grace of Godn.
/ˌɡreɪs əv ˈɡɒd/, U.S. /ˌɡreɪs əv ˈɡɑd/ 1. Usually with the. Divine favour or benevolence, esp. as freely shown by God to humanity without regard to merit; = grace n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > nature or attributes of God > [noun] > graciousness or grace
gracea1225
grace of Godc1225
elninga1240
graciousnessa1425
gratuity1523
free grace1603
c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) l. 685 Ich chulle halde me hal þurh þe grace of godd. as cunde me makede. þet paraise selhðe underuo me al swuch. as weren ear ha agulten, his eareste hinen.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Titus ii. 11 The grace of God [L. gratia Dei]..hath apperid to alle men, techinge [etc.].
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 25 Whan Alfrid & Gunter had werred long in ille, þorgh þe grace of God, Gunter turned his wille.
c1425 Bk. Found. St. Bartholomew's (1923) 35 Oure brethrene..the grace of God from the forsayid paucyte encresid yn-to xxxvto.
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 1009 Þe grace of god him calde þar to.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 132 Is non but grace of God, iwis, That can in ȝewth considdir this.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 772/1 All thyng wasteth but the grace of God.
1563 N. Winȝet Certain Tractates (1888) I. 131 Haif we nocht iust cause to imploir the grace of God?
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage ii. ii. 93 The superabounding grace of God.
1656 J. Trapp Comm. New Test. (ed. 2) (Rom. iv. 16) 628 Paul was a great advancer of the grace of God, and abaser of man.
1791 A. Serle New Dialogue of Dead 30 Apprehension and delight in the free grace of God, entire recumbence upon it, and deliverance from those errors, which tend to darken or diminish it.
1841 T. Carlyle On Heroes iv. 210 Luther learned now that a man was saved not by singing masses, but by the infinite grace of God.
1891 F. W. Farrar Darkness & Dawn I. xiii. 108 The grace of God still lived as a faint spark, not wholly quenched, under the whitening embers of his life.
1923 J. G. Machen Christianity & Liberalism iii. 66 After sin has been removed by the grace of God, the Christian can proceed to develop joyously every faculty that God has given him.
1969 T. F. Torrance Theol. Sci. ii. 85 The inclusion of that fact in the Reformation doctrine of the Grace of God had immense repercussions.
1994 M. Williamson Illuminata (new ed.) ii. iii. 93 A Self..that is not faithless and scared but all-knowing, all loving, and serene and calm, through the grace of God.
2005 Vanity Fair Dec. 206/3 Billions of people who have reached maturity but still reject the grace of God.
2. Any of several medicinal herbs; esp. St. John's wort ( Hypericum species). Also with the. Cf. grace n. 4a, Gratia Dei n. 2. Now historical and rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Guttiferae (St. John's wort and allies) > [noun]
velderudea1300
grace of God?c1400
floure jonett1423
St John's-wort?a1425
St. Peter's wort1526
hypericum1538
St John's grass1538
johnswort1710
scare-devil1751
orange grass1811
pineweed1814
nit-weed1818
guttifer1846
rose of Sharon1849
amber1861
goatweed1915
Klamath weed1922
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > [noun] > names applied to various plants or parts
boneworteOE
springworteOE
atterlothec1000
halswortc1000
bruisewortOE
motherworta1200
panax?a1200
bloodworta1300
serpentinea1400
tutsana1400
wartworta1400
wormseeda1400
grace of God?c1400
nailworta1425
Gratia Dei?c1425
sanguinaryc1440
panacea1522
parthenium1548
woundwort1548
wart-weed1573
cardiaca1578
hermodactyl1578
panacea1590
holy seed1597
whitlow-grass1597
feverwort1611
fever and ague root1676
rattlesnake root1682
snake-root1712
cancer root1714
fever-root1739
strongback1739
rheumatism root1835
heal-all1853
wound-weed1857
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > [noun] > hedge-hyssop
grace of God?c1400
hedge-hyssop1578
Gratia Dei1597
Gratiola1597
?c1400 in T. Hunt Plant Names Medieval Eng. (1989) 131 Grace of god þe more.
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 467 Hedge Hyssope is called in Latine..Gratia Dei, or the Grace of God.
1597 J. Gerard Herball Table Eng. Names Grace of God, or S. Johns Grasse.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 126 Elaphoscum: (that is, as some call it Harts eye, others Hart-thorne, or grace of God, others wilde Ditany).
1885 K. Keene Voiceless Teachers 123 Dedicating the plant to St. John the Baptist, people of olden time summed up all they believed it capable of effecting on their behalf, by the single name, The Grace of God.
1900 G. Jekyll Home & Garden 218 Some flowers have names referring to Bible stories or incidents, such as Aaron's Rod, Jacob's Ladder,..and Star of Bethlehem, all still in use, though others that might be classed with them, such as Grace-of-God (Hypericum)..have been lost.
