Between. World English Historical Dictionary

Between. World English Historical Dictionary Dictionary Biographies Literary Criticism Welcome Terms of Service ⧏ Previous Next ⧐ Contents Slice Contents Key Bibliographic Record Murray’s New English Dictionary. 1888, rev. 2024. Between prep. and adv. Forms: α. 1 bi-, betweonum, -an, -twinum, -an, -twynum, -an, 2–3 bitweone(n, twene(n, bitwine, 3 bitweounen, 3–4 bituene, 4 bituine, bytwyne, betwene. β. 1 bi-, betwion, -tuien, bitwien, -twen, twin, betweon, 2 bitweon, -twon, 2–3 bitwien, 3–4 bitwen, -tuen, (bitwhen, beþwen). α. β. (4–5 betweyn(e), 4–6 bi-, betwen(e, (5 bytwyen, betwyn), 5–7 betweene, 6– between. [The modern between combines two earlier forms: α. OE. bi-, betwéonum, etc., ME. bitwenen, -twene; β. OE. bi-, betwéon, etc., ME. bitwēn; see BE-. In betwéonum, Mercian betwínum, the second element represents an original OE. dative *twîhnum, *tweohnum. In betwéon (only a northern form, Rushworth Gosp. bi-, betwion, betweon, Lindisf. bi-, betuien, bitwén, Durh. Ritual bitwien, -twén, -twín), the second element points back, according to Sievers, through earlier *twîhen, *twîhon, to an orig. OE. acc. twîhn (cf. bituichn in Erfurt Gloss.). These, *twîhnum, *twîhn, answer respectively to Goth. tweihnaim dat. pl., and tweihna acc. pl. neuter, of the distributive numeral tweih-nai ‘two each’, a derivative of twa TWO (= L. bī-nī, for *dvī-nī ‘two each’), which appears also, but with the simple sense of ‘two’ (nom. masc.), in OS. and OFris. twêne, OHG., MHG. zwêne (early mod.G. zween). Betwéonum, later betwéonan, gave the prevailing ME. form bitwenen, reduced before a consonant, and at length generally, to bitwene; bitwen was mostly northern. But after 1400, when final -e became mute, and was omitted in writing, or retained only as a sign of a preceding long vowel, both forms necessarily coalesced in betwene (= betwēn), whence mod. between. In OE. the original construction was bi sǽm twéonum, lit. ‘by seas twain’; thence through constructions like frið freondum bi twéon ‘peace friends between,’ bi twéonum, bi twéon coalesced into prepositions. (Cf. the history of to(us)-ward, to-ward, toward.)

1   Intimately related to between, alike in their elements, and in the process by which these coalesced, are its synonyms BETWIXT, in ME. betwix, and † BETWIXEN, † BITWIH, † BITWIHEN, BITWEIES. Bitwih was actually, in its origin, a doublet of OE. betwéon, and betwihen an expansion of that, on the analogy of betweonen. Betwixen and betwix were a parallel pair, formed on the OTeut. adj. twiski- ‘two-fold.’ (See Sievers, Misc. zur Ags. Gram., § 329.) Bitwih died a. 1100, bitwihen a. 1300, betwixen a. 1500; betwixt is now archaic, between is the living word.]

2   ¶ Instances of the original construction:

3 Beowulf, 1720. Suð ne norð be sǽm tweonum.

4 971.  Blickl. Hom., 139. And hie [Peter and Paul] ʓesawon be him tweonum þæt heo wæs ʓewuldrod. Ibid., 143. Heo bið swiþor ʓestrangod be us tweonum þurh Drihtnes gehát.

5   A.  prep.

6   I.  Of simple position. * Of a point.

7   1.  The proper word expressing the local relation of a point to two other points in opposite directions from it (i.e., if a point has two other points on opposite sides of it, it is said to be between them): In the space which separates two points; in the direct line which joins two points; hence, in any line of communication which passes from one point, place, or object, to another.

