selvish

comparative more selvish · superlative most selvish

1. obsoleteObsolete form of selfish.

   It is a selvish fear, proceeding from an..adulterous love of ourselves.

   1656, Jeanes, Mixt. Schol. Div., page 14; quoted in “Selfish (se·lfiʃ), a.”, in James A[ugustus] H[enry] Murray [et al.], editors, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume VIII, Part 2 (S–Sh), London: Clarendon Press, 1884–1928, →OCLC, page 421, column 2

   5 more examples

   Therefore you powers of the Earth, or Lord Eſau, the Elder brother, becauſe you have appeared to rule the Creation, firſt take notice, That the power that ſets you to work, is ſelviſh Covetouſnes, and an aſpiring Pride, to live in glory and eaſe over Iacob, the meek Spirit; […] theſe two Powers ſtill hath been the Curſe, that hath led the Earth, mankind, into confuſion and death by their imaginary and ſelviſh teaching and ruling, and it could be no otherwiſe; […] And theſe, and ſuch as theſe, have ſtill been the Butt, at whom, the powers of the Earth in all ages of the world, by their ſelviſh Laws, have ſhot their fury. […] not one Lording over another, but all looking upon each other, as equals in the Creation; ſo that our Maker may be glorified in the work of his own hands, and that every one may ſee, he is no reſpecter of Perſons, but equally loves his whole Creation, and hates nothing but the Serpent, which is Covetouſneſs, branching forth into ſelviſh Imagination, Pride, Envie, Hypocriſie, Vncleanneſs; […] And not the Inheritance of covetous proud Feſh, that is ſelviſh, and enmity to the Spirit.

   1649, William Everard et al., The True Levellers Standard Advanced: or, The State of Community Opened, and Presented to the Sons of Men. […] , London: [s.n.], pages 9, 10, 13, and 17

   But after, when this Golden Age with Astræa had withdrawn it ſelf from this corruptible Earth, then Deceipt by the Devils Trappanning, ſeis’d ſo much upon the temper of humanity; that ſelf-ended Intereſt began to take root; The benefit of which, joyn’d with the ſweetneſs of Revenge, ſo intangled the diſpoſition of mankind in the Art of Knavery, that his time was judged to be beſt ſpent, who got moſt cunning to defraud his Neighbour. This Selviſh Policy, though acted by every one according to his abilities in ſome ſenſe or other; yet its chiefeſt Theater is amongſt thoſe, who (ſcorning to dwindle away their days in Petit hazards) lay nothing at ſtake, but whole Kingdomes, or their own ruins: The greater their venture, the more their glory, if they come off with gaine or ſafety.

   1674, Henry Foulis, “Nothing so VVicked, but some will Vndertake and Vindicate”, in The History of the Wicked Plots and Conspiracies of Our Pretended Saints: Representing the Beginning, Constitution, and Designs of the Jesuite. […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxon: […] Hen[ry] Hall for Ric[hard] Davis, pages 1–2

   Hospitality to strangers still lingers in the distant country, but has long been banished from that region of avarice and selvish profusion, an overgrown city.

   1803, Vicesimus Knox, Essays, Moral and Literary, 15th edition, volume III, London: […] J. Mawman, […]; R. Lea, […]; J. Walker, […]; and J. Nunn, […], page 65

   We beg leave to remark Sir that this is no Idle Tale invented to please the whim or gratify a selvish spirit or a pityfull revenge.

   1814, Benjamin F[ranklin] Palmer, edited by the Acorn Club, The Diary of Benjamin F. Palmer, Privateersman, […], [New Haven, Conn.]: The Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Press, published 1914, page 257

   Take warning by my fate, and shun that flowery and bewitching path; for in its labyrinths the good, the gentle, the kind-hearted, and the benevolent, are too often lost; while the sordid and the selvish scarcely so much as run a hazard.

   1823, James Hogg, The Three Perils of Woman; or Love, Leasing, and Jealousy. A Series of Domestic Scottish Tales., volume I, New York, N.Y.: […] Evert Duyckinck, Samuel Campbell and Son, […], page 145