dignifyv.
/ˈdɪɡnɪfʌɪ/ 1.
a. transitive. To make worthy or illustrious; to confer dignity or honour upon; to ennoble, honour.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > honour > give honour to [verb (transitive)]
wortheOE
i-worthOE
menskc1225
athelec1275
aworthyc1275
honoura1325
furtherc1374
honesta1382
worship1389
gloryc1400
dignifya1530
worthy1532
endue1565
enhonour1571
to do (a person or thing) the honour?1572
deign1579
honorify1606
famous1622
blazon1815
to do a person proud1819
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > majesty, glory, or grandeur > exaltation or glorification > exalt or glorify [verb (transitive)]
heavec825
higheOE
brightenOE
clarifya1340
glorifya1340
enhancec1374
stellifyc1384
biga1400
exalt?a1400
raisea1400
shrinea1400
to bear up?a1425
enhighc1440
erect?a1475
assumec1503
amount1523
dignifya1530
to set up1535
extol1545
enthronize1547
augment1567
sublimate?1567
sublime1568
assumptc1571
begoda1576
royalize1589
suscitate1598
swell1601
consecrate1605
realize1611
reara1616
sphere1615
ingreata1620
superexalta1626
soara1627
ascend1628
rise1628
embroider1629
apotheose1632
grandize1640
engreaten1641
engrandizea1652
mount1651
intronificate1653
magnificent1656
superposit1661
grandify1665
heroify1677
apotheosize1695
enthrone1699
aggrandize1702
pantheonize1801
hoist1814
princify1847
queen1880
heroize1887
a1530 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfeccyon (1531) iii. f. CCx Illumyned & dignyfyed of Chryst.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 i. i. 22 Such a day..Came not till now to dignifie the times Since Cæsars fortunes. View more context for this quotation
1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets lxxxiv. sig. F2v He that writes of you, if he can tell, That you are you, so dignifies his story. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 940 Us his prime Creatures, dignifi'd so high, Set over all his Works. View more context for this quotation
1734 A. Pope Satires of Horace ii. ii. 141 No Turbots dignify my boards.
1798 L. Murray Eng. Gram. (ed. 4) iv. 194 As accent dignifies the syllable on which it is laid, and makes it more distinguished by the ear than the rest.
1877 M. Oliphant Makers of Florence (ed. 2) Introd. 16 There arose to dignify the struggle the moral principle which all this time it had wanted.
b. To render majestic or stately.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautify [verb (transitive)] > invest with splendour > render majestic or stately
dignify1749
1749 T. Smollett tr. A. R. Le Sage Gil Blas IV. xi. v. 133 He would write as well as he speaks, if, in order to dignify his stile, he did not affect expressions which render it stiff and obscure.
c1790 W. Cowper Comm. Milton's Paradise Lost i. 689 How an act or image, vulgar and ordinary in itself, may be dignified by mere force of diction.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Odyssey in Iliad & Odyssey II. xxiii. 181 Then Pallas..dignified his form With added amplitude.
c. In lighter use: To represent as worthy (by implication, as worthier than it is); to give a high-sounding name or title to.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > majesty, glory, or grandeur > exaltation or glorification > exalt or glorify [verb (transitive)] > represent as exalted
dignify1750
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida iv. vi. 106 Yet giues hee not till iudgement guide his bounty, Nor dignifies an impare thought with breath. View more context for this quotation
1665 J. Glanvill Sciri Tuum: Authors Defense Let. Aristotle 80 in Scepsis Scientifica 'Tis usual for Men to dignifie what they have bestowed pains upon.]
1750 H. Walpole Let. 22 Dec. in Lett. to H. Mann (1833) II. 403 You will think my letters are absolute jest-and-story-books, unless you..dignify them with the title of Walpoliana.
1823 I. D'Israeli Curiosities of Lit. 2nd Ser. III. 128 The science of books, for so bibliography is sometimes dignified.
1896 N.E.D. at Dignify Mod. A school dignified with the name of a college.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > raising to noble rank > ennoble [verb (transitive)] > invest with rank or title
dubc1330
creea1400
create?1457
dignify1570
title1609
titulado1663
insignize1678
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) I. 7/2 Emperours in auncient tyme haue dignified them in titles.
1662 T. Blount Boscobel (new ed.) ii. 20 The Earl of Southampton..with much merit, dignifi'd with the great Office of Lord high Treasurer.
1727 W. Mather Young Man's Compan. (ed. 13) 105 Nor ought Sons of the Nobility to be Dignified..with less than the Title of Honourable, as being their due by Birth-Right.
Derivatives
ˈdignifying n. and adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > good repute > [adjective] > bringing credit or honour (to)
honest1340
worshipful1340
honourable?a1400
graceful1595
honorary1606
dignifying1630
creditablea1639
creditable1655
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > honour > [noun] > conferring of honour
menskinga1400
dignationc1450
extolling1558
enhancement1577
dignification1584
dignifying1630
distinction1715
1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 101 The Grand-Seignior never nameth us with dignifying titles.
1639 G. Digby in G. Digby & K. Digby Lett. conc. Relig. (1651) 81 Those dignifying circumstances..belong onely to such doctrines [etc.].
1639 G. Digby in G. Digby & K. Digby Lett. conc. Relig. (1651) 82 That seale with those quarterings and dignifyings wherewith you blazon it.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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