8 c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 171. Noðer on heuene · ne on eorðe · ac bitwien two · on þe wolcne.

9 c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 760. An oðer alter Abram made bi-twen Betel and Ai.

10 1297.  R. Glouc., 371. At þere hii gonne abyde Bytuene þe water of Trente & of Ouse.

11 1398.  Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., VIII. xxiii. (1495), 335. Mystes other clowdes sette bytwene hym and the syghte.

12 1535.  Coverdale, Gen. xiii. 3. The place where his tent was at ye first, betwene Bethel and Ay [Ælfric, betwux; Wyclif, bytwix, bitwixe].

13 1592.  Shaks., Ven. & Ad., 194. I lie between that sun and thee.

14 1667.  Milton, P. L., I. 387. Jehovah … thron’d Between the Cherubim.

15 1838.  Arnold, Hist. Rome (1845), I. xxiv. 517. They … established themselves between the Danube and Greece.

16 Mod.  Any station on the Inner Circle Railway between Gower Street and The Temple.

17   2.  fig. Used of a similar relation to two immaterial objects figured as lying in space; or of a relation, figured as spatial, to two material objects.

18 c. 1325.  E. E. Allit. P., A. 140. A deuyse Bytwene myrþez by merez made.

19 a. 1400.  Cursor M., 723 (Trin.). Now mon is sett bitwene [v.r. bituix] two, On eiþer side he haþ a fo, Bitwene sathan & his wif.

20 1621.  Burton, Anat. Mel., I. ii. II. x. Thus between hope and fear, suspicions, angers … we bangle away our best days.

21 1641.  J. Jackson, True Evang. T., iii. 200. While these Sermons were betweene the Pulpit, and the Presse.

22 1742.  H. Walpole, Lett. (1857), I. 128. To hold the balance between liberty and prerogative.

23 c. 1815.  Miss Austen, Northang. Ab. (1848), 168. The General, between his cocoa and his newspaper, had luckily no leisure for noticing her.

24 1826.  Disraeli, Viv. Grey, III. iv. 102. Between astonishment and fear the lady was tearless.

25 Mod.  The choice lies between the two last-named applicants.

26   b.  In many phrases, which see under the substantives concerned: e.g., † Between the beetle and the block; between the cup and the lip; between the devil and the Dead (or deep) Sea. Between wind and water: along the line where anything is submerged in water or in damp soil, esp. on the load-line of a ship, which, as the vessel tosses, is alternately above and below the water’s surface.

27 1580.  Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 471. Manye thinges fall betweene the cup and the lippe.

28 1613.  Hayward, Norm. Kings, 274. Earle William being thus set as it were betweene the beetle and the block—was nothing deiected.

29 1627.  Capt. Smith, Seaman’s Gram., xiii. 60. Wee are shot thorow and thorow, and betweene wind and water.

30 1642.  Rogers, Naaman, 22. Nothing shall come betweene cup and lip to defeat thee.

31 1692.  Luttrell, Brief Rel. (1857). II. 637. Having received a shot between wind and water, [she was] forced to lye by to stop her leake.

32 Mod.  An oaken gate-post always decays between wind and water.

33   3.  Of time: In the interval following one event or point of time and preceding another.

34 c. 1131.  O. E. Chron., an. 1124. Betweonen Cristes messe and Candel-mæsse.

35 c. 1205.  Lay., 24274. Bitwene þis and domesdæi.

36 c. 1330.  Amis. & Amil., 992. He cam bitven the day and the night.

37 c. 1485.  Digby Myst., Mor. Wisd. (1882), 167. And at the paroyse I wyll be … be-twyn two and three.

38 1601.  Shaks., Jul. C., II. i. 63. Betweene the acting of a dreadfull thing And the first motion, all the interim is Like a phantasma.

39 1790.  Boswell, Johnson (1826), I. 321. Between one and two in the morning.

