# ever
## 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 / jau$^5$ ... gwo$^3$, “has […] before”).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈɛvə/
* (General American) IPA: /ˈɛvɚ/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (UK):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛvə(ɹ)
* Hyphenation: ev‧er

### Adverb

ever (not comparable)
* (formal or archaic) Always, frequently, forever.
    It was ever thus.
** 1592, George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax, An Advertisement […] concerning Seminary Priests:[…] the Lord Treasurer, who ever secretly feigned himself to be a Moderator and Mollifier of the Catholicks Afflictions […]
** 1860, Florence Nightingale, Suggestions for Thought to the searchers after truth among the artizans of England., page 302:Let us ever remember that our conception, our comprehension, our feeling of God must be ever imperfect, yet should be ever advancing. We must not make God: we must find Him and feel Him more and more.
** 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:“A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; […]. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.
** 1993, Nancy K. Florida, Javanese Literature in Surakarta Manuscripts: Introduction and manuscripts of the Karaton Surakarta, SEAP Publications, →ISBN, page 9:The library staffs of the Karaton Surakarta's Sasana Pustaka, the Mangku- nagaran's Reksa Pustaka, and the Museum Radyapustaka were ever helpful and generous with their time.
** 2007, Roman Frydman, Michael D. Goldberg, Imperfect Knowledge Economics: Exchange Rates and Risk, Princeton University Press, →ISBN:As with the rest of macroeconomics, the issues have to be rethought in a way that makes the ever-imperfect knowledge of market participants and policymakers an integral part of the analysis.
** 2021 September 8, Phil McNulty, “Poland 1-1 England”, in BBC Sport‎:Kane picked up the ball 25 yards out with 18 minutes left before proving he is ever the opportunist by flashing a dipping swerving drive beyond the deceived Szczesny.
* Continuously, constantly, all the time (for the complete duration).
    People struggled to cope with the ever-increasing cost of living.
** 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 4, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 29:For what seemed ages piled on ages, I lay there, frozen with the most awful fears, not daring to drag away my hand; yet ever thinking that if I could but stir it one single inch, the horrid spell would be broken.
* At any time.
    We've only ever talked on the phone.
    I scarcely ever see you anymore!.
    If that ever happens, we’re in deep trouble.
    This is one of the best movies ever.
    He's back and better than ever.
** 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter III, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:Now all this was very fine, but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so.
** 2019 February 3, “UN Study: China, US, Japan Lead World AI Development”, in Voice of America‎, archived from the original on 7 February 2019:He said the study provides clear evidence that AI technologies are growing at a faster rate than ever and will continue to do so.
    Audio (US):(file)
* (informal) As intensifier following an interrogative word.
    Was I ever glad to see you!
    Did I ever!
* (Manglish, Singlish) Indicates experiential aspect, once; has or have (done something) before.
** 2005 October 1, hellangel, “Tamiya Asiacup Qualifying 2005 (singapore)”, in rctech.net‎:but i ever ran 5mins using the 1400 cells and the type RR 23T motor...
** 2021 July 13, Lchlch, “What are your hobbies in sg?”, in HardwareZone Forums‎:i ever walked from the south to MacRitchie Reservoir.....

#### 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

* forever
* however
* whatever
* whatsoever
* whenever
* whichever
* whoever

#### Derived terms

* as ever
* as ever trod shoe leather, as ever trod shoe-leather
* e'er
* ever after
* ever and again
* ever and anon
* ever and ever
* everbearer, everbearing
* everblack
* everbloomer, everblooming
* ever-burning
* ever-busy
* everchanging, -changing
* everclear
* evercookie
* ever-damned
* everduring
* everfleeing
* everflowing
* evergreen
* ever-growing, evergrowing
* everlast, everlasting
* everliving
* everloving, ever-loving
* evermore, ever-more
* ever-moving
* everness
* Evernet
* ever-present
* evershifting, ever-shifting
* ever since
* ever smoker, ever-smoker
* ever so
* ever-varying
* everwatchful, ever-watchful
* everwhat
* everwhen
* everwhere
* everwhich
* everwho
* every, everywhere
* for ever, …and ever, forever and ever, for ever more
* greatest story ever told
* happily ever after, happily-ever-after
* happy ever after
* if ever
* if ever there was one
* if I ever saw one
* if I've ever seen one
* may the odds be ever in your favor
* never ever have I, never have I ever
* never, never ever
* nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people/​public, no one…public
* nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American people/public, no one…people/public, …good taste…people/​public
* no good deed ever goes unpunished
* ready as I'll ever be
* said no one ever
* seldom or ever
* soever
* that ever walked on two legs
* what-so-ever
* whencever
* wherever
* whitherever
* whomever
* whosever
* whyever
* yours ever

#### Descendants

* → German: ever

#### Translations
### Adjective

ever (not comparable)
* (epidemiology) Occurring at any time, occurring even but once during a timespan.
** 1965, Reuben Hill, The family and population control: a Puerto Rican experiment in social change:This family empathy measure is highly related to ever use of birth control but not to any measure of continuous use.

### Determiner

ever
* (dialectal and informal) Shortening of every
** 1989, Connie Jordan Green, The War at Home, page 16:"Ever place you look there's houses and more houses."
** 2011, Lee Smith, Oral History, →ISBN:Queen Anne's lace ever place you look.
** 2011, Michael Blair, Nub and Bow in History, page 27:A sign at the entrance to the road going up Snake Hollow reads, “Snake Hollow is a wonderful place to be, Ever place you look there is a beautiful green tree. Snake Hollow makes you feel alive and free.” Lets keep it that way, for you and me.

### 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: /ˈeː.vər/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: ever
* Rhymes: -eːvər

### Noun

ever m (plural evers, diminutive evertje n)
* wild boar (Sus scrofa)
    Synonyms: everzwijn, wild zwijn

#### Derived terms

* everjong
* everzwijn

#### Related terms

* Evert

### Anagrams

* erve, veer, vere, vree

## German
### Etymology

Borrowed from English ever.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɛvɐ/

### Adverb

ever
* (colloquial, originally youth slang) ever (with superlative)
    Synonym: aller Zeiten
    Das war das geilste Konzert ever.That was the greatest concert ever.
** 2023 December 28, Florian Bayer, “Größte Pleite ever in Österreich”, in Die Tageszeitung: taz‎, →ISSN:Signa-Immobiliengesellschaften insolvent: Größte Pleite ever in Österreich [title](please add an English translation of this quotation)

### Further reading

* “ever” in Duden online

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* evre, evir, afre, er, are

### Etymology

From Old English ǣfre.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɛːvər/, /ˈɛvər/

### Adverb

ever
* 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
* present of eve

### Anagrams

* ever, reve, veer

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Alternative forms

* evor (non-standard since 2012)

### Noun

ever f
* indefinite plural of eve
* indefinite plural of eva (non-standard since 2012)

### Anagrams

* erve, ever, reve, vere