2000 M. Roberts Edible & Medicinal Flowers 73/1 In ancient times it [sc. St. John's Wort] was believed to have magical properties, and it was universally known as ‘The Grace of God’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical appliances or equipment > equipment for treating wound or ulcer > [noun] > poultice, plaster, or compress
plasterOE
clydec1325
emplastera1382
entretea1400
pottagea1400
poulticea1400
faldellac1400
treatc1400
Gratia Dei?a1425
magdaleon?a1425
strictorya1425
grace of Godc1450
emplastrum?1541
malagma?1541
sparadrap1543
spasmadrap?a1547
plasture?1550
mustard plaster1562
cataplasm1563
oint-plaster1578
quilt1583
compress1599
compression1599
diachylum-plaster1599
pulment1599
pulvinar1599
frontlet1600
sinapism1601
epithemation1615
diapalma1646
opodeldoc1646
attraction1656
treacle plaster1659
melilot emplaster1676
stay1676
oxycroceum1696
melilot plaster1712
adhesive1753
bag1753
mustard poultice1765
soap plaster1789
water dressing1830
poor man's plaster1833
compressor1851
spongiopiline1851
vinegar-poultice1854
water-strapping1854
pitch-plaster1858
jacket poultice1862
mustard leaf1869
mustard paper1874
piline1874
plaster-mull1890
mustard cloth1897
plaster-muslin1899
antiphlogistin1901
c1450 Med. Recipes (BL Add. 33996) in F. Heinrich Mittelengl. Medizinbuch (1896) 190 Þys..ys good for alle maner of sores boþe olde & newe, & hyt ys called þe grace of god.
c1589 Proc. Cambr. Antiquarian Soc. (1911) 15 224 Emplastrum vocatus gratia dei. This plaister is called the grace of god for that his angell brought it from heaven to King Alexsander for the people of his land when they were all near lost with deadly woundes by spear dart and dagger and with many other malladyes.
1653 N. Culpeper Pharmacopœia Londinensis 2 All the Latin Names to one Herb are not set down, most of which are superfluous..Some blasphemous..So in the Compositions, To call an Oyntment, the Oyntment of the Apostles: to call one Plaister, Divine, another, Holy, a third, the grace of God.
Phrases
P1. by the grace of God: = by God's grace at god n. and int. Phrases 1a(a); spec. used to introduce a formal statement of the titles of sovereigns, and formerly also of ecclesiastical dignitaries. [After post-classical Latin Dei gratia (from 10th cent. in British sources; perhaps earlier). Compare similar use of Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French par la grace de Dieu (French par la grâce de Dieu) from 13th cent. or earlier.]
ΚΠ
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Cor. xv. 10 Forsothe by the grace of God, I am that thing that I am.
1398 in J. Raine Testamenta Eboracensia (1865) III. 316 (MED) Richard, by the grace of God erche bysshop of York..and legat of ye court of Rome.
a1438 Bk. Margery Kempe (1940) i. 109 Sche was a pilgryme purposyng be þe grace of God to-Seynt-Iamys-warde.
?a1475 Ludus Coventriae (1922) 43 (MED) Be þe grace of god is bredde In myn olde age a chylde.
1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. B1 How farre purpose you to trauell this way by the grace of God?
1611 in Bible (King James) Ded. Iames by the grace of God King of Great Britaine.
1657 Divine Loue 197 Yet by the Grace of God will I haue noe adheringe Affection to them.
1718 tr. Peter the Great in Prerogative of Primogeniture 4 We, Peter I, by the Grace of God, Czar and Autokrator or Emperor..of all Russia.
1775 J. Wesley Let. 20 Oct. (1931) VI. 182 If I should have an interview with the great man..I will by the grace of God tell him so without any circumlocution.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in Enoch Arden, etc. 11 Annie, this voyage by the grace of God Will bring fair weather yet to all of us.
1884 Catholic Dict. 86/1 The bishop speaks of himself as ‘N., by the grace of God and of the Apostolic See, Bishop of N.’.
1902 Times 11 Nov. 11/1 To thank those, who, by the grace of God, had succeeded in preserving his life.
1998 B. Kingsolver Poisonwood Bible (1999) iv. 342 It was just by the grace of God he didn't get bit on the leg and die on the spot.
1998 H. Strachan Way Up Way Out ii. 26 A legend telling us that she was, By the Grace of God, Queen of Britain, Defender of the Faith.
P2. there but for the grace of God go I and variants: ‘it is only through God's grace or (in later use more generally) factors beyond my control that I have not suffered the fate of someone more unfortunate than myself’; typically expressing variously sympathy, understanding, or gratitude.The phrase has been attributed to a number of prominent Protestant writers of the 16th and 17th centuries, esp. John Bradford (c1510–55), but no written evidence of its use in this period has been found.
ΚΠ
1775 A. M. Toplady Free-will & Merit Examined 25 I have heard, or read, concerning that excellent Dignitary of the Church of England, Mr. John Bradford..that, one Day, on seeing a Malefactor pass to Execution, he laid his Hand to his Breast, and lifted his Eyes to Heaven, saying, ‘Take away the Grace of God, and there goes John Bradford.’]
1807 T. Brocas Universal Goodness iv. 23 Because they [sc. Calvinists] can find no scripture to countenance them in their pride, they generally quote some old John Bradford, who was used to say when he saw any one going to the gallows, ‘Ah! who has made me to differ? But for the grace of God, there goes John Bradford.’
1848 G. W. Bethune Hist. Penitent i. 10 Another good man, seeing a criminal carried past to the gallows, cried out, ‘There, but for the grace of God, go I myself.’
1889 Proc. Ann. Congr. National Prison Assoc. U.S. 1887 43 The saying has been ascribed to more eminent Christians than one, on seeing a man led to the gallows: ‘There, but for the grace of God, go I.’ By the grace of God he did not mean miracle, but a good home, a good education, good companions.
1892 A. Conan Doyle Adventures Sherlock Holmes iv. 103 I never hear of such a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, ‘There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.’
1907 Blackwood's Mag. Jan. 60/2 Can any one of you at this moment say worse of me, the confessed lyncher, than, ‘There, but for the grace of God, goes myself’?
1971 Rand Daily Mail (Johannesburg) 27 Mar. 12/3 They look at South Africa and murmur, not unsympathetically, ‘There, but for the grace of God..’.
1993 N.Y. Times 14 Nov. e2/4 Some violent acts make one pause and say, ‘There but for the grace of God go I.’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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