Etymology Dictionary

ABIDE, (1), to wait for.  (E.)   M.E. abiden, Chaucer, C. T. Group E, 757,1106; and in common use.—A.S. ábídan, Grein, i. 12.—A.S. prefix á-, equivalent to G. er-, Goth. us-; and bídan, to bide. + Goth. usbeidan, to expect.   See Bide.  Der. abid-ing; abode, formed by variation of the root-vowel, the A.S. í passing into á, which answers to the mod. E. long o; March, A.S. Gram., sect. 230.

ABIDE, (2), to suffer for a thing.  (E.)   α.  We find in Shak. 'lest thou abide it dear,' Mids. Nt. Dream, iii. 2. 175; where the first quarto has aby.  The latter is correct; the verb in the phrase 'to abide it' being a mere corruption.   β. The M.E. form is abyen, as in 'That thou shalt with this launcegay Abyen it ful soure;' Chaucer, C. T., Group B, 2011 (l. 13751).  This verb abyen is also spelt abuggen and abiggen, and is extremely common in Middle English; see examples in Mätzner and Stratmann.  Its pt. tense is aboughte, and we still preserve it, in a reversed form, in the modern to buy off.   γ. Hence 'lest thou abide it dear' signifies 'lest thou have to buy it off dearly,' i.e. lest thou have to pay dearly for it.—A.S. ábycgan, to pay for.  'Gif fríman wið fríes mannes wíf geligeð, his wergelde ábicge' = If a free man lie with a freeman's wife, let him pay for it with his wergeld; Laws of King Æthelbirht, 31; pr. in Thorpe's Ancient Laws of England, i. 10.—A.S. á-, prefix, probably cognate with the Goth. us- (unless the prefix is a-, and is short for af-, put for of-, i.e. off ); and A.S. bycgan, to buy.   See Buy.