adv. and conj. Forms: (see below). [Common Teut.: OE. swa, swā (also swǣ, swē, etc.), = OFris. sa, so (Fris. sa, so, sô. sü, etc.), MDu. so, soo, soe (Du. zoo), OS. sô (MLG. so, LG. so, sou), OHG. sô, suo (MHG. sô, sâ, G. so), ON. svá (Icel. svo, † so, Norw. and Da. saa, Sw. så), Goth. swa (also swē). The precise relation of some of these forms to each other, and the ultimate origin of the stem, are uncertain.]
In OE. frequently strengthened by a preceding eall (all): for the subsequent history of this see ALSO and AS.
A. Illustration of forms.
1. α. 1 suae, suæ (suoæ), swæ.
c. 725. Corpus Gl. (Hessels), Q 18. Quantisper, suae suiðe.
805. Charter, in O. E. Texts, 442. Suæ hueðer hiora suæ leng lifes.
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., xxxiv. § 9. Swæ me ðincð.
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. xiii. 32. Suoæ þæt fleʓendo heofnes cymes.
β. 1 sue, suue, 1, 3 swe.
c. 700. Cædmon, Hymn, 3. Sue he uundra ʓihuaes … or astelidæ.
c. 825. Vesp. Psalter ii. 9. Swe swe fet lames.
c. 875. Erfurt Gloss., Quacumque, suue suidae.
971. Blickl. Hom., 23. Swe we nu ʓeearnian willaþ.
c. 1205. Lay., 29805. And swe he dude seoððe.
γ. 1–3 se (2 sæ).
c. 831. Charter, in O. E. Texts, 446. Suelc mon se ðet lond hebbe.
1154. O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1137. War sæ me tilede. Ibid., an. 1140. Ware se he com.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 49. Se wide se þet lond wes.
2. (Only OE., north. and Sc.) α. 1–7 swa (5 swaa), 1, 4–7 sua, 4 squa; 6 sway, suay, swae.
Beowulf, 29. Swa he selfa bæd.
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. v. 31. Sua hua forletas wif his.
c. 1200. Ormin, Ded. 107. Þatt he’t write swa.
c. 1325. Metr. Hom., 6. That it be sua.
c. 1375. Cursor M., 522 (Fairf.). Squa ys þe firmament.
a. 1400. Syr Perc., 524. I rede at it be swaa!
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, I. 250. Thai left him swa.
1537. Registr. Aberdon. (Maitl. Cl.), I. 413. And sway to continue.
1539. Lib. Officialis Sti. Andree (Abbotsford Cl.), 85. Suay þat þe said mareage cum nocht to effect.
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot., I. 274. Sua sal ȝe find na place.
1597. Montgomerie, Cherrie & Slae (ed. 2), 502. Thou sal sie it swae.
a. 1670. Spalding, Troub. Chas. I. (Spalding Cl.), I. 88. Right sua Caithness, Sutherland [etc.].
1678. Sir G. Mackenzie, Crim. Laws Scot., I. xxi. ii. (1699), 111. In swa far as he came.
β. 5–7, 9 sa, 6 saa.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 259. Sa clere a witt & sa clene.
1513. Douglas, Æneid, I. i. 16. Sa feill dangeris.
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot., II. 104. Althoch neuir saa Just.
1673. Yorkshire Dial., 4 (E. D. S.). Thou stayes sa lang.
1801. Lonsdale Dial., 4 (E. D. S.). I sat up sa lang yesternete.
1887. Hall Caine, Son of Hagar, I. i. The … days you crack on sa often.
γ. 5–6 say, 7– sae; 6, 9 sea, 7 seay; 6, 9 see, 9 seea.
14[?]. Sc. Leg. Saints, xviii. (Mary Egypt), 290. Lyand say one athyr syd.
1533. Gau, Richt Vay, 102. Say greit faith.
c. 1566. Merie Tales of Skelton, S.’s Wks. 1843, I. p. lviii. In gewd faith, saith the Kendallman, do see.
1583. Leg. Bp. St. Androis, 899. Threttie pundis he conqueist sea.
c. 1620. A. Hume, Brit. Tongue, 17. Sae soft a mynt.
1684. Yorkshire Dial., 15 (E. D. S.). What need thou be seay flaid?
1728. Ramsay, Anacreontic on Love, 12. I thought it sae.
1785. Burns, 2nd Ep. Lapraik, vii. Sae I’ve begun to scrawl.
1808. J. Stagg, Misc. Poems, 143. Suld ye … be sea daft.
1818. Scott, Hrt. Midl., xvi. Do sae, minister—do sae.
3. α. 2–3 swo, 3 suo, 4 zuo.
a. 1200. Vices & Virtues, 33. Swo he mai me folȝin.
c. 1275. Passion our Lord, 543, in O. E. Misc. Iesus crist þet suo aros.
1340. Ayenb., 1. Zuo by hit.
β. 3– so, 4–6 soo, 5–7 soe; dial. 8–9 soa, zo, 9 soo, zoo, zaw, etc.
a. 1240. in O. E. Hom., I. 203. Nere þe heorte so cold.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 16762 + 41. Mony grete clerkez … Seghen þe son fare soo.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), VII. 43. Þat his broþer … was so i-slawe.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 4772. Þat þai suld wax soo.
c. 1420. Avow. Arth., xxiv. Is hit soe?
1482. Cely Papers (Camden), 131. Y would nott a wreten so.
1557. Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889), 463. The fynes … soo by hym not executed.
1683. Col. Rec. Pennsylv., I. 71. Wch was soe done.
1746. Exmoor Scolding, 195 (E. D. S.). And more an zo.
1785. W. Hutton, Bran New Wark, 421 (E. D. S.). Soa far fra loving the man.
1867. Rock, Jim an’ Nell, xcv. Zo let us muve along.
B. Signification.
I. 1. In the way or manner described, indicated or suggested; in that style or fashion.
Contextually the sense may be ‘in the same way,’ ‘by that means,’ etc. For the elliptic phrase so please you, etc., see PLEASE v. 3 c.
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., v. § 3. ʓelefst ðu þæt … auht godes swa ʓeweorðan mæʓe butan þæm wyrhtan.
c. 1200. Ormin, Ded. 44. Icc hafe sett her … maniȝ word Þe rime swa to fillenn.
a. 1250. Prov. Ælfred, 350. So me may þane loþe lengust lede.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 19005. Fra dede to lijf nu resin es he,… Raisd sua wid godds might.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Prologue, 102. A Yeman had he, and servantes nomoo At that tyme, for him luste ride soo.
a. 1450. Mirk’s Festial, 26. A well yn Rome of watyr turned vnto oyle and ran soo all þat day.
1563. Homilies, II. Right Use Ch., I. (1859), 154. His heavenly grace, wherewith he … endueth his people so there assembled.
1580. in W. H. Hale, Prec. Causes of Office (1841), 85. They had in their church a godly interlude … Dominus monuit that herafter they do not so prophane their churche.
1643. Denham, Cooper’s Hill, 202. For so our Children, thus our Friends, we love.
1725. Pope, Odyss., IV. 159. So moves … The silver-shafted goddess of the chace!
1780. Mirror, No. 106. 421. A person, engaged in the ordinary business of life…; and, while so engaged [etc.].
1840. Thackeray, Shabby-genteel Story, viii. There was the woman at Pau; and that girl … at Vienna. He went on just so about them all.
1874. T. Hardy, Far fr. Mad. Crowd, xx. ‘You don’t hold the shears right, miss…. Incline the edge so,’ he said.
2. With the verbs do, say, think, etc., latterly assuming the function of an object and passing into the sense of ‘that.’
Placed either after or before the verb; but the latter order is now only literary and archaic, as in the phrase so to do (after quot. 1552).
(a) c. 825. Vesp. Psalter cxlvii. 20. Ne dyde swe ylcre cneorisse.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., John xviii. 22. Andswarast ðu swa?
c. 1055. Byrhtferth’s Handboc, in Anglia, VIII. 301. Do eall swa be eallum þam oðrum.
c. 1205. Lay., 2348. Ah ne dude he nawiht swo.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 13056. Qui sais þou sua?
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. II. 90. Þe Tixt telleþ not so.
a. 1400. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS., xxiii. 224. Offreþ þe lombes of Innocensye, For he comaundet so.
c. 1450. in Aungier, Hist. Syon (1840), 251. I haue not in mende that I seyd so or dyd so.
a. 1536. Songs, Carols, etc. (E.E.T.S.), 21. Pesse, dere son, tell me not soo.
1611. Bible, Isaiah xx. 2. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.
1697. J. Lewis, Mem. Dk. Glocester (1789), 24. When the Princess asked him, who taught him so? he said, Lewis.
1794. Mrs. Radcliffe, Myst. Udolpho, III. xiii. 446. ‘I must believe so, sir,’ replied Emily.
1818. Scott, Hrt. Midl., xxiii. It was now the presiding Judge’s turn to address the jury. He did so briefly and distinctly.
a. 1834. Coleridge, Confess. Enq, Spirit, iii. (1840), 37. I cannot doubt that they think so.
1892. Law Times Rep., LXVII. 252/1. If this had not been true, the pilot would have taken very good care to tell us so.
(b) a. 1122. O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 656. Ða seonde se kyning æfter þone abbode, þet he æuestlice scolde to him cumon, & he swa dyde.
a. 1275. Prov. Ælfred, 292. Ȝif he for-swunken swoti wuere, swo hie ne þochte.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 4933. Sa þai me tald.
1422. trans. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv., 123. Yf ye So do, ye may haue hoppe [etc.].
1496. Cov. Leet Book, 572. Þat they may be compelled so to do.
1535. Coverdale, Judith vi. 17. He tolde them … how Holofernes people wolde haue slayne him for so sayenge.
1552. Bk. Common Prayer, Morning Prayer, Yet oughte we most chiefly so to doe, when [etc.].
1660. Sharrock, Vegetables, 16. You must not sow them too thick, for so doing hath lost many a peck of seed.
1816. Scott, Bl. Dwarf, xiv. So exclaimed Ellieslaw.
1844. Disraeli, Coningsby, V. iii. So saying, the secretary effected his escape.
1888. Bryce, Amer. Commw., I. I. xxxiv. 521. Some State legislatures have affected so to do.
b. With auxiliary verbs in elliptic use (requiring the addition of do or to do). Sometimes emphasizing a previous statement (quot. 1777).
Beowulf, 797. Ðær hie meahton swa.
a. 1310. in Wright, Lyric P., xv. 49. Me thunketh myn herte breketh a tuo; Suete God, whi shal hit swo?
a. 1400. Isumbras, 57. In ȝouthe I maye bothe ryde and goo, When I ame alde I may nott so.
a. 1425. Cursor M., 9342 (Trin.). Kyngis anoynt ȝe haue tofore; So shul ȝe þenne no more.
c. 1475. Babees Bk., 127. Now must I telle in shorte, for I muste so [i.e., in brief], Youre observaunce that ye shalle done.
1607. Shaks., Cor., II. iii. 262. Brut[us]. Repaire to th’ Capitoll. All. We will so.
1777. Sheridan, Trip Scarb., III. iv. It’s well I have a husband a-coming, or ecod I’d marry the baker, I would so.
1860. Ruskin, Unto this Last, iv. § 81. All England may, if it so chooses, become one manufacturing town.
1871. R. Ellis, Catullus, lxi. 97. Forth, fair bride, to the people, if So it likes you.
c. In this way; thus; as follows.
a. 1250. Prov. Ælfred, 405. For so seyde Salomon, þe wise: ‘Þe mon þat her wel deþ’ [etc.].
c. 1340. Richard Rolle of Hampole, Prick of Conscience, I. 480. For when it es born it cryes swa: If it be man it says ‘a. a’ [etc.].
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 462. So, or on thys wyse,… sic, siccine.
1611. Bible, Isaiah xviii. 4. For so the Lord sayd vnto me; I will take my rest [etc.].
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, vi. How Amelia trembled as she opened it! So it ran— [etc.].
3. Used as predicate with the verb be.
In literary use still placed before the verb for emphasis, or in archaic phrases, as so be it (formerly used as a rendering of AMEN).
(a) Beowulf, 1471. Ne wæs þæm oðrum swa.
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., xxxvi. § 7. Ac ðeah hi his nu næfre ne ʓelefen, ðeah hit is swa.
a. 1000. Rel. Ant., I. 35. Ic ʓe-lyfe on … þat ece lif. Sy it swa.
1338. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 55. I praye God, if it were so, I strangle of þis brede.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 179. Sen it is sett to be soo, & slipe it ne may.
1530. Palsgr., 586. I holde you a noble it is nat so.
1611. Bible, Judges vi. 37–8. If the deaw be on the fleece onely…. And it was so.
1697. Collier, Ess. Mor. Subj., I. (1703), 164. You argue from fact to necessity; ’Tis so, therefore it must be so.
1756. Burke, Vind. Nat. Soc., Wks. I. 27. It is always so; but was here emphatically so.
1821. Scott, Kenilw., xviii. If this be all so, is it not reasonable [etc.].
1862. Miss Braddon, Lady Audley, xxiii. I pray that it may be so, but I cannot think that it is so—I cannot even hope that it is so.
