Forms: α. 1 ʓiet, ʓit, ʓieta, 2–4 ȝiete, 2–5 (6–7 Sc.) ȝit, 3–4 ȝiet, ȝite, 3–5 ȝyt, ȝitte, 3–6 yitte, 4 yiet, (ytt, ȝhyt, yhitte, 4–5 ȝhit, yhit), 4–6 ȝitt, (ȝhitt), 4–7 yitt, (5 ihit, yt), 5–6 ȝytt, 4–6, 7–8 Sc., 9 dial. yit. β. 1 ʓet, ʓeta, 2 ȝeat, ȝæt, iett, 2–5 ȝet, ȝette, (2 ȝeiet, 3 ȝæte, ȝeht, hyet), 3–4 yete, 3–5 ȝete, 4 ȝeitt, yeitt, ȝeite, (ȝate, ihet, Sc. ȝeyt, yhet(e, yheit, yheyt(e), 4, 5–6 Sc. ȝeit, 4–6 yeit, 4–7 yett, 5 ȝeet, ȝett, 5–6 yette, 6 yeat, (yate, 9 dial. yeet), 3– yet. γ. 1 Northumb. ʓeot, 3 ȝeot, ȝot. δ. 1–2 ʓyt, 2–5 ȝut, 3 ȝuet, ȝuyt, (ȝuȝt), 3–4 ȝuit, ȝute, 4 yute, ȝutte, 5 ȝutt, ȝuite, yut. [OE. ʓíet and ʓíeta, corresp. to Fris. ieta, eta, ita (WFris. yette, NFris. jit); of obscure origin. (The synonymous OE. (Anglian) ʓén, ʓéna show the same parallelism of formation.)
The meanings of yet are generally expressed in the Teut. langs. outside the Anglo-Frisian group by *noh (OS., OHG. noh; but in Goth. naúh is an interrog. particle):—Indo-eur. *nu-qe and now.]
I. 1. In addition, or in continuation; besides, also; further, furthermore, moreover; with a numeral or the like = ‘more,’ as yet a, yet one = ‘another,’ ‘one more’ (= F. encore un, G. noch ein). Obs. or arch. (now chiefly with again or once more: cf. d below).
For the use with words denoting time see 5 c.
Beowulf, 47. Þa ʓyt hie him asetton seʓen gyldenne.
c. 900. Wærferth, trans. Gregory’s Dial., iv. (1900), 42. Þa þing, þe ic her to ʓita ʓeþeode [L. ea quae subjungo].
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Matt. xviii. 16. Ʒyf he þe ne ȝehyrð, nim þonne ʓyt ænne oððe tweʓen to þe.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 13. Ȝet cweð ure lauerd to moyses. Ȝif ȝe cherrat from me ower heortan [etc.]. Ibid., 41. Ȝette he him sceawede ane welle of fure.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 70. A meiden … feier & freolich o wlite & o westum ah ȝet, þet is mare wurð, steðelfest wiðinnen.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 312. Auh wostu hwat me deð ȝet [MS. T. ȝeddes; MS. C. ȝeddeð]?
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 309. Ȝer þu me seist of oþer þinge.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 287. Man þou art iwis To winne ȝvt [v.r. ȝuyt] a kinedom wel betere þan min is.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 186. Þe herde & his hende wif Þat bold barn wiþ his bowe … fedde, & ȝit hadde fele felawes in þe forest.
1375. in Horstmann, Altengl. Leg. (1878), 130/2. Ȝut after he gat þretty sones mo, And þretty douȝtres and two.
1456. Sir G. Haye, Law Arms (S.T.S.), 87. Alssua ane othir ȝit resoun is [etc.].
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., ii. 30. Yit, shrew, yit, pull on a thraw!
1497. Naval Acc. Hen. VII. (1896), 219. Wages of maryners … ixli vijs. Vitayle … vijlt xxd. Yet Wages of maryners … iiijli xs xd.
1534. More, Answ. Poys. Bk., I. xiii. 54 b. They that call it brede declare yet that in dede it is not brede but the body of Chryste.
1599. B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Rev., I. iii. Stay let me obserue this portent yet.
1637. Milton, Lycidas, 1. Yet once more, O ye Laurels … I com to pluck your Berries.
c. 1643. Ld. Herbert, Autobiog. (1824), 7. Notwithstanding yet these expences at home, he brought up his children well.
1660. Marvell, Corr., Wks. (Grosart), II. 17. There is yet brought in an Act in which of all others your corporation is the least concerned.
1705. Addison, Italy, Ded. I had a very early Ambition to recommend my self to Your Lordship’s Patronage, which yet encreas’d in me as I Travell’d through the Countries.
