worthinessn.

Brit.

/ˈwəːðɪnᵻs/, U.S.

/ˈwərðinᵻs/

Forms:

α. Middle English worthenes, Middle English worþines, Middle English worþinesse, Middle English worþynes, Middle English worþynesse, Middle English wroþenes (transmission error), Middle English wurthines, Middle English wurthynes, Middle English wurthynesse, Middle English wurþynesse, Middle English–1500s worthynesse, Middle English–1500s wurghtinesse, Middle English–1600s worthinesse, Middle English–1600s worthynes, Middle English–1700s worthines, 1500s woorthiness, 1500s wourthines, 1500s–1600s woorthinesse, 1500s–1600s woorthynesse, 1500s– worthiness, 1600s woorthines, Middle English–1600s 1800s 2000s– worthyness; also Scottish pre-1700 worthenes.

β. Middle English wordynes, Middle English wordynesse; also Scottish pre-1700 wirdines, pre-1700 wordines.

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: worthy adj., -ness suffix.

Etymology: < worthy adj. + -ness suffix. Compare earlier worthness n.Forms with medial -e- (as worthenes at α. forms) could perhaps alternatively be interpreted as showing spellings of worthness n.

a. With reference to a person, his or her attributes, conduct, etc.: (originally) honour, dignity, nobility; (in later use also) worth, merit, excellence.

ΘΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > worth > [noun]

worthOE

worthfulnessOE

price?c1225

savour?c1225

aughtshipc1275

dearworthinessc1325

worthiness1372

preciousnessc1390

richesa1400

preciosity1402

valeur1433

valurec1440

preciousheadc1450

vail1471

paragea1475

valour?a1475

availa1522

vailance1532

validity1593

carat1600

condignity1605

valiant1606

esteeming1609

self-worth1610

telling1636

valuableness?1649

worthship1664

treasurableness1898

α.

1372 in E. Wilson Descriptive Index Lyrics John of Grimestone's Preaching Bk. (1973) 6 (MED) In anima debet esse..Buxumnesse withouten grochingge, Worþinesse of good doyngge.

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1872) IV. l. 221 (MED) Þere were tweie noble men, Marcus Cato and Gaius Iulius, wel nyh of worþynesse of blood, of age, and of noble and real speche.

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 1435 Remembrance That thei toke of his worthinesse Of knyhthod and of gentilesse.

a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1881) ii. l. 178 In al þis world ner nys a bettre knyght Than he þat is of worthinesse welle.

a1425 Medulla Gram. (Stonyhurst) f. 21 Dignitas, wroþenes [read worþenes].

a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) 3757 Þe help..Availles til þe saules in purgatory, Bot to som mare and til som les, Aftir þai er of worthynes.

1447 O. Bokenham Lives of Saints (Arun.) (1938) l. 2002 This lady to preysen..Aftyr ye [read þe] meryte of hyr worthynesse, Fer pasyth my wyt.

1490 Caxton's Blanchardyn & Eglantine (1962) xliii. 167 By the hyghe prouesse & grete worthynes of blanchardyn.

a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1546) sig. L.vj^v All the world feared Rome onely, for her worthynes in armes.

1548 R. Crowley Informacion & Peticion sig. Avii^v Stand not to much in your own conceyte, gloriynge in the worthynesse of your bloude.

c1592 Faire Em sig. B2 Such costly robes As may become her beauties worthynes.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) ii. i. 211 He is a good one, and his worthinesse, Does challenge much respect.

1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan i. x. 46 Worthinesse, is a thing different from the worth, or value of a man; and also from his merit, or desert; and consisteth in a particular power, or ability for that, whereof he is said to be worthy.

a1676 M. Hale Hist. Common Law (1713) 239 They are in Law in the same Right of Worthiness and Proximity of Blood, as their Root..was.

1740 S. Richardson Pamela I. xxix. 104 I am awaken'd to see more Worthiness in you than ever I saw in any Lady in the World.

a1768 T. Secker Serm. Several Subj. (1771) VI. 132 Convinced of their Mission from Heaven by..the singular Worthiness of their Conduct.

1801 W. Wordsworth Prioress' Tale i. 30 My knowledge is so weak,..To tell abroad thy mighty worthiness.

1879 F. W. Farrar Life & Work St. Paul I. iii. xiii. 231 A Divine charity not only perceives real worth, but even creates worthiness where it did not before exist.

1910 Western Dental Jrnl. Jan. 45 We all honor and respect your worthiness, and may my mite of appreciation tonight add an extra glow around your heart.

1990 Quarterly (U.S.) Spring 117 Only my fundamental belief in my own worthiness prevented me from deliberately crashing my car against a Van Wyck Expressway guardrail.

