Enough

a., sb. and adv. Forms: 1 ʓenóʓ, ʓenóh, 2–3 ȝenoh, (2 onoh), 2–5 inoch, 3 anoȝ, inouh, inooȝ, 3–5 in-, ynogh, -oȝ(h, -oh(g, -ouȝ -owȝ, -ug(h, 4 enogh(t, -oȝ, -oh, enohw, ynowh, 5 inowhe, 6 in-, ynowghe, enohut, (4 anough, -ouȝ, inoht, inogh, 5 enoghe, ynought), 4–7 an-, in-, ynough(e, (4 ynowþȝ, 5 inowge, ynoughf, 6–8 enoff, inoffe, 6 yenough, 7 eno’, -ouch, -out, 8 enought,) 7–8 enufe, -uff, 6– enough. Also north. 4–6 in- yneuch, -ewch(t, (6 aneuch(e, -gh, en(n)ewche, 7 æneuche), 8–9 Sc. eneuch, -gh. See also ENOW¹. [OE. ʓenóʓ, later ʓenóh adj. (used in acc. neut. as adv.), corresp. to OFris. enôch, OS. ginôg (Du. genoeg), OHG. ginuog (MHG. genuog, genuoc, mod.G. genug), ON. gnógr (Sw. nog, Da. nok), Goth. ganôh-s:—OTeut. *ganôgo-z, related to the impers. vb. (pret.-pres.) OE. ʓeneah, OHG. ginah, Goth. ganah ‘it suffices,’ f. OTeut. *ga- (see Y-) + *nah, occurring also with different prefix in OE. beneah he enjoys, requires, Goth. binah it is right or needful. The OTeut. root *nah:—Aryan *nak appears also in L. nancisci (pa. pple. nac-tus) to obtain, Skr. naç to reach.

  The earlier OE. form ʓenóʓ, and the forms with inflexional termination, have their normal phonetic representative in ENOW. In later OE. the ʓ when final after a long vowel became in most dialects h (=χ), but when medial remained unchanged; thus in this adj. the nom. sing. and the acc. sing. masc. and neut. became ʓenóh, whence the mod. enough, while the nom. and acc. pl. were ʓenóʓe, yielding ENOW as their regular mod. form. Hence in many dialects, though not in all, the word enough (or its local equivalent), is employed in the sing. and in the advb. uses, while ENOW serves for the plural. In 18th c. this distinction was recognized (e.g., by Johnson) as standard English; now, however, enow is in literary use entirely superseded, exc. as an intentional archaism, by enough.

  The frequent ME. forms with final t may possibly be due to influence of the ON. neut. gnógt; cf. however forms like boght for BOUGH, borcht for borch, BOROUGH, etc., where the t is merely excrescent.]

  A.  adj. Sufficient in quantity or number.

  1.  in concord with sb. expressed or implied: a. with sb. in sing., which it usually follows. Also with ellipsis of sb. in sing. Also, with intensive force, † enough and enough. (For advbl. phrase † time enough, see TIME.)

a. 1000.  Andreas, 1536 (Gr.). Þær wæs ælcum ʓenoʓ fram dæʓes orde drync sona ʓearu!

c. 1250.  Moral Ode, 235. Hi hem deð wa inoch.

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 3365. Anoȝ adden he ðanne drinc.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 4799 (Gött.). Tresur enohut wid ȝu ȝe take.

a. 1330.  Roland & V., 162. Thow byrd to haue nurtour aneuch.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 13119. Past of his pouer to pouert ynugh.

1475.  Sir J. Paston, in Paston Lett., No. 754, III. 130. I have pytte yow to cost, charge, and losse i nowge.

1518.  Dispatch, in Ld. Berners, Froiss. (1812), Pref. I. 12. With payne and trauayle anough, we made towerd the Cowrte.

1535.  Stewart, Cron. Scotl. (1858), I. 40. It stude rycht stark quhair it had strenth aneuche.

1610.  Shaks., Temp., I. ii. 314. There’s wood enough within.

1766.  Goldsm., Vic. W., iii. He had not resolution enough to give any man pain by a denial.

1780.  Mad. D’Arblay, Diary, 23 Feb. The play has wit enough and enough, but … incidents don’t appear to me interesting.

1816.  J. Wilson, City of Plague, II. ii. 36. That thought is happiness Enough for me.

1860.  Tyndall, Glac., I. § 11. 74. I … thought that we had light enough and ought to make use of it.

  b.  with sb. in plural. Also with ellipsis of pl. sb. (The OE. and ME. forms with pl. inflexion will be found under ENOW; the early examples below should perh. be regarded as belonging to the absol. use with gen. pl.)

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 35. Mið oðre wowe inohg.

a. 1330.  Rom. Alexander, in Roland & V. (1836), Introd. 23. About him com barouns anough.

c. 1500.  God Speed Plough, 78. Then commeth the tipped-staves for the Marshalse, And saye they haue prisoners mo than Inough.