1831. Wordsw., On Dep. Sir W. Scott, 7. While Tweed, best pleased in chanting a blithe strain, Saddens his voice again, and yet again.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 273. Yet once more, fair friend.
1895. Petrie, Egypt. Tales, Ser. I. 73. The Sekhti came yet, and yet again, even unto the ninth time.
b. Used to strengthen a comparative: now more commonly expressed by EVEN (adv. 9 e) or STILL (adv. 5 a). † Also formerly with a superlative (= VERY adv. 3 a) or an ordinal numeral.
c. 888. Ælfred, Boeth., v. § 3. Ac wit sculon þeah ʓiet dioplicor ymb ðæt bion.
a. 1000. Judith, 182. Þe us monna mæst morðra ʓefremede,… & þæt swyðor ʓyt ycan wolde.
a. 1122. O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1087. He … dyde ʓit eallra wærst.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 123. Luuian we ure drihten, for þon þe he luuede us er we hine … Ȝit we sculen mare, we sculan luuian ure nehstan.
c. 1200. Ormin, Ded. 6. Broþerr min i Godess hus, Ȝet o þe þride wise. Ibid., 780. & Godess enngell seȝȝde þær Off Sannt Johan ȝet mare.
c. 1205. Lay., 28538. Sixti þousend manne And mo þousendes ȝite.
a. 1352. Minot, Poems (ed. Hall), i. 49. Ma manasinges ȝit haue þai maked.
1390. Gower, Conf., III. 132. Alpheta … is the twelfthe sterre yit.
c. 1400. Rule St. Benet (verse), 299. Þe fortt degre ȝit es þair als Or sum þat er in order fals.
c. 1425. Wyntoun, Cron., III. ix. 1044. Þis kynge mony sonnys hade, Off ane of þa ȝhit mast he made.
1567. Satir. Poems Reform., vi. 112. Thairfoir ye fand thame prickis vnto your ene, And, ȝif ye spair thame, yit sall find thame moir.
1626. Gouge, Dign. Chiv., § 5. I purpose to dive yet more deeply into the depth of my Text.
1665. Hooke, Microgr., 2. Being able to include as great a variety of parts … in the yet smallest Discernable Point, as in those vaster bodies such as the Earth, Sun, or Planets.
1724. Ramsay, Vision, x. That’s yit worse.
1782. Miss Burney, Cecilia, VIII. v. Which can only awaken painful recollections, or give rise to yet more painful new anxieties.
1819. Scott, Ivanhoe, xxiv. The thought … gave a yet deeper colour of carnation to her complexion.
1847. H. Melville, Omoo, lxvii. My sandals were worse yet.
1889. ‘J. S. Winter,’ Mrs. Bob, x. (1891), 121. ‘And you’re quite sure … that you really like me.’ ‘Yes, I’m quite sure,’ said he, holding her yet more closely to him.
c. Used for emphasis after nor († na, ne, neither): nor yet = and also not. † Also formerly after or: or yet = or else, or even (cf. e below).
a. 1300. Cursor M., 12811. Neþer am i crist ne yeitt heli.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, iii. (Andreas), 3. In word, in thocht, or yhet in dede.
c. 1385. Chaucer, Knt.’s T., 1084. Nat was foryeten, the porter ydelnesse Ne Narcisus … Ne yet the folie of kyng Salomon.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, I. vi. 98. All thai quhilk haitis the cruel tirrantis dedis, Or ȝit his felloun violence sair dredis.
1526. Tindale, Luke xxiii. 15. I … founde noo faute in this man … No nor yett Herode.
1581. Mulcaster, Positions, xxxvii. (1888), 152. Neither he, ne yet his parentes, can forsake their prince.
1588. A. King, trans. Canisius’ Catech., g vij. Quhatsoeuer do proceid ather from the hail body thairof, ather yeit ony particular membre of the same.
1625. Hart, Anat. Ur., II. iv. 68. Such an excretion of bloud, which cometh thus to passe by reason of the loosenesse … of the mouthes of the small veines, or yet of the thinnesse of bloud.
1637–50. Row, Hist. Kirk (Wodrow Soc.), 121. Yit the samine can noth be conceiled … Neither zit can the men of God … dissemble the samine.
c. 1639. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. I. 35. He does not rekon the samen nether yett his owne charges.
1834. W. C. Smith, Kildrostan, 88. I never handled rope, Nor held a tiller, nor yet mean to do.
† d. Denoting repetition of an act: Again. Obs.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 1197. Bad him [sc. Adam] thoru an angel steuen, Þat he suld wit his wijf yete mete.