40 1848.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., II. 51. The nine months which elapsed between the death of Charles and the commencement of the viceroyalty of Clarendon.

41   b.  Between hands (Sc.): in the intervals of regular occupation; also = BETWEENWHILES.

42 c. 1817.  Hogg, Tales & Sk., II. 222. Always, between hands, thanked Heaven for her health.

43 1881.  J. Younger, Autobiog., vi. 54. Retiring to sit and work between hands.

44   4.  Of the relation of a number, quantity, degree, or quality to two others above and below it, or differing from it in opposite ways; Intermediate to.

45 1711.  Steele, Spect., No. 49, ¶ 3. Persons … such as are between these two sorts of Men.

46 1711.  Addison, Ibid., No. 108, ¶ 3. He is now between Forty and Fifty.

47 1712.  Parnell, Ibid., No. 501, ¶ 6. Rivulets that had a colour between red and black.

48 1816.  Miss Austen, Emma (1849), 123. The atmosphere in that unsettled state between frost and thaw.

49 1838.  Arnold, Hist. Rome (1845), I. iii. 33. Between five and six miles from the city.

50 1885.  Law Rep., XV. Q. Bench Div., 170. To the value of between 30,000l. and 40,000l.

51   ** Of a line of motion.

52   5.  Expressing the relation that motion along a line bears to two points on opposite sides of it; as, ‘to steer between Scylla and Charybdis.’

53 c. 1205.  Lay., 20948. Swa heo liðen æfter sæ … swa longe Þat heo commen bitwiȝe Ænglelonde & Normandie.

54 1535.  Coverdale, Josh. xviii. 11. The border of their lot wente out betwene the children of Iuda and the children of Ioseph.

55 1590.  Shaks., Com. Err., III. ii. 132. The salt rheume that ranne betweene France and it.

56 1799.  Southey, Ebb Tide, Lyr. Poems II. 193. Yet little way they made, though labouring long Between thy winding shores.

57 1812.  Byron, Ch. Har., I. xxxiii. But these between a silver streamlet glides.

58 1864.  Tennyson, Brook, 28. By thirty hills I hurry down Or slip between the ridges.

59   II.  Of intervening space. * As separating or connecting.

60   6.  Expressing the relation of the continuous space, or distance, which extends from one point to another, and separates them, or of a line which passes from one to the other and unites them.

61 c. 1205.  Lay., 30017. Nas heom bi-tweounen buten bare twa milen.

62 1790.  Burns, Tam O’Shanter, 9. We think na on the lang Scots miles That lie between us and our hame.

63 1858.  Sears, Athan., III. 280. The vast distance between heaven and hell.

64 1884.  Manch. Exam., 19 March, 4/7. A scheme was mooted … for a plateway between Liverpool and Manchester.

65 Mod.  To stretch a rope between the two rafters.

66   7.  Used in reference to any objective relation uniting two (or more) parties, and holding them in a certain connection.

67 a. 1300.  Cursor M., 3338. Þe mariage þan did he make, Bituene Rebecca and ysaac.

68 1690.  Locke, Hum. Und. (1777), II. 150. A vital union between the soul and body.

69 1758.  Johnson, Idler, No. 12, ¶ 4. A marriage celebrated between Mr. Buckram … and Miss Dolly Juniper.

70 1815.  Scribbleomania, 197. The close alliance which has lately existed between this country and the Peninsula.

71 1848.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 123. A coalition was formed between the Royalists and a large body of Presbyterians.

72   8.  Used with the subjective relations of difference, diversity, likeness, equality, proportion, comparison.

73 a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 70. Ancre & huses lefdi ouh muche to beon bitweonen.

74 1340.  Ayenb., 210. Zwych difference ase þer is be-tuene þe cheue and þe corn.

75 1530.  Palsgr., Introd., 43. Dyvers other sortes of phrasys betwene our tong and theyrs.

