violentadj.n.adv.
/ˈvʌɪələnt/, /ˈvʌɪəln̩t/, U.S. /ˈvaɪ(ə)lənt/ A. adj.
I. Senses relating to physical force.
1.
a. Of action, behaviour, etc.: characterized by the doing of deliberate harm or damage; carried out or accomplished using physical violence; (Law) involving an unlawful exercise or exhibition of force.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > violent behaviour > [adjective] > specifically of action
violenta1382
forciblec1422
strong-armed1861
strong arm1901
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. ix. 5 Violent [L. violenta] reuyng with noise.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 1013 (MED) Þis watz a vengaunce violent þat voyded þise places, Þat foundered hatz so fayr a folk, and þe folde sonkken.
c1475 Antichrist & Disciples in J. H. Todd Three Treat. J. Wycklyffe (1851) p. cxvi Þe first persecution of þe chirche was violent, whenne cristen men weren compellid bi exilyngis, betyngis, & deþis, to make sacrifice to ydols.
1548 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) Raptio,..violent taking of a persone.
1579 G. Fenton tr. F. Guicciardini Hist. Guicciardin i. 22 He had many enemies,..hauing at some times bene greuous to all, either by armes or other violent meanes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) iii. ii. 38 To these violent proceedings all my neighbors shall cry aime. View more context for this quotation
a1681 G. Wharton Wks. (1683) 139 The Prince comes to Rule, either by a violent Invasion, or a crafty Subreption.
1722 W. Sewel Hist. Quakers Pref. sig. a 3 They..have at length Triumphed..by suffering,..and under violent Oppression from High and Low.
1752 in G. Lamoine Charges to Grand Jury (1992) 374 You are also to present..all Batterys Riots forcible & Violent Breaches of the Peace Libells Deformatory Pictures and Descriptions.
1809 S. T. Coleridge Friend 26 Oct. 161 There could be no motive for a sudden and violent change of Government.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. v. 546 The injustice with which he had been treated would have excused him if he had resorted to violent methods of redress.
1878 W. C. Russell Wreck of Grosvenor (ed. 2) II. iii. 75 In the very orderliness of their behaviour, I witnessed something more sinister than I should have found in violent conduct.
1913 A. MacLeish Let. 29 Jan. (1983) 11 The Fence Rush, an annual event..involving a symbolic—and sometimes violent—battle between the freshman and sophomore classes for possession of the so-called Sophomore Fence.
1938 F. Shay Judge Lynch i. 19 Violent treatment was used against loyalists.
1970 Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. 64 658/1 This endemic and infectious pattern of violent nationalism..will recalcitrate against any minority-imposed form of ‘cooperation’.
2012 Wall St. Jrnl. 24 July a4/3 Federal authorities..unveiled a law-enforcement ‘surge’ strategy to combat high rates of murder and other violent crime.
b. Characterized by the prevalence of physical violence; involving, depicting, or notable for acts of violence. Formerly also: †characterized by or involving tyranny or oppression (obsolete).
ΚΠ
1568 J. Fen tr. J. Osório Learned Treat. Haddon iii. f. 274 What a violent kinde of seueritie that supreame Iudge vseth, when he mindeth to shake as it were with a whirle winde, and throw down the estate of such as trust to much to them selues.
1594 W. Jones tr. J. Lipsius Sixe Bks. Politickes vi. v. 198 But what is it [sc. tyranny]? A violent gouernement of one, besides the customes and lawes.
1603 R. Broughton 1st Pt. Resol. of Relig. i. ii. sig. S They..shewed themselues..the greatest propugnors and defenders of faith, in those turbulent and violent times of persecution.
1642 J. Denham Sophy iii. i. 21 Since he is my sonne, I cannot have such violent thoughts towards him As his towards me.
1735 Gentleman's Mag. June 290/1 Whatever Shocks it [sc. the old Saxon Constitution] might receive at that violent Period..it recovered itself by Degrees, and resum'd its original Form.
1797 J. Walker Elements Geogr., Nat. & Civil Hist. (ed. 3) v. xx. 314 In those violent times it was not safe for the individual to be quite off his guard.
1830 J. W. Donaldson Buckham's Theatre of Greeks (ed. 3) ii. iii. 397 In..their gladiatorial games and beast-fights..he was glutted with the most violent scenes of blood.
1868 Anthropol. Rev. 2 411 It behoved them, under penalty of disappearing from the face of the earth,..to live the violent life of barbarians.
1884 Rep. Comm. U.S. Senate 1883–4 6 447 There is a great deal of political bitterness, but it is not a violent place at all.
1925 Princeton Alumni Weekly 2 Dec. 248/2 [American] football is a far more violent game than rugby.
1965 K. Amis James Bond Dossier ix. 93 Violent films, TV shows and the like are useful in safety-valving off our private aggressions.
1987 Hackney Gaz. 24 Apr. 48/1 The gangs call their terrifying form of robbery ‘steaming’, a term first coined in America's violent inner city ghettos.
2010 Independent 11 Jan. (Life section) 6/4 Women in violent and/or controlling relationships at first see what they want to see in their loved one,..not that occasional glimpse of the unpleasant or nasty side.
2.
a. Of a person: using or disposed to use physical force or violence, esp. in order to injure or intimidate; committing harm or damage in this way. Formerly also: †given to the abuse of power or authority to persecute or oppress; tyrannical (obsolete).
(a) Without construction.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > violent behaviour > [adjective]
outragea1325
violentc1384
boistousa1387
outrageousc1390
outraiousc1390
harageous?a1400
hetera1400
methelessc1400
ruffian1528
termagant1546
sore1565
ruffianly1570
boisterous1581
violousa1626
tory-rory1678
plug-ugly1857
radge1857
amok1868
tough1884
roughhouse1896
butch1939
shit-kicking1953
hard-ass1967
tasty1974
society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > [adjective] > violating the law
unlawfula1387
trespassant1587
perfract1616
rumpant1621
transgressive1646
violatory1687
violent1697
violative1745
law-breaking1767
transgressinga1812
transgredient1837
infringing1897
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xi. 12 The kyngdam of heuenes suffreth strengthe, or violence, and violent men [L. violenti] rauyshen it.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 87 Men þey acounteþ violent and wommen mylde, and euere þei beeþ vnesi to hir [owne] neiheboures.
a1475 ( S. Scrope tr. Dicts & Sayings Philosophers (Bodl. 943) (1999) 162 (MED) If þe king be nott rightwise, he is no king; he is rather a violent rauenour.
c1475 Wisdom (Folger) (1969) l. 1097 Wyth my syght I se þe people vyolent.
a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) (1975) l. 1016 (MED) Here loste the kinge alle his entent, For herberde was prowde and violent, So noble a man to oppresse.
1533 T. More Apologye xl. 225 The man is bysyde so violent and so iubardouse, that none of theym dare be a knowen to speke of it.
1560 Bible (Geneva) Psalms lxxxv. 14 The proude are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men haue soght my soule.
1647 Four Petitions to Sir T. Fairfax i. 4 There is no Remora to stop the proceedings of violent men against us.
1662 Bk. Common-prayer sig. D5v The outrage of a violent and unruly people.
1697 J. Mitchel tr. R. A. de Vertot Hist. Revol. Sweden (new ed.) ii. 12 That violent Prince contemning the Laws and Privileges of his Country, imagin'd that he might, without controul, dispose of the Lives and Fortunes of his Subjects as he pleas'd.
1750 tr. Advice to Female Friend 60 Often the most violent Persons are such as show the most Moderation.
1782 J. Brown Compend. View Nat. & Revealed Relig. i. i. 29 Violent injurers of others being public pests of society.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. v. 662 He had..been very unwilling to employ as his deputy a man so violent and unprincipled as Goodenough.
1883 Cent. Mag. Mar. 728/2 Printz..is remembered as a violent man.
1927 Times 14 Nov. 11/3 Cases of half-witted, or poor witted, people who, for one reason or another, were violent.
1984 M. J. Taussig Processes in Pathol. & Microbiol. (ed. 2) vii. 824 (heading) A significant proportion of violent criminals in maximum security prison hospitals carry an extra Y chromosome.
2005 New Nation 26 Sept. 6/3 I have never known him to be violent,..or use obscene language.
(b) With to, toward, towards a person or thing. Also figurative.
ΚΠ
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus v. ii. 109 I pray thee doe on them some violent death, They haue bin violent to me and mine. View more context for this quotation
1645 J. Milton Tetrachordon 67 Colluders your selves, as violent to this law of God by your unmercifull binding, as the Pharises by their unbounded loosning!