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 2687, Hypermnestra. She rist ȝit vp, & stakerith her & ther.
a. 1400–50. Wars Alex., 3163. First wrate I to ȝour worthines, ȝit write I þe same.
1431. Test. Ebor. (Surtees), II. 15. Unum flatt pece cum scriptura in cooperculo Drynk and fyll ȝytt.
1564–5. Reg. Privy Council Scot., I. 316. To charge the said Gilbert … yit as of befoir, to bring the saidis Urchid Makdowell and Patrik Makdowell.
† e. Emphasizing an extreme case: = EVEN adv. 9. Obs. rare.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 11575. Ar he self wald … To ded it moght naman him bring, And not yeitt þan þat he ne suld rise, Al at his aun deuise.
1382. Wyclif, Luke xiv. 26. If ony … hatith not his … britheren, and douȝtris, ȝit forsoth and his lyf [2nd vers. and ȝit his owne lijf].
a. 1450. Le Morte Arth., 2248. All landys northe and southe Off thys werre the word spronge, And yit at Rome it was full couche.
II. Senses relating to time.
2. Implying continuance from a previous time up to and at the present (or some stated) time: Now as until now (or then as until then): = STILL adv. 4 a. Often also implying contrast to a future or subsequent state more emphatically expressed by as yet (7 a): cf. c below, and STILL adv. 4 b. arch. or dial. exc. in negative context: see esp. (b).
c. 897. K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past. C., Pref. 5. Her mon mæʓ ʓiet ʓesion hiora swæð.
971. Blickl. Hom., 231. Nu ʓit þry daʓas to lafe syndon.
a. 1000. Harrow. Hell, 73 (Gr.). A ic þæt heold nu ʓiet.
a. 1122. O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 449. Þæt cyn on West Sexum þe man ʓit hæt Iutna cyn.
c. 1160. Hatton Gosp., Matt. xv. 16. And synd ʓe ʓeot buton andʓytte?
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 83. Al to fele swiche men bien ȝet þe ne wilen noht here sinnes forleten.
c. 1205. Lay., 28636. Bruttes ileueð ȝete þat he bon on liue.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 1574. Seint Iones de lateran … Þat stont ȝute & heued churche of al cristendom is.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 796. For of þat ilk appel bitt Þair suns tethe ar eggeid yitt.
a. 1375. Joseph Arim., 334. Þat I tolde þe þo I telle þe ȝitte.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 1628. Somur qwenes, and qwaintans. & oþer qwaint gaumes, There foundyn was first, & yet ben forthe haunted.
c. 1450. St. Cuthbert (Surtees), 306. Þat he had sene before in spirit, he helde it all pryue ȝyt.
1534. Star Chamber Cases (Selden Soc.), II. 309. Robert hunte baylyf … did take and kepe and yeat kepeth a cowe of your said oratours.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Edw. V., 11. It wer as great commoditee to theim bothe, as for yet a while too bee in the custody of their mother.
1588. A. King, trans. Canisius’ Catech., N v b. Euerie moneth was reconed to begin on ye day of ye change, as is obserued ȝeit in ye Hebrew kallendar.
1611. Bible, Jer. xv. 9. Her sunne is gone down while it was yet day.
1700. Stanley’s Hist. Philos., Life, a j. While he continued yet in the University.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 164, ¶ 3. While her Beauty was yet in all its Height and Bloom.
1756. Mrs. Calderwood, in Coltness Collect. (Maitland Club), 187. This man was from Nidsdale, and had been out of the country since he was ten years old, but he spoke the language pretty well yet.
1802. Wordsw., To the Cuckoo, iv. Even yet thou art to me No bird, but an invisible thing.
1839. Bywater, Sheff. Dial., ii. 22. Dusta work at flat backs yit, as thahs been used to do?
1848. Mrs. Gaskell, Mary Barton, vii. Earnest as the father was in watching the yet-living, he had eyes and ears for all that concerned the dead.
1872. Tennyson, Gareth & Lynette, 79. A yet-warm corpse, and yet unburiable.
1874. Mahaffy, Soc. Life Greece, iv. 81. No students of history can fail to observe that even yet very few nations in the world are fit for diffused political privileges.
1888. ‘J. S. Winter,’ Bootle’s Childr., v. You know you look ill yet, very ill.
(b) With negative pples, and adjs.: cf. not yet (4).
1535. Coverdale, Ps. lxxvii[i]. 6. The children which were yet vnborne.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 782. Four fair Heifars yet in Yoke untry’d.
1705. Stanhope, Paraphr., I. 282. The ravishing Discovery of that which is yet unattainable.
1706. Pope, Lett. to Wycherley, 10 April. Till you have finish’d these that are yet unprinted. Ibid. (1725), Odyss., V. 382. Then shook the Heroe,… And question’d thus his yet-unconquer’d mind.
