Talk:steven

Can we just put an archaic tage of everything? --Type56op9 (talk) 14:54, 5 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Thanks. Century called all but the "promise" sense "†" in 1911. I think they are obsolete. I don't know about the purported dialectal sense. DCDuring TALK 15:50, 5 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Definitely the kind of word that should not be used in definitions and is probably not worth separate translation tables. DCDuring TALK 15:51, 5 March 2015 (UTC)

stevven, steaven
RFV of everything (except the first sense, "voice", which is cited). Compare the RFV of. Note that several of the citations are Middle English or are mentions and/or are not of this spelling. The "that which is uttered; cry, petition, prayer" and "command" senses could possibly be combined if it would make them easier to cite (note that one of the three citations they have between them is Middle English and the other two use steauen, which has an a even if one overlooks the variation in u~v). George Ellis's Specimens of the Early English Poets has a citation of "Stephen kept his steaven" which supports the "appointment" sense, although again not in this spelling. I took all the citations from the EDD and Century that were not made-up usexes or Middle English. - -sche (discuss) 07:23, 24 December 2018 (UTC)
 * This might be of interest. It's a mention of the verb stevven, and explains how it was used mid-last century (c.1947). The text reads: If the stowering  was driven along by a very strong wind or gale, it was known as stevvening; when the wind howled, it was said to stevven. Stevven indicated something loud, like a howl, but it could also mean someone shouting. A fierce blizzard was described as “Snaw that was stevvening and stowering.” If a person lost his or her temper and began to shout and wave their arms about, they were also described as stevvening, while a snowstorm being driven by a strong wind was often known as a snaw-stower or snaw-stoor. [].


 * I've removed stevven as long uncited and so RFV-failed, and removed or combined various other uncited senses. Steven as " Request, petition, prayer, or command." does have two English citations now. The verb steven has one; I moved it to the citations page and otherwise removed the verb, which seems to exist only as stevvon. Steven meaning "time" has two English citations. Steaven has one or two. With some more effort, some of these might be attestable. - -sche (discuss) 19:28, 4 January 2020 (UTC)

RFV-resolved Kiwima (talk) 19:42, 29 January 2020 (UTC)