Brewer, E. Cobham. Dictionary of Phrase & Fable. Dearest.

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Dear Bought and Far Brought

Death,

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E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.

Dearest.

Most hateful, as dearest foe. The word dear, meaning “beloved,” is the Saxon deor (dear, rare); but dear, “hateful,” is the Anglo-Saxon derian (to hurt), Scotch dere (to annoy).

“Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven,

Or ever I had seen that day, Horatie.”

Shakespeare: Hamlet, i. 2.

Dear Bought and Far Brought

Death,

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