β. 1490 Caxton's Blanchardyn & Eglantine (1962) xiv. 49 O thou free knyght, replenysshed wyth prowesse & of grete wordynesse.a1500 (a1400) Ipomedon (Chetham) (1889) l. 1975 (MED) Ille thow kythes..Off thy wordynes, þat þou haste done.a1500 (?c1450) Merlin xiv. 203 Thei semede to be of grete wordynesse.1564 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1875) III. 188 That thai..tak their jugement of the wordynes of the said assay gevar and of the justnes of the coloure.

b. With reference to a thing: worth, value.

ΘΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > worth > [noun] > of thing

worshipa1200

worth1340

value1379

valuec1380

emprisea1393

worthinessa1398

valure1470

valor1579

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvi. vii. 833 It [sc. siluer] bereþ þe pris after gold in worþinesse and value.

a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 5536 For ther may be no Richesse Ageyns frendshipp of worthynesse.

a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) l. 17383 (MED) Love excellyth in worthynesse Euery tresour and rychesse.

1541–2 Act 33 Henry VIII c. 37 in Statutes of Realm (1963) III. 876 Suche..hereditamentes shoulde be knytt unyted and annexed,..agreable to the worthiness and dignitye thereof.

1561 tr. J. Calvin Foure Godlye Serm. Idolatries ii. Sig. D.ii Onles we know and be perfectly persuaded of the right, truthe, and worthenes of the cause wherfore we contend.

1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry ii. f. 67 Next vnto the Rose in woorthynesse, for his sauour and beautifull whitenesse is the Lillye.

1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 47 Art can doe nothing without the materiall; whereas the materiall without Art hath her own worthinesse.

1675 R. Baxter Catholick Theol. ii. i. 235 Is there ever the less worthiness in it, because God causeth it?

1733 I. Maddox Vindic. Govt. Church of Eng. App. 332 Queen Elizabeth..not meaning to attribute any Holiness or special Worthiness to the said Garments.

1850 A. H. Clough Corr. 3 Jan. (1957) I. 279 Consider..the long preparations of this strange marriage of coal and oxygenic air, and say, if you can,..when was their most real worthiness of existence.

1854 G. R. Gliddon in J. C. Nott & G. R. Gliddon Types of Mankind iii. ii. 652 We now know the archæological worthiness of the only proof yet standing.

1918 V. G. Michel Crit. Princ. Orestes A. Brownson (Ph.D. diss., Catholic Univ. of Amer.) v. 69 A quality that can well be termed the spiritual worthiness of a work of art.

1980 M. Shoard Theft of Countryside iii. x. 103 Apart from the inherent worthiness of food production as an activity, farmers do ‘real work’.

2008 Independent 6 Mar. (Extra section) 9/5 A debate has been raging about the worthiness of so-called Advance Stop Lines.

2. With possessive adjective, as Your Worthiness. A title of respect or form of address given to a person of high rank or status. In later use sometimes ironic.

ΚΠ

c1391 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Bodl. 294) Prol. l. 50* He..bad me doo my besynesse That to his hihe worthinesse Som newe thing I scholde boke.

c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 1938 Sire, wetis it wele, ȝoure worthines [etc.].

1455–6 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. July 1455 §36. m. 21 The grete and outrageouse costes and expenses not unknowen unto your wurthynesses, which..I bare, in execucion of the said charge.

1564 Briefe Exam. sig. Bj Your worthynesse may knowe what my iudgement is.

a1607 H. Chettle Trag. Hoffman (1631) sig. C1 We know your worthinesse is experienc't in all true wisedome.

1609 T. Heywood in tr. Sallust Two Worthy & Notable Hist. Ep. Ded. Your Worthinesse.

1688 W. Scot True Hist. Families ii. Ep. Ded. I humbly crave your Worthiness excuse, This boldness of my poor unlearned Muse.

1866 W. W. Good Polit., Agric. & Commerc. Fallacies 247 When his Worthiness penned the above epistle, he may well have started with an excuse, lame as it was.

1877 Compan. Monthly Mag. Odd Fellows Jan. 370/1 ‘Jack’ had seized upon the tip of his nose, where he had ‘set his seal’ of approbation, no doubt, at his Worthy-ness' recent elevation to that high and responsible office.

1903 Outlook 19 Dec. 957/1 The one rush-bottom rocking-chair was always reserved for Her Worthiness.

1962 Traditio 18 372 A petition to an Egyptian strategos begins, ‘unlawful conduct, my Lord Prefect, is suppressed by none other than Your Worthiness’.

1994 D. Gurr Arcadia West 122 Believe me, to get a message to such a moron a simple picture is the only way to go. Allow me to show Your Worthiness.

a. With infinitive as complement. The quality of deserving to be treated in a specified manner; the quality of being worthy to do something.

ΘΠ

society > morality > dueness or propriety > [noun] > deserving (good or ill)

worthnesseOE

addlingc1175

ofservingc1225

desert1297

ofgoing1340

deserving1388

merita1393

worthiness1395

deservice1480

just desert1548

deservednessa1628

fitness1648

12 Concl. Lollards (Trin. Hall Cambr.) in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1907) 22 303 Ȝet [this sin]..passith in worthinesse to ben punischid in peynis of helle.

