[f. ABIDE v. + -ING2.]
† 1. Enduring, standing firm. Obs.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XIX. 289. Bolde and abidynge bismeres to suffre.
2. Lasting, permanent.
1851. Maurice, Proph. & Kings, 81. The ark … was there as an abiding witness of an invisible presence.
1876. Freeman, Norm. Conq., I. vi. 462. Witness to the abiding connexion between Normandy and the North.
1878. A. J. Church, Stories from Virgil, v. 45. Take these works of my [Andromaché’s] hands, that they may witness to thee of the abiding love of her that was once Hector’s wife.
3. Comb. law-abiding, adhering to the law.
1861. R. P. S., N. Y. Independent, in, S. May, Fugitive Slave Law, 79. Let no man talk to me of law, and my duties as a law-abiding subject.
1876. Freeman, Norm. Conq., I. vi. 501. An English patriot who on every other occasion appears as conciliatory and law-abiding.
1879. T. H. Escott, Eng., ii. 498. The colonists are law-abiding and law-loving people.
