EIDENT

also EYDENT, IDENT, YDANT

CLICK HERE FOR KEY TO SOURCES

ADJ.
1. diligent, industrious, busy, attentive to; hard-working
...1591 Sc. & N. Eng. dial.
2. continuous, persistent, esp. with reference to weather ...1786 Sc.
3. of rain, snow, etc.: steady, continuous, unceasing ...1794 Sc.
4. of mental or moral qualities: conscientious, watchful, careful, attentive
...1812 Sc.
5. thorough, arrant ...Bk1900 Eng. dial. 


ETYMOLOGY
variant of ident (diligent, persistent), Scottish form of ithand (assiduous, diligent, busy), which is an altered form of northern Middle English iþen, iþin (from Old Norse iðinn assiduous, diligent) assimilated to pr. pples. in -and

EXAMPLE
From: Tales of My Landlord
By Walter Scott
Collected and Arranged by Jedediah Cleishbotham, Vol. II, 1816
Tale II. Old Mortality. Chapter IV. P. 69