1880. ‘Mark Twain,’ Tramp Abroad, xxvii. 276. No! Is that so?
(b) c. 1000. Ælfric, Exod. x. 11. Hit ne mæʓ na swa beon.
1340. Ayenb., 1. Ich bidde þe hit by my sseld … al to mi lyues ende, zuo by hit.
c. 1375. Cursor M., 1148 (Fairf.). For if I walde for-gif hit þe, hit nys noȝt worþi so to be.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, ii. (Paul), 1015. Gif it swa be, we mon all obey till his lare.
1535. Coverdale, Judith xiii. 15. That thou mayest se that it so is, beholde, this is ye heade of Holofernes.
1536. Primer Salisb. Use, 48. As it … euer shalbe. So be it.
1599. Porter, Angry Wom. Abingt. (Percy Soc.), 8. And his men be good fellowes, so it is.
1682. Bunyan, Holy War, Wks. 1768, II. 7. No reason being annexed, but so I will have it, so it shall be.
1812. Crabbe, Tales, xviii. If he On aught determined, so it was to be.
1833. T. Hook, Parson’s Dau., I. ix. How the conversation took that particular turn, I do not presume to know—so it was.
b. With auxiliary verbs in elliptic use (requiring the addition of (to) be, (to) have it, etc.).
Beowulf, 2091. He mec þær on innan … ʓedon wolde…: hyt ne mihte swa.
c. 1205. Lay., 131. Mid wintre he wes biweaued; Swo hit wolde godd.
c. 1440. Alph. Tales, 83. And Saynt Petur wolde nevur so, it myght nevur com samen agayn.
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, xvii. 392. Ye saye well,… and I am soo contente.
1594. Greene & Lodge, Looking Gl., G.’s Wks. (Rtldg.), 130/1. You are a welcome guest, if so you please.
1701. J. Norris, Ess. Theory Ideal World, I. ii. 96. We need but … instead of I affirm so if so, say if so, I affirm so.
1731. Pope, Lett. to Hill, 15 Feb. I am very desirous to leave out that note if you like so.
c. Followed by a clause introduced by that.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 11725. Quer it es sua, yee wat it noght, Þat handes mine þis tre has wroght.
c. 1400. Beryn, 3569. Sith þat it so is, That of the first pleyntyff wee have sikirnes.
a. 1450. Le Morte Arth., 2517. The knyghtis … said … that so them thought That syr mordred the sekereste was.
1538. Starkey, England, I. i. 10. Though hyt be so that man abusyth the … cumpany of man.
1663. S. Patrick, Parab. Pilgr. (1687), 474. Yet so it was, that one day he seriously told his Friend.
1711. Steele, Spect., No. 144, ¶ 1. Yet so it is, that People can bear any Quality in the World better than Beauty.
1763. J. Brown, Poetry & Mus., v. 61. How came it so to pass, that the first Race of Men were … of a stronger Turn to Poetry?
d. In clauses of supposition (sometimes with omission of that). By so (that): see BY prep. 23 d.
13[?]. in Horstman, Hampole’s Wks. (1896), I. 169. If so be þat þo haf les schame with þi foule herte þen with þi foule body.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 48. That can I do wel, Be so my lif therto wol laste.
c. 1482. in Cal. Proc. Chanc. Q. Eliz., II. (1830), Pref. 64. If it hadde be soo that the forsaide John Ferrers hadde not made feithfull promyse.
1495–1611. [see IF conj. 8 f].
1638. Brathwait, Barnabees Jrnl. (1818), 193. Thus love I thee, so be thou love me.
1665–1861. [see IF conj. 8 f].
4. Representing a word or phrase already employed: Of that nature or description; of or in that condition, etc.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Saints’ Lives, II. xxix. 52. Paulus … ʓemette ænne blindne mann, se wæs ʓeboren swa.
c. 1440. Alph. Tales, 85. A preste þat trowid he was a passand gude synger, not-with-stondyng he was not so.
1563. Homilies, II. Fasting, I. (1859), 284. Which works … are called good works, and are so indeed.
1573. Tusser, Husb. (1878), 128. Some come, some go, This life is so.
a. 1640. Massinger, Old Law, IV. ii. He’s merry As if he had no such charge: one with that care Could never be so.
1664. H. More, Myst. Iniq., II. II. i. 338. If the Devil be a Beast, that which makes him so is the wickedness of his nature.
1737. Pope, Hor. Epist., I. vi. 2. To make men happy, and to keep them so.
1842. Borrow, Bible in Spain (1843), I. vii. 129. He was half intoxicated, and soon became three parts so, by swallowing glass after glass of aguardiente.
1885. Law Reports 15 Q.B.D. 316. The catch … was worn away, and probably had been so for months.
b. With verbs of thinking, considering, etc.: To be such, as such.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 27573. Man es … prode for halines, And lates oft lightly o þaa Men þat er noght funden sua.
1609. Bible (Douay), 1 Macc. x. comm., It was not in the kings powre to make Jonathas highpriest, but … the king … did so account him.
1644. Vicars, God in Mount, 195. They taking us to be their friends, and wee them so too.
1710. Steele, Tatler, No. 126, ¶ 1. Her Attractions would indeed be irresistible, but that she thinks them so.
1784. J. Potter, Virtuous Villagers, II. 179. Though I am afraid it is not always considered so.
1847. C. Brontë, Jane Eyre, ii. ‘Silence! This violence is all most repulsive;’ and so, no doubt, she felt it.
1896. Law Times, C. 358/1. R. became a lunatic, and was so found by inquisition.
c. As object after have.
1658. Whole Duty Man, iii. 52. The first is the having a mean and low opinion of our selves, the second is the being content that others should have so of us.
1662. Stillingfleet, Orig. Sacræ, II. iii. § 4. Whether the person … hath divine authority for what he saith. What ground can I have to believe that he hath so?
d. With call, name, etc.: By that name or designation. (Cf. 6.)
1608. Shaks., Per., III. iii. 13, E iv b. My gentle babe Marina, Whom, for she was borne at sea, I haue named so.
1617. Collins, Def. Bp. Ely, To Rdr. p. ix. Hee maruells that the Papists should be so called [sc. novitii].
1659. Pearson, Creed (1839), 446. The … Scriptures … term him plainly and expressly so.
1726. Swift, Gulliver, I. viii. 147. My Son Johnny, named so after his Uncle.
1803. Wordsw., Blind Highland Boy, 11. A Highland Boy!—why call him so?
1859. J. Hadley, Ess., x. (1873), 194. This mode of ‘futurizing’ (if we may so call it).
5. In various elliptic uses:
† a. = Yes. Obs.–1
a. 1425. Cursor M., 13560 (Trin.). Somme seide nay & somme so.
b. After adverbs and conjunctions, as how so? not so, if so, etc.
a. 1300. [see HOW adv. 17].
1526. Tindale, Luke i. 60. Not soo, but he shalbe called Jhon.
1579. in Fulke, Heskins’ Parl., 155. This hath nothing lesse then that. Why so?
1579. Spenser, Sheph. Cal., May, 312. If Foxes bene so crafty, as so.
a. 1593. Marlowe, Edw. II., V. ii. (1594), K 1 b. That Edmund laid a plot, To set his brother free, no more but so.
1676. Etheredge, Man of Mode, I. i. Dor. I am glad he pitcht upon Loveit. Bell. How so?
1819. Scott, Ivanhoe, xxviii. He will not die unless we abandon him; and if so, we are indeed answerable for his blood.
1842. Tennyson, Lady Clare, xi. ‘Nay now,… keep the secret all ye can.’ She said, ‘Not so.’
1871. R. Ellis, Catullus, lxxxv. 1. Half I hate, half love. How so? one haply requireth.
1896. Guy Boothby, Dr. Nikola, i. ‘I know China as well as any living Englishman.’ ‘Quite so.’
c. As an introductory particle. Also so, so.
This and the two following uses are common in Shakespeare’s plays.
1593. Shaks., Lucr., 333 (1594), D. So so, quoth he, these lets attend the time.
1602. How to choose Gd. Wife, in Hazl., Dodsley, IX. 55. So, let me see: my apron.
1605. 1st Pt. Jeronimo, I. i. 77. So, so, Andrea must be sent imbassador?
1741. Richardson, Pamela, III. 251. And I say … So, my good Friends!—I am glad to see you.
1775. Sheridan, Rivals, II. ii. So, so, ma’am! I humbly beg pardon.
d. As an expression of approval, or a direction to do something in a particular manner. Also in phr. so best.
(a) 1598. Shaks., Merry W., III. i. 109. Giue me thy hand (Celestiall) so.
1627. Capt. Smith, Seaman’s Gram., ix. 38. Steare steady & keep your course, so, you go wel.
1649. Lovelace, Poems (1864), 112. Where now one so so spatters, t’other: no!
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., I. ii. 18. So, thus, keep her thus.
1821. Scott, Kenilw., xxiii. Walk through the apartment…. So; feel you not now that you are possessed of the full use of your limbs?
1833. T. Hook, Parson’s Dau., II. i. Here, let me just turn that curl—there, so.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., 637. So! An order to desist temporarily from hauling upon a rope, when it has come to its right position.
(b) 1851. Mrs. Browning, Casa Guidi Wind., II. Wks. (1904), 372. Shaking Austria’s yoke He shattered his own hand and heart. ‘So best.’
1860. Trans. Philol. Soc., LXI. 164. It is to be an omnium-gatherum, and if this be practicable, so best.
† e. = Let it be so; it is well. Obs.
1591. Shaks., Two Gentl., II. i. 137. If it please you, so: if not: why so. Ibid. (1611), Cymb., II. iii. 16. If you can penetrate her with your fingering, so.
f. With ellipse of ‘says’ or ‘writes.’
1613. F. T., Suppl. Discussion of Barlowe’s Answer, 220. So he; doubting as you see, of the truth of his witnesses.
1685. Stillingfl., Orig. Brit., i. 9. So Bale; but Pits places him ten years later.
6. In combinations: a. With past (or present) pples., as so-caused, -formed, -named, -titled, etc., so-seeming.
See also SO-CALLED, -STYLED, -TERMED.
c. 1430. Hoccleve, Minor Poems, 124. If so-causid seeknesse on me fil As dide on the.
1467–8. Rolls of Parlt., V. 629/2. The which soo named brode sette Clothes.
1598. Shaks., Merry W., III. ii. 41. I will … plucke the borrowed vaile of modestie from the so-seeming Mist[ress] Page.
1602. W. Watson, Decacordon, 181, marg. The so authorized depriues the authorizer of his superioritie ouer him.
1621. G. Sandys, Ovid’s Met., VII. (1626), 135. Whom now the so-instructed sisters led Into his chamber.
1815. Ann. Reg., Hist., 63. Forbidding all his subjects to pay taxes … to the so-titled imperial government.
1830. Sir J. Herschel, Stud. Nat. Phil., III. iv. 304. The multiplication of so-considered elementary bodies.
1883. Nature, XXVII. 326. The so-formed super-phosphate.
b. With vbl. sbs., as so-doing, -saying.
1509. in Mem. Hen. VII. (Rolls), 444. Farnando Duke and the do[ctor] de Puebla had byn dysstroyed for theyre so doyngys.
1803. trans. P. Le Brun’s Mons. Botte, I. 110. What! asleep yet, sluggard!… And with so saying, pinched his ear.
a. 1834. Coleridge, Confess. Enq. Spirit, iii. (1840), 37. Because the so thinking supersedes the necessity of all after-thought.
c. Sc. With advs., as so-like, -wise. Cf. SO-GATE(S.
1533. Gau, Richt Vay, 104. To cal thayme selff … successours of the apostlis, o say lik? say lik?
1556. Lauder, Tractate, 428. Salyke sic Pryde pertenis to trew teaching.
1819. W. Tennant, Papistry Storm’d (1827), 158. Sae-wyse the Papists … Did scatter aff.
7. As adj. (See quot.)
1867. J. F. Dimock, Giraldus Cambrensis’ Opera, V. 431. Perhaps it was something like the modern Scotch plaid, wrapped round the body; the so use of which is certainly very ancient.
II. Placed at the beginning of a clause with continuative force, and freq. preceded by and.
8. Used to confirm or strengthen a previous statement.
(a) 1154. O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1135. Men … sæden ðæt micel þing sculde cumen herefter; sua dide.
c. 1330. Arth. & Merl. (Kölbing), 9817. Þe clerk Merlin … dede hem liȝt,… So þai dede & blisse made.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, II. 1284. ‘Lo, yond he rit!’ Quod she, ‘ye, so he dooth.’
1526. Skelton, Magnyf., 798. Abyde, syr, quod he! mary, so I do.
1590. Shaks., Com. Err., V. i. 58. Ab. You should for that haue reprehended him. Adr. Why so I did.
1611. Bible, Ezra iv. 24. So it ceased.
1653. Walton, Angler, ii. Now have at him with Killbuck, for he vents again. Venator. Marry! so he does.
1757. Foote, Author, I. Wks. 1799, I. 142. You had better hold your chattering, so you had.
1898. Watts-Dunton, Aylwin, IV. iii. My father’s birthday? Why, so it is!
(b) c. 1440. Alph. Tales, 256. He bad þis whik man lay þe dead man ouerthwarte befor hym…; and so he did.
