ever definition | Dictionary.com

ev⋅er

[ev-er]

–adverb

1.	at all times; always: an ever-present danger; He is ever ready to find fault.

2.	continuously: ever since then.

3.	at any time: Have you ever seen anything like it?

4.	in any possible case; by any chance; at all (often used to intensify or emphasize a phrase or an emotional reaction as surprise or impatience): How did you ever manage to do it? If the band ever plays again, we will dance.

–adjective

5.	South Midland and Southern U.S. every: She rises early ever morning.

—Idioms

6.	ever and again, now and then; from time to time. Also, Literary, ever and anon.

7.	ever so, to a great extent or degree; exceedingly: They were ever so kind to me.

Origin:
bef. 1000; ME; OE ǣfre

Synonyms:
1. eternally, perpetually, constantly. See always.

Antonyms:
1. never.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To ever

ev·er (ěv'ər)

adv.

At all times; always: ever hoping to strike it rich.
1. At any time: Have you ever been to Europe?
2. In any way; at all: How did they ever manage? See Usage Note at rarely.
To a great extent or degree. Used for emphasis often with so: He was ever so sorry. Was she ever mad!

[Middle English, from Old English ǣfre; see aiw- in Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Ever

Ev"er\adv. [OE. ever, [ae]fre, AS. [ae]fre; perh. akin to AS. [=a] always. Cf. Aye, Age,Evry, Never.] [Sometimes contracted into e'er.]

1. At any time; at any period or point of time.

No man ever yet hated his own flesh. --Eph. v. 29.

2. At all times; through all time; always; forever.

He shall ever love, and always be The subject of by scorn and cruelty. --Dryder.

3. Without cessation; continually.

Note: Ever is sometimes used as an intensive or a word of enforcement. "His the old man e'er a son?" --Shak.

To produce as much as ever they can. --M. Arnold.

Ever and anon, now and then; often. See under Anon.

Ever is one, continually; constantly. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Ever so, in whatever degree; to whatever extent; -- used to intensify indefinitely the meaning of the associated adjective or adverb. See Never so, under Never. "Let him be ever so rich." --Emerson.

And all the question (wrangle e'er so long), Is only this, if God has placed him wrong. --Pope.

You spend ever so much money in entertaining your equals and betters. --Thackeray.

For ever, eternally. See Forever.

For ever and a day, emphatically forever. --Shak.

She [Fortune] soon wheeled away, with scornful laughter, out of sight for ever and day. --Prof. Wilson.

Or ever (for or ere), before. See Or, ere. [Archaic]

Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven Or ever I had seen that day, Horatio! --Shak.

Note: Ever is sometimes joined to its adjective by a hyphen, but in most cases the hyphen is needless; as, ever memorable, ever watchful, ever burning.

Language Translation for : ever

Spanish: nunca, jamás,

German: jemals,

Japanese: いつか

More Translations »

ever

O.E. æfre, no cognates in any other Gmc. language; perhaps a contraction of a in feore, lit. "ever in life" (the expression a to fore is common in O.E. writings). First element is almost certainly related to O.E. a "always, ever," from P.Gmc. *aiwo, from PIE *aiw- "vital force, life, long life, eternity." Evermore is O.E. æfre ma; in ref. to trees and shrubs, evergreen is from 1644, figurative sense from 1796; Everglades is from 1827, U.S., perhaps from sense of "interminable."

ever

In addition to the idiom beginning with ever, also see hardly ever; live happily ever after.

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