Themain office is actually one of the smaller rooms.
1664,John Tillotson, “Sermon I. The Wisdom of Being Religious.Job XXVIII. 28.”, inThe Works of the Most Reverend Dr. John Tillotson, Late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury:[…], 8th edition, London:[…] T. Goodwin, B[enjamin] Tooke, and J. Pemberton,[…]; J. Round[…], andJ[acob] Tonson][…], published1720,→OCLC:
Religion direct us rather to ſecureinward peace thanoutward eaſe, to be more careful to avoideverlaſting andintolerable torment thanſhort andlight afflictions which are but for a moment;[…] In a word, ourmain intereſt is to beas happy as we can, andas long as is poſſible; and if we be caſt into ſuch circumſtances, that we muſt be either in part and for a time or elſe wholly and always miſerable, thebeſt wiſdom is to chuſe thegreateſt andmoſt laſting happiness, but theleaſt andſhorteſt miſery.
With some of it on the south and more of it on the north of the greatmain thoroughfare that connects Aldgate and the East India Docks, St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London.
By one o'clock the place was choc-a-bloc.[…] The restaurant was packed, and the promenade between the twomain courts and the subsidiary courts was thronged with healthy-looking youngish people, drawn to the Mecca of tennis from all parts of the country.
1667,John Milton, “Book VI”, inParadise Lost.[…], London:[…] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker[…];[a]nd by Robert Boulter[…];[a]nd Matthias Walker,[…],→OCLC; republished asParadise Lost in Ten Books:[…], London: Basil Montagu Pickering[…],1873,→OCLC, lines470–471:
Not uninvented that, which thou aright / Beleivſt ſomain to our ſucceſs, I bring;[…]
2013 August 3, “The Future of Oil: Yesterday’s fuel”, inThe Economist[1], volume408, number8847, archived fromthe original on1 August 2013:
The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania.[…] It was used to make kerosene, themain fuel for artificial lighting after overfishing led to a shortage of whale blubber. Other liquids produced in the refining process, too unstable or smoky for lamplight, were burned or dumped.
[…] I shall never forget the diabolical sneer which writhed Rashleigh's wayward features, as I was forced from the apartment by themain strength of two of these youthful Titans.
Wounded and overthrown, the Britons continued their resistance, clung round the legs of the Norman steeds, and cumbered their advance; while their brethren, thrusting with pikes, proved every joint and crevice of the plate and mail, or grappling with the men-at-arms, strove to pull them from their horses bymain force, or beat them down with their bills and Welch hooks.
1718,Samuel Daniel, “The History of the Civil War. Book V.”, inThe Poetical Works of Mr. Samuel Daniel, Author of the English History.[…], volume II, London: Printed for R. Gosling,[…] W. Mears,[…] and J. Browne[…],→OCLC, stanza LXXXIX,page167:
And now that Current withmain Fury ran / (The Stop remov'd that did the Courſe defend) / Unto the full of Miſchief, that began / T' an univerſal Ruin to extend;[…]
1754,Samuel Foote, “The Knights”, inThe Knights. A Comedy, in Two Acts.[…], Dublin: Printed by Richard James,[…],→OCLC, act II,page35:
Suck[y]. A Draught of Ale, Friend, for I'mmain dry. /Pen[elope]. Fie! fie! Niece! Is that Liquor for a young Lady? Don't disparage your Family and Breeding!
What race do youmain and what is your favourite race to beat?
For new players, I recommendmaining the dagger and using the axe as a backup weapon.
2017 January 25, Dave Smith, “After Weeks of Bugging Him on Twitter,Elon Musk just Told Me His ‘Dark Secret’”, inBusiness Insider[2], archived fromthe original on30 March 2017:
Now, full disclosure: I toomain Soldier 76 in "Overwatch" (by the way, the term "maining" is parlance for the most-often used character you play in a given game).
1904, Arthur Underhill,Charles Otto Blagden,et al., editors,An Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents Other than Court Forms, volume 6, London:Butterworth,→OCLC:
When a rural district council considers that a highway in its district ought to become a main road by reason of its being a medium of communication between great towns, or a thoroughfare to a railway station, or otherwise, it may apply to the county council for an order "maining" the road under s. 15 of the Highways and Locomotives (Amendment) Act, 1878 (41 & 42 Vict. c. 77), as amended by s. 3 (viii.) of the Local Government Act, 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c. 41), and the county council may make an order accordingly.