1510. Sel. Cas. Star Chamber (Selden), II. 72. Intendyng … to have drowned the same Shipp, and so hadd doon hadd nott the mariners … made great … defence.
1602. in J. Morris, Troubles Cath. Forefathers (1872), I. iv. 192. My abode at this present is, and so hath been for some years, altogether in London.
1864. Browning, Jas. Lee’s Wife, IV. i. You wanted my love—is that much true? And so I did, love, so I do.
9. Denoting similarity or parallelism in some respect between two facts, actions, etc.
(a) c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., xxv. Swa doð eac wudufuʓlas.
a. 1200. Moral Ode, 146. Ful wombe mei lihtliche speken of hunger … swa mei of pine þe ne cnauð hu þe scal a ilesten.
a. 1250. Prov. Ælfred, 308. Mony appel is bryht wiþ-vte, and bitter wiþ-inne; So is mony wymmon [etc.].
c. 1350. Childhood Jesus, 91, in Horstm., Altengl. Leg. (1878), 102/2. ‘Certes, me thrystyt wonder sore.’ ‘Certes,’ seyt Josep, ‘so do I.’
c. 1430. Lydg., Minor Poems (Percy Soc.), 24. The sonne chaungith, so doth the pale mone.
1601. R. Johnson, Kingd. & Commw. (1603), 213. So again was Cyrus by Tomiris, who slue him and all his host.
1671. Milton, Samson, Pref. For so in Physic, things of melancholic hue and quality are us’d against melancholy.
1721. Ramsay, Prospect of Plenty, 7. Sae, th’ heedless heir … Lets ilka sneaking fellow take a pluck.
1842. Browning, Pied Piper, ix. The Mayor looked blue; So did the Corporation too.
1890. Law Times, LXXXIX. 165/1. If the lienors may insure, so may the owners of the injured ship and cargo.
(b) a. 890. Charter, in O. E. Texts, 452. In þissum life ondwardum, & eac swa in þæm towardan life.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 130. Auh Dauid wende þider … & so deð þe gode ancre.
c. 1400. Laud Troy Bk., 11395. He sclow oure kyng Archilogus,… And so he did kyng Archomene.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, IX. vi. 348. Thenne was sir Bryan ful gladde and soo was his lady & alle his knyghtes.
a. 1586. Sidney, Ps. V. ii. Thou … in endles hatred hast The murd’rous man, and soe the fraudulent.
1646. Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., III. xv. 142. Wormes and Leeches will move both wayes; and so will most of those animals, whose bodies consist of round and annulary fibers, and move by undulation.
1786. Burns, Ded. to G. Hamilton, 7. When I’m tir’d—and sae are ye, Wi’ monie a fulsome, sinfu’ lie.
1842. Tennyson, Dora, 26. But in my time a father’s word was law, And so it shall be now for me.
1884. G. Lacy Hillier, in Longman’s Mag., March, 492. All other branches of athletic sport which flourish in the United Kingdom have their ruling bodies, and so has cycling.
10. For that reason, on that account, accordingly, consequently, therefore.
The causative force is sometimes very slight, the use approximating to that in b.
(a) c. 1250. Old Kentish Serm., in O. E. Misc., 32. Hise deciples hedde gret drede of þise tempeste, so hi a-wakede hine.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, V. 1233. Fayn he wolde dye, So on a day he leyde him doun to slepe.
c. 1420. Lydg., Assembly of Gods, 434. So forthe yn he went & spake wordys fell.
1563. Homilies, II. Sacrament, I. (1859), 440. So then, as of necessity we must be our selves partakers of this Table [etc.].
1616. J. Lane, Contn. Sqr.’s T., VI. 334. What all pleasures dothe containe is greater, so is pleasures soveraigne.
1713. Swift, Cadenus & Vanessa, Wks. 1755, III. II. 31. The cry’r was order’d to dismiss The court, so made his last O yes!
1821. Scott, Pirate, i. A shelter … is all I seek for. So name your rent.
1896. Guy Boothby, Dr. Nikola, v. We leave at daybreak for Pekin, so I will wish you good-bye now.
(b) a. 1200. Vices & Virtues, 35. Karitas is heiȝest and betst of ðese þrie, and swo hie is ouer alle oðre.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 2091. Maximian was suþþe aslawe,… & so þei ssrewe robeours abbe hor wille an stounde.
a. 1390. Wycliffite Bible (1850), II. 738. And so alle the salmys of Dauid ben maad in noumbre of an hundrid and fifti.
c. 1440. Alph. Tales, 164. He had not money enogh to pay for þaim; & so he frustid hym.
1549. in Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., Var. Coll. (1907), IV. 282. Quere yf this be not againste the profitt of the common people, and so voide.
1604. 3rd Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., 11/1. All these Bills had the royal assent, and so were enacted.
c. 1680. Beveridge, Serm. (1729), II. 566. He must love God with all his heart and soul, and so above all things in the world.
1818. Byron, Juan, I. v. But then they shone not on the poet’s page, And so have been forgotten.
1888. Law Times, LXXXV. 133/1. A mortgagor’s tenant is emphatically a person interested in the equity of redemption, and so entitled to redeem.
b. As an introductory particle, without a preceding statement (but freq. implying one).
1710. Swift, Jrnl. to Stella, 21 Sept. So you have got into Presto’s lodgings; very fine, truly!
1777. Sheridan, Sch. Scandal, II. iii. Well—so one of my nephews is a wild rogue, hey?
1809. Byron, in R. C. Dallas, Corr. of Byron (1825), I. 95. So Lord G* is married to a rustic! Well done!
1881. Jowett, Thucyd., I. 42. And so we have met at last, but with what difficulty!
11. Denoting sequence, freq. without implication of manner, and hence passing into: Then, thereupon, thereafter, subsequently.
(a) c. 1300. Havelok, 2858. Thanne he hauede sikernesse Taken…, so dide he calle Þe erl of Cestre.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. VIII. 232. So [earlier texts þenne] shalt þow come to a court.
c. 1450. Holland, Howlat, 794. Sa come the Ruke.
c. 1614. Sir W. Mure, Dido & Æneas, Wks. (S.T.S.), I. 72. Achates only he his convoy makes, Swa journey taks where fortune guides the way.
1697. J. Lewis, Mem. Dk. Glocester (1789), 29. The Princess thought it high time to have him taught to walk regularly, so by degrees to dance.
(b) 1470–85. Malory, Arthur, II. v. 82. Balyn hyt hym thorugh the sheld, and the hauberk perysshed, & so percyd thurgh his body.
1517. Torkington, Pilgr. (1884), 2. The thursday I went to Seynt Denys…, and so retornyd a gayne the same nyght to Parys.
1585. T. Washington, trans. Nicholay’s Voy., I. vi. 4 b. The Ambassadour shewed hym his commission, and so tooke his leaue of him.
1620. E. Blount, Horæ Subsec., 349. But for a tast and so away.
1715. Maryland Laws, vi. (1723), 20. Stakes … with Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so to an Hundred.
1821. Scott, Pirate, ii. Thence by a whaling vessel to Lerwick, and so to Jarlshof.
1892. A. J. Butler, trans. Memoirs Marbot, I. iii. 17. Then we marched out as we had come in, to the drum, and so to bed.
† 12. Following on conditional clauses: Then.
a. 1536. Tindale, Doct. Treat. (Parker Soc.), 433. If thou believe not…, so is it impossible that [etc.].
1567. Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.), 18. Will thow thy sinfull lyfe confes,… Sa ar ȝe worthie, small and greit.
III. To that extent; in that degree.
For ever so, never so, in emphatic use, see EVER adv. 9 b, c, and NEVER adv. 4.
13. With adjs. or advs. (or equivalent phrases), in negative and interrogative clauses.
(a) c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., v. § 3. Ne ʓelyfe ic no þæt hit ʓeweorþan meahte swa endebyrdlice.
c 975. Rushw. Gosp., Matt. viii. 10. Swa micel ʓeleafa ne ʓemotte ic in Israhele.
c. 1205. Lay., 600. Nes castel nan swa strong.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 7551. Þer nas prince in al þe world of so noble fame.
1338. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 54. In suilk apparaille dight, þat so riche armes was neuer sene with sight.
c. 1400. Laud Troy Bk., 15509. In al this world is non silke, So noble werk, ne so riche.
1501. Plumpton Corr., 157. I was never so werie & soferd of my life, since I was borne.
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, I. xiv. 22. The great Bistorte hath long leaues, like Patience, but smaller, and not so smothe or playne.
1646. Fuller, Wounded Consc. (1841), 335. A meaner man, of whose spirituality the patient hath not so high … conceits.
1746. Francis, trans. Horace, Epist., II. i. 46. IV. 183. The Sons of Greece no longer shall excel:
1797. Godwin, Enquirer, I. vi. 38. Men were no longer shut up in so narrow boundaries.
1803–5. Wordsw., Solitary Reaper, 13. A voice so thrilling ne’er was heard.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vi. II. 89. The Cavaliers … were by no means disposed to revive an institution so odious.
(b) c. 900. trans. Bæda’s Hist., V. ix. (1890), 410. Forhwon seʓdes ðu Æcgbrihte swa ʓemeleaslice & swa wlæclice þa ðing…?
c. 1386. Chaucer, Can. Yeom. Prol. & T., 340. And if a man wol aske hem prively Why they been clothed so unthriftily [etc.].
14[?]. 26 Pol. Poems, xxvi. 24. I … asked who had … brought her in so drowpyng chere.
1445. in Anglia, XXVIII. 281. Is his worship of so litel peys?
1598. Marston, Sco. Villanie, III. ix. Why lookes neat Curus all so simpringly?
1611. Bible, John xiv. 9. Haue I bin so long time with you…?
1690. Locke, Hum. Und., III. v. § 9. The reason why I take so particular notice of this.
1735. Berkeley, Querist, § 215. Whence is it that Barbs and Arabs are so good horses?
1780. Mirror, No. 95. 378. She … asked me, with her usual good humour, what made me look so grave?
1850. Newman, Difficulties Anglicans, I. v. What am I to say in answer to conduct so preposterous?
b. Followed by a relative clause or equivalent complement. (Cf. 24.)
Rarely when the antecedent clause is affirmative.
1581. in Allen, Martyrdom Campion (1908), 17. Is it possible to find xii so wicked … men in this citye … that will finde us guiltie togeather of this one crime?
1593. Shaks., Lucr., 853 (1594), G. But no perfection is so absolute, That some impuritie doth not pollute. Ibid. (1601), Jul. C., I. ii. 316. Who so firme, that cannot be seduc’d? Ibid. (1610), Temp., V. 269. A Witch … so strong That could controle the Moone.
1611. Bible, Job xli. 10. None is so fierce that dare stirre him vp.
1753. L. M., trans. Du Boscq’s Accompl. Woman, 26. There is no design so black, which Ambition scruples to conceive.
1780. Mirror, No. 92. 365. There is nothing so absurd or extravagant, which riches … will not tempt him to commit.
1821. Scott, Kenilw., viii. He … came not thither so private but what he was espied by one who told me.
14. In affirmative clauses, tending to become a mere intensive without comparative force, and sometimes emphasized in speaking and writing.
(a) Beowulf, 347. ʓif he us ʓeunnan wile, Þæt we hine swa godne gretan moton.
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., xxxv. § 3. Nu ðu þæt swa openlice onʓiten hæfst, ne ðearfe ic nu … ymb ðæt swincan.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 171. Þe wrecches þet ha seh swa wraðe werkes wurchen.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 590. Þat king lotrin … dude al his wille, vor he lokede so rowe.
c. 1340. Richard Rolle of Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 4073. Þe empire, þat was swa myghty, Es now destruyed a grete party.
1390. Gower, Conf., III. 1. This vice, which so out of rule Hath sette ous alle, is cleped Gule.
1412. 26 Pol. Poems, xi. 50. God dede þe make, Put soule of resoun in flesche so frele.
1503. Hawes, Examp. Virt., XII. 238. Amonge the floures so swete of ayre.
1627. W. Sclater, Exp. 2 Thess. (1629), 297. The bones of so dogged Contentions.
1678. Dryden, All for Love, III. i. I fear’d he loved her:… For ’twere impossible that two, so one, Should not have lov’d the same.
1741. Richardson, Pamela, III. 168. My Face … was hid in my Bosom, and I looked so silly!
1820. Keats, Lamia, I. 183. To see herself escap’d from so sore ills.
1839–52. Bailey, Festus, 208. The Norman! so noble, and stately and tall.
1882. Floyer, Unexpl. Balūchistan, 302. The absence of ruined buildings, which so invariably form the major part of a Persian town.
(b) 1837. Dickens, Pickw., iv. My dear brother is so good.
1853. Mrs. Gaskell, Cranford, i. A man is so in the way in the house.
1875. E. FitzGerald, Lett. (1889), I. 369. I am so glad (as the Gushingtons say) that you like the Carlyle.
b. Preceded by a, the, this, etc., or possessive pronouns. Now rare except in combs.
c. 1205. Lay., 3812. Þu eært a swa hende gome.
