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.
a. 1300. Northern Psalter xxxviii. 8. And now, whilk es min abiding dai? Noght ne Laverd? (Vulg. Et nunc quae est expectatio mea?)
1382. Wyclif, ibid. And now what is myn abiding? whether not the Lord?
c. 1430. Syr Generides, 234. And that is al his abiding, For to be wedded as a king.
c. 1450. Lonelich, Graal, II. 381. As thowgh nothing that they wyste of owre abydyng.
1599. Hakluyt, Voyages, II. i. 67. Thus 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.
c. 1400. Tundale, Circumc., 86. All abowet the rede blode can gon, Withowt abydyng.
c. 1450. Merlin (1877), xv. 256. Thei made no lenger abidinge but mette togeder fiercely.
1480. Caxton, Chron. Engl., ccxxi. 213. They shold smyte of syr edmondes hede … withoute any maner of abydyng or respyte.
† 3. A bearing or enduring; endurance, patience, long-suffering. Obs.
c. 1325. E. E. Allit. Poems, C. 419. Þy long abydyng wyth lur [= loss], by late vengaunce.
1535. Coverdale, Ps. ix. 18. The pacient abydinge of soch as be in trouble shall not perish for euer.
1580. Hollyband, Treas. Fr. Tong., Patience, patience, abiding.
4. An enduring, continuing, or remaining; continuance, duration, permanence. arch.
1535. Coverdale, 1 Chron. xxix. 15. Our life vpon earthe is as a shadowe, and here is no abydinge.
1611. Bible, ibid. And there is none abiding.
1674. N. Fairfax, Bulk & Selvedge, 26. It 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.
c. 1440. Generydes (1873), 131. The wordis that she sayde of his abiding there.
1616. Surfl. & Markh., Countrey Farme, 719. Her quiet and peaceable abiding in her cage.
1808. Scott, Marm., II. xiv. Nor long was his abiding there.
† 6. A place where one stops; a station or position. Obs.
1571. Digges, Geomet. Pract., I. xxviii. sig. 1 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.
1382. Wyclif, 1 Esdras ix. 37. The sonus of Irael weren in ther abidingus [1338 abidyngis].
1587. Fleming, Contin. Holinshed, III. 1406/2. Neereness and commoditie of mens abidings.
1607. Dekker, Knight coniuring (1842), 87. Get leaue for thy ghost to come from her abiding.
8. Attrib. as in abiding house, city, and esp. abiding-place, place of abode.
1571. Digges, Geomet. Pract., I. xxviii. A B C are the markes in the fielde to be measured, D the first abyding or standing place.
1580. Hollyband, Treas. Fr. Tong., Lieu de Demeure, dwelling, abiding place.
1597–8. Stat. 39 Eliz., v. An Acte for erecting of Hospitalles, or abiding and working Howses for the poor.
1805. Southey, Madoc in Azt., Wks. 1853, V. 206. Here had the chief Chosen his abiding place.
1876. Freeman, Norm. Conq., I. vi. 424. Next year Cnut came back to England as his real home and abiding-place.
1879. Dowden, Southey, iii. 52. But his heart needed an abiding-place.