1839. Kemble, Resid. Georgia (1863), 19. The swampy patches of yet unreclaimed forest.
1859. Tennyson, Elaine, 378. The yet-unblazon’d shield.
1860. Pusey, Min. Proph., 544. The children in their yet undeveloped strength, the very old in their yet sustained weakness.
† b. Qualified by a negative, implying discontinuance before the present time: not yet = no longer. Obs. rare.
a. 1000. Cædmon’s Gen., 1038. Ne þearft ðu þe ondrædan … nu ʓiet.
1530. Palsgr., 506/2. I darrayne (Lydgat)…. This worde is nat yet admytted in our comen spetche. Ibid., 598/2. I kydde (Lydgate), I knowe … This terme is nat yet in use.
c. Followed by an infinitive referring to the future, and thus implying incompleteness (e.g., yet to be done, implying ‘not hitherto done’; I have yet to learn, implying ‘I have not hitherto learnt’). Cf. also 5.
1659. Plumptre, in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 6. Wishing that all your yeares yet to come may passe over with mirth and jollityes.
1756. Mrs. Calderwood, in Coltness Collect. (Maitland Club), 188. He has three years of study yet to come.
1848. Lushington, in Notes of Cases, VI. 11. I have yet to learn that … those on board the steam-tug had a right to … overrule the order of the pilot.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., v. I. 564. The earl … had prepared himself for what was yet to be endured.
1885. Sir J. Bacon, in Law Times Rep. (N.S.), LII. 569/2. None of them had been completely finished, the painting and papering being yet to be done.
3. Referring to the period preceding the present or some stated time, without necessarily implying continuance: Up to this (or that) time, till now (or till then), hitherto, thus far; with a superlative, or only, etc. = at any time up to the present. Usually implying expectation of possible change, more fully expressed (as in 2) by as yet (7 a).
a. 1000. Colloq. Ælfric, in Wr.-Wülcker, 101. Ʒyt [adhuc] þeahhwæþere deoplicor mid us þu smeaʓst þonne yld ure onfon mæʓe.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 139. Þis dei is … þe formeste dei þet eauer ȝiete was iseȝen buuen eorðe.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 9321. ‘Ful littel se we yeitt,’ coth þai, ‘Of al þat euer we her þai sai.’ Ibid. (c. 1375), 10078 (Laud). Now blessid be that byrd of grace The worthiest that euyr yet was.
c. 1475. Rauf Coilȝear, 80. Na, thank me not ouir airlie, for dreid that we threip, For I haue seruit the ȝit of lytill thing to ruse.
1539. Cranmer, Lett. to Crumwell, in Misc. Writ. (Parker Soc.), 388. The state of things standing as they do at this present, so far as yet I do know.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., VI. ii. 5. A slender slip, that scarse did see Yet seuenteene yeares.
1690. Locke, Hum. Und., II. xxvi. § 4. When we say a Man is Young, we mean, that his Age is yet but a small part of that which usually Men attain to.
1761. Warburton, in W. & Hurd’s Lett. (1809), 335. I have yet printed off but 72 pages.
1815. Scott, Guy M., xlviii. This is the queerest thing yet!
1857. Buckle, Civiliz., I. viii. 471. The most important event that had yet occurred in the history of French civilization.
1870. L’Estrange, Life of Miss Mitford, I. x. 147. ‘Blanch’ is to consist of five thousand lines, and only eleven hundred are yet written.
b. By this (or that) time, so soon as this: chiefly in questions, direct or indirect, to which the negative answer would be not yet (4): nearly = ‘already,’ but not expressing surprise as that word would in a question.
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 541. Hu þincþ þe, artu ȝut inume, Artu mid riȝte ouercume?
c. 1375. Cursor M., 1876 (Fairf.). How sal we of þes waters wete, Queþer þai be fully fallyn ȝete?
c. 1440. York Myst., ix. 186. It waxes clere aboute … Loke þare owte, Yf þat þe water wane ought ȝitt.
1596. Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., III. iii. 61. Haue you enquir’d yet who pick’d my Pocket?
1634. Massinger, Very Woman, III. v. I am glad you have found your tongue yet.
1823. Scott, Quentin D., xxxiii. ‘Have you yet done?’ said the Duke to the herald. ‘One word more,’ answered Rouge Sanglier.
1916. D. Hankey, Student in Arms (1917), 51. Potentate.… Has a counter-attack been launched yet? General. Not yet, Sire.
c. With ere, before, etc., indicating the ultimate occurrence of something after an interval of time: before ere, etc., nearly = ‘already’; after ere, etc., nearly = ‘at length’ (cf. 5 a). Now only in ere yet (arch.).
