abed

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

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˈbɛd/
• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈbɛd/
• Rhymes: -ɛd

abed (not comparable)

1. 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?

2. To childbed
   • c. 1564–1616, William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus, IV, ii:

     I mean, she's brought a-bed

• slugabed

• adeb, bade, baed, bead