[Ads-l] bona fide (adj.), 1755

[Ben Zimmer]

My latest WSJ column is on "bona fide," much in the news thanks to the
SCOTUS ruling on the Trump administration's travel ban.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-bona-fide-became-a-key-player-in-travel-ban-debate-1498835369

Twitter link to follow if paywalled:

https://twitter.com/bgzimmer/status/880815456113897472

The OED entry hasn't been updated since... 1887? Anyway, I didn't see
anything earlier than the OED's 1542-3 cite for adverbial "bona fide" on
EEBO, but the adjectival sense is easily antedated (OED has 1788).

Reports of Adjudged Cases in the Courts of Chancery, King's Bench, Common
Pleas and Exchequer, Volume 2, 1755.

p. 1162: And the sessions having held, that his taking to this acre, and
living on it eight years, did not gain a settlement under 9 Geo. I. c. 7.
which requires a /bona fide/ payment of 30 l.
https://books.google.com/books?id=ogJLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1162

p. 1207: [Y]et the bankrupt had in the mean time such a property in them,
as enabled him to transact and sell to a /bona fide/ purchaser.
https://books.google.com/books?id=ogJLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1207

--bgz

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