13[?]. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 1122. To bed ȝet er þay ȝede, Recorded couenauntez ofte.
c. 1450. Holland, Howlat, 196. Ȝit or ewyn enterit come that bur office, Obeyand thir bischoppis, and bydand tham by.
1592. Arden of Feversham, I. i. 92. Meanewhile prepare our breakfast,… For yet ere noone wele take horse and away.
c. 1643. Ld. Herbert, Autobiog. (1824), 80. Before I departed yet I left her with child of a son.
1795. Southey, Joan of Arc, VIII. 70. Ere yet from Orleans to the war we went.
1828. Scott, Death Laird’s Jock, ¶ 13. Ere yet the fight began, the old men gazed on their chief.
1866. Spurgeon, Hymn, ‘Sweetly the holy hymn,’ ii. Ere yet the sun the day renews, O Lord, Thy spirit send.
† d. At some time in the past; ‘once’; previously, before, already. Obs.
Beowulf, 956. Alwalda þec gode forʓylde, swa he nu ʓyt dyde!
a. 1300. Cursor M., 367. Þe werld i call wit min entens Þe mater of þe four elements, Þat yeit was tan o forme mischapen. Ibid., 1198. Ur lord had aghteld yete A child to rais of his oxspring.
c. 1460. J. Russell, Bk. Nurture, 339. Þan take youre loof of light payne as y haue said ȝett.
4. With a negative, in sense 2 or 3 (yet qualifying the whole sentence or clause including the negative): not yet, † yet not, still not, thus far not, not hitherto, not by this (or that) time, not till now (or then) and not now (or then): implying expectation or recognized possibility of subsequent change (cf. 7 a).
a. With negative preceding. (The more usual, now the only regular, construction.)
Beowulf, 583. Breca næfre ʓit æt heaðolace … swa deorlice dæd ʓefremede faʓum sweordum.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Matt. xxiv. 6. Ðas þing sceolon ʓewurþan, ac nys þonne ʓyt se ende. Ibid., John vii. 8. Min tid nis ʓyt ʓefylled.
c. 1200. Vices & Virtues, 17. Ðar næure ȝiete liht ne cam.
c. 1200. Ormin, 14371. Abid, abid, wifman, abid, Ne comm nohht ȝet min time.
c. 1205. Lay., 109. Nas ȝet Rome bi-wonnen.
c. 1275. Passion of our Lord, 583, in O. E. Misc., 53. Ich ne astey nouht yete vp to myne vadere.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Prol., 293 (Harl. 7334). He hadde nouȝt geten hym ȝit a benefice.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, VIII. vii. 282. Neuer yet was I preued with good knyghte.
1539. Bible (Great), Mark xi. 13. The tyme of fygges was not yet.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Edw. IV., 207 b. Because Quene Margaret and her sonne were not fully yet furnished for suche a iorney.
1605. Shaks., Macb., II. iii. 50. Macd. Is the King stirring, worthy Thane? Macb. Not yet.
1654. Gataker, Disc. Apol., 24. Such a manner of Prelacie, I say, I never durst, nor yet dare condemn.
1708. Addison, Pres. St. War, 3. This Kingdom was never yet engag’d in a War of so great consequence.
1776. Gibbon, Lett. to Holroyd, 18 Jan. Quebec is not yet taken.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., ii. I. 175. A body of representatives was returned, such as England had never yet seen. Ibid., iv. 447. As to Halifax, Ormond, and Guildford, he determined not yet to dismiss them.
1861. M. Pattison, Ess. (1889), I. 46. In the reign of James I,… when the world of fashion had not yet migrated wholly to the west-end.
b. With negative following. (Cf. G. noch nicht.) Obs. or arch. exc. when preceded by even, or as (7 a).
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., John vii. 6. Ʒyt ne com min tid.
c. 1205. Lay., 20571. Ah he heo þa ȝæte [c. 1275 ȝet] Nefde noht biwunnen.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 3558. ‘Louerd, merci!’ quad moyses, ‘ȝet ne let hem noȝt helpe-les.’
a. 1300. Cursor M., 5904. Þe king hert wex herd as bras, ‘Þe folk,’ he said, ‘yeitt sal noght pas.’
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. VIII. 108. Ac ȝete sauoureth me nouȝt þi seggyng.