13[?]. in Horstm., Altengl. Leg. (1875), 75. Of a so ȝong þing.
1340. Ayenb., 100. To by zone to ane zuo greate emperur.
1535. Joye, Apol. Tindale, 19. Nothinge performing his so large promyses.
1545. Brinklow, Compl., 18. Ye may set to reforme thes so wicked lawes.
1629. Gaule, Holy Madnesse, 329. You may see your face in his so transparant Cheekes.
1667. Marvell, Corr., Wks. (Grosart), II. 81. The reason of our so long silence.
a. 1700. Evelyn, Diary, June 1645. Divers statues…, amongst which is the so celebrated Eve.
1865. Ruskin, Sesame, ii. § 57. The one weakness of his so mighty love.
1887. Hall Caine, Deemster, xxxix. The so heavy burden thou bearest.
c. With adj. and singular sb., in cases similar to next, but without a. Now rare.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 1490. Vor he was so god kniȝt & al so so noble king, He bed vor to ȝiue him is doȝter in spousing.
c. 1400. Maundev. (1839), vi. 66. Thei seyn, that thei scholde not entre in to so holy Place.
c. 1425. Lydg., Assembly of Gods, 1417. Syth they so long tyme haue made me so madde.
1557. North, trans. Gueuara’s Diall Pr., 110. In the time of so great and excellent philosopher.
1814. Scott, Lett., in Lockhart (1837), III. ix. 292. So short time have I been absent.
1867. Ruskin, Time & Tide, ix. § 40. In so apparently desultory manner.
d. With adj. followed by a. † Sometimes preceded by this.
(a) 13[?]. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 1538. Gret is þe gode gle,… Þat … ȝe wolde … pyne yow with so pouer a mon.
1412–20. Lydg., Chron. Troy, IV. 1855. Hector, þat was so noble a knyȝt.
1548. Hall, Chron., Rich. III., 56 b. Yf we dye so glorious a death in so good a quarell.
1624. Quarles, Sion’s Sonn., viii. 4. To kisse the lips of so, so faire a Bride.
1780. Mirror, No. 95. 379–80. I thought I had never beheld so interesting an object.
a. 1845. Barham, Ingol. Leg., Ser. III. Brothers Birchington, lxvi. So barefaced a blunder.
1902. Gairdner, Hist. Eng. Ch. 16th Cent., viii. (1903), 140. So insulting a message was clearly out of the question.
(b) 1611. Bible, 1 Kings iii. 9. Who is able to iudge this thy so great a people?
1632. J. Hayward, trans. Biondi’s Eromena, 169. Of such as were privy to this so important a secret.
a. 1700. Evelyn, Diary, 22 April 1694. How this so young a gentleman … could live in such an expensive manner.
1736. Butler, Anal., II. vii. This so remarkable an Establishment.
† e. With a or an inserted before the adj. (cf. SUCH a.). Also so very a. Obs.
1569. J. Sanford, trans. Agrippa’s Van. Artes, 66 b. The feeble definition of so an approued Philosopher.
1614. Selden, Titles Hon., 148. Vpon so an apparant diminution of the peoples libertie.
1657. Fuller, Notes Jonah i. 5. So an unnatural sin was atheism.
1664. Pepys, Diary, 10 Jan. We are all glad, so very a known rogue he was.
† f. With a inserted between the two parts of a combination. Obs.
1595. Shaks., John, IV. ii. 27. Putting on so new a fashion’d robe.
1631. Massinger, Believe as You List, II. i. Was there ever So sweete a temperd Roman?
1682. A. Mudie, Pres. St. Scotl., Ep. Ded. A iiij b. The constitutions of so well a Governed Kingdom.
1756. Toldervy, Hist. 2 Orphans, III. 173. So jealous a pated fellow.
15. With verbs. Now usually intensive.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xlviii. (Juliana), 245. For þe desert þat þu can ma to god, þat þe a-wansit sa.
a. 1425. Cursor M., 5290 (Trin.). He haþ delyuered me of my woo, And put me to welþe, no mon so.
1579. Spenser, Sheph. Cal., Aug., 15. What payne doth thee so appall?
1615. G. Sandys, Trav., 1. Celebrated for quarries of excellent marble, which do so adorne the Venetian pallaces.
1626. T. H[awkins], trans. Caussin’s Holy Crt., 436. I cannot so harden my hart, but that it may be softned.
1833. Ht. Martineau, Manch. Strike, i. 2. O father, my knees have been aching so all day.
1849. E. B. Eastwick, Dry Leaves, 22. The waves, which … did in this place so confound and toss about the triremes of Alexander.
1884. C. Gibbon, Fancy Free, xiv. I held back because I loved you so.
† 16. Equally; to the same extent. Obs.–1
1697. Dampier, Voy. (1729), I. 228. The Tree or Shrub that bears it is like the Prickle-Pear-Tree, about 5 foot high, and so prickly.
IV. Introducing one or both of two clauses expressing comparison or correspondence.
† 17. In the way that; as much as; as. Obs.
Soon so, as soon as: see SOON adv.
Beowulf, 490. Site nu to symle,… swa þin sefa hwette.
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., xxxix. § 12. He … swincð þonne ymb þæt swa he swiðost mæʓ.
971. Blickl. Hom., 19. Cleopian we nu in eʓlum mode…, swa se blinda dyde.
a. 1122. O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1016. Se here … sloʓon & bærndon … swa heora ʓewuna wæs.
a. 1275. Prov. Ælfred, 608. Sone min so dere, do so ich þe lere.
13[?]. K. Alis., 6260 (W.). A folk … Al blak so cole-brond.
c. 1380. Sir Ferumb., 5383. Gweynes fleȝ forþ so wynd and rayn.
† b. After numerals: As. Obs.
In OE. also in other forms of expression.
a. 1000. in Thorpe, Laws, I. 190. Syx swa micel.
c. 1330–c. 1420. [see TEN C].
1587. Mascal, Govt. Cattle, Sheepe (1627), 203. Others with twise so great a stocke.
† c. As if. Obs.
a. 900. Cynewulf, Crist, 850. Nu is þon ʓelicost, swa we on laguflode … ceolum liðan.
971. Blickl. Hom., 205. And þa fotlastas wæron swutole … on þæm stane, swa hie on wexe wæron aðyde.
c. 1250. Owl & Night., 142. Heo song so lude…, Ryht so me grulde schille harpe.
c. 1275. Passion Our Lord, 542, in O. E. Misc., 52. Hi vellen so hi were ded.
c. 1300. Havelok, 594. Also lith was it þer-inne, So þer brenden cerges inne.
† d. After relative pronouns or advs.: So ever.
In OE., and very early ME., the pronoun or adverb was preceded as well as followed by swa.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 145. Hwa se wile cume efter me.
a. 1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., III. 2595. In what state swa he be þan.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 2565. What man so vs metes, may vs sone knowe.
c. 1400. Cursor M., 28788 (Cott. Galba). Whether so askes more rightwisly, Sall be herd of god.
c. 1425. Lydg., Assembly of Gods, 1406. Dredde shalt thow be, wher so thow become.
c. 1440. Alph. Tales, 34. Promysyng hym to do what þing so he commanddid hym.
1559. Mirr. Mag. (1563), B iv. Whom so they take they slay.
a. 1593. Marlowe, Edw. II., I. i. (1594), A 4 b. In our name commaund, What so thy minde affectes or fancie likes.
† 18. So … so. a. = So … as (see 20). Obs.
In OE. also swa swa without intervening words, and sometimes swa … swa swa.
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., xxxix. § 4. Swa hit is swa þu sæʓst.
971. Blickl. Hom., 137. Hit wæs þa swa leoht swa se merʓenlica steorra.
a. 1240. Ureisun, in O. E. Hom., I. 193. Heo beoð so read so rose, so hwit so þe lilie.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 5369. Þat londfolc to him com so þikke so it miȝte go.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 6827. Þe arewes come so þykke so reyn.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. XIV. 188. Ich see noone so ofte sorfeten, Soþliche so mankynde.
† b. = As … so (see 22). Obs.
In OE. also swa swa … swa.
c. 825. Vesp. Psalter cii. 13. Swe mildsað feder bearnum, swe mildsiende bið dryhten ondredendum hine.
971. Blickl. Hom., 9. Swa se hyhtenda ʓigant, swa Drihten on middanʓearde bliðe wunode.
a. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 39. Swa se þu forȝeuest … swa þin drihten forȝeueð þe þine misdede.
13[?]. K. Alis. (Laud MS.), 2210. So on þe shyngel liþe þe haile, Euery kniȝth so lijþ on oþer.
[1667. Milton, P. L., VII. 288. So high as heav’d the tumid Hills, so low Down sunk a hollow bottom.]
† c. With comparatives: The … the. Obs.
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., vii. § 4. Swa him mon mare selð, swa hine ma lyst.
971. Blickl. Hom., 15. Swa hie him swyþor styrdon, swa he hludor cleopode.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 182. So þe sicnesse is more, se þe goldsmið is bisegure.
a. 1240. Lofsong, in O. E. Hom., I. 215. Þet hit ontende me … in þine luue, so lengre so more.
a. 1400. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS., xxix. v. 47. Hym þhouȝte euere so long so wors.
19. In adjurations or asseverations.
So has here the sense of ‘in that way’ or ‘to that extent,’ the complementary clause being omitted. The two usual types are here illustrated separately. For so help see also S’ELP, S’HELP, and SWELP.
(a) Beowulf, 435. Ic þæt þonne forhicʓe, swa me Hiʓelac sie … modes bliðe, þæt [etc.].
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 33. Swa me helpe drihten.
c. 1205. Lay., 3041. Iheren ich wlle,… sua þe helpe Appolin, hu deore þe beo lif min.
1382. Wyclif, Exod. x. 10. So the Lord be with ȝow, what maner thanne Y shal leeue ȝow?
c. 1386. Chaucer, Merch. T., 931. This schal ben doon…, So wisly God my soule bringe in blisse! [See also SAVE v. 2 b.]
c. 1440. Lovelich, Merlin, 12034. I wolde, so god me spede, that pes purchaced were betwixen vs two.
1480. in Gross, Gild Merch., II. 71. Soo god yow help and holydome.
1508. [see HELP v. 1 c].
1565. Cooper, Thesaurus, s.v. Ita, So god saue me.
1603. Knolles, Hist. Turks (1621), 572. So helpe me great Mahomet it shall not so be.
1828. Scott, F. M. Perth, xxviii. This seat … I claim as my right—so prosper me God and St. Barr!
1868. [see HELP v. 1 c].
(b) a. 1300–c. 1386. [see THEE v.1 1 b].
c. 1400. [see THRIVE v. B. 2].
c. 1400. Gamelyn, 515. And I wil kepe þe dore, so ever here I masse.
c. 1420. Liber Cocorum (1862), 6. Þis seȝe I preved, so have I blys.
c. 1475. Rauf Coilȝear, 53. ‘Sa mot I thrife,’ said the King, ‘I speir for nane ill.’
c. 1500. Medwall, Nature, 753 (Brandl). The scald capper sware sythyche [= so thee ich] That yt cost hym euen as myche.
a. 1553. Udall, Royster D., III. v. (Arb.), 56. The selfe same that I wrote out of, so mote I go.
1598. [see THEE v.1 1 b].
20. So … as, so as, in such or the same way, manner, etc., as.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 1055. Unweoten, þe weneð þet hit beo swa as hit on ehe bereð ham.
a. 1300. E. E. Psalter, i. 3. Al his liue swa sal it be, Als it fares bi a tre.
1390. Gower, Conf., Prol. I. 5. I thenke forto touche also The world … So as I can, so as I mai.
c. 1440. Alph. Tales, 85. Þis preste askid hur whi sho wepud so as sho did.
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, iv. 119. Soo well clothed & arrayed, as I have tolde you above.
1535. Coverdale, Gen. xviii. 5. Do euen so as thou hast spoken.
1554. Act 1 & 2 Phil. & Mary, c. 8 § 52. Hereditaments, so to be amortized as is aforesaid.
1593. Shaks., Lucr., 1811 (1594), M 4. He with the Romains was esteemed so As seelie ieering idiots are with Kings.
1611. Bible, Ps. lxiii. 2. To see thy power and thy glory, so as I haue seen thee in the Sanctuary.
1681. Flavel, Meth. Grace, xxix. 496. They must so walk, as he walked.
1797. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), XVII. 407/1. Lay the bend mould upon it, so as may best answer the round.
† b. In adjurations. Obs.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Clerk’s T., 493. Sche to the sergeant preyde, So as he was a worthy gentilman, That [etc.].
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 310. I … beseche Unto the mihti Cupido,… So as he is of love a godd [etc.].
1463. in Somerset Medieval Wills (1901), 197. I charged ham so as they will answere afore God.
† c. With as = as if. Obs.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., V. viii. 5. So ran they all, as they had bene at bace.
21. So … as, to the same extent, in the same degree, as:
a. In negative or interrogative clauses.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 150. Þenne nis hit to nout so god ase to þe fure of helle.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. VIII. 167. Bote trustene to Trienals … Is not so syker for þe soule, sertes, as do-wel.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Merch. T., 45. Who is so trewe and eek so ententyf To kepe him … as is his make?