1665.  Boyle, Occas. Refl., II. viii. (1669), 136. ’Tis not many, or few, that are requir’d, but enough.

1818.  Cobbett, Pol. Reg., XXXIII. 108. Now, there are candidates enough, who will pretend that they are for Reform.

1878.  Browning, La Saisiaz, 12. Two, enough and none to spare.

  2.  predicatively.

c. 1040.  Rule St. Benet (Logeman), 92. Genoh bið munece twa tunican.

a. 1200.  Moral Ode, 389, in Trin. Coll. Hom., 232. Crist sal one ben inoȝh alle his derlinges.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Clerk’s T., 995. This is y-nough, Grisilde myn.

1535.  Coverdale, 2 Sam. xxiv. 16. It is ynough, holde now thy hande.

1579.  Spenser, Sheph. Cal., June, 79. Enough is me to paint out my vnrest.

c. 1600.  Shaks., Sonn., cxxxiii. Is’t not ynough to torture me alone.

1649.  Milton, Eikon., Pref. B. It is anough to remember them the truth of what they know.

1664.  Butler, Hud., II. ii. 74/93.

1855.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., III. 213. It was enough for him that those bills seemed [etc.].

  3.  absol. in sing. That which is sufficient; as much as is requisite or desired. Often const. of (in OE. partitive genitive): Also const. to († at) with inf., or for with sb., indicating the purpose. To have had enough (of anything): to have become tired of (it), desire no more.

c. 888.  K. Ælfred, Boeth., xxiv. § 4. He hæfþ on his aʓenum ʓenoh.

a. 1000.  Genesis, 619 (Gr.). Þonne gife ic him þæs leohtes ʓenoʓ.

a. 1200.  Moral Ode, 387. Inoh he haued þe hine haueð.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 13501 (Gött.). All þai had enoght at ett.

a. 1340.  Hampole, Pr. Consc., 1466. Now haf we ynogh, now haf we noght.

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. VII. 86. He hath ynough þat hath bred ynough.

1398.  Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XII. vii. (1495), 417. They arere not vp theyr heedes whanne they drynke or they haue dronke inough.

c. 1470.  Henry, Wallace, I. 446. Quhen thou wantts gud, cum fech ynewch fra me.

1526.  Tindale, Matt. xxv. 9. Not so, lest there be not ynought for vs and you.

1562.  J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 159. As good ynough as a feast.

1568.  Grafton, Chron., II. 300. I have and shall have inough to mainteine my poore estate, as long as I live.

c. 1645.  Roxb. Ballads (1886), VI. 321. And Captain Puff will have enuff To make him brag and vapor.

1697.  South, Serm. (1737), VI. 126. Carrying enough and enough about him to assure his final doom.

1704.  Lond. Gaz., No. 3989/3. The French Man having enough of it, sheared off.

1705.  Tate, Warrior’s Welcome, ii. Enoff is Dar’d; Secure the Lawrels won.

1722.  De Foe, Col. Jack (1840), 241. I really had had enough of fighting.

1767.  A. Young, Farmer’s Lett. People, 294. The plea of growing enough for family use of wheat, oats, &c. is a mistaken one.

1814.  Jane Austen, Mansf. Park (1851), 65. I have had enough of the family for one morning.

1852.  Mrs. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s C., II. xix. 12. Augustine! Augustine!… I ’m sure you ’ve said enough.

1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 369. For I am in want, and he has enough.

  b.  To have enough to do († ado) to (accomplish something): to have great difficulty, have to exert all one’s powers. (In ME. the explanatory to do was not expressed.)

a. 1154.  O. E. Chron., an. 1137. Thre men hadden onoh to bæron onne.

a. 1340.  Cursor M., 16906 (Cott.). A mikel stan to turn i-nogh had tuent.

1568.  Grafton, Chron., II. 265. They thought they should have ynough to do to defende the towne.

1622.  Bacon, Hen. VII., 246. He had enough to doe to saue and helpe.

1746.  Rep. Conduct Sir J. Cope, 126. She would have enough ado to get home.

  c.  ellipt. = ‘Enough has been done, said, etc.’; quasi-interj.; also followed by of in interjectional phrases.

c. 1340.  Sir Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 1948. Inoȝ … I þonk yow, bi þe rode.

1605.  Shaks., Macb., V. viii. 34. And damn’d be him that first cries hold, enough.

1645.  Charles I., Let. Wife, in Rep. Comm. Hist. MSS., App. 6. But anuf of this, I know thy affection.

1712.  E. Cooke, Voy. S. Sea, 354. But enought of this, since it was not our Fortune to take her.

1728.  Pope, Dunc., III. 357. Enough! enough! the raptur’d monarch cries.

1808.  Scott, Marm., I. xvi. Enough of him.

  d.  Idiomatically, † His enough: = ‘enough for him’ (obs.). Also (nonce-uses) as sb. with article.

1651.  N. Bacon, Hist. Disc., lix. 176. It’s his enough.

1655.  Fuller, Ch. Hist., IV. iii. § 3. 184. If some Courtiers were to stint the enough of Clergy-men.

1858.  Hawthorne, Fr. & It. Jrnls., II. 149. There is no enough short of a little too much.

  B.  adv. (In mod. Eng. enough normally follows an adj. or adv. which it qualifies; in OE. and ME. it often preceded it, and occasional instances of this order occur in writings of the present century.)