1460. Capgrave, Chron. (Rolls), 302. And ȝet was not the erl of Arundel and his retenew com hom.
1567. Satir. Poems Reform., iii. 37. Ȝit neuer did sho se his maik in France.
1613. Shaks., Hen. VIII., II. iv. 204. My Conscience, which I then did feele full sicke, and yet not well.
1642. D. Rogers, Naaman, 423. Such confession was yet never extorted from some of you.
1827. Scott, Highl. Widow, iv. I leave you to comfort and certainty, which you have yet never known.
1830. Moore, Mem. (1854), VI. 127. Even yet not quite finished.
5. In reference to future time (see also 2 c, 3 c). a. At some time in the future (usually implying ‘though not hitherto’); hereafter; at length, ultimately, before all is over; often with mixture of sense 9 (‘after all’).
c. 897. K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past. C., xxxv. 245. Ʒiet [v.r. ʓit] cymð se micla … Godes dæʓ.
971. Blickl. Hom., iv. 47. On ealra eorþlicra ʓebedrædenne þe Cristene wæron, oþþe ʓyt syn.
a. 1300. Leg. Rood (1871), 32. Vor þer scholde ȝut a mon deie on þulke tre.
c. 1400. Brut, I. 90. Þe Britons supposen þat he [sc. Arthur] Leueþ in a-noþere lande, and þat he shal come ȝit and conquere al Britaigne.
c. 1440. York Myst., i. 87. Abowne ȝhit sall I be beeldand, On heghte in þe hyeste of hewuen.
1535. Coverdale, Ps. xlii. 7 [5]. Put thy trust in God, for I wil yet geue him thankes for ye helpe of his countenaunce.
a. 1586. Sidney, Ps. XVII. iv. [I] pray that still you guide my way, Least yet I slipp, or goe astray.
1760–2. Goldsm., Cit. W., xliv. He sees that he may yet be happy, and wishes the hour was come.
1841. Browning, Pippa Passes, III. ad fin. (Song). You’ll love me yet!—and I can tarry Your love’s protracted growing.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., v. I. 524. Their chief employment is to talk of what they once were, and of what they may yet be.
1902. Violet Jacob, Sheep-stealers, viii. ‘You couldn’t be safer, not if you was in Hereford jail itself.’… ‘That’s where I may be yet,’ he said.
b. With reference to the immediate future: (a) Even now (though not till now): often with mixture of sense 9 (‘after all’); sometimes implying ‘while there is still time’ (cf. sense 2).
a. 1000. Cædmon’s Gen., 618. Ʒif ʓiet … læst mina lara, þonne ʓife ic him þæs leohtes ʓenoʓ.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, v. (Johannes), 251. And of paynis hard and fell, He tald þam, þat he schaw in hell, And sad: ‘wrechis, mend ȝow ȝeit!’ Ibid., l. (Katerine), 921. Lewe þine errour,… & ask forgiffnes of þi syne, Yheit mycht þu sauchtyng with hym wine.
c. 1430. Hymns Virgin (1867), 128. To hevyns blys yhit may he ryse, Thurghe helpe of Marie.
c. 1450. St. Cuthbert (Surtees), 3367. Ȝon gose I bad ȝow is noȝt etyn…. I bid ȝow þat ȝe take it ȝit.’
a. 1529. Skelton, Woffully araid, 43, Wks. 1843, I. 142. Cum ȝytt, and thou schalt fynde Myne endlys mercy and grace.
1689. Acts Parlt. Scot. (1875), XII. 77/1. Þat if he will yett delyver up the Bass & prisoners þerin he should have his bygone arears to himself & garrisone.
1867. Morris, Jason, II. 850. Bethink ye yet of death, and misery, And dull despair, before ye arm to go.
1879. Webber, Pigskin & Willow, xiv. 197. Time enough yet? No, there isn’t time enough yet.
† (b) Not later than (a specified time). (Cf. 3 b, c.) Obs.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 313. For ȝef he don ðad god for-bead, Ðat sal hem bringen to ðo dead, And sal ȝet ðis ilke dai.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 15567. Þou sal þam se yeitt to night Do me ful gret spite.
a. 1352. Minot, Poems (ed. Hall), vii. 129. Inglis men sall ȝit to ȝere Knok þi palet or þou pas.
c. From this (or some stated or implied) time onwards; henceforth (or thenceforth). Chiefly, now only, contextually with words denoting time, the sense being then strictly 1 (‘further, more’); with a negative, nearly coinciding with 4; often replaceable by ‘to come.’
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gen. viii. 10. He abad þa ʓit oðre seofon daʓas and asende ut eft culfran.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 12920. Bot ar he wild him fulli scau, For yeitt a quille he wild abide.