1581. Allen, Apol., 121. Death and dungeons be not so terrible things … as they seeme.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., VI. iii. 1. For a man by nothing is so well bewrayd As by his manners.
1646. in Verney Mem. (1907), I. 343. Women were never soe usefull as now.
1670. Dryden, Conq. Granada, I. II. i. His victories we scarce could keep in view, Or polish them so fast as he rough drew.
1763. C. Johnston, Reverie, I. 260. This is not so strange or ingrateful as it may appear.
1779. Mirror, No. 58. 231. Emilia, who now observed that her husband was no where so happy as in the country.
1842. Tennyson, Morte d’Arthur, 156. I never saw … So great a miracle as yonder hilt.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., v. I. 667. Never … had the condition of the Puritans been so deplorable as at that time.
b. In affirmative clauses: As … as. Now arch. or dial. (except in such phrases as so far as, so much as: see 35 b, etc.).
So long as: see LONG adv. 1 b. † So soon as: see SOON adv.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 154. So seker as I have a lif, Thou scholdest thanne be my wif.
c. 1460. Fortescue, Abs. & Lim. Mon. (1885), 128. A prince double so myghty as was thair old prince.
1535. Coverdale, 2 Sam. xix. 32. Barsillai was very olde, so good as foure score yeare olde.
c. 1550. R. Bieston, Bayte Fortune, A vj b. Smockes as snow so white.
1621. Bp. Mountagu, Diatribæ, 252. The one is become so old as the other.
1690. Locke, Hum. Und., I. ii. § 14. This Way of arguing is so frivolous, as the Supposition of itself is false.
c. 1790. Imison, Sch. Arts, I. 303. This planet being but a fifth part so big as the earth.
1818. Scott, Rob Roy, xiv. Although I readily gave my uncle the advantage of my pen … so often as he desired to correspond with a neighbour.
1875. M. G. Pearse, Daniel Quorm, 155. ’Tis a’most so good for ourselves as ’tis for those we try to save.
c. Preceding the citation of a special example or instance.
1582. N. Lichefield, trans. Castanheda’s Conq. E. Ind., 123. So small a kingdome as that is of Portingale.
1664. Marvell, Corr., Wks. (Grosart), II. 167. Seeing upon so extraordinary occasions as these, the boldest eloquence would lose its speech.
1779. Mirror, No. 63. 250. It was impossible that a girl so amiable as Emily Hargrave could fail to attract attention.
1820. Keats, Hyperion, II. 321. Have I rous’d Your spleens with so few simple words as these?
1861. Pattison, Ess. (1889), I. 37. The interest excited in England by events passing in so distant a quarter as Moravia.
1878. T. Hardy, Ret. Native, VI. iii. (1890), 399. I am not fit for town life—so very rural and silly as I always have been.
d. With as taking the place of an object to the following verb.
1555. J. Proctor, Hist. Wyat’s Rebellion, 37. It is so straunge a case as the world neuer saw.
1629. Drayton, in Sir J. Beaumont’s Bosworth Field, 14. So lasting Pillars to prop up thy Praise, As time shall hardly shake.
1676. Dryden, State of Innocence, IV. i. Is our Perfection of so frail a Make, As ev’ry Plot can undermine or shake?
† e. With a comparative: So much. Obs.–1
1726. Leoni, Alberti’s Archit., II. 46. Their Arch may come … so lower as you think fit.
22. As … so: a. Denoting more or less exact correspondence, similarity or proportion.
Ormin has all swa summ … swa in this use.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 17465. Als þai war for-boght sua þai did.
c. 1340. Richard Rolle of Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 32. Als he was ay God in trinite Swa he es, and ay God sal be.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 14. For as þaire wittis ere with-in, so þer will folowis.
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Huon, lxvii. 232. Such as the mayster was so was the seruuant.
1553. T. Wilson, Rhet., Prol. (1580), A v b. As it was, so it is, and so be it still hereafter.
1611. Bible, Prov. xxiii. 7. For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 47, ¶ 7. In proportion as there are more Follies discovered, so there is more Laughter raised.
1821. Keats, Lamia, I. 260. Even as thou vanishest so shall I die.
1830. Tennyson, Poet, xiv. And as the lightning to the thunder … So was their meaning to her words.
1887. Morris, Odyssey, XI. 586. For as often as stooped the elder when he longed for the water sweet So often it waned.
b. Denoting a simple parallelism between two different acts, concepts, etc., and sometimes approaching the sense of ‘not only … but (also).’
c. 1340. Hampole, Prose Tr., 2. Als ded slaas all, Swa lufe ouer-comes all.
1563. Homilies, II. Sacrament, I. (1859), 439. As of old time God decreed…, so our loving Saviour hath ordained [etc.].
1588. A. King, trans. Canisius’ Catech., 67. As it vald be verray lang, sa is it verray hard.
1619. in W. Foster, Eng. Factories India (1906), I. 79. As itt is an unsupportable wrong, soe itt inthralleth us to many other inconveniences.
1677. Marvell, Corr., Wks. (Grosart), II. 549. As he loved not to make work, so not to leave it imperfect.
1766. Goldsm., Vicar, iv. As we rose with the sun, so we never pursued our labours after it was gone down.
1831. Loudon, Encycl. Agric., § 6009. As the planters differ in the number of hills…, so are they no less capricious as to the manner of placing them.
1881. Jowett, Thucyd., I. 45. As in the arts, so also in politics, the new must always prevail over the old.
V. 23. So that († rarely so alone), denoting result or logical consequence; also sometimes = ‘in order that.’
(a) Beowulf, 1508. Bær þa seo brimwylf … hringa þengel to hofe sinum, swa he ne mihte no … wæpna ʓewealdan.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XIII. 64. Thanne seide I to my-self, so Pacience it herde.
(b) c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., i. He ʓehet Romanum his freondscipe, swa þæt hi mostan heora ealdrihta wyrðe beon.
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. xv. 31. [He] ʓelecnade hea…, sua þæt ðreatas wundradun.
c. 1200. Ormin, Ded. 293. Swa þatt he mannkinn wel inoh Off helle mihhte lesenn.
c. 1300. Havelok, 216. Þe king … dede him sore swinge,… So þat þe blod ran of his fleys.
1340. Ayenb., 53. Þe ilke … wylleþ hyealde hire fole uelaȝredes, zuo þet hi ne conne ne hi ne moȝe healde mesure.
c. 1440. Alph. Tales, 65. Such weddur þat stroyed all þe vynys,… so at þer wyne had nowder colour nor savor.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. IV., 28 b. [They] had conveighed their shippes in to the havens, so that he could not fight with them on the sea.
1600. J. Pory, trans. Leo’s Africa, VI. 280. Of … flesh heere is great scarcitie, so that they are constrained to eate camels flesh onely.
1670. 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 21. The under pettycoatt very richly laced…, so that 50 or 60 pounds [is] but an ordinary price.
c. 1760. Challoner, in E. F. Burton, Life (1909), II. xxiv. 28. We will spend our evenings … at our own lodgings, so that we may be found.
1820. Scott, Monast., xiv. So that Mary Avenel … was regarded with a mysterious awe.
1886. Stevenson, Kidnapped, xiv. The turf roof of it had fallen entirely in; so that the hut was of no use to me.
24. So … that, in such a way, to such an extent, that: a. With adjs. and advs., or equivalent phrases.
a. 900. Cynewulf, Crist, 323. Hio … ece stondað … swa beclysed þet næniʓ oþer … hy æfre ma eft onluceð.
a. 1240. Ureisun, in O. E. Hom., I. 183. [Thou art] swo leoflic and swa lufsum þet te engles a biholdeþ þe.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 2207. Þe romeins beþ anud of hor trauail so sore … þat hii nolleþ come here nanmore.
c. 1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 324. Swilk men er ay swa unstedfast, Þat na drede may with þam last.
c. 1450. Merlin, ii. 37. The water maketh so grete bruyt that all that is made a-boven it moste nede falle.
1523. Fitzherb., Husb., § 151. Theyr cotes be so syde, that they be fayne to tucke them vp whan they ryde.
1574. Hellowes, Gueuara’s Fam. Ep. (1584), 165. You aske me histories so straunge…, that my wits may not in anye wise but needes goe on Pilgrimage.
1625. Purchas, Pilgrims, II. 1138. The winde … came with so great Gales, that it raised the Sands of the Coast very high.
1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, VI. iii. The Squire was so delighted with this conduct of his daughter, that he scarce eat any dinner.
1802. Mar. Edgeworth, Moral Tales (1816), I. iv. 21. So ill that she could hardly speak.
1862. Miss Braddon, Lady Audley, viii. He sat so long in this attitude, that Robert turned round at last.
b. With verbs.
In verse (more rarely in prose) sometimes placed after the verb, and immediately followed by that, but separated from it by a pause.
(a) c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., John iii. 16. Suæ … lufade god ðone middanʓeard þætte sunu his ancende ʓesalde [etc.].
c. 1320. Cast. of Love, 1523. God leeue vs here so ende, Þat we ben worþi to heuene wende.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Prol., 32. So hadde I spoken with hem … That I was of here felawschipe anon.
1411. Rolls of Parlt., III. 651/1. The same Loord the Roos schall so doon to hem, that they schall tellen hem wel payed.
1480. Cov. Leet Bk., 437. To so direct that your said Oratours haue all þat … shall accorde with right.
a. 1592. Greene, Alphonsus, I. i. Now a days so irksome idless’ sleights … have witch’d each students mind, That death it is [etc.].
1641. J. Jackson, True Evang. T., II. 130. The example doth so suite the Text, that I could not pretermit it here.
1667. Milton, P. L., II. 719. So frownd the mighty Combatants, that Hell Grew darker.
1735. Johnson, trans. Lobo’s Voy. to Abyssinia, v. 75. This Answer and the Present so provok’d Mahomet … that [etc.].
1883. W. Blaikie, in Harper’s Mag., Nov., 905/2. To so cut down his power of enjoying anything that he would be inclined [etc.].
(b) a. 1175. Cott. Hom., in O. E. Hom., I. 231. Þa be-fel hit swa þat him a þance befell.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 3503. Wurð ðin fader and moder so, ðat ðu hem drede and helpe do.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 7509. I … scok þam be þe berdes sua Þat i þair chafftes raue in tua.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 12. Whil the lawe is reuled so That clerkes to the werre entende.
1535. Coverdale, 2 Chron. iv. 4. It stode so vpon the bullockes, that thre were turned towarde the north [etc.].
c. 1600. Shaks., Sonn., lxxi. I loue you so That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot, If [etc.].
1697. Protestant Mercury, No. 189. A Porter’s Wife … Beat her Husband so, that she forced him to leap over a Balconey.
† c. Expressing a contrast: Although … yet.
1633. Bp. Hall, Hard Texts, Isaiah xlii. 2. Yet so shall he be gracious to the penitently dejected, that he shall not beare with the obstinate sinner.
d. With but (= that … not).
1842. Macaulay, Horatius, xviii. There was no heart so bold, But sore it ached.
25. With omission of that, = sense 24.
a. 1310. in Wright, Spec. Lyric P., 74. Thou art so god a mon, Thi love y ȝyrne also y con.
c. 1330. Arth. & Merl., 3458 (Kölbing). A dint he ȝaf him so hard, Þe launce ran þe brini þurch.
c. 1440. Contin. Brut, II. 583. Caleis was so ferd of you, þey shitte neuer a gate.
15[?]. Christ’s Kirk, ii. in Bann. MS., 283. Thay wer so nyss … Thay squeilit lyk ony gaitis.
1646. Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., II. vi. 100. A plant so unlike a Rose, it hath been mistaken … for Amomum.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 308. He … treads so light, he scarcely prints the Plains.
1742. Young, Nt. Th., III. 135. So man is made, nought ministers delight But what his glowing passions can engage.
1818. Byron, Mazeppa, xviii. Once so near me he alit, I could have smote.
1859. Geo. Eliot, A. Bede, I. I. xiii. 253. Hetty was blushing so, she didn’t know whether she was happy or miserable.
b. With the so-clause placed after that stating the consequence or result.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 222. He bihalt on oðre þet he ne mei nones weis makien vuele iðoncked, so lufful & so reouðful is hire heorte.
c. 1340. Richard Rolle of Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 2317. Out of witte þan þai shuld men flay, Swa orrible and swa foul er þai.
a. 1400. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS., xliii. 104. His herte þoruȝ-out his syde He ȝiueþ vs, he is so fre!
14[?]. Hoccleve, Minor Poems, xvi. 4. I may nat deliure hem by no weye, So me werreyeth coynes scarsetee.
c. 1500. Melusine, vi. 28. Raymondin … herd ne saw nought, so sore was hys wit troubled.
1535. Coverdale, 2 Sam. iii. 11. Then coulde he not answere him one worde agayne, he feared him so.
1626. Sir E. Cecil, in J. Glanville’s Voy. Cadiz (Camden), p. xliii. The shipp had sunke in the sea, she proved so leakie.
