abed

See also: Abed

English

From Middle English abedde, on bedde (“bed”), from Old English bedd (“bed”). Equivalent to a- (“in, on”) +‎ bed.

abed (not comparable)

In bed, or on the bed; confined to bed. [First attested from 1150 to 1350.]^[1]
- c. 1564–1616, William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, II, iii:
  Not to be abed after midnight
- 1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./4/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:
  The world was awake to the 2nd of May, but Mayfair is not the world, and even the menials of Mayfair lie long abed.
- 1948, Alan Paton, Cry, the Beloved Country, London: Jonathan Cape, Chapter 12,
  Who can lie peacefully abed, while the darkness holds some secret?
To childbed
- c. 1564–1616, William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus, IV, ii:
  I mean, she's brought a-bed

in bed, or on the bed

↑ Lesley Brown (editor), The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th edition (Oxford University Press, 2003 [1933], →ISBN), page 3

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