1697 T. Maule New-Eng. Pesecutors Mauled 51 So apparently partial were they to their own party, and violent to others.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison II. xxx. 281 Men who are violent to a woman, when they have a point to carry by being so, are not always violent to men.
1832 E. L. C. Follen Words of Truth 236 Then he would be almost crazy, and threaten his wife, and be violent to the children.
1853 J. Frost Pict. Hist. Amer. I. 167 The persons whom he had sent home..represented him as arbitrary, and violent toward the colonists.
1906 Southern Reporter 40 234/1 It shows that defendant has been violent to plaintiff on more than one occasion.
1969 K. Millett Sexual Politics (1970) iii. 82 Even in their angriest moods, English and American suffragettes were violent toward property rather than persons.
1999 Cosmopolitan (U.K. ed.) June 54/1 The most detailed profile yet of a man who may turn violent towards his partner.
b. Of the hand, as the agent of physical force or violence. Frequently in to lay violent hands on (or upon) and variants (now archaic).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > violent behaviour > treat violently [verb (transitive)]
outragec1390
to do violence untoa1393
to lay violent hands on (or upon)a1428
to put hand(s) to (also in, on)1526
surprise1548
violate1584
violenta1661
bedevil1768
strong-arm1896
the world > life > death > killing > suicide > [verb (reflexive)]
murderc1175
spill1390
spoil1578
to make away1581
massacre1591
misdo1599
self-murder1648
to lay violent hands on (or upon)1662
to make away with1667
to rip up1807
suicide1818
a1428 in G. W. Kitchin Rec. N. Convocation (1907) 161 (MED) A seculer juge puttyng handes violently upon a preste beyng in dedely syn putt noght violent handes upon a preste.
c1480 (a1400) St. Margaret 125 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 50 Þan ware handis wyolent layd one þat cristis Innocent.
1529 T. More Dialogue Heresyes iv, in Wks. 274/1 Al our dedes good or badde ascend or descende by the violent hande of God.
1597 in A. Macdonald & J. Dennistoun Misc. Maitland Club (1833) I. 129 A. H...is fund..ane quha hes put violent handis in his father.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) v. xi. 36 His Fiend-like Queene; Who (as 'tis thought) by selfe and violent hands, Tooke off her life. View more context for this quotation
1662 Bk. Common-prayer Burial Dead sig. dd2 The Office ensuing is not to be used for any that..have laid violent hands upon themselves.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. xii. iii. 205 He laid violent Hands on the Collar of poor Partridge. View more context for this quotation
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Vices Staying him [sc. a horse], by degrees, with a steady, not a violent hand.
1849 P. Duncan Narr. Wesleyan Mission Jamaica 9 The first man who lays a violent hand upon him shall have these scissors thrust into his heart.
1882 Cent. Mag. Feb. 550/2 But these semi-brutes, yielding to passion, laid violent hands upon bride, maidens, and youths.
1930 J. Buchan Castle Gay ix. 157 He had laid violent hands upon an enemy.
1983 J. Fletcher A. Robbe-Grillet iv. 62 The narrow hobble-skirt..is suddenly ripped by a violent hand.
2002 E. Peters Golden One (2003) 421 Good Gad, Peabody, have you ever known me to lay violent hands on a woman?
c. Of a person's demeanour, expression, etc.: indicating a willingness to use violence; (of temperament, disposition) characterized by a tendency to violence.
ΚΠ
a1475 J. Shirley Death James (BL Add. 5467) in Miscellanea Scotica (1818) II. 8 (MED) He rose upe with a grete corage, with a violent..countenance, sette handes upon the Kyng.
1571 T. Hill Contempl. Mankinde xiii. f. 21v The heares [on the head]..if they shall be eyther perfite blacke, or flaxine of colour: doe then argue a violent and furious mynde.
1690 J. Mackenzie Siege London-derry 28/1 The Council..lay all the blame of it on the ungovernableness of the People, whose violent humour, they said they could not restrain.
1775 E. Taylor tr. Mem. Guy Joli II. 130 The guards..were well acquainted with the violent disposition of the Marshal.
1835 G. Stephens Manuscripts of Erdély I. vii. 313 They were not the aspirings of a noble soul..which that fierce and violent look betokened.
1892 A. C. Benson & H. F. W. Tatham Men of Might 203 This man had been a soldier, and the struggle he had to conform his fierce, violent character to the Christian standard of life was very affecting.
1901 tr. M. Serao Land Cockayne iii. 51 Sudden flushes over his face gave him a violent look.
1985 G. W. Hughes God of Surprises ix. 110 E. Manuel is himself of violent temperament. Just recently he created a scene outside the Cathedral.
2007 ‘C. Todd’ in M. Ashley Mammoth Bk. Dickensian Whodunnits 170 Lady Wenhill turned on him with such a violent expression on her face that he stepped back against the door.
3.
a. Of a movement or action: involving or characterized by great physical force or strength and (typically) speed; not gentle or moderate.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > [adjective] > characterized by unusual violence or force
ketea1290
worthyc1350
violenta1387
stronga1398
dreicha1400
forciblec1422
strainable1497
vehement1531
forceful1592
wieldy1592
virulent1607
forcive1634
ass-kicking1977
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 185 In þe more worlde beeþ tweie contrary meuynges: oon is kyndeliche, by þe whiche þe planetes..moeueþ..in to þe est; þat oþer is violent [L. violentus], by þe whiche þey beeþ i-rauisched aȝenward wiþ the meouynge of þe ouermeste wolken out of þe est in to þe west.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. iii. xv. 107 By violent stoppinge of þe þrote and of þe woosen.
c1475 ( MS Wellcome 564 f. 35 Þe violent stirynge of þe blood & of þe spiritis.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. MMii By the violent fall of the sayde crosse in to the mortesse.
a1547 Earl of Surrey Poems (1964) 34 The lofty pyne the great winde often rives; With violenter swey falne turrets stepe.
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) v. vii. 49 Oh, I am scalded with my violent motion And spleene of speede, to see your Maiesty.
1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. ii. 93 We perceived..the little Particles of Air..on the suddain to become more visible, by a violent and rapid dilatation.
1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World ii. 177 There was..some more violent Motion at the farther Distance.
1798 S. Lee Young Lady's Tale in H. Lee Canterbury Tales II. 133 Wine acted powerfully on a constitution already feverish with violent exercise.
1868 A. Bain Mental & Moral Sci. 341 A certain impetus has been given,..and, if restrained outwardly, it seems to be more violent inwardly.
1905 H. G. Wells Kipps ii. iv. 181 Kipps mounted at once, after one violent agitation of the little shop-door to set the bell ajangle.
1962 B. Gargi Theatre in India 55 If they carry pots on their heads there is no clapping or violent bending, but simple steps and graceful turns.
1975 D. Langdon How to talk Golf 6 Agricultural, description of a poor shot in which the ball is struck a violent blow.
2012 A. Nathan Fasttrack xx. 117 Sprain: a sudden or violent twist or wrench of a joint causing the stretching or twisting of ligaments.
b. Of a natural force: operating with great strength; extremely powerful and (now esp.) destructive. Also of an explosive.In Meteorology applied to winds having a particular force: violent storm n. spec. one of force 11 on the Beaufort scale, (in modern use) corresponding to a speed of 56-63 knots (89-102 km/h).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > [adjective] > specifically of natural agencies
starkeOE
steer13..
savagea1393
wightc1400
violentc1425
rageousc1450
bolda1522
masterfula1522
shouldering1747
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > [adjective] > severe or violent (of weather or elements)
retheeOE
strongOE
stithc1100
snella1400
woodc1400
outrage?a1425
violentc1425
sternc1449
strainable1497
rigorous1513
stalwart1528
vehement1528
sore1535
sturdy1569
robustious1632
severe1676
beating1702
shaving1789
snorting1819
wroth1852
wrathy1872
snapping1876
vicious1882
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > fire or flame > [adjective] > violent (of fire)
bremec1374
violentc1425
vehement1528
severe1648
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) ii. l. 4088 Þer is no storme þat may lasten euere..; Þing violent may nat be eterne.
c1480 (a1400) St. Adrian 509 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 286 Of þe hewine a rayne gert fal, sa wyolent & fellonny, þat þe fyr slokit wes in hy.
1508 W. Dunbar Goldyn Targe (Chepman & Myllar) in Poems (1998) I. 191 Thai fyrit gunnis wyth powder violent.
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 680 It carrieth so violent a streame that presently it is able to driue a mill.
