Question: Is the hyphen necessary in phrases like “ever-more Prussian” and “studied the ever more frequent engravings”? My thoughts on this?
Answer: The phrase “ever more,” meaning “increasingly more,” no longer requires a hyphen in these examples. Previously, it was occasionally hyphenated.
Upon closer examination, the adverbs “ever” + “more” function as a phrase modifying an adjective (“Prussian” … “frequent”). This results in an adjectival phrase: “ever more Prussian” … “ever more frequent.” The first is a post-modifying complement, while the second pre-modifies a noun.
It is worth noting that examples from the Collins English Dictionary do not use hyphens in phrases like “He grew ever more fierce in his demands” or “It will become ever more complex.”
The presence of determiners like “an,” “the,” or “some” does not affect the hyphenation, as demonstrated in this example from the Oxford English Dictionary: “In an ever more brutal, if technically sleek, world where the skies are filled with killer drones.”
A similar construction combines “ever” + “so” to modify an adjective, creating an adjectival phrase. Here, the adverbial modifier conveys a sense of “extremely” or “very.”
Merriam-Webster online provides examples such as “I’m ever so glad that you got better” and “In the back seat was a Chinese American woman looking ever so chic and glamorous.”
In the case of “ever more” used to modify a noun, as in “ever more Prussians” or “ever more engravings,” “more” acts as an adjective, forming an adjectival phrase. Examples from the Oxford English Dictionary include “ever more gadgets in hand” and “ever more artists.”
In contrast, when an adjective other than “more” is used in conjunction with “ever,” a hyphen is typically employed. Examples from the Cambridge Dictionary include “ever-decreasing profits” and “an ever-present threat.”
Furthermore, “ever more” and “ever so” can also be used with adverbs to create adverbial phrases, as seen in examples like “the price fell ever more steeply” and “he ran ever so quietly.”
The term “evermore” (one word, no hyphen) means “forever” or “always.” An example from Merriam-Webster reads: “He promised to love her evermore, if only she would consent to be his wife.”
The earliest documented use of “evermore” dates back to Old English as “æfre ma,” signifying “for all future time,” according to the OED.
Expanding on the OED’s earliest citation from King Alfred’s translation of “Liber Regulae Pastoralis,” the phrase “ever more” appeared in Middle English, initially hyphenated. Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” provides an example: “Pitous and Iust, and ever-more y-liche, Sooth of his word, benigne and honurable.”
An early unhyphenated instance of “ever more” can be found in William Tyndale’s work, while the earliest adjectival use of the phrase to modify a noun is seen in the essays of Montaigne, translated by John Florio.
Lastly, we encounter early uses of “ever so” to convey “very” or “extremely,” as evidenced in a letter by Gilbert Burnet from 1686.
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