1681. Dryden, Abs. & Achit., 813. Friends he has few, so high the madness grows.
1787. Burns, Halloween, iv. A runt was like a sow-tail, Sae bow’t that night.
1822. Scott, Nigel, x. Habits … to young men are like threads of silk, so lightly are they worn, so soon broken.
1867. Augusta Wilson, Vashti, xvii. The azure mantle … seemed to melt in air, so dim were its graceful outlines.
26. So (that), in limiting sense: On condition that, provided that, so long as, if only. Cf. 30.
(a) c. 1000. Apollonius of Tyre (Thorpe), 20. Nim nu lareow appolloni, swa hit þe ne mislicyʓe.
c. 1375. Cursor M., 5991 (Fairf.). To-morne þe fleys sal be þe fra, so þou be-gyle vs na mare.
c. 1386. Chaucer, H. Fame, I. 423. He had y-swore to hire … That so she saved hym hys lyfe, He wolde haue take hir to hys wife.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., xx. 587. All my couandys holden shall be, So I haue felyship me abowte.
1523. Fitzherb., Husb., § 43. Butter and swynes grease … are good, soo they be not salte.
1613. Jackson, Creed, II. 453. The proofe were good, so it could be proued.
1658. Sir T. Browne, Hydriot., § 2 (1736), 18. Ulysses cared not how meanly he lived, so he might find a noble Tomb after Death.
1710. Steele, Tatler, No. 208, ¶ 4. It is no Matter how dirty a Bag it is conveyed to him in,… so the Money is good.
1750. Johnson, Rambler, No. 81, ¶ 2. Which duty ought to be most esteemed, we may continue to debate…; so all be diligently performed.
1812. Cary, Dante, Purg., IX. 22. So but the suppliant at my feet implore.
1816. Byron, Ch. Har., I. xiii. song, I’ll swiftly go…; Nor care what land thou bear’st me to, So not again to mine.
(b) c. 1000. Ælfric, Numb. xxii. 20. Far mid him, swa þæt [L. ita duntaxat ut] þu do, þæt ic þe bebeode.
c. 1320. Cast. Love, 1042. Al þis wyde world I chul ȝeuen þe, So þat þou bouwe and honoure me.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. IV. 89. I forȝiue him þat gult…, So þat ȝe assented beo.
c. 1425. Eng. Conq. Irel. (1896), 8. Oft þe prince hym profred to delyuer hym out of prison, so þat he wold be his helppe to werry vpon þe kynge.
c. 1489. Caxton, Blanchardyn, xlviii. 188. Yf nedes I shal dey, I were … wel content soo that it were in the absence of her.
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Huon, lviii. 202. I offer to make you amendes … so that ye wyl ayde me.
1583. Stubbes, Anat. Abus. (1882), II. 85. You condemne not funerall sermons then, so that they be good.
1652. J. Wright, trans. Camus’ Nat. Paradox, IX. 211. Writing I am well contented to permit; So that I see your Letter.
1755. Monitor, No. 8. Let us not regard by what name it shall be called, so that it be carried on vigorously.
1802. Mar. Edgeworth, Moral T. (1816), I. xix. 154. To M. it was … indifferent who was found guilty, so that he could recover his money.
1859. Tennyson, Marriage Geraint, 304. So that ye do not serve me sparrow-hawks For supper, I will enter.
b. In the event that, in case that. rare.
c. 1000. Charter, in Thorpe, Dipl. Angl. Sax. (1865), 202. He him þet land forbead, swa he æniʓes brucan wolde.
1872. Tennyson, Gareth & Lynette, 268. But, so thou dread to swear, Pass not beneath this gateway.
VI. † 27. So as, although. Obs.
c. 1300. Havelok, 337. Þat hire haued in sorwe brouth, So as sho ne misdede nouth!
28. So…, or so … as, so as, followed by an infinitive denoting result or consequence.
The omission of as is now regarded as irregular.
(a) c. 1395. Plowman’s Tale, I. 373. Peter was never so great a fole To leve his key with such a lorell.
c. 1407. Lydg., Reson & Sens., 943. The Ryvers … so myghty and so large To bere a gret ship or a barge.
c. 1450. Merlin, i. 6. How shulde I be so hardy to do as ye telle me.
1526. Tindale, N. T., Prol. Who ys so blynde to axe why lyght shulde be shewed to them that walke in dercknes.
1579. Gosson, Sch. Abuse (Arb.), 65. I am not so childishe to take euery bushe for a monster.
1658. Rowley, Ford, etc. Witch of Edmonton, II. i. If you’ll be so kind to ka me one good turn I’ll be so courteous to kob you another.
1709. Swift, Vind. Bickerstaff, Wks. 1755, II. I. 171. He hath been indeed so wise to make no objections against the truth of my predictions.
1767. Wilkes, Corr. w. Friends (1805), III. 223. Be so good to continue to favour me with your letters.
1803. Mary Charlton, Wife & Mistress, IV. 161. She enquired if Mrs. Aubrey had been so kind to procure the child a new wardrobe.
(b) 1445. in Anglia, XXVIII. 271. Nevir the[e] she so diseasyd as oonys … To folowe her wille.
1558. Kennedy, Compend. Tract., in Misc. Wodrow Soc. (1844), 97. That I … durst be sua baulde, as to attempt sua heych ane purpose.
1648. Heylin, Relat. & Observ., I. 78. Whosoever shall dare to be so good a Patriot as to oppose their Tyranny.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., II. 747. A crop so plenteous, as the land to load.
1711. Steele, Spect., No. 53, ¶ 7. I hope you will not be so apparently partial to the Women, as to let them go wholly unobserved.
1779. Mirror, No. 17. 65. Our shop was so well employed as to require the constant attendance of both of us.
1828. Duppa, Trav. Italy, etc. 98. The others were so broken into small fragments as to be useless.
1885. Law Times Rep., LIII. 785/1. It is impossible to say that any one case is so in point as to carry this case.
(c) c. 1680. Beveridge, Serm. (1729), II. 283. They all run, but not so as to obtain.
1736. Gentl. Mag., VI. 716/1. I think it impossible to amend it … so as to make it a Bill fit for being passed.
1853. Zoologist, II. 3724. Dismounting and hobbling the horse so as to allow him to feed.
1896. Law Times, C. 488/1. To repair the drain so as to abate the nuisance complained of.
b. With infinitive preceded by a sb. rare.
1709. Swift, Merlin’s Prediction, Wks. 1755, II. I. 177. The river Thames frozen twice in one year, so as men to walk on it.
c. With pa. pples. (to have being omitted).
1790. Burns, Tam o’ Shanter, 17. Hadst thou but been sae wise, As ta’en thy ain wife Kate’s advice!
1797. in C. Kegan Paul, W. Godwin (1876), I. 237. You might have been so good as told me a few more particulars.
29. So as, in such a way that, so that. Now dial.
1523. Ld. Berners, trans. Froissart, I. xiii. 13. The quene … dyd gyue great Jewelles to eche of them,… so as they all helde them selfe ryght well content.
1609. in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.), 82. I understood of the infection lately come to some houses there adjoining, so as I forbear to go thither.
c. 1651. in J. Morris, Troubles Cath. Forefathers (1872), I. vi. 304. This summer we also whited the church and choir,… so as our Monastery was made very handsome.
1751. R. Paltock, P. Wilkins (1884), II. 217. So as the great and small shall be under mutual obligations to each other.
1817. H. T. Colebrooke, Algebra, etc. Notes & Illustr. p. lxxvii. Then you desire to complete your square so as it shall amount to one whole square.
1905. C. F. Marsh, in Longman’s Mag., April, 541. So as he could go and see his sweetheart.
b. So … as, in similar use, with the subject of the second clause either expressed, or implied in the previous context.
(a) 1548. Wishart, Conf. Faith, in Misc. Wodrow Soc. (1844), 13. We attribute so free wyll to man as we,… wyllynge to do good, fele experience of euyll.
1581. Sidney, Apol. Poetrie (Arb.), 50. The words … beeing so set, as one word cannot be lost.
1608. E. Grimstone, Hist. France, 702. The Emperour … so terrifies the Pope, as hee abandons his vassall Octauio.
1654. Burton’s Diary (1828), I. 42. This sounded so plausibly in every man’s ear, as it was soon embraced.
1738. Gentl. Mag., VIII. 327/2. They had Guards so posted, as they were not to be surprized.
(b) 1611. Sir W. Mure, Wks. (S.T.S.), I. 9. Greedie to behold So rair perfectioune as cannot be told.
1678. Walton, Life Sanderson, 11. Changes those cares into so mutual joys, as makes them become [etc.].
1779. Forrest, Voy. N. Guinea, 66. With so heavy rain, as penetrated the new roof of the vessel.
1784. Miss Carter, Lett. to Miss Talbot, IV. 341. My wretched head has been so thoroughly uncomfortable…, as rendered me quite unfit for writing.
c. So … as that, so as that, = prec. (a).
1583. Stocker, Civ. Warres Lowe C., I. 1 b. The officers went so neere the consciences of men, as that they spared not to torment pore miserable soules.
1634. Milton, Comus, 366. I do not think my sister so to seek, Or so unprincipl’d in vertues book,… As that [etc.].
a. 1700. Evelyn, Diary, 22 March 1675. 2 distinct keeles crampt together…, so as that a violent streame ran betweene.
a. 1774. Goldsm., Surv. Exp. Philos. (1776), I. 55. When both flames have approached so near as that they join.
1817. H. T. Colebrooke, Algebra, etc. 258. Here the least square quantity must be so devised, as that the second may be an integer.
30. So as, provided that, etc. Cf. 26.
1585. T. Washington, trans. Nicholay’s Voy., IV. i. 114 b. To be preferred vnto the gouernment…, so as they had passed their time … without reprehension.
1598. Grenewey, Tacitus, Ann., III. i. (1622), 64. Which was to him … honourable, so as there were a meane vsed.
1635. R. N., trans. Camden’s Hist. Eliz., II. 136. Henry Percy offered … to free the Queene of Scots out of prison so as Grange and Carre … would receive her at the borders.
1807. E. S. Barrett, Rising Sun, I. 127. I care not how you come by them, so as they are ready to supply my wants.
1853. Dickens, Bleak Ho., xxvi. He could play ’em a tune on any sort of pot you please, so as it was iron or block tin.
VII. In various phrases.
So to say: see SAY v.1 11. So to speak: see SPEAK v.
31. Then so, than that. Obs.
a. 1425. Cursor M., 23568 (Trin.). Mony þingis may we do Þat better were vndone þen so.
1525. Ld. Berners, trans. Froissart, II. 754. Kyng Henry was more gentyll than so; for he had some pytie on hym.
1593. Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., III. iii. 104. Lord Aubrey Vere Was done to death? and more then so, my Father.
1677. W. Hughes, Man of Sin, II. v. 96. ’Tis reasonable to suppose, that the Sacrament may be celebrating in more places than so, at once.
a. 1716. Blackall, Wks. (1723), I. 213. If it be not more than so, it will not be such an Obedience as God will accept.
32. † a. And so, = next. Obs. rare.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 1565. Sum with sensours & so with silueryn cheynes. Ibid., 2551. If þai were sary & so, na selly me thingke.
1602. [see 33 a].
b. And so on, used as an abbreviating phrase to avoid further description or the enumeration of further details.
1724. Welsted, Epist., etc. Ded. p. x. Till in Time the English, we now speak, is become as obsolete and unintelligible as that of Chaucer, and so on.
1837. P. Keith, Bot. Lex., 258. An incipient stem,… which in the following year is augmented in height as before, and so on in succession as long as the plant grows.
1847. Howitt’s Jrnl., II. 201/2. While the East London Water Company is supplying an impure water at 5l. 12s., and so on, per house.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VIII. 488. There may be high fever,… nausea, vomitings, smart diarrhœa and so on.
33. Or so: a. Or something of that kind; or the like.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., II. 212. Ber. Is she wedded, or no? Boy. To her will sir, or so. Ibid. (1602), Ham., V. ii. 157. Girdle, Hangers or so [Qq. and so].
1663. Butler, Hud., I. i. 49. He … therefore bore it not about; Unless on Holy-days, or so.
1706. E. Ward, Wooden World Diss. (1708), 44. Sometimes he pores upon a Pack of Cards, or so.
1794. Mrs. Radcliffe, Myst. Udolpho, III. vi. 153. I used to think nothing on earth could fluster them, unless, indeed, it was a ghost, or so.
1818. Byron, Juan, Ded. iii. And then you overstrain yourself, or so.
1842. Tennyson, Day-dream, Revival, iv. My joints are somewhat stiff or so.
b. Or about that amount or number; or thereabout.
1598. Shaks., Merry W., II. i. 50. For an eternall moment, or so. Ibid. (1601), Twel. N., III. ii. 59. Some two thousand strong, or so.
1814. Scott, Diary, 17 Aug. in Lockhart (1837), III. vi. 207. A King’s ship about eighteen guns or so.
1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxf., III. ii. 35. He returned in an hour or so.
1885. Manch. Exam., 10 July, 5/3. A Sunday or so ago.
34. So or so, after this or that manner; this or that. Also with many (cf. 37 e).
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., III. 350. For that so or so or so (and in noon other wise) it is writun in storie or cronicle.