1658 T. Willsford Natures Secrets 107 Venus and ☽,..increases the flowing of the Seas, causing violent Tides.
1712 E. Cooke Voy. S. Sea 382 The South and S.W. Winds, which are the violentest Winter Winds there.
1771 J. R. Forster tr. P. Kalm Trav. N. Amer. II. 319 The numbers in the columns of the winds signify as follows: 0, is a calm; 1, a gentle breeze; 2, a fresh gale; 3, a strong gale; and 4, a violent storm or hurricane.
1799 R. Kirwan Geol. Ess. 69 The traces of a violent shock or impression from the south are as yet perceptible in many countries.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 46 In some places the time of change is attended with calms, in others..with violent tempests.
1857 W. A. Miller Elements Chem. III. viii. 536 The action of bromine upon indigo is analogous to that of chlorine, though it is less violent.
1875 Encycl. Brit. III. 809/2 The violent explosives disintegrate the rock into a plastic mass.
1912 Naut. Mag. Oct. 424 Headings having reference to the weather, such as ‘a gentle breeze, a fresh breeze, a moderate storm, a strong gale, a violent storm, a hurricane’.
1919 M. Greenlees tr. O. F. Mentzel Life at Cape in Mid-18th Cent. xvii. 157 Owing to the violent winds that frequently rage at the Cape, no clock can be put up in the open.
1972 Nature 21 Jan. 157/1 This eruption was extremely violent: an estimated 1·4 km3 of pyroclast flow and fall was emitted.
2000 National Geographic Adventure Mar. 59/1 Crater-like ‘death holes’ cluttered the mid-channel, and the current there was..violent.
2011 Press & Jrnl. (Aberdeen) (Nexis) 25 Nov. 7 Yesterday's shipping forecast for the Hebrides predicted violent storms of force 11 veering south-westerly.
4. Of death: caused by force or physical violence; unnatural.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > manner of death > [adjective] > violently
violenta1475
a1475 Bk. Quinte Essence (1889) 24 (MED) Men may die in iij maners..by naturel deeþ..bi violent deeþ, and also in þe iij maner occasionaly wiþinne þe teerme þat is sett of god, as þo men þat to myche replecioun or to greet abstynence..sle him silf.
1524 tr. J. de Bourbon Begynnynge & Foundacyon Holy Hospytall sig. E.i The sayd bacha sware vpon his faythe and certyfyed yt there was deed of the campe of vyolent dethe, that is to say of gonshot and other wayes.
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus v. ii. 108 I pray thee doe on them some violent death. View more context for this quotation
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxi. 114 Soveraignty..is,..in its own nature,..subject to violent death, by forreign war.
1715 J. Barker Exilius (1719) I. ii. 73 We found our selves deliver'd from violent Death, and maritime Dangers, but expos'd to the Misery of wanting every Thing.
1790 W. Paley Serm. in Wks. (1834) 598/2 Sudden, violent, or untimely deaths..leave an impression upon a whole neighbourhood.
1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. I. 108 Whose miserable career will shortly terminate in a violent and shameful death.
1863 A. K. H. Boyd Graver Thoughts Country Parson 1st Ser. iv. 67 The violent end of the martyr Stephen.
1945 W. D. Le Sueur North Star County 248 His crew were often tough men..of short lives and violent ends.
2011 Independent 14 July (Viewspaper section) 9/2 Sensationalised..accounts of individual cases, especially violent deaths, are known to trigger copycat suicides.
5. Scots Law.† a. Of the use, occupation, or taking possession of another's property: carried out or occurring without the owner's consent, esp. by forcible means; wrongful, illegal. Also figurative. Obsolete (chiefly historical in later use).In early use frequently in conjunction with wrongous.† b. Of a person: taking or retaining possession of property in this manner, esp. while withholding rent. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1496–7 in G. Neilson & H. Paton Acts Lords of Council Civil Causes (1918) II. 47 The accione..persewit be Thomas Strang..agane Jhone Olephant..for the wrangus violent putting and pasturing apone the..landis of Ester Petcorthy pertenyng to the saide Thomas..of xxv oxin.
1531–2 in J. M. Webster & A. A. M. Duncan Regality of Dunfermline Court Bk. (1953) 54 Tuecheyng the vrangus violent and masterfull occupying laboryng and manvryyng of the landis of Jaksone.
1548 Extracted Processes, Court of Session (Edinb. Reg. House) Hamyltone v. Blar The wranguus violent and maisterfull mawing..of four akeris of medo.
1605 J. Fraser Lerned Epist. 86 Your vocation is fallen in non entery, because ye haue bene so many yeares in violent possession.
1673 in Rothesay Town Council Rec. (1935) I. 242 For the violent possessioune of the lands of Ardochow.
1693 J. Dalrymple Inst. Law Scotl. (ed. 2) ii. 326 Wherein the Decreet of Removing is both a sufficient Title, and Probation of the violent Possession against the Parties removed therein.
1761 Decision Lords Council & Session II. Index 758 Forbes (Arthur) pursued by the Master of Salton for violent possession of a house.
1820 R. Bell Treat. Leases 593 He shall be held in violent possession of the said lands, houses, and others foresaid.
1859 J. Taylor Pict. Hist. Scotl. I. xxv. 534/2 The violent occupation, by William Scott of Thirlestane of the lands of Sir Patrick Crichtoun.
ΚΠ
1536 Extracted Processes, Court of Session (Edinb. Reg. House) No. v Gif thai do nocht that thai salbe repute as violent possessouris.
1555 Act Mary in C. Innes & T. Thomson Acts Parl. Scotl. (1814) II. 494/2 The actioun aganis the violent occupyaris and possessouris foirsaidis.
1615 in J. B. Craven Rec. Dioceses Argyll & Isles (1907) 69 Churches to be builded, and violent detainers of monastrys, the gleibs and manses thereof disposs[ess]ed.
1687 Assur. Abbey Lands 195 A violent possessor of Church-lands.
1739 J. Lookup Erroneous Transl. in Vulgar Versions Script. iii. 58 His [sc. Abraham] Claim to that Land was by much preferable to any Interest that could be pleaded by the present violent Possessors of it.
1792 J. Martin Inq. State Legal & Judicial Polity Scotl. xi. 116 Without prejudice of the action against the violent occupiers and possessors aforesaid.
1873 Glasgow Herald 11 Mar. 7/4 The defender is in this way a violent possessor.
c. Designating rent or other revenue exacted as compensation for the illegal possession of property, esp. in violent profits.
ΚΠ
1561 Inventory Munim. Earl of Crawford II. 20 Dec. 82 [Decreet against Alexander Lindsay for violent occupation and] violent profits [of the said lands].
1597 J. Skene De Verborum Significatione at Iter Hee, as soverttie, may be called and conveened for the gudes spuilzied. For the violent prices thereof, [etc.].
1656 in J. A. Clyde Hope's Major Practicks (1937) I. 241 In ane action of ejection persewed be Gordone of Aberʒeldie..contra Arthur Lord Forbes; it wes found that Aberʒeldie could have no action for the violent proffitts bot allenerly fra the date of the intention of the summonds.
1684 in G. S. Pryde Court Bk. Kirkintilloch (1963) 131 And decernes hir to flitt and remove from the housses posest be hir..under the payne of being ejected thairfrae and peying of violent meall.
1752 W. Stewart Let. 14 May in Scots Mag. (1753) June 294/1 It can be no more than violent profits, which is often modified in inferior courts.
1765–8 J. Erskine Inst. Law Scotl. ii. vi. §54 Violent profits are so called, because they become due on the tenant's forcible or unwarrantable detaining the possession after he ought to have removed.
1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scotl. 1028 In rural tenements, the violent profits are held to be the full profits which the landlord could have made.
1883 J. Macgregor Land Question 31/2 He was charged with ‘violent profits’, which means the doubling of the rent for remaining in possession after the term.
1916 Sc. Hist. Rev. 19 251 Decrees were obtained against the son for violent profits and other matters.
2011 Aberdeen Student Law Rev. 2 23 In certain circumstances a dispossessed party may be entitled not only to restoration of possession, but also to a monetary payment, termed ‘violent profits’.
6. † b. Due or subject to constraint; involuntary, enforced. Obsolete.
a. That distorts or corrupts the meaning of a word, text, etc.; forced, artificial, strained.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > misinterpretation > distortion or perversion of meaning > [adjective] > tending to pervert
corrupting1509
violent1535
viperine1647
perversive1862
pervertive1901
1535 W. Marshall tr. Marsilius of Padua Def. of Peace ii. i. f. 45 The exposycyons..are vyolent in terpretacyons [sic], croked, contrary to the scrypture.