76 1692.  E. Walker, Epictetus’ Mor., Life. Bear and Forbear, Words which in Greek have a peculiar Elegance, there being but the Difference of a single Letter between them.

77 1785.  Paley, Mor. Philos., III. III. ix. There is no comparison between a fortune which a man acquires by well-applied industry, and one … received from another.

78 1802.  Mar. Edgeworth, Moral T. (1816), I. i. 1. Inequality between the rich and the poor.

79 1837.  Newman, Par. Serm. (ed. 2), III. xx. 327. Is there no difference between a chance and a certainty?

80   ** Of motion across intervening space.

81   9.  Expressing motion or communication from one body or place to another.

82 1598.  Shaks., Merry W., II. ii. 130. You must send her your Page … hee may come and goe betweene you both.

83 1629.  Massinger, Emperor of E., I. ii. You are … the go-between This female and that wanton sir.

84 1696.  Luttrell, Brief Rel. (1857), IV. 142. All clipt money shal goe between man and man at 5s. 2d. per ounce.

85 1712.  Steele, Spect., No. 263, ¶ 5. Two Letters which passed between a Mother and Son lately.

86 1812.  Miss Austen, Pride & Prej. (1846), 301. Not a word passed between the sisters concerning Bingley.

87 Mod. Newspaper.  Carried backwards and forwards between the police station and the workhouse. Tenders for carrying the mails between Great Britain and New Zealand.

88   10.  Expressing reciprocal action or relation maintained, by two (or more) agents towards each other.

89 971.  Blickl. Hom., 221. Swylce ða ʓesceafta twá him betweonan ʓefeohtan sceoldan.

90 1038–50.  Chart. Godwine, in Cod. Dipl., IV. 118. [Ða forew]eard ðe Godwine eorl worhte betweonan Ælfstáne abbod … and Leófwine preóste.

91 c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 41. Haldeð broþerredene eow bitwenen.

92 c. 1205.  Lay., 22968. Feond-scipe … bitweone twom monnen.

93 c. 1300.  Beket, 281. The love that bituene hem was.

94 c. 1380.  Sir Ferumb., 986. Þan comencede a batail newe; by-twene þes hostes two.

95 1478.  Sir J. Paston, Lett., 815, III. 223. Suche cawsys as ar nowe bygunne by twyen my Lorde off Suffolke and me.

96 1503.  Wriothesley, Chron. (1875), I. 5. A peace made betwene the Emperoure and the Kinge.

97 1611.  Bible, Gen. iii. 15. I will put enmitie betweene thee and the woman, and betweene thy seed and her seed.

98 1779–84.  Horne, Disc. (1799), III. iv. 73. A friendly intercourse is opened between the most distant lands.

99 1857.  Buckle, Civiliz., I. x. 607. To talk of sympathy existing between the two classes is a manifest absurdity.

100 1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. Pref. 19. The same opposition between science and religion.

101   III.  of relation to things acting conjointly or participating in action.

102   11.  Expressing the position of anything confined or enclosed by objects on opposite sides.

103 c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 185. Hwine warpe ich me bitweone þe ilke earmes.

104 1340.  Ayenb., 210. Þou sselt bidde God betuene þine teþ þet is to zigge ine þine herte.

105 c. 1380.  Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 19. Þe sacrament of þe auter þat men seen bitwen þe prestis hondis.

106 1593.  Shaks., Lucr., 390. The pillow … Between whose hills her head entombed is.

107 1643.  Denham, Coopers H., 224. Between the Mountain and the Stream embrac’d.

108 a. 1682.  Dryden, Medal, 121. This new Jehu … Instructs the beast … To take the bit between his teeth and fly.

109 1853.  Kane, Grinnell Exp., i. (1856), 13. The Arctic Ocean is enclosed between the northern shores of Asia, Europe, and America.

