ever

English Online Dictionary. What means ever‎? What does ever mean?

English

Alternative forms

• euer (obsolete)
• e'er, ev'r (poetic)
• eva, evah, eva', evuh, iver, ivver (dialectal)

Etymology

From Middle English ever, from Old English ǣfre, originally a phrase whose first element undoubtedly consists of Old English ā (“ever, always”) + in (“in”) + an element possibly from feorh (“life, existence”) (dative fēore). Compare Old English ā tō fēore (“ever in life”), Old English feorhlīf (“life”).

Sense 5 of the adverb was likely formed by association with never, which also carries the meaning of did not in colloquial Singaporean and Malaysian English. Also, compare Chinese 有 … 過 / 有 … 过 (yǒu ... guò / jau⁵ ... gwo³, “has […] before”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɛvə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɛvɚ/
• Rhymes: -ɛvə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: ev‧er

Adverb

ever (not comparable)

1. (formal or archaic) Always, frequently, forever.
2. Continuously, constantly, all the time (for the complete duration).
3. At any time.
4. (informal) As intensifier following an interrogative word.

5. (Manglish, Singlish) Indicates experiential aspect, once; has or have (done something) before.

Synonyms

• (always): See Thesaurus:forever
• (at any time):
• (in any way):
• (intensifier): See Thesaurus:the dickens

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “always”): See Thesaurus:never

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Descendants

• → German: ever

Translations

Adjective

ever (not comparable)

1. (epidemiology) Occurring at any time, occurring even but once during a timespan.

Determiner

ever

1. (dialectal and informal) Shortening of every

References

• “ever”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• Mian Lian Ho, Irene F. H. Wong (2003 January) “The use of ever in Singapore English”, in World Englishes, volume 20, number 1, →DOI, pages 79–87

Anagrams

• Vere, veer

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch ēver, from Old Dutch *evur, from Proto-West Germanic *ebur. Cognate with Latin aper, Proto-Slavic *veprь (“wild boar”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈeː.vər/
• Hyphenation: ever
• Rhymes: -eːvər

Noun

ever m (plural evers, diminutive evertje n)

1. wild boar (Sus scrofa)

   Synonyms: everzwijn, wild zwijn

Derived terms

Related terms

Anagrams

• erve, veer, vere, vree

German

Etymology

Borrowed from English ever.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛvɐ/

Adverb

ever

1. (colloquial, originally youth slang) ever (with superlative)

   Synonym: aller Zeiten

Further reading

• “ever” in Duden online

Middle English

Alternative forms

• evre, evir, afre, er, are

Etymology

From Old English ǣfre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛːvər/, /ˈɛvər/

Adverb

ever

1. ever

Descendants

• English: ever
• Scots: evire, evir
• Yola: eyver, e'er, ere

References

• “ē̆ver, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

ever

1. present of eve

Anagrams

• ever, reve, veer

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• evor (non-standard since 2012)

Noun

ever f

1. indefinite plural of eve
2. indefinite plural of eva (non-standard since 2012)

Anagrams

• erve, ever, reve, vere