1566 T. Stapleton Returne Vntruthes Jewelles Replie i. f. 16 There was no cause..to crie vpon Wilfull corruption, or Violent translating of one worde for an other.
1637 G. Gillespie Dispute against Eng.-Popish Ceremonies iii. viii. 171 Whereas saith hee, some have expounded the Presbitery in this place, to be a company of Bishops,..it is a violent interpretation.
1660 H. More Explan. Grand Myst. Godliness i. viii. 23 It is unnatural and violent to put any other meaning upon it.
1720 D. Waterland 8 Serm. Divinity of Christ 104 That we ought not to be wise beyond what is written, nor put a violent Construction on any Passages.
1771 J. Morison Attempt to vindicate Duty Acknowledgem. Sin iii. 39 All their ado turns out rather to a mistaking of naked facts, with a violent wresting of their genuine meaning.
1834 W. H. Gardiner Addr. Phi Beta Kappa Soc. Harvard Univ. 22 This violent translation of the terms useful and practical knowledge does not fairly represent the views of the dissenters from classical learning.
1872 Examiner 14 Dec. 1/1 Notoriously it was elected for a temporary purpose, and its continuance could only be justified by a most violent interpretation of the word ‘temporary’.
1919 Rep. Appellate Div. Supreme Court N.Y. 187 108 It would, I think, be a violent construction of this contract to hold that the plaintiff intended thereby to guarantee the sufficiency of the plant.
2005 Rev. Metaphysics 59 413 Subjecting Heidegger to the same kind of violent interpretation to which Heidegger subjected historical philosophical texts.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > obedience > compulsion > [adjective] > done, produced, or obtained by compulsion
threata1400
constraintc1430
compelled1541
compulsed1541
violent?1550
extorted1552
wrested1565
coacted1570
enforced1576
forced1576
compulsory1581
commandeda1586
coactive1596
infortiate1601
extortious1602
coact1610
compulsive1611
exacted1618
necessitous1632
violented1641
necessary1655
on-forced1656
commandatorya1659
extorsive1669
compellable1677
compulsatory1748
obbligato1780
coerced1877
mandatory1891
shotgun1937
?1550 J. Goodale tr. P. Melanchthon Ciuile Nosgay xi. sig. D.iij Not Voluntarye and vyolent, ought to be vnderstond one thyng which as arestotle saith hath ther beginning extrinsecally or outwardely.
1574 E. Hellowes tr. A. de Guevara Familiar Epist. 482 All violent marriages engender hatred betwixt the married.
1625 N. Carpenter Geogr. Delineated ii. v. 71 This conformity of the water dropps in a round figure, is rather Violent, then Naturall.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 97 Ease would recant Vows made in pain, as violent and void. View more context for this quotation
1774 S. Shaw Immanuel iii. 80 I deny not but that the seemingly religious motions of many men are merely violent, and their devotion is purely forced.
1826 Oriental Herald Apr. 64 The sums extorted from the Rajah by this violent treaty being much smaller than it was thought the Directors at home would approve.
1883 F. H. Bradley Princ. Logic III. i. vi. 450 Synthesis..would not force its parts into violent conjunctions, but, itself in each, by the loss of self-constraint would embrace its own fulfilment.
II. Senses relating to strength or severity.
7.
a. Of the sun, heat, etc.: producing a strong effect; intense, extreme. Now somewhat rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > [adjective]
retheeOE
hotOE
strongOE
woodlyc1000
un-i-rideOE
stoura1122
brathc1175
unridec1175
unrudec1225
starklyc1275
toughc1275
wood1297
ragec1330
unrekena1350
biga1375
furialc1386
outrageousc1390
savagea1393
violenta1393
bremelya1400
snarta1400
wrothlya1400
fightingc1400
runishc1400
dour?a1425
derfc1440
churlousa1450
roida1450
fervent1465
churlish1477
orgulous1483
felona1500
brathfula1522
brathlya1525
fanatic1533
furious1535
boisterous1544
blusterous1548
ungentle1551
sore1563
full-mouthed1594
savage wild1595
Herculean1602
shrill1608
robustious1612
efferous1614
thundering1618
churly1620
ferocient1655
turbulent1656
efferate1684
knock-me-down1760
haggard-wild1786
ensanguined1806
rammish1807
fulminatory1820
riproarious1830
natural1832
survigrous1835
sabre-toothed1849
cataclysmal1861
thunderous1874
fierce1912
cataractal1926
the world > action or operation > advantage > efficacy > [adjective] > greatly > producing great effect
strongeOE
violenta1393
lusty1576
powerful1588
home-thrusting1604
potent1609
home-thrust1738
telling1819
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > having some attribute in a great degree
micklec1330
violenta1393
mucha1400
intense1653
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. l. 946 That planete which men calle Saturnus... His climat is in Orient, Wher that he is most violent.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) i. l. 2158 So violent and fervent was þe hete.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 7 Aplayne ffull of floures fresshe..With voiders vnder vines for violent sonnes.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iv. xxvi. 145 b Vppon the coales..they cast a certaine seede, the smoke whereof was so violent, that foorthwith it made them..dissy.
1621 G. Sandys tr. Ovid First Five Bks. Metamorphosis iv. 90 Signes onely vtter their vnwitnest loues: But, hidden fire the violenter proues.
1651 N. Biggs Matæotechnica Medicinæ Praxeωs 32 Heat, sharpnesse, roughnesse, or what ever else is presented to the Pentarchy of sences, as extream and violent, is taken away.
1719 G. London & H. Wise J. de la Quintinie's Compl. Gard'ner (ed. 7) 171 Till such times as the violent Frosts are over.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth I. xiii. 178 As heat thus expands water, so cold, when it is violent enough to freeze the same, produces exactly the same effect.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 380 Being again evaporated to dryness, it is..exposed to a violent heat in a crucible.
1864 A. C. Swinburne Atalanta 815 And thunder of storm on the sand,..Fierce air and violent light.
1907 A. Machen Hill of Dreams iv. 159 He was often loath to turn away..from the mere joy of the violent sun, and the responsive earth.
1992 D. Madden Remembering Light & Stone i. 1 The violent heat released the scent of fruits from the stalls as we walked past.
b. Of a poison, medicine, chemical reagent, etc.: having a powerful, drastic, or highly injurious effect; noxious, virulent. Also in figurative context. (Cf. strong adj. 7a.)
ΚΠ
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. lv. 947 It is a ful violent herbe..for he greueþ and..sleeþ.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Pardoner's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 539 Sterue he shal and that in lasse while Than thow wolt goon a paas nat but a myle This poyson is so strong and violent.
?a1425 (?1373) Lelamour Herbal (1938) f. 41v (MED) Þer beþe ij spice of this erbe; one ys white that purgiþ vpwarde, and anoþer is black that purgith dounwarde..the white is more violent þen the black.
a1475 Bk. Quinte Essence (1889) 22 Discreet maistris seyn, þat þe feuere agu comounly is causid of a uyolent reed coler adust [etc.].
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde ii. ii. f. 60v An herbe which quencheth and mortifieth the violent poyson of the herbe.
1591 A. Colynet True Hist. Ciuill Warres France v. 213 There was no part of ye bodie of his Excellencie which was not of a very good constitution and very healthfull, if the vyolent poyson had not corrupted ye parts aboue sayd.
1630 W. Davenant Cruell Brother iv. i. sig. G4v But of all auoyd Dorido As you would to drinke A violent poyson.
1678 G. Harvey Casus Medico-chirurgicus 115 This Medicine I objected against, as being a violent Purgative, and Diuretic.
1702 W. Hope tr. J. de Solleysel Compl. Horseman (new ed.) i. 123 All purgatives have in them a kind of Malignity: therefore never give a violent Remedy for a small Indisposition.
1798 tr. L. F. L. de Lignac Physical View Man & Woman I. iv. 152 Most of the ancients have regarded all parts of the hart as efficacious against poison; but the moderns have excepted the tail, which, they say, is a violent venom.
1822 Q. Jrnl. Foreign & Brit. Med. & Surg. 4 276 Why give this nauseous and violent medicine when any of the usual emetics would equally and less dangerously produce the desired effect?
1873 C. E. Beecher Miss Beecher's Housekeeper 368 Prussic acid, a violent poison, is sometimes taken by children in eating the pits of stone-fruits or bitter almonds which contain it.
1957 Survival (U.S. Army Field Man.) iii. 52 Be careful not to drink more than three or four cups of ripe coconut juice a day. This juice is a violent laxative.
1994 J. F. MacCannell et al. tr. H. Cixous Terrible but Unfinished Story Norodom Sihanouk 101 I felt my soul overcome by dizziness, as if I had absorbed the violent poison of human stupidity through my eyes.
