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VERY.<br />
as very Wealth, is health. 1651 Hobbes Levidih. 11. xxvi.<br />
147 Also, UnwTiuen Customes. .by the tacite consent of the<br />
Emperour. .arc very Lawes. a 1679 — Rh^i. xvL (1681) 39<br />
The written Law is but .Te in askis lay, & schaw til hyre a<br />
croice verra. CX449 Pecock Refir. 11. ix. 193 Ech lyuyng<br />
man is verier .. ymage of Crist.. than is eny vnquyk stole.<br />
X495 Trevis^i'sBarih, De P. A*, xvi. xlvii. 569 It is harde..<br />
to knowe beiwene the very precyous stones and fals. 1555<br />
£o£N Decades (.-Vrb.) 356 Many bouwes and br.inches,..<br />
muche like vnto verj"c trees that are in owlde woddes. 1581<br />
Pettik Guazio's Civ. Conv. i. (15S6) 23 The other parts<br />
which we call compound, or inst rumen tall, which are the<br />
verie members of the bodie. 150* Timmk Ten Eng. Lepers<br />
KJ b, They which are out of their wittes do not see the<br />
verie things, but the fantasies of their passion. 1678 Hobbes<br />
DtcaiH, ix. 106 Such Iron were iitdeed a very and vigorous<br />
Loadstone.<br />
f* d. Full, thorough, unqualified. Obs.<br />
1^ in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 339 The said<br />
maister..shaldohi3 verray diligence to pourvey..a place as<br />
gode. ^96 Ralls of Parlt. VI. 512/1 The said Quene is of<br />
verrey will and mynde, that the same Erie shall be truly<br />
and fully contented.<br />
fe. Spec, in Law. (See quot. 1607.) Obs.<br />
1544 tr. LiitUton's Tenures (1574) 96 b, But if it be verye<br />
lord and verj'e tenaunt, and the tenaunte maketh a feoffemeni<br />
in fee. [So Coke On Liit. (1628) 269.] 1607 Cowei.i,<br />
Interpr. s.v., Very Lord, and very Tenent,..are they that<br />
be immediate Lord & Tenent one to the other.<br />
2. With limitation (usually expressed by the or<br />
a possessive) to particular instances : The true or<br />
real ; that is truly or properly entitled to the name.<br />
Now arch, a. Of material things or places.<br />
ctyjsSc. Leg. Saints xix. {Christopher) 61 pe king can<br />
ma pe takine of i>e croice verra on hyme. 1387 Trevisa<br />
Higden (Rolls) \. 255 Ysidre sei> J>at verray L.proj^rie dicta]<br />
Germania haj> in J>e est side t>e mouth of pe ryuer Danubius.<br />
1414 Lay Folks Afass Bk. App. ii. 120 The materyall<br />
bred that was before is turnyd into Chrystys verray body.<br />
c 1450 Merlin xx. 329 Than he made vpon hym the signe<br />
of the very crossc. 15*6 Pilgr. Per/. (W. de W. 1531) 4<br />
Theyr ioumey..signifyeth the iourney to yc very Jerusalem.<br />
153s CovERDALE John vi. 55 For my flesh is y» very<br />
meate, and my blonde is y« very drynke. 1567 Gude er be<br />
alauntes of alle hewese, t>e verrey hewe of J>e good alauntes<br />
..shuld be white with a bbke spotte aboute |w eres.<br />
3. In emphatic use, denoting that the person or<br />
thing may be so named in the fullest sense of the<br />
term, or possesses all the essential qualities of the<br />
thing specified. Cf. Veritable a. 3.<br />
Common from ci$^o to c 1700; now chiefly in the superlative,<br />
freq. qualifying something bad, objectionable, or<br />
undesirable. Occasionally repeated in order to give additional<br />
emphasis.<br />
a. With a or the preceding (or rarely without<br />
article), or with pi. sb.<br />
(a) 1384 Chaucer L.G. W. 259 {Prol.), Thow thynkist in<br />
thyn wit . lliat he nj-s but a verray propre fole. 1484<br />
Caxtom Fables 0/ Aitian vi, He.. is a very fole, 1535<br />
Coverdale 2 Kings xxii. 19 They shall become a very<br />
desolacion and curse. 1545 Brinklow Compl. xxv. 75<br />
Eiiery one of them is become a very Nero. 1576 Gascoigne<br />
Kenehvorth Castle Wks. 1910 if. 122 Heaven was not<br />
heaven, it was rather a verye Hell. 1609 Holland Amm.<br />
Marcell. Fj b, When he was dead. Valentinian his sonne a !<br />
very cbilde. was by the army stiled Augustus. i66a Petty<br />
Taxes 83 Not to rate, .wool until it be cloth, or rather until<br />
it be a very garment. 1693 Dkyden Juvenal vi. 592 When I<br />
152<br />
Poor, she's scarce a tollerable Evil j But Rich, and Fine, a<br />
Wife's a very Devil. 1711 Steele iy^'c/. No. 157 ri Marius<br />
was then a very Boy. 1771 Fhankh.v Autobiog. Wks. 1840<br />
I. 55 The attorney was a very knave. 1826 Disraeli Viv.<br />
Grey iii. vi, Yes, it is madness ; veryj very madness. 1839<br />
Scott ^««(r^C xxi, Sigismund Biederman will aid him<br />
willingly, and he is a very horse at labour. 1888 J. Incus<br />
Tent Li/einTigerland\ North Bhangulpore. .is admittedly<br />
even for India a very sportman's paradise.<br />
Kb) 1593 Hooker Eccl, Pol. 11. vii. §6 Which insolency<br />
must be repressed, or it will be the very bane of Christi.in<br />
religion. 1648 Art. Peace in Milton's Wks. (1851) IV. 546<br />
The intermedling of Governours and Parties in tliis Kingdom,<br />
with Sidings and Parties in England, liave been the<br />
very betraying of this Kingdom to the Irish. 1711 Addison<br />
Sped. No. 393 P2 A Region, which is the very Reverse of<br />
Paradise. 1729 Law Serious C, xiv. 234 Mortification, of<br />
all kinds, is the very life and soul of piety. 1779 Warner<br />
in Jesse Selwyn
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