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abide

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

To remain steadfast in a place or condition; to endure hardship or tolerate difficult circumstances without yielding, often implying patience or persistence.

Detailed Definition
In archaic usage, “abide” often conveys steadfastness or patient endurance, appearing frequently in religious and poetic texts to express loyalty, faith, or suffering. It carries connotations of moral fortitude and spiritual perseverance, especially in phrases like “abide with me.” Poets used it to evoke timeless emotional states or divine presence, aligning with themes of constancy amid change or trial. Its rhythmic simplicity and solemn tone made it ideal for hymns, elegies, and meditative verse.
Example
Example in poetry:
"Abide with me; fast falls the eventide," begins Henry Lyte’s famous hymn, using "abide" to mean "stay"; In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Viola says, "I’ll serve this duke: thou shalt present me as an eunuch to him, and thy fair silence shall abide with me"; Milton writes in Paradise Lost, "Abide, if but to see the approaching storm"; Keats uses it in "Ode on a Grecian Urn": "When old age shall this generation waste, / Thou shalt remain... / For ever piping songs for ever new"; "Abide thou with me, gentle spirit," a poet might plead in elegiac verse; The knight vowed to abide by his oath, though death loomed near.

Bide with me until the storm has passed (stay, remain); I cannot bide such insults to my name (tolerate, endure); Bide here awhile and rest thy weary bones (wait, linger); Whatever fate may bring, I'll bide the consequence (await, face); Bide a moment, friend, I have words for thee (wait briefly); She could not bide to see him suffer so (bear, stand)
Additional Notes
“Abide” appears frequently in Early Modern English texts (e.g., Shakespeare’s “abide thy question”) and biblical language (“abide with me”); in poetry, it conveys endurance, loyalty, or passive suffering, and students should note its subjunctive and imperative uses in older verse.

Bide survives mainly in "bide one's time" (wait patiently for the right moment) and the Scottish "bide" (dwell, remain). In older usage, it meant to endure, await, or continue in a state. The phrase "bide the brunt" means to endure the worst impact. Anglo-Saxon poetry uses bidan frequently for warriors awaiting battle or enduring fate. In ballads, "bide" often appears in refrains. Interestingly, "abide" (remain, endure, tolerate) preserves the root more commonly today. For students, bide suggests patient endurance rather than passive waiting—it implies strength and determination. In poetry, its brevity makes it metrically useful while evoking folk or medieval contexts.
Also Known As
abode endure remain bide byde
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