2008 Sunday Times (Nexis) 29 June 8 The puffer fish offers the world's deadliest feast. Its organs contain tetrodotoxin, one of the most violent poisons found in nature.
c. Of pain, disease, etc.: severe, intense.
ΚΠ
c1450 (c1398) in C. Horstmann Sammlung Altengl. Legenden (1878) 187 Foure mene rokede hire to & froo, To make hire payne more violente.
a1500 (?a1390) J. Mirk Festial (Gough) (1905) 257 (MED) Þen was þys kyng smyton wyth a meselry þat was soo vyolent to hym þat..he slogh hymselfe.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) iii. i. 221 Those cold wayes, That seeme like prudent helpes, are very poysonous, Where the Disease is violent . View more context for this quotation
1663 R. Boyle Some Considerations Usefulnesse Exper. Nat. Philos. ii. v. xi. 227 An Example of a most violent pain of the Arme, removed by Transplantation.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Poison The Hyoscyamus [is successful] in Hæmorrhagies, violent Heats and Inflammations.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. xi. ii. 103 The violent Fatigue which both her Mind and Body had undergone. View more context for this quotation
1776 Trial Maha Rajah Nundocomar for Forgery 23/1 Some days he has violent purgings, at other times he gets better.
1799 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 2 474 As the intestines had been sufficiently emptied..by a violent diarrhœa.
1803 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 10 102 I think the influenza distinguishable from a common catarrh, inasmuch as the symptoms are, in general, more violent, painful, and distressing.
1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. ix. 100 The patient..was attacked..by intensely violent maculated fever.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 739 The condition was associated with violent headaches and neuralgia of the tongue of the same side.
1937 Lancet 8 May 1151/1 He [sc. William the Conqueror] then marched towards London along the Roman road, but when at Canterbury, or thereby, he was seized by violent illness.
1958 Nursing (St. John Ambulance Assoc.) xix. 240 Coronary thrombosis... It too causes violent pain, which often comes on while then patient is at rest.
1991 J. Wiltshire Samuel Johnson in Med. World i. 39 The ‘catarrh’ and violent coughs sound obviously enough like viral infections.
2006 Aberdeen Evening Express (Nexis) 11 Jan. 20 He's been complaining of violent pains in his neck and fever.
d. Of an emotion or feeling: characterized by its intensity; powerful. Cf. sense A. 10a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > violent emotion > [adjective]
violentc1475
vehementa1492
frantic?1531
vehement1548
fierce1611
wilda1616
transportive1622
c1475 tr. C. de Pisan Livre du Corps de Policie (Cambr.) (1977) 111 (MED) Ire and hate resemble in as moche as they be bothe violent and full of trouble.
1541 R. Whitford Dyuers Holy Instrucyons & Teachynges xv. f. 16v S. Augustyne sayeth, that the violent feruour of desyres: doeth cause in man, the tolerance and sufferance of troubles.
1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 308 Euen the violentest & most common passions of mans nature.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iv. iii. 170 Alas poore Countrey,..Where violent sorrow seemes A Moderne extasie. View more context for this quotation
1664 G. Havers tr. T. Renaudot et al. Gen. Coll. Disc. Virtuosi France xvi. 101 Let us consider Love and Hatred in Men,..and no doubt Love will be found more violent then Hatred.
1797 A. Radcliffe Italian I. i. 8 She was of violent passions, haughty, vindictive, yet crafty and deceitful.
1836 20th Rep. Directors Amer. School for Deaf, Hartford 34 Anger is a violent emotion of the heart stirred up by offence or injury.
1895 Cent. Mag. Aug. 549/1 They weaken the body by..violent, depressing, and disorganizing emotions.
1937 W. Lewis Revenge for Love vii. v. 383 When the more violent passions were provoked, Mateu preferred the tongue of the French billiard saloon to the idiom of the Castilian house-drain.
2008 J. Ferrante Sociol. (ed. 7) i. 6/1 Popular belief states that love is a violent, irresistible emotion that strikes at random.
8.
a. Of taste or smell: very strong.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > taste and flavour > [adjective] > strong-tasting
strongeOE
stithc1000
violenta1398
tartc1405
froughc1420
high?c1430
lecherous1474
strong1588
brusque1601
valiant1607
pertish1635
haut-goût1645
full-flavoured1736
lively1770
gamey1820
ory1854
zestful?1855
robust1873
tangy1875
stewy1895
the world > physical sensation > smell and odour > [adjective] > descriptive of odours
stithc1000
violenta1398
hot1595
valiant1607
warm1720
gamey1820
weak1854
blazing1875
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. xxiv. 922 Cipresse..haþ bitter leues and violent smel.
1526 Grete Herball cxii. sig. J.ii/1 It [sc. diagrydium] is put in compost medicyns to loose to sharpe and to force..bycause it is not of to grete vyolent sauour or taste.
1566 I. A. tr. Pliny Summarie Antiq. xvi. sig. H.viii The Ciper tree is slowe in growing without fruit, hauing bitter leaues, violent smell, and naughty shadow.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iv. xxvii. 284 It hath a strong savour, and in my opinion, too violent [Sp. demasiado].
1664 tr. F. Plater et al. Golden Pract. Physick (new ed.) ii. x. 658/2 Rosin of Larke-tree, or Tutpentine [sic]..the vertue of it reacheth to the reins by the violent scent of the urin.
1730 P. Shaw tr. G. E. Stahl Philos. Princ. Universal Chem. ii. i. 133 If strong distill'd Vinegar be poured upon the volatile Spirit of Sal-ammoniac, the violent taste of each vanishes.
1780 Newgate Cal. V. 232 In the morning she perceived a violent smell of sulphur.
1835 J. Forbes et al. Cycl. Pract. Med. IV. 542/2 The occasional use of aperient medicine should not be neglected as long as the violent smell of the urine and the headach exist.
1895 Hampshire Tel. & Sussex Chron. 19 Jan. 9/7 Leeks boiled..and thus robbed of their violent taste and smell, can be served on buttered toast.
1935 Pop. Mech. Mar. 147 a/1 A dense cloud of smoke envelops front of car; upon raising hood a violent odor greets the driver.
1991 O. Clarke Webster's Wine Guide 1992 188/2 Olorosos..are deep and dark, packed with violent burnt flavours.
b. Of sound: extremely loud.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > loudness > [adjective] > too or extremely
roaringOE
violenta1398
vehement1545
fouldering1590
sundering1624
screaming1847
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. cxxxi. 1388 Þe harde voys is grym and grisliche whan the sowne þerof is violent, as [MS and as] þe sowne of þundre.
1579 T. Lupton Thousand Notable Things i. 7 Through..the great and violent noyse of the Gons, the infectious and contagious ayre was quite put awaye.
1602 Kyd's Spanish Trag. (new ed.) iii. sig. H4 Then, sir, after some violent noyse, Bring me foorth..with my torch in my hand.
1695 P. Hume Annot. Paradise Lost ii. 94 Such a violent Clamour and Shout as Engaging Armies make.
1704 D. Defoe Storm i. 99 A short, but violent clap of thunder,..like the Discharge of Ordnance.
1761 Whitehall Evening-post 22–24 Oct. There appeared a prodigious Smoak, attended with the same violent Noise.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 836 At the instant of its beginning to melt, it explodes with a violent report.
1853 C. Dickens Bleak House vi. 53 The stranger only answered with another violent snort.
1903 J. Conrad & F. M. Hueffer Romance (1922) iii. iv. 162 A change had come upon both of us as sudden as if we had been awakened by a violent noise.
1991 Conjunctions 17 103 There is the violent sound of Megala vacuuming the bottom of his glass with a straw.
c. Of colour: extremely bright or strong; intense, vivid. Also of an outline: strongly or harshly represented; distinct.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [adjective] > garish
violenta1522
garisha1568
savage1706
raw1763
criard1840
tranchant1841
flagrant1858
blaring1866
criant1876
screamy1882
screaming1883
raucous1919
shrieking1958
shrill1973
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) x. v. l. 142 The comete stern sanguynolent, With hys red cullour tryst and violent.
1695 R. B. tr. J. de La Charrière Treat. Chirurg. Operations xxxv. 276 That [blood] which lyeth caking rots in the part, giving a violent or black colour according to the degree of Corruption.
1747 tr. Mem. Nutrebian Court II. v. 100 Ulamar is at her feet, kissing the hem of her garment; this raised a violent colour.
1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey II. 122 As the blue was not violent, it suited with the coat and breeches very well.