1382. Wyclif, Luke i. 15. He schal be fulfillid of the Hooly Gost ȝit of his modir wombe. Ibid., John vii. 33. Ȝit a litel tyme I am with ȝou, and I go to the fadir, that sente me.
c. 1420. Chron. Vilod., 3367. He leyȝe in þe vrthe ȝet þrettene ȝere & more.
1535. Coverdale, Jonah iii. 4. There are yet xl. dayes, and then shal Niniue be ouerthrowen.
1628. Digby, Voy. Mediterr. (Camden), 56. It was so hott that all men said in a moneth yet meate could not take salt.
1849. M. Arnold, Sick King in Bokhara, 5. O merchants, tarry yet a day Here in Bokhara.
† 6. ME. þe ȝet [OE. þá ʓíet then yet, when yet: see THO adv. 1, 2]: a. Still (= 2); also, while still, when as yet. Obs.
a. 930. O. E. Chron. (Parker MS.), an. 921. Þa æfter þam þa ʓiet þæs ilcan hærfestes ʓegadorode micel here hine of East Englum.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Luke xv. 20. Þa ʓyt [Lindisf. ʓet] þa he wæs feorr, his fæder he hyne ʓeseah.
a. 1122. O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1106. Feawa oðre of þam heafod mannan þe mid þam eorle of Normandiʓe þe ʓyt heoldan.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 99. Þa ȝet wuniende on þissere weorlde, þe helende ableu his gast on his apostlas.
c. 1205. Lay., 7079. Þe ȝeht þe [c. 1275 þe ȝet þat] Lud king ahte þis lond hehte Lundene Trinouant.
c. 1290. St. Dunstan, 2, in S. Eng. Leg., 19. Miracle ore louerd dude for him þe ȝuyt he was un-bore.
† b. with negative: = 4. Obs.
a. 1000. Cædmon’s Gen., 103. Ne wæs her þa ʓiet nymþe heolstersceado wiht ʓeworden.
a. 1100. Aldhelm Gloss., I. 1296 (Napier 35/2). Nondum, na þa ʓyt næs.
c. 1290. Beket, 1433, in S. Eng. Leg., 147. Ake he ne scholde nouȝt þe ȝeot to engelonde wende.
c. 1380. Sir Ferumb., 750. Of herte was he hol & sound, & pleynede him þe ȝute no þyng.
7. As yet [AS B. 34 a]: a. Hitherto, up to this time, = 3; with a negative = 4; implying expectation or recognized possibility of coming change.
c. 1384. Chaucer, H. Fame, II. 91. Thow demest of thy selfe amys, For Ioues ys not ther aboute … To make of the as yet a sterre. Ibid. (c. 1386), Frankl. T., 849. I filled neuere of my trouthe as yit, For sikerly my dette shal be quyt.
1484. Cely Papers (Camden), 153. Here ys noo goode wyne to gett for noo mony as yett, but I understond ther schall come from Bruges som.
1592. Q. Eliz., in Archaeologia, XIX. 12. If your long expected and never had as yet answer had not lingard.
1665. Boyle, Occas. Refl., IV. i. 1. The Sun had as yet but approach’d the East, and my Body as yet lay moveless in the Bed.
1682. Bunyan, Holy War, 68. Thou hast heard what the Captains have said, but as yet thou shuttest thy Gates.
1708. Addison, Pres. St. War, 19. That War continued Nine Years, and this hath as yet lasted but Six.
1823. Scott, Quentin D., xxix. ‘No,’ answered the Astrologer, ‘the End is not as yet.’
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, lxiii. She had never … met a professional ladies’ man as yet.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., ii. I. 171. As yet the Duke professed himself a member of the Anglican Church.
1850. Tennyson, In Mem., cxiv. Half-grown as yet, a child, and vain.
1874. Mahaffy, Soc. Life Greece, vii. 226. But there were … extensions of this practice as yet but little noticed.
† b. Without implied expectation of change: Still, even now or then, to this day, = 2. Obs.
1483. Caxton, G. de la Tour, f iv b. As yet they kepe and hold that custome.
1530. Palsgr., 509/2. As for polu, defyled, thoughe he be used of Johan le Mayre, there is no verbe used in this sence in the frenche tonge as yet.
1577. Hanmer, Anc. Eccl. Hist., III. vi. 38. The meate as yet rawe, was snatched from the coales.
1585. T. Washington, trans. Nicholay’s Voy., II. iii. 33. The foundations … are there as yet apparant.
1611. Bible, Exod. ix. 17. As yet exaltest thou thy selfe against my people, that thou wilt not let them goe?
1632. Lithgow, Trav., VII. 321. Egypt was made a Prouince of the Turkish Empire, and so continueth as yet.
1651. [see AS B. 34 a].
