries they urge the Train To fit the Ships, and launch into the Main.
1822. Scott, Pirate, v. The groans of the mountains, and the long-resounding shores.
1862. H. Spencer, First Princ., II. xvi. § 134 (1875), 373. Its *long-settled political organization.
a. 1649. Drumm. of Hawth., Poems, Wks. (1711), 9. With *long-shut eyes I shun the irksome light.
1729. Law, Serious C., 299. [He] triumphantly entered that *long-shut-up paradise.
1622. Drayton, Poly-olb., ix. 319. Ere the Iberian Powers had toucht the *long-sought Bay.
1760–72. H. Brooke, Fool of Qual. (1809), IV. 74. My long-lost, my long-sought brother!
1643. Milton, Divorce, To Parl. To be acquitted from the *long-suffer’d ungodly attribute of patronizing Adultery.
1636. B. Jonson, Discov., Homeri Ulysses (1640), 93. Vlysses, in Homer, is made a *long thinking man, before hee speaks.
1671. Milton, P. R., I. 59. We Must bide the stroke of that *long-threatened wound.
1760–72. H. Brooke, Fool of Qual. (1809), IV. 149. *Long-toiled mariners, whom storms have at length compelled to seek a final port.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. iii. 21. That *long-wandring Greeke, That for his love refused deitye.
1693. Congreve, in Dryden’s Juvenal (1697), 293. The dry Embraces of *long-wedded Love.
1570. J. Phillip, Frendly Larum, in Farr, S. P. Eliz. (1845), II. 533. And keepe the cruell papists still From their *longe-wished day.
a. 1649. Drumm. of Hawth., Poems, Wks. (1711), 6. That day, long-wished day.
1748. Anson’s Voy., I. x. 107. We at last discovered the long-wished for Island.
1857. Ruskin, Pol. Econ. Art, 38. The *long-withheld sympathy is given at last.
b. With the sense ‘to or at a great distance’; in a few nonce-words, chiefly poet. as long-destroying, -travelled, wandered, -withdrawing.
1632. Lithgow, Trav., VII. 326. Our long-reaching Ordonance.
a. 1649. Drumm. of Hawth., Poems, Wks. (1711), 2. The palm her love with long-stretch’d arms embraces.
1667. Milton, P. L., XII. 313. Who shall … bring back Through the worlds wilderness long wanderd man Safe to eternal Paradise of rest.
1681. T. Flatman, Heraclitus Ridens, No. 31 (1713), I. 200. A sad Experiment I have made Of the long-reaching Arm of Kings.
1715. Pope, Iliad, VIII. 265. They shake the brands, and threat With long-destroying flames the hostile fleet.
1728–46. Thomson, Spring, 67. O’er your hills and long-withdrawing vales, Let Autumn spread his treasures.
1870. Hawthorne, Eng. Note-Bks. (1879), II. 23. He is a … widely and long travelled man.