1845 M. W. Savage Falcon Family xxv. 207 The eye of Vincent was immediately caught by an object of a violent yellow colour.
1886 J. Ruskin Præterita II. vi. 204 The accurate study of tree branches..had more and more taught me the difference between violent and graceful lines.
1923 W. Archer Old Drama & New v. 118 Harsh, violent outlines and coarse splashes of colour.
1924 I. Irwin in B. C. Williams O. Henry Prize Stories of 1924 (1925) 16 The shop-signs made a moving aërial frieze, painted in violent scenes with colours equally violent.
1942 G. J. Nathan Entertainm. of Nation xxx. 253 A bareback rider in a white tulle skirt with a violent purple sash.
2011 Church Times 6 May 29/4 Pendulous fruits drip from the branches in iridescent mauve and violent orange.
9.
a. Of speech or writing: indicative or expressive of strong emotion (now esp. anger, hatred, etc.); fervent, impassioned.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > vigour or force > [adjective] > vehement
violent?1518
vehement1529
loud1530
flame-coloured1598
saltpetre1598
dithyrambic1608
fired1725
?1518 A. Barclay tr. D. Mancinus Myrrour Good Maners sig. H.iv Speke no rebukes nor wordes vyolent.
1588 Ld. Burghley Copie Let. to B. Mendoza 5 (margin) The Cardinals rash & violent writing misliked by the Catholiques.
1649 J. Price Walwins Wiles 26 Omitting then the consideration of the violent, furious, and fiery language, especially, of Mr. Lilburne.
1688 R. L'Estrange Brief Hist. Times III. 292 They both brake out in Violent Exclaymings, Lord! What will become of us!
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. xi. v. 130 He..concluded by a very fond Caress, and many violent Protestations of Love. View more context for this quotation
1777 J. Priestley Doctr. Philos. Necessity 183 All your violent declamation falls upon..my devoted head.
1827 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey III. v. xi. 216 He wrote the most violent letters, protesting by all that was sacred that he was innocent.
1872 J. Morley Voltaire i. 5 The temperament which mistakes strong expression for strong judgment, and violent phrase for grounded conviction.
1922 Boys' Life Dec. 56/4 Sputtering and complaining like an old maid and using all sorts of violent language.
1953 R. Pascal German ‘Sturm & Drang’ v. 144 Faust can only answer with a violent outburst which cannot hide his own feeling of insecurity.
2010 S. Greenblatt Shakespeare's Freedom ii. 48 It is a stain, her devastated husband states, launching into the most violent expression of misogyny in all of Shakespeare.
b. Of a person, a person's disposition or support for a cause, etc.: passionate; vehement; characterized by or exhibiting a lack of moderation in action or conduct. Formerly also with †for or †against (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > violent emotion > [adjective] > affected by violent emotion
woodc900
reighOE
mada1350
furiousc1374
raginga1425
savagea1450
rageous1486
frenetic?c1550
frantic1561
frenetical1588
impotent1596
transported1600
violent1601
turbulent1609
dementing1729
enfrenzied1823
wild1868
haywire1934
wigged-out1977
1601 J. Mush Dialogue Secular Priest & Lay Gentleman 32 We appeale to his Ho. for ending the controuersie, wherein the Archp. is a principall partie, and our violent aduersarie.
1654 T. Gataker Disc. Apol. 27 Some of the violenter sort of the other partie.
1673 H. Hickman Hist. Quinq-articularis 430 It seems if men be never so violent for Ubiquity,..if they be but against Predestination, they shall pass for..Melancthonians.
1706 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. (1885) I. 291 Dunster, one of ye Violentest Whiggs.
1769 E. Burke Let. 24 Nov. in Corr. (1960) II. 112 He entertained me with an account of the present State of Lord Chathams politicks. Violent, as before, against the Ministry.
1800 E. Hervey Mourtray Family II. 222 Henry..was, moreover, of so violent and inflammable a temper, that half a word was sufficient..to set his blood boiling.
1858 Ld. Granville in E. G. Petty-Fitzmaurice Life 2nd Earl Granville (1905) I. 306 Shaftesbury..is much more violent for you than he was against you.
1888 S. Maimon Autobiogr. ix. 59 In my passions I was violent and impatient.
1918 C. H. Judd Introd. Sci. Stud. Educ. v. 73 The teachers who were not sure of the success of their work were violent in their objections.
1965 J. C. Campbell Amer. Policy toward Communist E. Europe ii. 33 Albania's leader, Enver Hoxha, became Stalin's loudest and most violent supporter against the Yugoslav heresy.
2007 P. Bertrando Dialogical Therapist vii. 166 She is a very intense woman, passionate, sometimes violent in her emotions.
III. In intensive use.
10.
a. Of a feeling, emotion, etc.: very great or strong; intense, overwhelming.
ΚΠ
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) iii. l. 191 (MED) I stonde in iuparte..Liste þi corage be to violent.
c1470 tr. R. D'Argenteuil's French Bible (Cleveland) (1977) 61 Bi theire violent & vnmesurable despite thei knelid aforn him & seid, ‘Hail, our king of Iuwes.’
a1542 T. Wyatt Certayne Psalmes (1549) Auctor sig. Civ Vyolente dispayre, on hym too lade.
1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. G2 Thy violent vanities can neuer last. View more context for this quotation
1609 T. Dekker Guls Horne-bk. sig. E1v That Argues a violent impatience to depart from your money.
1677 T. Rawlins Tom Essence iv. ii. 41 Your Raptures are too violent to last.
1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews I. i. iv. 19 The violent Respect he preserved for her. View more context for this quotation
a1770 J. Jortin Serm. (1771) II. ii. 28 Repining and discontent arise from a violent affection for things here below.
1828 E. Bulwer-Lytton Pelham I. xxiii. 190 The duchesse was in a violent fright.
1846 A. Marsh Father Darcy II. xiii. 231 With that feeling of violent irritation which the slightest contradiction now produced.
1895 J. K. Bangs House-boat on Styx (1970) v. 58 While playing vingt-et-un..a poetic member of this club was taken with a most violent fancy.
1933 D. Garnett Pocahontas xx. 234 Seeing all these things again filled her heart with that violent sentimental nostalgia..felt by the very young about the very recent past.
1976 J. G. Cawelti Adventure, Myst., & Romance vii. 188 The story derives from Mike's violent desire to rescue Velda.
2007 D. Hesmondhalgh Cultural Industries x. 292 Miller seems to have a particularly violent objection to books about cooking, gardening and interior design.
b. gen. Very or excessively great, strong, etc.; extreme.Sometimes merely as an intensifier.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > very great or extreme
strangec1380
overpassinga1382
passinga1387
most?c1430
extremec1460
horriblea1464
violenta1500
mainc1540
immortal?c1550
exquisite1552
sore1555
three-piled1598
thundering1618
devilish1639
shrewda1643
deadly1660
woundy1681
vast1696
monstrous1711
mortal1716
terrific1743
hell-fired1754
hellish1764
colossal1794
severe1805
awful1818
all-fired1829
terrible1829
quare and1847
ferocious1877
pluperfect1889
raging1889
giddy1896
utter1898
stiff1905
a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Adv. 19.2.3) vii. l. 2614 [Galo..lettrys..send To the Pape, and made hym kend, That Scotland wes off rebellyown, And] violent [off presumptyown].
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde i. iv. f. 20v The violent famine dyd frustrate all these appoyntmentes.
1578 T. Tymme tr. J. Calvin Comm. Genesis 30 It is too violent a cavill that Moses for instructions sake, distributeth all those thinges which he made at once, into sixe days.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) iv. vi. 76 He, and Auffidius can no more attone Then violent'st Contrariety. View more context for this quotation
1665 R. South Serm. preached before Court 6 Wilt thou demonstrate, that there is..any comfort in Violent abridgments.
1709 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. 21 Aug. (1965) I. 11 I don't see any violent necessity of printed rules.
1745 J. Wesley Let. 30 Dec. (1931) II. 60 I find my transcriber has made a violent mistake, writing 13,000 instead of 1,300.
1830 J. F. W. Herschel Prelim. Disc. Study Nat. Philos. 154 Ammonia is, however, a violent outstanding exception.
1886 Time 15 May 212/1 The performance the night before..had not been a very violent success artistically.
1925 E. O'Shaughnessy Married Life 93 ‘A horrible dream, Roxie, a horrible dream,’ he cried in violent need of sympathy.
1951 L. P. Hartley My Fellow Devils xxvii. 286 Don't you think it was culpably imprudent of you to expose her to a violent shock?
2009 New Yorker 16 Mar. 115/3 It remains to be seen..whether mumblecore's ethos can survive in a period of violent economic downturn.