1927,The Municipal Journal and Public Works Engineer, volume XXXVI, London: Municipal Journal,→OCLC:
The borough did not have an opportunity of conferring with the County Council, but the County Council requested particulars of district roads in the borough which the Council suggested should bemained.
1718,Humphrey Prideaux,The Old and New Testaments Connected in the History of the Jews and Neighbouring Nations, from the Declension of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah to the Time of Christ, 3rd edition, volume II, part I, London: Printed for R. Knaplock[…] andJ[acob] Tonson[…],→OCLC, part II, book II,page96:
Antiochus[…] thought it a proper time for him to attempt the recovery ofSyria; andHermias his prime Miniſter preſſed hard for his going in perſon to this war, contrary to the Opinion ofEpigenes his General; who thought it chiefly concerned him to ſuppreſs the Rebellion ofAlexander andMolon in the East; and therefore adviſed him to march immediately in perſon with themain of his Army for the ſubduing of thoſe Rebels, before they ſhould gather greater ſtrength in the revolted Provinces againſt him.
1803,Francis Bacon, “The History of the Reign of King Henry the Seventh”, inThe Works of Francis Bacon, Baron of Verulam, Viscount St. Alban, and Lord High Chancellor of England. In Ten Volumes, volume V, London: Printed for J. Johnson[et al.];[…],→OCLC,page 8:
But the King [Henry VII of England],[…] preferring his affection to his own line and blood,[…] resolved to rest upon the title of Lancaster as themain, and to use the other two, that of marriage, and that of battle, but as supporters, the one to appease secret discontents, and the other to beat down open murmur and dispute;[…]
There's a gas leak in themain outside the building.
1778 April 3, “Appendix. Report from the Committee on the State of the Pavements, &c. in the Streets of Dublin”, inThe Journals of the House of Commons, of the Kingdom of Ireland,[…], volume XX, Dublin: Printed by Abraham Bradley and Abraham Bradley King,[…], published1782,→OCLC,page539:
[T]he Contract with the Pipe-water Pavior was, as he recollects, to keep the Pavement in Repair for ſix Weeks; did oblige the Contractor to repair many Places in that ſix Weeks; there was a Part of the newMain failed inDame-ſtreet; was obliged to take up three or four Pieces in Length, in conſequence of a Sewer being made there, which undermined theMain, and put it out of its Place;[…]
1876 June 19, Guildford Barker Richardson (interviewee), “Mr. Guildford Barker Richardson, Called in; and further Examined”, inReport from the Select Committee on the Metropolis Gas (Surrey Side) Bill; together with the Proceedings of the Committee, and Minutes of Evidence (Reports from Committees: Seven Volumes; 4), volume XI,[London]: Ordered, by theHouse of Commons, to be printed, published28 July 1876,→OCLC, paragraph 4780,page335:
[T]he Board would have put down, and indeed have ordered, hydrants where the water companies have put down newmains, or at all events are quite prepared upon those newmains to fix hydrants.
Who ſhall himrew, that ſwimming in themaine, / Will die forthriſt, and water doth refuſe? / Refuſe ſuch fruitleſſe toile, and preſent pleaſures chuſe.
1697,Virgil, “The Fifth Book of theÆneis”, inJohn Dryden, transl.,The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis.[…], London:[…]Jacob Tonson,[…],→OCLC,page360, lines1115–1119:
The God, inſulting with ſuperiour Strength, / Fell heavy on him, plung'd him in the Sea, / And, with the Stern, the Rudder tore away, / Headlong he fell, and, ſtrugling in theMain, / Cry'd out for helping hands, but cry'd in vain:[…]
Wanton god of am'rous fires, / Wishes, sighs and soft desires, / All nature's sons thy laws maintain; / O'er liquid air, firm land, and swellingmain, / Extend thy uncontroul'd and boundless reign.
The Sons of Mary seldom bother, for they have inherited that good part; / But the Sons of Martha favour their Mother of the careful soul and the troubled heart, /[…] / It is their care that the wheels run truly; it is their care to embark and entrain, / Tally, transport, and deliver duly the Sons of Mary by land andmain.