110   12.  Expressing confinement or restriction to two (or more) parties; especially used of privacy or secrecy in conversation. Between ourselves: as a matter not to be communicated to others.

111 c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., John vii. 35. Þa iudeas cwædon betweonan him sylfum.

112 c. 1205.  Lay., 25963. Þer heo heom bi-twenen [c. 1250 bi-twine] heolden heore runen.

113 c. 1300.  K. Alis., 1556. Tel me … pryvely bytweone thè and me!

114 1470–85.  Malory, Arthur (1816), II. 112. Pray him to speak with me between us two.

115 1526.  Tindale, John xi. 56. And spake bitwene [1611 among] them selves.

116 1588.  J. Udall, Diotreph. (Arb.), 12. This I tel you between you and me, but I would haue it go no further.

117 1711.  Steele, Spect., No. 118, ¶ 3. Between you and me, I am often apt to imagine it has had some whimsical Effect upon my Brain.

118 1840.  Marryat, Poor Jack, xix. I was desired to ask you a question … between ourselves.

119   13.  By the joint action of, done by, shared in by, belonging to (two parties) jointly. (Sometimes said of more than two, when it is desired to mark the participation of all the parties more definitely than can be done by among; cf. 19.)

120 1297.  R. Glouc., 32. Þat heo myȝte som eyres bitwene hem forþ bringe.

121 a. 1400.  Cursor M., 2443 (Laud). By-twene [v.r. bituix] hym and his nevew lot Bestayle they had y-now y wot.

122 1512.  Act 4 Hen. VIII., xi. The heires of the bodies of the seid Countesse and … hir late Husbond decessed bytwene theym laufully begoten.

123 1590.  Shaks., Com. Err., V. i. 177. Betweene them they will kill the coniurer.

124 1785.  Mackenzie, Lounger, No. 36. They had but one pair of silk stockings between them.

125 1812.  Miss Austen, Mansf. Park (1847), 160. We brought home six brace between us.

126 1867.  Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1876), I. App. 776. Between the two we get a full and consistent narrative.

127   14.  Expressing division and distribution to two (or more) partakers.

128 1758.  Johnson, Idler, No. 19, ¶ 5. By this ingenious distribution of himself between two houses.

129 1771.  R. Henry, Hist. Gt. Brit., I. I. vi. 383. The British trade was thus divided between Marseilles and Narbonne.

130 1788.  J. Powell, Devises (1827), II. 627. Her personal estate … should go and be equally divided between her said two grandsons.

131 Mod.  They had it between them.

132   IV.  Of separation.

133   15.  Expressing the relation of a line to two spaces which it separates or divides from each other.

134 c. 1385.  Chaucer, L. G. W., 713. There was but a ston wal hem be-tweene.

135 c. 1400.  Maundev., xi. 124. By twyne the Cytee of Darke and the Cytee of Rophane, ys a Ryvere.

136 1590.  Shaks., Mids. N., V. 176. O vvall … That stands betweene her fathers ground and mine.

137 1770.  Burke, Pres. Discont., Wks. 1845, I. 383. No man can draw a stroke between the confines of day and night.

138 1855.  Dickens, Dorrit, i. The line of demarcation between the two colours.

139   16.  Expressing the relation of motion or action to bodies or surfaces which it forces apart. Between the bark and the wood or tree: see BARK.

140 c. 1000.  Ags. Ps. cv. 9. And [ðu] hi betweonum wætera weallas læddest.

141 a. 1120.  O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1101. Þa heafod men heom betwenan foran.

142 1642.  Rogers, Naaman, 490. Let none of them come betweene barke and tree to defeat your faith.

143 1837.  Carlyle, Fr. Rev. (1872), II. II. vi. 80. Stand between them, keeping them well separate.

144 1843.  Penny Cycl., XXV. 81/2. The boots … (in which the torture was applied by driving in wedges with a hammer between the flesh and iron rings drawn tightly upon the legs).