11. Chiefly Law (originally and chiefly Scots Law). Of a suspicion or presumption: strong enough to warrant (legal) action or to be considered as proof. Now historical and rare.Quot. 1430 may belong at sense A. 10b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective]
hardOE
heavyc1000
highOE
highlyOE
stourc1275
largec1330
intensec1400
violent1430
profoundc1450
vehementc1485
intensive1526
advanceda1533
vengeable1532
Herculean1602
well-advanced1602
deep1605
dense1732
abysmal1817
intensitive1835
holy1837
high-level1860
major1942
1430 in Rec. Parl. Scotl. to 1707 (2007) 1430/24 Sa that the party playntise [read playntife] mak prufe..of the violent presumptioun..be his ath.
1516 Acts Parl. Scotl. (1875) XII. 36/2 All Lawis excludis þe said governour fra administracion and governance for suspicioun vehement and violent.
1593 R. Cosin Apol. for Sundrie Proc. (rev. ed.) ii. vii. 63 That such indicia indubitata or violent presumptions may serue for full proofe in matters of very difficult proofe, we haue an example in Scripture of Salomon.
1655 H. Saunders Anti-diatribe xv. 70 A violent suspicion is enough to deny the Sacrament, according to the common opinion of Divines.
1678 G. Mackenzie Laws & Customes Scotl. ii. 512 Except the presumptions be very violent, I cannot allow this limitation.
1768 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. III. 371 Violent presumption is many times equal to full proof.
1803 P. Colquhoun Treat. Functions & Duties Constable xiv. xlii. 50 Unless on a violent suspicion of felony excited in the mind of the Constable, no person can be lawfully detained.
1860 Times 28 June 10/3 If the Court saw a strong and violent presumption that the testator did not intend him to take beneficially, he was a trustee for the next of kin.
1968 Cambr. Law Jrnl. 26 73 For St Edward Coke, if one were found with a blood-stained knife near the body of a victim with stab wounds, there arose a violent presumption that the man with the knife was a murderer.
B. n.† 2. in violent: by force or constraint. Obsolete. rare.
1. With the and plural agreement: violent people as a class. Also (with the): that which is violent.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > harmful action > [noun]
illingc1220
wrake13..
violenta1382
damaginga1400
harminga1400
spitea1400
offendinga1425
deringc1540
disservice1599
damagement1603
violencing1612
damnificationa1631
injuring1651
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1965) Job xxxiv. 20 In mydnyȝt puplis shuln ben boowid & passen & taken awei þe violent [L. violentum] wiþoute hond.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Job v. 15 God schal make saaf..a pore man fro the hond of the violent.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Matt. xi. 12 Ye kyngdome of heauen suffreth violence, and the violent plucke it vnto them.
1681 J. Dryden Absalom & Achitophel To Rdr. p. ii The Violent, on both sides, will condemn the Character of Absalom.
1713 A. Pope Corr. Dec. (1956) I. 197 I am no way displeas'd that I have offended the violent of all Parties already.
1837 Southern Lit. Messenger 3 707 The gaudy, the meretricious, the violent, the exaggerated, it preferred to those severer charms and milder beauties which are revealed only to the pure in spirit.
1865 S. D. Willard in Med. & Surg. Reporter 22 Apr. 451/2 The sick, the feeble, and the violent, are herded together without distinction to the character or degree of their madness.
1939 L. D. Baldwin Whiskey Rebels (1968) ix. 174 Many townships, where the moderates had not learned of the new scheme or where the violent were numerous enough to control, elected radical delegates.
1967 A. Kavan Ice xv. 146 The snow thickened,..burying the violent and their victims together in a mass-grave.
1999 J. Cope Repossessed p. ix Male rock'n'roll is a pounding earth rhythm which incorporates the Violent alongside the Effeminate and the Poetic.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > obedience > compulsion > [adverb] > forcibly
needlingOE
by (also with, by) fine forcea1375
perforcec1425
in violentc1450
by or in perforce1525
by (also with) main forcec1540
by (also with) main hand1567
vi et armis1618
enixly1671
par force1819
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 148 Þai..told hym þat þai tuke not his son & made him freer [= friar] in violent, bod he offerd hym þerto on his awn gude will.
3. † a. A violent emotion or feeling. Also: a violent act. Usually in plural. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > violent emotion > [noun]
woodnessc1000
furyc1374
ferteec1380
ragea1393
violencea1393
excess1423
zeala1425
vehemence1445
extremity1509
franticnessa1529
vehemency1534
wildnessc1540
impotency1542
violent1576
distraughture1594
distraught1610
distractiona1616
distractedness?1617
entrancement1637
distractfulnessa1640
impotencea1640
transportment1639
transportednessa1656
violent1667
whirl1707
rave1765
Sturm und Drang1857
storm and stress1879
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > violent behaviour > [noun] > rough or violent treatment > instance of
violent1576
rudeness1692
1576 G. Whetstone Ortchard of Repentance 119 in Rocke of Regard For violents, do sildome long indure,They alwayes come, from fortune most vnsure.
1582 G. Whetstone Heptameron Ciuill Disc. ii. sig. G.iiv Their loue and hatred, are violents: and euery violent is an euill.
1583 M. M. S. tr. B. de las Casas Spanish Colonie sig. F3 So many violents and tyrannies which they haue committed in that sort.
1659 T. Lushington Resurrection Rescued 21 All those Violents of the Soul which have mischiefs for their Objects,..as sorrow, fear and despair.
b. A violent person. Usually in plural.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > violent emotion > [noun]
woodnessc1000
furyc1374
ferteec1380
ragea1393
violencea1393
excess1423
zeala1425
vehemence1445
extremity1509
franticnessa1529
vehemency1534
wildnessc1540
impotency1542
violent1576
distraughture1594
distraught1610
distractiona1616
distractedness?1617
entrancement1637
distractfulnessa1640
impotencea1640
transportment1639
transportednessa1656
violent1667
whirl1707
rave1765
Sturm und Drang1857
storm and stress1879
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > violent behaviour > [noun] > person
tyrant1377
routera1500
termagant1508
ruffy?a1513
ruffiana1525
pander1593
thunderbolt1593
bully1604
ruffiano1611
tearer1633
violentoa1661
boy1662
violent1667
hardhead1774
Arab1788
ring-tailed roarer1828
blood-tub1853
tornado1863
stormer1886
hooligan1898
Apache1902
ned1910
rough-up1911
radge1923
goonda1926
pretty-boy1931
tough baby1932
bad-john1935
hoon1938
shit-kicker1954
tough boy1958
oafo1959
ass-kicker1962
droog1962
trog1983
1667 R. Allestree Causes Decay Christian Piety iv. 53 Did the Covetous extortioner observe that he is involv'd in the same sentence, [and] remember that such Violents shall take not heaven, but hell, by force.
1795 J. G. W. De Brahm Apocalyptic Gnomon iii. 99 Friendly and peaceable new-born combatants [sc. Christians in the Roman Empire]..by the very Imperial Violents were acknowledged their conquerors.
1885 ‘Tic Roma’ St. Peter & Cock xxvii. 373 The violents appeared beside the moderates like so many bed wrenches and clothes pins trying to stand up and take an impregnable fortress.
1969 A. D. Grimshaw Racial Violence in U.S. ii. xi. 441 Fifteen of the sixteen ‘violents’ scored high in powerlessness, and thirteen of the sixteen felt high degrees of dissatisfaction.
1998 T. C. Boyle Riven Rock 12 And it was funny too because this was the kind of day that got the violents stirred up.
Violently. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb]
stronglyeOE
felec950
strongeOE
highlyOE
highOE
greatlya1200
stourlya1225
greata1325
dreec1330
deeplya1400
mightya1400
dreichlyc1400
mighty?a1425
sorec1440
mainlyc1450
greatumly1456
madc1487
profoundly1489
stronglya1492
muchwhata1513
shrewlya1529
heapa1547
vengeance?1548
sorely1562
smartlyc1580
mightly1582
mightily1587
violently1601
intensively1604
almightily1612
violent1629
seriously1643
intensely1646
importunately1660
shrewdly1664
gey1686
sadly1738
plenty1775
vitally1787
substantively1795
badly1813
far1814
heavily1819
serious1825
measurably1834
dearly1843
bally1939
majorly1955
sizzlingly1956
majorly1978
fecking1983
1629 J. Parkinson Paradisi in Sole ciii. 402 The wilde Bay hath no propertie allotted vnto it in Physicke..the berries being chewed declare it to be so violent hot and choking.