8. as adj. in sense 2 or 3: That is still or as yet such; still continuing or subsisting. (Cf. NOW 16, STILL adv. 4 a ¶, THEN 9 b.)
1606. Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. iv. II. Magnificence, 356. Let, with her staffe, my yet-Youth govern well … the Flock of Israel.
1629. W. Sclater, Exp. 2 Thess., 83. That the yet aliens in euery quarter of the World may bee wonne by the example of dispersed Saints.
c. 1634. Strafford, in Browning, Life (1892), 117. The certainty of your lordship’s yet abode at West-Chester.
1653. Cloria & Narcissus, 181. Her yet safety.
1817. Keatinge, Trav., II. 269. He was one of the numerous party of yet walkers in the world.
1874. Key, Lang., i. 7. In the yet non-existence of langunge.
III. 9. as conj. adv. or conj. (developed from 1), introducing an additional fact or circumstance which is adverse to, or the contrary of what would naturally be expected from, that just mentioned: In spite of that, for all that nevertheless, notwithstanding. Sometimes strengthened by nevertheless, etc. Often correlative to though, etc.
More emphatically adversative than BUT conj. 24, and freer in construction; formerly sometimes placed after, and still sometimes in the midst of, its clause; and or but may precede yet. Nearly equivalent to STILL adv. 6 b; but still indicates mainly that the fact or condition remains unaltered by the adverse one; yet usually expresses some degree of surprise at it as something unexpected.
[c. 1205. Lay., 28112. Ȝif hit weore ilimpe … þat Modred … hafde þine quene inume…. Þe ȝet þu mihtest þe awreken Wurðliche mid wepnen.]
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 995. So bo hit euer in unker siþe Þat þu bo sori & ich bliþe; Ȝut þu aisheist wi ich ne fare Into oþer londe & singe þare.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 3344. Þe castel was ynome & þat folc to sprad þere. Ȝute þo hii adde al ydo hii ne founde noȝt þe king þere. Ibid., 8804. In prison was roberd al is lif & ȝut ich vnderstonde, Him adde betere abbe ibe king of þe holi londe.
13[?]. Cursor M., 786 (Gött.). Þis heting was … ful mekil, Bot ȝeit it was bath fals and fikil.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. Prol. 185. Thouȝ we culled þe catte, ȝut sholde þer come another To cracchy vs.
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 140. He hath ynowh and yit him nedeth.
c. 1420. Liber Cocorum (1862), 5. And make þo flesshe to seme, iwys, As hit were raw, and ȝyt hit nys.
c. 1450. Lay Folks Mass Bk. (MS. F.), 149. I haw done … Synnes diuers,… And ȝut art thu redi … To graunt me ay forȝefnesse.
c. 1470. Golagros & Gaw., 95. Suppose thi birny be bright, as bachiler suld ben, Yhit ar thi latis vnlufsum.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, XX. vii. 809. Oftymes we doo many thynges that we wene it be for the best & yet peraduenture hit torneth to the werst.
c. 1475. Partenay, 21. Al-be-hit I … can noght peynt my boke as other be, Vnder youre supporte yut aunter wyl me.
1545. Raynalde, Byrth Mankynde, I. iii. (1552), 5. Plenty of flesh … knitting to geather the muskles: not so yet, but that neuerthelesse they haue theyr free motion.
1596. Spenser, Prothalamion, 117. As he would speake, but that he lackt a tong Yeat did by signes his glad affection show.
1644. Milton, Areop., 26. Though his belief be true, yet the very truth he holds, becomes his heresie.
1697. Dryden, Æneis, XI. 188. Auspicious Prince, in Arms a mighty Name, But yet whose Actions far transcend your Fame.
1764. Goldsm., Trav., 28. Some fleeting good, that … Allures from far, yet, as I follow, fies.
1814. Scott, Wav., iv. The splendid yet useless imagery. Ibid. (1831), Ct. Rob., xxiv. Although they did not all agree on the precise cause of danger, it was yet generally allowed that something of a dreadful kind was impending.
1845. M. Pattison, Ess. (1889), I. 13. The style of Bede, if not elegant Latin, is yet correct, sufficiently classical.
† b. Yet (that), notwithstanding that, although.
c. 1320. Cast. Love, 1422. In whonhope and doute heo weoren vchon, Ȝit heo seȝen him alyue a lyues-mon.
c. 1425. Cursor M., 12119 (Trin.). And ȝit þou wenest makeles to be Þat noon in lore shulde teche þe, I con þe teche þat þou not can.
1556. Aurelio & Isab. (1608), M ij. Contente you than, for yette that me strenghste be litell, the desiere is grete.