1570. Googe, Pop. Kingd. (1880), I. 3 b. For no man dare demaunde of him, why dost thou so or so.
1687. Settle, Refl. Dryden’s Plays, 85. I’le die a thousand deaths before I’le do so or so.
1749. Richardson, in Mrs. Barbauld, Corr. (1804), IV. 291. From her air and … her face, he sets her down in his mind as so or so.
1784. Phil. Trans., LXXIV. 189. A clock, of such a construction, kept or altered its rate so or so.
1835. T. Mitchell, Aristoph. Acharn., 307, note. Wine … is said … to bear or admit so or so many portions of water.
† b. Neither (also nothing) so nor so, neither the one nor the other; neither this (way) nor that; not at all the fact or case. Obs.
1583. Stubbes, Anat. Abus. (1882), II. 34. They persuade the buier it is good, and that it is woorth the money, whereas indeed it is nothing so, nor so.
1584. R. Scot, Discov. Witchcr., VI. i. 90. Making you beleeve a thing which is neither so nor so.
1610. A. Cooke, Pope Joan, 12. As though that Temple had had a spire steeple like ours; which is neither so, nor so.
1611. Cotgr., Rieu rien, no no, neither so nor so.
1682. T. Flatman, Heraclitus Ridens, No. 73 (1713), II. 198. Earn. Most of ’em are said to have either a Competency, or another Trade…. Jest. This is neither so nor so.
VIII. With various adjs. and advs. of quantity, number, etc.
35. So far, in literal and transferred senses (see FAR adv. 6 and FAR-FORTH adv. 2): a. Without correlative word or clause.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 2253. Now we haue vs sped sa ferr, Vr wil may he noght vs merr.
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 33. Yit so fer cowthe I nevere finde Man that … Me cowthe teche such an art.
1535. Coverdale, Ps. cii. 12. Loke how wyde the east is from the west, so farre hath he set oure synnes from vs.
1611. Bible, Ps. xxii. 1. Why art thou so far from helping me…?
1696. A. Telfair’s New Confut. Sadd., Pref. A 2. And having once gone so far, they will be easily induced to believe, that there’s no Resurrection at all.
1754. Hume, Hist. Eng. (1812), I. App. I. 198. He [the King] was even, so far, on a level with the people.
a. 1797. H. Howard, in 3rd Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., 433/2. Every place given to an Englishman is so far a loss to the people.
1821. Scott, Kenilw., xxvii. Will you so far trust me?
1832. Greville, Mem., 27 March (1874), II. 273. I have no doubt that all the ultras will be deeply mortified … at the success so far of ‘the Waverers.’
1892. Speaker, 3 Sept., 288/1. Nothing has, so far, been allowed to transpire as to its name and contents.
Comb. 1880. Nature, XXI. 407. This so-far improved feature of temperature.
b. Followed by as, with various constructions.
Examples of the literal sense are placed under (b).
(a.) [a. 1300. Cursor M., 16386. Sacles es he sa feir se sum i can [= so far as I can see].]
1485. Sc. Acts, Jas. III. (1814), II. 172. Þe Custumaris at þair comptis making … to be dischargit of safer as þai deliuer to þe said wardan & changeour.
1565. Stapleton, trans. Staphylus’ Apol., 148. Some are … courtly protestants, which admit Luther so farre as them list.
1723. Sir R. Blackmore, Hist. Conspiracy, Pref. A 8 b. Some … only advanced so far as to excite Popular Jealousies.
1742. Ld. Hardwicke, in Johnson’s Debates (1787), II. 161. The law … is however to be so far fixed, as that every man may know his own condition.
1779. Mirror, No. 14. 55. I had actually gone so far as to write three introductory sentences.
1801. Farmer’s Mag., Jan., 39. So far as I can now recollect.
1859. Geo. Eliot, A. Bede, II. II. xviii. 38. Who played the part of steward so far as it was not performed by old Mr. Donnithorne himself.
1876. Gladstone, Glean. (1879), II. 313. So far as we can gather, a sober estimate prevails.
(b) 1513. Douglas, Æneid, VI. iii. 83. Sa fer before Achates and Enee As thai mycht weil behald thaim with thair E.
1675. in Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., Var. Coll. IV. 247. Cleanseing the shallowes in the river so farre as Crane Bridge.
1806. Surr, Winter in Lond., I. 76. Have you in your rambles, ever reached so far as the Park, Edward?
1898. E. P. Evans, Evol. Ethics, vi. 216. He sees clearly so far as his lantern casts its rays.
c. In the phrase In so far as (see IN prep. 38).
1546. Reg. Privy Council Scot., I. 31. In safer as concernis the said Williamys awine part.
1581. Burne, in Cath. Tractates (S.T.S.), 140. In safar as thay confes Christ to be the sone of the leuing God.
1672. Justiciary Rec. (S.H.S.), 117. The complainer was no Magistrate in swa far as he had not taken the Declaration.
1780. Mirror, No. 96. 382. In so far as my improvement was concerned, they spared no expence.
1846. H. W. Torrens, Rem. Milit. Hist., 11. The hieroglyphic inscriptions…, in so far as their characters have been decyphered.
1876. L. Stephen, Hist. Eng. Th. 18th C., II. 418. Wesley … differs from Warburton and his like in so far as God is regarded as an active administrator.
d. Followed by that.
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, ii. 60. Sith that it is soo ferre come that ye wyll not here vs, we shall kepe owr peas.
1542. Udall, Erasm. Apoph., II. (1877), 259. One of the accusers … had gone so ferre, that he spake moche what these wordes folowing.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 5, ¶ 3. This strange Dialogue awakened my Curiosity so far, that I immediately bought the Opera.
1845. Stephen, Comm. Laws Eng., II. 577. It is also so far a source of strength to the country, that it gives [etc.].
e. So far from, used to give emphasis to a different statement following. Also with that.
(a) 1547. Homilies (1859), 112. David was so far from rejoicing at these news, that … forthwith he rent his clothes.
1677. Miége, Dict., II. s.v. Far, I am so far from loving her, that I hate her.
1736. Ainsworth, Eng.-Lat. Dict., I. s.v., They were so far from selling, that they bought.
1868. J. H. Blunt. Ref. Ch. Eng., I. 479. So far was it from doing so that it caused a rapid under-current of reaction.
(b) 1779. Mirror, No. 33. 132. Which, so far from being inconsistent…, is the most probable means of accomplishing it.
1813. Milner, in Suppl. Mem. Eng. Cath., 305. As to … the Bible, the Catholic Church, so far from locking that up, requires her Pastors to study the whole of it.
1870. Ruskin, Arrows of the Chace, II. 225. So far from wishing to give votes to women, I would fain take them away from most men.
f. In the phr. So far, so good, used to express satisfaction with matters up to a certain point.
1809. Malkin, Gil Blas, VI. i. ¶ 11. So far, so good! said the worshipful commissioner; we have only to proceed in our examination.
a. 1843. Southey, Doctor, ccxxxix. (1848), 650. So far so good, but this once influential writer makes an erroneous conclusion.
1875. Ruskin, Fors Clav., lxi. 11. So far, so good, Nature and facts are beginning to assert themselves.
36. So long: (see LONG adv. 1 b, 1 c).
37. So many. a. Such a (large) number (of).
attrib. c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., xxxiii. § 2. Þonne hi … heora God on swa moniʓe dælas todælað, þonne [etc.].
c. 1230. Hali Meid., 8. [It] deð hire in to drechunge,… & to se monie earmden.
13[?]. St. Augustin, 1731, in Horstmann, Altengl. Leg. (1878), 91. Þer weore laft so mani Signes of wax,… Þat seint Austines chapel [etc.].
1508. Dunbar, Poems, vii. 66. Thow suld be hye renownit, That did so mony victoryse opteyn.
1577. St. Aug. Manual (Longman), 110. How shall it be capable of so many and so great ioyes?
1639. Burton, Will, in Anat. Mel. (1893), I. p. xxx. Because there be soe many casualties to which our life is subjecte.
a. 1648. Ld. Herbert, Hen. VIII. (1649), 229. Peradventure lying among so many his Writings and old Letters.
1780. Mirror, No. 104. 413. It is … a melancholy circumstance … to find so many noble palaces deserted by their illustrious owners.
1820. Keats, St. Agnes, xxxviii. Here will I take my rest After so many hours of toil and quest.
1878. Swinburne, To Victor Hugo, xv. Hast thou seen time, who hast seen so many things?
absol. c. 897. K. Ælfred, trans. Gregory’s Past. C., xxviii. 191. Buton he … sua moniʓe ʓecierre sua he mæsð mæʓe.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, ii. (Paul), 162. Þe folk … þat saw … he gerte but resone sa mony sla, Raisit in hym sedicione.
c. 1450. Holland, Howlat, 237. Confess cleir can I nocht … The maner, nor the multitud, so mony thar was.
1573. Tusser, Husb. (1878), 8. Loiterers I kept so meanie, both Philip, Hob, and Cheanie.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe, II. (Globe), 360. We are not so many of us, here is Room enough for us all.
1812. Crabbe, Tales, ii. 142. Believe it … glorious to prevail, And stand in safety where so many fail.
b. So (or as) many…, so many, used to express equality in numbers. (See also HOW adv. 14 c.)
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Prol. Matt. 1. Swæ moniʓ aron bissena … swa moniʓe boec.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. IV., 12 b. Verifiynge the olde Prouerbe, so many heades, so many wittes.
a. 1633. J. Austin, Medit. (1635), 149. So many men, so many minds (saies the proverb): but here they were of one accord.
1718. Ozell, trans. Tournefort’s Voy., II. 181. When a Bassa is in march, so many robbers taken, so many heads off in an instant.
1735. Berkeley, Free-think. in Mathemat., § 44. As many men, so many minds.
c. Followed by as († or the relative that).
1340–70. Alisaunder, 441. Þat by strength of her strife þei straught to foote All so many as his menne mighten areche.
c. 1400. Brut, ccxxvii. 299. Ȝet were þey threfold so meny of hem as of Englisshe men.
1489. Acta Dom. Conc. (1839), 131. Samony of the … cuschingis, weschale, and seruiotis, as aucht to be deliuerit.
1549. Compl. Scotl., 163. Sa mony of ȝou that ar defensabil men sal pas in propir person in battel.
1597. Jas. VI., in 3rd Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., 422/2. Sa mony as are yet in hands sal be distributit.
1621. Bp. Mountagu, Diatribæ, 426. In this passage there are so many particulars obseruable concerning tithing, as there bee words in the same.
1685. Caldwell Papers (Maitland Club), I. 150. A man … gives notice … by so many windings of his horn as there are horsemen coming.
1735. Johnson, trans. Lobo’s Voy. to Abyssinia, x. 98. Every Man being allowed so many Wives as he hath hundreds of Cows.
1825. Scott, Talism., xxviii. Had I not brought up unexpectedly so many Arabs as rendered the scheme abortive.
Comb. 1665. J. Webb, Stone-Heng (1725), 15. To be a so-many-sided Figure as there are Segments wanting.
d. As many; an equal number (of). Freq. in vaguer sense, a number (pack, etc.) of.
(a) 1563–4. Reg. Privy Council Scot., I. 263. Thai and samony of thair freindis being present.
1568. Grafton, Chron., II. 43. Hauing with him onely ten horsemen, with so many Archers on horsebacke.
1613. Shaks., Hen. VIII., V. iv. 79. We are but men; and what so many may doe,… we haue done.
1678. Wanley, Wond. Lit. World, V. i. § 97. 468/1. In twenty eight Battels he became Master of so many Kingdoms.
(b) 1600. J. Pory, trans. Leo’s Africa, IX. 348. The ostriches wander vp and downe … in orderly troupes, so that a far off a man would take them to be so many horsemen.
1631. Gouge, God’s Arrows, V. § 11. 422. A few couragious men to great armies of cowards, are as so many Lyons to whole heards of deere.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 50, ¶ 3. Pillars that stand like the Trunks of so many Trees.
1839. Thackeray, Fatal Boots, Oct. The carriage, the house in town, the West India fortune, were only so many lies which I had blindly believed.
1885. Manch. Exam., 20 May, 5/1. They turned upon him like so many curs let loose.
e. Used to denote an unspecified number.
1533. Gau, Richt Vay, 3. That thay … suld haiff sa mony thousand zeris of pardone.
1611. Cotgr., s.v. Chete, The ship is so many foot deepe in hold.
1631. Gouge, God’s Arrows, I. § 29. 44. Papists … going barefoot so many miles.
1780. Mirror, No. 87. 345. Creeping on his knees up the steps of St. Peter’s so many times a day.
38. So mickle, = next. (See also INSAMEIKLE.)
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., i. Þa hit ða ʓelomp þæt se arwyrða wæs on swa micelre nearanesse.
971. Blickl. Hom., 25. Nu he swa mycel for ure lufan ʓeþrowode.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 31. Ne mahtic ȝelden swa muchel swa ic habbe idon to herme.
a. 1200. Moral Ode, 357, in Trin. Coll. Hom. He haueð sswo muchel þat he ne bit no more.
c. 1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 6013. Swa mykel folk com never togyder … sythen þe werld bygan.
