worthy
EnglishEdit
PronunciationEdit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈwɜːði/
- (General American) enPR: wûr'thē, IPA(key): /ˈwɝði/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɜː(r)ði
- Hyphenation: wor‧thy
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle English worthy, wurthi, from Old English *weorþiġ (“"worthy"”), equivalent to worth + -y. Cognate with Dutch waardig (“worthy”), Middle Low German werdig (“worthy”), German würdig (“worthy”), Swedish värdig (“worthy”), Icelandic verðugt (“worthy”).
AdjectiveEdit
worthy (comparative worthier, superlative worthiest)
- having worth, merit, or value
- c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene iv]:
- These banished men that I have kept withal / Are men endued with worthy qualities
- c. 1626, John Davies, The Original, Nature, and Immortality of the Soul
- This worthy mind should worthy things embrace.
- honourable or admirable
- deserving, or having sufficient worth
- Suited; befitting.
- 1591, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene vi]:
- No, Warwick, thou art worthy of the sway.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Matthew 3:11:
- […] whose shoes I am not worthy to bear.
- 1634 October 9 (first performance), [John Milton], H[enry] Lawes, editor, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: Printed [by Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, OCLC 228715864; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, OCLC 1113942837:
- And thou art worthy that thou shouldst not know / More happiness.
- 1697, “The Eleventh Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 403869432:
- The lodging is well worthy of the guest.
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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NounEdit
worthy (plural worthies)
- a distinguished or eminent person
Related termsEdit
Etymology 2Edit
From Middle English worthien, wurthien, from Old English weorþian (“to esteem, honor, worship, distinguish, celebrate, exalt, praise, adorn, deck, enrich, reward”), from Proto-Germanic *werþōną (“to be worthy, estimate, appreciate, appraise”), from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn, wind”). Cognate with German werten (“to rate, judge, grade, score”), Swedish värdera (“to evaluate, rate, size up, assess, estimate”), Icelandic virða (“to respect, esteem”).
VerbEdit
worthy (third-person singular simple present worthies, present participle worthying, simple past and past participle worthied)
- (transitive) To render or treat as worthy; exalt; revere; honour; esteem; respect; value; reward; adore.
- c. 1603-1606, William Shakespeare, King Lear
- And put upon him such a deal of man,
That worthied him, got praises of the king […]
- And put upon him such a deal of man,
- 1880, Sir Norman Lockyer, Nature:
- After having duly paid his addresses to it, he generally spends some time on the marble slab in front of the looking-glass, but without showing the slightest emotion at the sight of his own reflection, or worthying it with a song.
- 1908, Edward Arthur Brayley Hodgetts, The court of Russia in the nineteenth century:
- And it is a poor daub besides," the Emperor rejoined scornfully, as he stalked out of the gallery without worthying the artist with a look.
- 1910, Charles William Eliot, The Harvard classics: Beowulf:
- No henchman he worthied by weapons, if witness his features, his peerless presence!
- c. 1603-1606, William Shakespeare, King Lear
Derived termsEdit
Middle EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From worth + -y, from Old English weorþ.
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
worthy
DescendantsEdit
- English: worthy