  1.  Sufficiently; in a quantity or degree that satisfies a desire, meets a want, or fulfils a purpose.

c. 888.  K. Ælfred, Boeth., xxxvi. § 3. Genoʓ sweotole me is þæt ʓesæd.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 217. Þis chirche is riche inoh.

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 600. It adde lested long a-noȝ.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 8103. Bi-halden vs inogh has þou.

1513–75.  Diurn. Occurr. (1833), 59. To assy gif thair ladderis wer convenient and lang aneuch.

1535.  Coverdale, 1 Chron. xxiii. 1. He [Dauid] himselfe was olde, and had lyued ynough.

1597.  J. Payne, Royal Exch., 3. Soone ynoughe yf well ynoughe.

1664.  Evelyn, Kal. Hort. (1729). 220. Your choice Tulips … will be more secure, and forward enough.

1667.  Milton, P. L., IV. 124. Yet not anough had practised to deceive Uriel once warnd.

1716–8.  Lady M. W. Montague, Lett., I. xix. 59. I hope you know me enough to take my word.

1742.  Richardson, Pamela, III. 231. They have vex’d me more than enough.

1804.  W. Mitford, Harmony, 238. But the more classical scholars, were nough aware that quantity and not accent had given the mechanism of classical poetry.

1809.  Roland, Fencing, 61. You are not always quick enough to parry as has been recommended.

a. 1834.  Coleridge, Church & State (1839), 206. Scarcely any of us are enough thankful.

1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 161. But he who is moderately good, and does no evil, is good enough for me.

  b.  quasi-adj. qualifying a sb. used as predicate.

1711.  Addison, Spect., No. 130, ¶ 1. The Butler has been Fool enough to be seduced by them.

Mod.  He was not man enough to confess the truth.

  c.  ellipt., with omission of done, i.e., boiled, cooked, roasted, etc. Obs. exc. dial.

c. 1440.  Anc. Cookery, in Househ. Ord. (1790), 432. When thai arne ynoughf, take hem up, and let hem kele.

1658.  Evelyn, Fr. Gard., III. iv. (1675), 294. You shall discover, if it be enough boyled, by putting into it a Hens egg; if it sink, it is not yet enough.

1725.  Bradley, Fam. Dict., s.v. Tart, Bake it in the oven, and when enough, strew Sugar again over it.

1796.  Mrs. Glasse, Cookery, iii. 29. As soon as you find the greens are shrunk and fallen to the bottom … they are enough.

1863.  Atkinson, Provinc. Darby, Eneugh, adv., sufficiently cooked, enough done (of any article of food).

  2.  In vaguer sense (qualifying an adj. or adv.).

  a.  With intensive force: Fully, quite, abundantly, as much as well could be. Now only in certain customary (chiefly colloq.) phrases, as sure enough, you know well enough, etc. Also in weaker sense, implying ‘a slight augmentation of the sense of the positive’ (J.), as in aptly enough, oddly enough.

c. 888.  K. Ælfred, Boeth., xxxvi. § 3. Ða cwæþ ic; Genoʓ open hit is.

a. 1175.  Cott. Hom., 223. God wot ʓenoh ʓeare ʓif ʓe of þan treowe aeteð.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 420. Sum wummon inouh reaðe wereð þe brech of heare ful wel i-knotted.

a. 1300.  Fall & Passion, 101, in E. E. P. (1862), 15. Ihsu was sikir inoȝ.

1375.  Barbour, Bruce, I. 286. Hys landis that war fayr Inewch Thai to the lord off clyffurd gave.

c. 1450.  Merlin, iv. 68. And these othir tymes I parceyved it wele I-nough.

1529.  More, Comf. agst. Trib., II. Wks. 1204/1. This poynte is … metely playn inough.

a. 1568.  Sempill Ballates, 237. The Quhyt is twiche and fresche ennewche.

1594.  Battell Balrinness, in Scot. Poems 16th C., II. 351. For weill aneugh they understood.

1630.  Lane, Sqr’s T., p. 151, note. This heard, Leyfurco with his mates thus prate, theare wheare weare safe enuff topp of the gate.

a. 1774.  Goldsm., Double Transf., 28. Though she felt his usage rough, Yet in a man ’twas well enough.

1783.  Hailes, Antiq. Chr. Ch., ii. 15. Which, aptly enough, might be denominated the journals of the senate.

1871.  Browning, Hervé Riel. You shall look long enough ere you come to Hervé Riel.

  b.  Implying disparagement of the importance or relevance of a conceded proposition.

1606.  Shaks., Tr. & Cr., V. i. 57. An honest fellow enough … but he has not so much Braine as eare-wax.

1719.  De Foe, Crusoe (ed. 3), II. 304. Good Bread enough, but bak’d as Biskets.

1822.  Blackw. Mag., XII. 69. Calashes are good things enough, when the weather’s wet and muggy.

1831.  Macaulay, Essays, Johnson, Wks. (1866), V. 509. The conceit is wretched enough, but [etc.].

1856.  Mrs. Carlyle, Lett., II. 286. A good enough man in his way—sober and laborious, and all that.