1975, Keith Reid ofProcul Harum,Pandora's Box (lyrics):
And like some pirate sailor / We crossed the SpanishMain
1624,Francis Bacon, “Considerations Touching a War with Spain. Inscribed to PrinceCharles, An. 1624.”, inThe Works of Francis Bacon, Baron of Verulam, Viscount St. Alban, and Lord High Chancellor of England, volume III, London: Printed for J[ohn] Walthoe,[…], published1740,→OCLC,page526:
In the year that followed of 1589, we gave theSpaniards no breath, but turned challengers, invaded themain ofSpain. In which enterprize, although we failed of our end, which was to ſettleDon Antonio in the kingdom ofPortugal, yet a man ſhall hardly meet with an action that doth better reveal the great ſecret of the power ofSpain:[…]
Tashtego's long, lean, sable hair, his high cheek bones, and black rounding eyes—[…] all this sufficiently proclaimed him an inheritor of the unvitiated blood of those proud warrior hunters, who, in quest of the great New England moose, had scoured, bow in hand, the aboriginal forests of themain.
For with ſuch puiſſance and impetuousmaine / Thoſe Champions broke on them, that forſt the fly, / Like ſcattered Sheepe, whenas the Shepherds ſwaine / A Lyon and a Tigre doth eſpye, / With greedy pace forth ruſhing from the foreſt nye.
1689 May 14, Mr. Prior [Matthew Prior?], “Epistle toFleetwood Shephard, Esq.”, in “Mr. Gentleman”[pseudonym],The New Pleasing Instructor: Or, Entertaining Moralist.[…], York, Yorkshire: Printed by C. Etherington, forJohn Bell,[…] and C. Etherington,[…], published1772,→OCLC,page370:
That writing is but juſt like dice, / And luckymains make people wiſe: / That jumbled words, if fortune throw 'em, / Shall, well asDryden, form a poem;[…]
1876, Charles Dickens,All the Year Round
That no minute might be wasted, the gay gallants of the time generally had a dice-box and a cast of dice in their pockets. This was convenient in the extreme, as, in the intervals of racing, amain could be thrown[…]
1598, Richard Barckley, “To the Reader”, inA Discourse of the Felicitie of Man: Or His Summum Bonum, London: Printed [byRichard Field] forVVilliam Ponsonby,→OCLC; republished as “To the Reader”, inA Discovrse of the Felicite of Man. Or His Summum Bonum, newly corrected and augmented edition, London: Printed [byJames Roberts] for VVilliam Ponsonby,1603,→OCLC:
Euery man hath not beene brought vp in the knowledge of toungs. And it chanceth often to the reader, as it doth to diceplayers, that gaine more by the bye then by themaine.
I had such a run of luck last night, with five for themain, and seven to five all night, until those ruffians wanted to pay me with Altamont’s bill upon me. The luck turned from that minute. Never held the box again for threemains, and came away cleared out, leaving that infernal cheque behind me.
My lord was hunting all day when the ſeaſon admitted; he frequented all the cockfights and fairs in the country, and would ride twenty miles to ſee amain fought, or two clowns break their heads at a cudgelling match;[…]
[1751,Robert Ainsworth,Samuel Patrick, “A main”, inThesaurus Linguæ Latinæ Compendiarius: Or, A Compendious Dictionary of the Latin Tongue:[…], 3rd edition, London: Printed by C. and J. Ackers, for W[illiam] Mount and T[homas] Page[et al.],→OCLC, column 1:
“main” inMartalar, Umberto Martello, Bellotto, Alfonso (1974)Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo
In modern Finnish, the postposition is always preceded by a demonstrative pronoun in the plural: eithernäillä main,noilla main orniillä main (as above).
“main”, inKielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish][3] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki:Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland),2004–, retrieved2023-12-01
^Adelaar, K.A. "The history of thing, animal, person and related concepts in Malay". In Pawley, A.K. and Ross, M.D. editors,Austronesian Terminologies: Continuity and Change. C-127:1-20. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1994.
A phonemical reduction from Pre-Proto-Malayic*q-um-ayam, fromProto-Malayo-Polynesian*qayam.[1] TheBuku Katan alternatively proposes it as a product of suffixingmaya +-an.[2]
^Adelaar, K.A. "The history of thing, animal, person and related concepts in Malay". In Pawley, A.K. and Ross, M.D. editors,Austronesian Terminologies: Continuity and Change. C-127:1-20. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1994.
^Mohd. Said bin Haji Sulaiman (1936)Buku Katan, romanized, 2002 edition, Pakatan Bahasa Melayu Persuratan Buku Diraja Johor (original), Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Malaysia,→ISBN, page626