14[?]. 26 Pol. Poems, xxvi. 217. Hym was nat lefte so mekyll a clothe Hys naked body for to hele.
1503. in Littlejohn, Aberd. Sheriff Crt. (1904), 48. The said corn was samekle of waile in tyme of the spoliacioun therof.
1581. J. Hamilton, Cath. Traictise, Ep. 2. Not samekle for the present calameteis…, as for [etc.].
1609. [see MICKLE B. 1 c].
1820. Scott, Monast., Introd. Ep. There were few folk kend sae muckle about the Abbey.
39. So much. (See also FOR-, INSOMUCH.)
* adj. a. So great, extensive or abundant; so large a quantity or number of, etc.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 1345. Godes sune, þet se muche godlec cudde us alle on eorðe.
13[?]. K. Alis., 1032 (W.). Alle the innes of the toun Haddyn litel foisoun,… So muche people with hire was.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 431. Siche signes drawen fro love of Crist þo þat setten so meche trist in hem.
c. 1400. Love, Bonavent. Mirr. (1908), 49. Thowh there was so moche nede, I fynde no mynde of furres or pilches.
c. 1529. Skelton, Sp. Parrot, 443. So myche newe makyng,… So myche translacion in to Englyshe confused.
1613. Shaks., Hen. VIII., I. i. 167. This last costly Treaty…, That swallowed so much treasure.
1651. Howell, Venice, 31. Seeing the English buy so much Currans.
1780. Mirror, No. 110. 438. A performance, the reception of which was liable to so much uncertainty.
1812. Crabbe, Tales, v. 178. That so much beauty … Raised strong emotions in the poet’s mind.
1884. W. S. B. McLaren, Spinning (ed. 2), 28. Some soda is often put into … potash soaps just because it will hold so much water.
b. So largely possessed of something.
1509. Hawes, Past. Pleas., III. (Percy Soc.), 15. The fayre tower so muche of ryches Was all about sexangled.
1549–62. Sternhold & H., Ps. lxxxvi. 10. For why? thou art so much of might.
c. An equal sum or amount of (something).
1557. in Marsden, Sel. Pl. Crt. Admiralty (Selden Soc.), II. 72. I … do owe unto John Levytt … for so moche redy money of him resayved … the some of fyfty pownds.
1695. A. Telfair, New Confut. Sadd. (1696), 3. He took up the Threshold, found the Tooth, and threw it into the Fire, where it burnt like so much Tallow.
1857. Ruskin, Pol. Econ. Art, ii. § 90. Whenever you buy a copy, you buy so much misunderstanding of the original.
1885. Mrs. Lynn Linton, Christ. Kirkland, I. 219. Even my languages … were merely so much literary furniture.
** adv. d. Followed by the and a comparative (and sometimes with by preceding): To that extent, in that degree.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 413. And swa muche þe swiðere þet he bihet to medin ham mid swiðe heh mede.
c. 1425. Eng. Conq. Irel. (1896), 6. He … soiourned thar a whill; & so mych the blethelier, for þer com oft shippes theder.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 216 b. He was brent in a small fire, that hys torment might be so mutch the greater.
1579. Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 179. By how much the more thou excellest others in honours, by so much the more thou oughtest to exceed them in honestie.
1611. Bible, Mark vii. 36. The more hee charged them, so much the more a great deale they published it.
1691. T. H[ale], Acc. New Invent., 95. It is so much the worse, by how much it deviates from Equality.
1741. Challoner, Mem. Missionary Priests, Pref. (1803), A 2. Which appeared…, by so much the more wanting, by how much the less [etc.].
1796. H. Hunter, trans. St.-Pierre’s Stud. Nat. (1799), I. 574. Others frequently concur to this end so much the better, the more that they seem to deviate from it.
1908. R. Bagot, A. Cuthbert, vii. 77. If the lady remained at Syracuse for a day or two, so much the better.
e. To such an extent; in such a degree.
1388. Wyclif, Eccl. i. 13. And Y siȝ, that wisdom ȝede so mych bifor foli, as miche as liȝt is dyuerse fro derknessis.
1519. Interlude Four Elements, in Hazlitt, Dodsley, I. 22. I marvel greatly, That ever ye would use the company So mich of such a knave.
1580. in Allen, Martyrdom Campion (1908), 26. Rage man or devil never so much.
1692. E. Walker’s trans. Epictetus’ Mor. (1737), To Mr. E. W. on his Transl., Nor is your Author had in less esteem Than that great Man so much admir’d by him.
1742. Ld. Percival, in Johnson’s Debates (1787), II. 265. In so much a better manner than I thought myself able to do.
1768–74. Tucker, Lt. Nat. (1834), I. 59. How much we desire an absent positive good, so much we are in pain for it.
1831. Scott, Cast. Dang., ii. But wherefore … so much displeased but now at my young friend Charles?
1859. Geo. Eliot, A. Bede, III. V. xxxvi. 14–5. Villages, and market-towns—all so much alike to her indifferent eyes.
Comb. 1664. Pepys, Diary, 1 Jan. Saw the so much cried-up play of ‘Henry the Eighth.’
1734. trans. Rollin’s Anc. Hist., I. II. vi. (1841), I. 45. These so-much-boasted politicians.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, xxxi. The so-much-to-be-astonished chicken.
1860. E. Falkener, Dædalus, Introd. 2. The so-much-talked-of trabeated ceilings of the ancients.
*** sb. f. An equal amount; as much.
c. 1400. Laud Troy Bk., 3440. Thei prayed him alle that viage to take, To do so moche for her sake.
c. 1400. Brut, civ. 105. If ȝe so miche … haue y-wonne, an C. tymes so miche … ȝe hauen loste.
1589. Pappe w. Hatchet, in Lyly’s Wks. 1902, III. 407. This is a good settled speech, a Diuine might haue seemd to haue said so much.
c. 1643. Ld. Herbert, Autobiog. (1824), 33. I never saw him angry…, and have heard so much of him for many years before.
a. 1679. Hobbes, Rhet., I. vii. 14. More, is so much, and somewhat besides.
1780. Mirror, No. 94. 373. I cannot say so much for his acquaintance C. D.
1810. Crabbe, Borough, ii. 55, note. I would answer, that I understand so much.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, xxxi. He kissed her hand. Except when she was married, he had not done so much for years before.
g. A certain unspecified amount, sum, etc.
1382. Wyclif, Acts v. 8. Womman, seye to me, if ȝe solden the feeld for so moche? And she seide, Ȝhe, so moche.
1583. Stubbes, Anat. Abus. (1882), II. 23. That such a thing cost them so much, and so much, and it is woorth this much and that much.
1656. Earl Monm., trans. Boccalini’s Pol. Touchstone (1674), 269. This … behaviour … is as so much of the best Sugar for you Italians, and as so much of the bitterest Poyson for the Spanish Nation.
1696. Caldwell Papers (Maitland Club), I. 171. They have … soe much a day for their pocket money.
1737. Gentl. Mag., VII. 552/1. They have nothing to do but to work them off as fast as They can, at so much a thousand.
1844. Mrs. Browning, Cry of the Human, v. Each soul is worth so much on ’Change.
1884. W. C. Smith, Kildrostan, 88. Life is lost, By so much, when you lose a perfect sense.
h. Thus much, thus far. (Used to sum up or dismiss a matter.)
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., I. i. 240. So much for the time When.
1662. Stillingfl., Orig. Sacræ, III. ii. § 10. And so much for this second Hypothesis.
1707. J. Stevens, trans. Quevedo’s Com. Wks. (1709), 350. So much for that; do you take me Sir.
1794. Scott, Lett., in Lockhart (1837), I. vii. 220. So much for public news.
1840. P. Parley’s Ann., 364. So much for the love of slaughter!
1891. T. Hardy, Tess, I. ii. 25. So much for Norman blood unaided by Victorian lucre.
i. Such an amount, quantity, etc.
See also EVER adv. 9 b, 9 c, and NEVER adv. 4.
1606. G. W[oodcocke], trans. Hist. Ivstine, XXV. 93. There was so much of merit in him.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 120, ¶ 1. Sir Roger is very often merry with me upon my passing so much of my Time among his Poultry.
1732–8. Swift, Polite Conv., 131. (Footman fills him a Bumper.) Why do you fill so much?
1816. Shelley, Mt. Blanc, 117. So much of fire and joy is lost.
1850. Tennyson, In Mem., lxxiii. So many worlds, so much to do, So little done.
40. So much as, that, etc. a. With as (or † so), in ordinary comparative use.
adj. c. 1275. Lay., 25351. Folk þar com wel sone…, so moche so þar neuere hear [= ere] no man ne gadere[de].
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 1249. The multitude was so much as menys vs þe writtez.
1568. Grafton, Chron., II. 18. Somuch grownd as might receyue … his poore Carkas.
1599. Shaks., Much Ado, II. iii. 263. Bene. You take pleasure then in the message. Beat. Yea iust so much as you may take vpon a kniues point, and choake a daw withall.
1668. Wilkins, Real Char., 339. The other Affix … is not of so much use or necessity as the rest.
1821. Scott, Kenilw., xxxix. Take so much leisure as to peruse this letter.
1865. Ruskin, Sesame, ii. § 80. Of half so much importance as [etc.].
sb. a. 1400–50. Alexander, 3306. I … Has noȝt o maistri so meche as miȝt of my-selfe.
c. 1420. Sir Amadace (Camden), l. He wold gif hom … so muche … As any lord wold.
c. 1530. Ld. Berners, Arth. Lyt. Bryt., 330. Often times it fortuned that a man can not attayne to do so muche as he would do.
1559. Boke Presidentes, 9. That ye will do so muche as … to present A. B. to the same.
1613. Purchas, Pilgrimage (1614), 18. Others account so much to Paradise as those foure Riuers doe water.
1678. Butler, Hud., III. II. 1214/163.
| All which consider’d, ’tis most true | |
| None bring him in so much as you. |
1875. M. Pattison, Casaubon, 522. Casaubon knew of his own age so much as the average of educated men know.
1886. C. E. Pascoe, London of To-day, i. (ed. 3), 24. The poorest memory … will retain so much as that.
adv. c. 1425. Eng. Conq. Irel. (1896), 16. He hatede nothynge so mych as that me shold spek of his stalwardnes.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., I. iii. 13. A man schulde loue … his neiȝbore as him silf, thouȝ not so miche as him silf.
1530. Palsgr., 567/1. I gave hym counsayle to the contrarye so moche as lay in me.
1595. in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ., V. 336. All the way he prayed,… so much as he might.
1634. Sir T. Hawkins, Pol. Observ., 13. To these turmoyles, so much weighty as they were new, crosse omens of predictions were added.
1712. Steele, Spect., No. 466, ¶ 3. With a Design to please no one so much as her Father.
1780. Mirror, No. 79 (1782), III. 37. Not so much by the class of people … as by the kind of sentiments.
1831. Scott, Ct. Robt., xviii. Her attendant … kept herself modestly in the background, so much so as hardly to be distinguished.
b. Used to emphasize a negation.
a. 1425. Cursor M., 16960 (Trin.). He þat neuer synne dud, ne so muche as hit þouȝt.
1576. Fleming, Panopl. Epist., 197. Not so muche as putting pen to paper.
c. 1643. Ld. Herbert, Autobiog. (1824), 124. Without giving me so much as the least warning.
1697. Dampier, Voy., I. 144. There was not so much as a Meal of Victuals left for them.
1713. Steele, Englishman, No. 40. I do not remember to have seen any small Birds, nor so much as a Crow or Magpye.
1782. Miss Burney, Cecilia, VIII. viii. I should not expect any lady would so much as look at him.
1854. Mrs. Oliphant, Magd. Hepburn, II. 51. The priest’s benedicite was not accompanied by so much as a glance.
1887. Birrell, Obiter Dicta, Ser. II. 151. [He] never so much as attained to a seat in the Cabinet.
c. With that, denoting result or consequence.
c. 1412. Hoccleve, De Reg. Princ., 1794. Lordes han for to done So mych for hem-self, þat my mateere Out of hir mynde slippith away soone.
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, iv. 119. Soo moche abode the foure sones of Aymon, that the nyghte came.
1595. in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ., V. 290. He … was so muche greeved that … he went presently to Confession.
c. 1670. Wood, Life (O.H.S.), I. 45. This yeare he had the small pox so much that he was for a time blinded with them.
1766. Goldsm., Vicar, iii. My attention was so much taken up … that I scarce looked forward.
1811. Byron, in R. C. Dallas, Corr. of Byron (1825), II. 26. I feel myself so much a citizen of the world, that [etc.].
1850. Thackeray, Pendennis, xvi. So much so, that one afternoon … she … shook hands with him.
d. Followed by infinitive without as.
1607. Tourneur, Rev. Trag., I. i. I had so much wit to keepe my thoughts Vp in their built houses.
1874. Swinburne, Bothwell, II. ix. Though I have not so much grace To bind again this people fast to God.
So, var. SOE; obs. infin. and pa. t. pl. of SEE v.
So., abbrev. of SOUTH.