145   17.  fig. To be, come, stand between a person and any object desired, or anything threatening him; between combatants, etc.

146 c. 1325.  E. E. Allit. P., A. 657. Now is þer noȝt in þe worlde rounde Bytwene vus & blysse.

147 1580.  Baret, Alv., B 602. To go betweene or to be betweene … to make intercession; to let: to prohibite.

148 1774.  Blacklock, Graham, I. xxiv. With pallid cheek, and trembling frame, Between the combatants she came.

149 1816.  J. Wilson, City of Plague, I. iii. 103. A sinful wretch implores That thou would’st stand between him and the wrath Of an offended God.

150 1884.  W. C. Smith, Kildrostan, 55. How could Doris come between us two?

151   18.  After verbs and nouns of action expressing: a. separation, division; b. subjective separation, distinction, discrimination, discernment, judgment.

152   a.  1340.  Hampole, Pr. Consc., 1691. Gastely ded es twynyng thurgh synne, Bitwene God and man saule within.

153 1689.  Selden, Table T. (Arb.), 71. ’Twas an unhappy Division that has been made between Faith and Works.

154 1848.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 300. A complete separation between the naval and military services.

155   b.  1340.  Ayenb., 82. Hi ne conne deme betuene zuete and byter.

156 1526.  Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 32. To discerne bytwene the inspiracyon of the holy goost and the illusyon of the ennemy.

157 1593.  Hooker, Eccl. Pol., I. vi. § 5. To judge rightly between truth and error.

158 1771.  Junius Lett., lxi. 319. The public must determine between us.

159 1848.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 640. In cases of felony, a distinction … is made between the principal and the accessory after the fact.

160   V.  19. In all senses, between has been, from its earliest appearance, extended to more than two. In OE. and ME. it was so extended in sense 1, in which AMONG is now considered better. It is still the only word available to express the relation of a thing to many surrounding things severally and individually, among expressing a relation to them collectively and vaguely: we should not say ‘the space lying among the three points,’ or ‘a treaty among three powers,’ or ‘the choice lies among the three candidates in the select list,’ or ‘to insert a needle among the closed petals of a flower.’

161 971.  Blickl. Hom., 229. Þa apostoli wǽron æt-somne; and hie sendon hlot him betweonum.

162 c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 61. And cristes wille bo us bitwon.

163 c. 1205.  Lay., 26936. Heo … sweoren heom bitwænen [c. 1250 bi-twine] þat heo wolden.

164 c. 1225.  Ancr. R., 358. In unkuðe londe, & in unkuðe earde, bitwhen unðeode.

165 c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 1601. And wulde noȝt ðat folc bi-twen Herberȝed … ben.

166 a. 1300.  Cursor M., 10244. Ga heþen, he said, fra vs bituin.

167 c. 1380.  Sir Ferumb., 1255. By-twene hymen þanne euerechon; þay lift vp þat bodi faste.

168 a. 1400.  Cov. Myst., 352. I xalle telle ȝow why In ȝoure erys prevyly Betweyn us thre.

169 1755.  Johnson, Dict., Between is properly used of two, and among of more: but perhaps this accuracy is not always preserved.

170 1771.  Johnson, in Boswell (1826), II. 127. I … hope, that, between publick business, improving studies, and domestick pleasures, neither melancholy nor caprice will find any place for entrance.

171 1828.  Southey, Ess. (1832), II. 436. Between the prior, the boatmen, and a little offering to St. Patrick, he had not as much money left [etc.].

172 1885.  J. Cowper, in N. & Q., Ser. VI. XII. 148/2. There were six, who collected between them 15s. 4d.

173   † VI.  20. Between and (an adaptation of betwix and: see BETWIXT A. 3): until, till; with sb. or clause.

174 a. 1400.  Cursor M., 16583 (Trin.). Þei alle ne myȝt stir þe cros of þat stede Bitwene & [v.r. bituix and; til] oure lord crist was þider him self lede. Ibid., 20181 (Fairf.). I walde wite gladli bi-twene [v.r. tuix] & quen to take leue atte my kinnismen.