1666 T. Allin Jrnl. 14 July (1939) (modernized text) I. 275 Little wind northerly, a violent hot day.
1709 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. 12 Nov. (1965) I. 19 These wars make men so violent scarce, that these good ladies take up with the shadows of them.
1719 G. London & H. Wise J. de la Quintinie's Compl. Gard'ner (ed. 7) 171 If it freezes so violent as that we are expos'd to danger.
1772 L. Carter Diary 18 Aug. (1965) II. 713 My son..should violent suspect me of Untruth.
1867 Every Sat. 25 May 670/1 The apparent incongruity is too violent hot to produce a sense of the ludicrous.
Compounds
ΚΠ
?c1450 in Anglia (1896) 18 308 Powdyr of betonye eke is good, Medelyd with hony, for vyolent blod.
violent sign n. Astrology a sign of the zodiac considered to be influenced by a malefic planet (and under certain circumstances to have an adverse effect in a horoscope).
ΚΠ
1583 J. Harvey Astrol. Addition sig. C4v More manifestly signified by the Quartil of Mercury with the Dragons head, in violent signes, namely in Capricorne, and Aries.
1679 J. Moxon Math. made Easie 161 Violent Signs, are those in which the Malefick Planets, viz. Saturn or Mars have any notable Dignitie... And also those in which there are any violent fixed Stars of note, and within the Zodiac.
1784 E. Sibly New & Compl. Illustr. Astrol. i. 262 Mars..in the same aspect of Sol from angles, shews a violent death. If so posited in violent signs, though out of angles, the same.
1832 ‘Raphael’ Familiar Astrologer 613 He is in exact opposition to Saturn, from violent signs.
1920 M. Heindel Mystical Interpr. Christmas iv. 35 During the months next following, the sun passes through the violent sign of Capricorn.
2005 N. N. Saha Speaking of Healing through Gems viii. 122 Mars governs the brain and forehead and he is posited in a violent sign Taurus, afflicted by Saturn.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
† violentv.
Obsolete.
1. To compel, coerce, or constrain (a person).
a. transitive. Without construction. Also reflexive.Frequently Scottish.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > obedience > compulsion > compel [verb (transitive)] > by violence
violent1529
throwc1598
violence1620
musclec1802
bulldoze1876
sandbag1887
1529 Bp. S. Gardiner Let. 2 Aug. (1933) 25 A king in his owne realme may not be violen[ted].
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes To vrge, to force, to constraine, to violent.
1634 A. Johnston Diary (1911) I. 200 My saule violented and urged God by this argumenting prayer.
1655 R. Baillie Disswasive Vindic. Pref. sig. Av I could no longer be dumb, but so violented, I at last do open my mouth.
1717 T. Boston in Acc. Life (1908) 227 I hope the Reverend Commission will not violent me, which they will do, if they transport me to Closeburn.
a1722 J. Lauder Hist. Notices Sc. Affairs (1848) I. 48 Sir George L[ockhart] violented himselfe much in the affair, he never pleading chearfully against his oune judgement.
1725 R. Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 179 This matter would..be softly handled; and the woman and her brother look like cruel and inhuman..people, in violenting the good man in this matter.
b. transitive. With into, to, from, etc., or with infinitive as complement.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > obedience > compulsion > compel [verb (transitive)] > to or into an action or state
needeOE
driveOE
strainc1374
halec1400
plunge?c1400
thrust14..
pulla1425
put1425
compel1541
violent?1551
forcec1592
necessitate1629
oblige1632
dragoon1689
press1733
coercea1853
thirl1871
steamroller1959
arm-twist1964
society > authority > subjection > obedience > compulsion > compel [verb (transitive)] > to do something
holdc1275
piltc1275
constraina1340
strength1340
distrainc1374
compelc1380
makec1395
distressa1400
stressa1400
art?1406
putc1450
coerce1475
cohert1475
enforce1509
perforce1509
forcec1540
violent?1551
press1600
necessitate1601
rack1602
restrain1621
reduce1622
oblige1632
necessiate1709
?1551 A. Bacon tr. B. Ochino 14 Serm. xiii. sig. B.iiiiv Their wyll then is not violented or forced to do euel [It. violentata a fare male] of ani outward power.
a1595 R. Southwell Humble Supplication (1600) 45 Theyr heauie enimies had no other wayes to dismount them from theyr best deseruing, but by violenting them too euill.
1632 B. Gerbier in Misc. State Papers (1778) II. 67 That the deputies at the Hague, possest with these fears, should not be violented to enter into some secret accord with the States of Holland.
1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. xi. 157 When a great Adversary stepping in, so violented his Majesty to a Tryall, that all was..frustrated.
1667 J. Stewart Naphtali 281 De facto 300. and upwards of the faithful Ministers, were by vertue of this Act shortly thereafter outed and violented from the Exercise of their Ministry.
1710 T. Blackwell Schema Sacrum v. 103 Sin and Damnation violenting him (as it were) unto the same.
1721 R. Wodrow Hist. Sufferings Church of Scotl. I. 469 The Procedure of this Period, in violenting People into the Declaration.
2. transitive. To distort or corrupt the meaning of (words, a text, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > misinterpretation > distortion or perversion of meaning > pervert or distort [verb (transitive)]
crooka1340
deprave1382
pervertc1390
strainc1449
drawc1450
miswrest?a1475
bewrya1522
wry?1521
to make a Welshman's hose ofa1529
writhea1533
wrest1533
invert1534
wring?1541
depravate1548
rack1548
violent1549
wrench1549
train1551
wreathe1556
throw1558
detorta1575
shuffle1589
wriggle1593
distortc1595
to put, set, place, etc. on the rack1599
twine1600
wire-draw1610
monstrify1617
screw1628
corrupt1630
gloss1638
torture1648
force1662
vex1678
refract1700
warp1717
to put a force upon1729
twist1821
ply1988
1549 H. Latimer 2nd Serm. before Kynges Maiestie 5th Serm. sig. Rv Thus they force and violent thys place to make for their purpose, wher no such thynge is mente.
1609 R. Parsons Quiet Reckoning iii. 213 Will our owne doctors thinke yow, say, that these fifteene places are all tortured and forced against their meaning? and all the Fathers expositions violented against their owne iudgement?
1661 T. White Devotion & Reason ii. iv. 187 [Wilful misinterpretation] violenteth the nature of the word, and..makes the speeches of Saints improper.
1767 Scots Mag. July 349/1 No writer in the present age..has used more freedom in stretching and violenting the scripture.
3. transitive. Chiefly Scottish. To subject (a person) to violence; to attack, assault.
ΚΠ
1602 T. Lodge tr. Josephus Wks. ix. viii. 235 He burnt & spoyled Galaad, and Bathanæa, violenting and outraging all those that he met withall.
1627 P. Hay Advt. Subj. Scotl. 7 Pelagius..having a Sister of rare beautie, in lyke sort violented and raped, by a Cosin of this Barbarian King.
1712 Authentick Coppie Tryal Scot & Mackpherson (1737) 9 in Parl. Papers 1733–8 H.L. I. 283 When requested to restrain their Dogs, they did fall upon the Pursuers Servant..and violented him.
1885 R. F. Burton tr. Arabian Nights' Entertainm. II. lxi. 159 Highway robbers who live by violenting mankind.
4. intransitive. Of a passionate emotion: to rage violently. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > be violent [verb (intransitive)]
wedec900
wrakec1330
ragea1475
tempest1477
rave1559
ruffle1579
violent1609
chafea1616
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida iv. v. 4 Why tell you me of moderation? The greife is fine, full, perfect that I taste, And violenteth [1623 no lesse] in a sence as strong As that which causeth it. View more context for this quotation
5. transitive. To bring about (an action) by force or coercion. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > obedience > compulsion > compel [verb (transitive)] > produce or obtain by compulsion or force
enforce1531
constrain?c1583
efforce1590
violent1650
compel1673
coercea1850
1650 R. Gentilis tr. V. Malvezzi Considerations Lives Alcibiades & Corialanus 53 The free putting himselfe into his hands..being done willingly, not violented [It. violentata] by any extrinsecall mover.
6. transitive. Probably: to perpetrate by means of violence. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > violent behaviour > treat violently [verb (transitive)]
outragec1390
to do violence untoa1393
to lay violent hands on (or upon)a1428
to put hand(s) to (also in, on)1526
surprise1548
violate1584
violenta1661
bedevil1768
strong-arm1896
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Wales 19 This Bishop Farrar was afterwards martyred in the raign of Queen Mary. I find not the least appearance, that his former adversaries violented any thing against him under that Queen.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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adj.n.adv.a1382
v.1529