Ever

• POS: Adverb
• HYPHEN: ev=er

CIDE DICTIONARY

Ever, adv. [OE. ever, æfre, AS. æfre; perh. akin to AS. ā always. Cf. Aye, Age,Evry, Never.].

•  At any time; at any period or point of time.  [1913 Webster]

  "No man ever yet hated his own flesh."  [1913 Webster]
•  At all times; through all time; always; forever.  [1913 Webster]

  "He shall ever love, and always be
  The subject of by scorn and cruelty."  [1913 Webster]
•  Without cessation; continually.  [1913 Webster]

  " Ever is sometimes used as an intensive or a word of enforcement. “His the old man e'er a son?”"  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

  " 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."  [1913 Webster]

  "To produce as much as ever they can."  [1913 Webster]

  "And all the question (wrangle e'er so long),
  Is only this, if God has placed him wrong."  [1913 Webster]

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

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

  "Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven
  Or ever I had seen that day, Horatio!"  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Ever, adv.
1 at all times; always (ever hopeful; ever after).
2 at any time (have you ever been to Paris?; nothing ever happens; as good as ever).
3 as an emphatic word: a in any way; at all (how ever did you do it?; when will they ever learn?). b (prec. by as) in any manner possible (be as quick as ever you can).
4 (in comb.) constantly (ever-present; ever-recurring).
5 (foll. by so, such) Brit. colloq. very; very much (is ever so easy; was ever such a nice man; thanks ever so).
6 (foll. by compar.) constantly, increasingly (grew ever larger).

Idiom

did you ever? colloq. did you ever hear or see the like? ever since throughout the period since. for ever
1 for all future time.
2 colloq. for a long time (cf. FOREVER).

Etymology

OE {aelig}fre

THESAURUS

Ever

all the time, always, annoyingly, anytime, anyway, anywise, at all, at all times, at any cost, at any time, aye, by any chance, by any means, by merest chance, ceaselessly, confoundedly, consistently, constantly, consummately, continually, continuously, daily, daily and hourly, day after day, day and night, endlessly, eternally, even, ever and again, ever and anon, everlastingly, evermore, every day, every hour, every moment, excessively, extremely, for all time, for aye, for good, for keeps, forever, forever and aye, forevermore, grievously, hour after hour, hourly, if at all, immensely, in all ages, in any case, in any way, incessantly, inordinately, invariably, month after month, mortally, night and day, now and forever, on and on, once, over, overfull, overly, overmuch, perennially, perpetually, plaguey, rapidly, regularly, right along, steadily, still, super, sustainedly, throughout the ages, till doomsday, till time stops, too, unceasingly, unduly, unintermittently, uninterruptedly, unvaryingly, usually, without cease, without letup, without stopping, year after year, yet

ROGET THESAURUS

Ever

Perpetuity

N perpetuity, eternity, everness, aye, sempiternity, immortality, athanasia, interminability, agelessness, everlastingness, perpetuation, continued existence, uninterrupted existence, perennity, permanence (durability), perpetual, eternal, everduring, everlasting, ever-living, ever- flowing, continual, sempiternal, coeternal, endless, unending, ceaseless, incessant, uninterrupted, indesinent, unceasing, endless, unending, interminable, having no end, unfading, evergreen, amaranthine, neverending, never-dying, never-fading, deathless, immortal, undying, imperishable, perpetually, always, ever, evermore, aye, for ever, for aye, till the end of the universe, forevermore, forever and a day, for ever and ever, in all ages, from age to age, without end, world without end, time without end, in secula seculorum, to the end of time, to the crack of doom, to the 'last syllable of recorded time', till doomsday, constantly, esto perpetuum, labitur et labetur in omne volubilis oevum, but thou shall flourish in immortal youth, Eternity! thou pleasing, dreadful thought, her immortal part with angels lives, ohne Rast ora e sempre.