▪ I.abiding,vbl.n.|əˈbaɪdɪŋ|Also abidyng(e, abyd-yng(e, -ing(e.[f.abide v. + -ing1.]The action or state of one who abides.†1.An awaiting, expecting, looking-for, lying-in-wait-for; expectation, waiting. Obs.a1300Northern Psalter xxxviii. 8And now, whilk es min abiding dai? Noght ne Laverd? (Vulg.Et nunc quae est expectatio mea?)
1382Wyclifibid.And now what is myn abiding? whether not the Lord?
c1430Syr Generides 234And that is al his abiding, For to be wedded as a king.
c1450LonelichGraal II. 381As thowgh nothing that they wyste of owre abydyng.
1599HakluytVoyages II. i. 67Thus in abiding for the Duke of Berrie, and for the Constable, who were behind.
†2.A waiting at a point, stopping, cessation, pausing; pause, delay. Obs.c1400TundaleCircumc. 86All abowet the rede blode can gon, Withowt abydyng.
c1450Merlin (1877) xv. 256Thei made no lenger abidinge but mette togeder fiercely.
1480CaxtonChron.Engl.ccxxi. 213They shold smyte of syr edmondes hede..withoute any maner of abydyng or respyte.
†3.A bearing or enduring; endurance, patience, long-suffering. Obs.c1325E.E.Allit.P. C. 419Þy long abydyng wyth lur[=loss], þy late vengaunce.
1535CoverdalePs.ix. 18The pacient abydinge of soch as be in trouble shall not perish for euer.
1580HollybandTreas.Fr.Tong.,Patience, patience, abiding.
4.An enduring, continuing, or remaining; continuance, duration, permanence. arch.1535Coverdale1Chron.xxix. 15Our life vpon earthe is as a shadowe, and here is no abydinge.
1611Bibleibid.And there is none abiding.
1674N. FairfaxBulk & Selvedge 26It cannot be thought that two abidings or durations, to wit, time and everlastingness, should be together and not be the same abiding.
5.A remaining, tarrying, staying, residing, or dwelling at a place.c1440Generydes (1873) 131The wordis that she sayde of his abiding there.
1616Surfl.&Markh.Countrey Farme 719Her quiet and peaceable abiding in her cage.
1808ScottMarm. ii. xiv.Nor long was his abiding there.
†6.A place where one stops; a station or position. Obs.1571DiggesGeomet.Pract.i. xxviii. sig. i i,The seconde station M, where ye shal now set the centre of your instrument, the diameter lying right agaynst your first abyding.
†7.A place where one habitually remains or resides; abode, habitation, dwelling. Obs.1382Wyclif1 Esdras ix. 37The sonus of Irael weren in ther abidingus[1388 abidyngis].
1587FlemingContin.Holinshed III. 1406/2Neereness and commoditie of mens abidings.
1607DekkerKnight coniuring (1842) 87Get leaue for thy ghost to come from her abiding.
8.attrib.as in abiding house, abiding city, andesp.abiding-place, place of abode.1571DiggesGeomet.Pract.i. xxviii.A B C are the markes in the fielde to be measured, D the first abyding or standing place.
1580HollybandTreas.Fr.Tong.,Lieu de Demeure, dwelling, abiding place.
1597–8Stat.39Eliz.v.An Acte for erecting of Hospitalles, or abiding and working Howses for the poor.
1805SoutheyMadoc in Azt.Wks.1853 V. 206Here had the chief Chosen his abiding place.
1876FreemanNorm.Conq. I. vi. 424Next year Cnut came back to England as his real home and abiding place.
1879DowdenSouthey iii. 52But his heart needed an abiding-place.
▪ II.abiding,ppl.a.|əˈbaɪdɪŋ|[f.abide v. + -ing2.]†1.Enduring, standing firm. Obs.1377Langl.P. Pl. B. xix. 289Bolde and abidynge bismeres to suffre.
2.Lasting, permanent.1851MauriceProph. & Kings 81The ark..was there as an abiding witness of an invisible presence.
1876FreemanNorm.Conq. I. vi. 462Witness to the abiding connexion between Normandy and the North.
1878A. J. ChurchStories from Virgil v. 45The abiding love of her that was once Hector's wife.
3.Comb.law-abiding, adhering to the law.1876FreemanNorm.Conq. I. vi. 501An English patriot who on every other occasion appears as conciliatory and law-abiding.
1879T. H. S. EscottEng.ii. 498The colonists are law-abiding and law-loving people.