175   B.  adv. (Mostly the preposition with object understood.)

176   1.  Of place: In an intermediate position or course, midway, in the midst. lit. and fig.

177 c. 890.  K. Ælfred, Bæda, IV. ix. (Bosw.). Ne si lang fæc betweonum.

178 c. 1205.  Lay., 376. Heo wepen heore leoten Þe scucke wes bitweonen.

179 1297.  R. Glouc., 355. Þo þat water was bytuene.

180 c. 1430.  Stans Puer, 77, in Babees Bk. (1868), 31. Schewe out þi visage, To glad, ne to sory, but kepe þee euene bitwene.

181 1606.  Shaks., Ant. & Cl., III. iv. 12. A more unhappie Lady ne’re stood betweene.

182 1667.  Milton, P. L., IV. 699. Roses, and Gessamin Rear’d high thir flourisht heads between.

183 1795.  Southey, Joan of Arc, VII. 216. The man of lowly line That instant rush’d between.

184 1858.  Sears, Athan., III. ii. 268. Looking into the immense vacuum between.

185   † 2.  To go between: to act as a medium or mediator; see GO-BETWEEN. Obs.

186 c. 1320.  Sir Tristr., II. 101. A bischop yede bitvene.

187 1523.  Ld. Berners, Froiss., ccclviii. 580/1. Certayne good people of Gaunte … went so bytwene in this mater.

188 1606.  Shaks., Tr. & Cr., I. i. 72. I haue … gone betweene and betweene, but small thankes for my labour.

189   3.  Of time: In the interval, at intervals.

190 a. 1240.  Ureisun, 28, in Lamb. Hom., 193. Murie dreameð engles … Pleieð . and sweið . and singeð . bitweonen.

191 a. 1300.  Cursor M., 3572. Þe nese it droppes ai bi-tuine.

192 c. 1374.  Chaucer, Troylus, V. 1086. How longe it was betweyne That she forsoke hym.

193 1611.  Bible, Acts iii. 42, margin. In the sabbath between.

194 1661.  Bk. Com. Prayer, Priv. Baptism, Rubr., The first or second Sunday next after their birth, or other Holy-day falling between.

195 1742.  R. Blair, Grave, 589. Visits, Like those of angels, short and far between.

196 1830.  Tennyson, Merman, iii. They would pelt me with starry spangles and shells, Laughing and clapping their hands between.

197   4.  Comb., as † between-lier; † between-light, twilight; † between-space, † between-time, intervening time, interval.

198 1674.  N. Fairfax, Bulk & Selv., 94. A change of the world in the suchness of the *between-lyers, begetting a change in my nearness as answering that suchness.

199 1821.  Clare, Vill. Minstr., I. 154. As *’tween-light was cheating the view.

200 a. 1641.  Bp. Mountagu, Acts & Mon., 341. In the betweene-space of Festus his death and Albinus his succession.

201 1580.  Sidney, Arcadia, II. 119. Those great Lords & little kings who in those *between-times of raigning … had brought in … the worst kind of oligarchie.

202 a. 1641.  Bp. Mountagu, Acts & Mon., 118. All that Interval and *between-time, interceding the first and second comming of our Saviour.

203   C.  quasi-sb.

204   1.  Anything occupying an intermediate position; an interval of time.

205 1611.  Shaks., Wint. T., III. iii. 62. There is nothing (in the betweene) but stealing, fighting.

206 1842.  Trench, Steadf. Prince, xxxix. in Poems East. Sources, 144.        All the dreary and the dread Between Was gone, like aught which had not ever been.

207   2.  An intermediate size of sewing-needle.

208 1862.  Morrall, Needle Making, 32. The Betweens are still shorter than the Ground downs, half a size thicker, and with stronger points.

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