1576 G. Gascoigne Droomme of Doomes Day ii. sig. F.iii^v In comparison of whose..blessednesse, and worthinesse to be loued and desired, all things that euer were created, doe vtterly faile by infinite wayes or meanes.

1612 J. Speed Theatre of Empire of Great Brit. i. xl. 78/2 Of no lesse worthinesse to bee remembred is Saint Wilfrids needle, a place very famous in times past.

1671 S. Scandrett Antidote against Quakerisme 21 The Scriptures worthiness to be embraced as the chief and highest Rule.

1727 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. II Tremendousness,..tremendous Quality, Worthiness to be feared or dreaded.

1782 Exam. of Public Meas. Proposed 6 He has therefore given proofs of his worthiness to be employed again.

1851 tr. in Jrnl. Amer. Oriental Soc. 2 323 Let worthiness to be glorified, and worthiness to be hallowed, be ascribed to his noble presence!

1886 Christian Union 4 Feb. 19/1 His unselfishness, or, speaking positively, his self-sacrifice, is the pivot of his worthiness to receive riches.

1955 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 300 125/2 The issue was not whether he had disclosed secrets but only his general worthiness to serve his government.

1986 B. Dijkstra Idols of Perversity i. 20 The women, who found themselves being forced into the position of having to prove their worthiness to be wives.

2002 Wall St. Jrnl. 11 Dec. d8/4 Intricate architectural fantasias in wood executed by early 19th-century cabinetmakers as proof of their worthiness to be accepted into the cabinetmakers guild.

b. With of or for. The quality of deserving to have or receive something, to be treated in a specified way, or to perform an action or duty; (also) an instance of this.

1566 E. Henrison in Actis & Constit. Scotl. Pref. to Rdr. sig. ✠.iii^v Nane of all the Lordis Commissaris can be praisit aneuch, and proportionallie to their worthynes for the trauell and diligence takin be thame in this present editioun.

1693 J. Kirkwood New Family-bk. (ed. 2) ii. 227 'Twas..their fitness and worthiness for such a Charge, which made them be chosen before others.

1754 J. Edwards Careful Enq. Freedom of Will iv. i. 195 Their Worthiness of Esteem or Disesteem, Praise or Dispraise.

1885 Eau Claire (Wisconsin) News 4 July Will you give an idea of the impression that Cuba made on you as to her worthiness for commercial enterprise by Americans?

1932 Scotsman 29 Feb. 8/4 As one of the latest entrants into the circle of first-class Powers Japan has been anxious hitherto to show her worthiness of that position.

1997 New Jrnl. & Guide (Norfolk, Va.) 19 Feb. 1/5 Is our worthiness of being citizens to be determined every 25 years?

2015 M. Appel in S. Steinberg & L. Spatz Colonel & Hug Foreward, p. xi Questions arose about his worthiness for inclusion in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

4. As a count noun. An instance of being worthy; a worthy quality, feature, or thing. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > worth > [noun] > thing or person of worth

jewelc1330

worthiness?a1425

?a1425 tr. Catherine of Siena Orcherd of Syon (Harl.) (1966) 213 (MED) The world wiþ alle hise excellencis & worþinessis, and tyrauntis wiþ alle her powers myȝte neuere defende hem fro hem, for þe myȝt and strenkþe of þis qweene, pacience, was myȝtily worchinge in hym [read hem].

c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 235 Forto be..deuoutli remembrid..upon Goddis worthinessis.

1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) ii. 91 A prerogatyue is an excellente worthynes.

1590 J. Stockwood Eng. Accidence 8 This woorthiness of one person aboue another, is not of birth or blood.

1657 Bp. J. Taylor Disc. Friendship 39 I may take in also the accidental and extrinsick worthinesses.

1685 R. Baxter Paraphr. New Test. Matt. x. 11 There is a worthiness consistent with free Grace.

1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison I. xxxvi. 256 My brother is valued by those who know him best, not..for this or that single worthiness [etc.].

1803 R. Southey Select. from Lett. (1856) I. 243 I could make a swelling..passage about the old gentlemen and their worthinesses.

1860 R. C. Trench Serm. in Westm. Abbey xxxiii. 382 There is a worthiness in God's saints,..though that worthiness is itself of God's free giving.

1922 Cent. Mag. Apr. 917/1 The ‘worthinesses’ and ‘disgraces’ implicit in Harvard atmosphere, which Peter had spent four years of his life imbibing, slowly melted away.

1956 Spectator 25 May 729/2 It is probably doing more good to television as a whole than the other worthinesses put together.

†5. Ceremony, pomp. Obsolete.

ΘΠ

the mind > emotion > pride > ostentation > splendour, magnificence, or pomp > [noun]

prideOE

nobleyec1300

farec1330

pompc1330

statec1330

rialtya1375

estatec1385

lordliness1440

pompousness1447

noblenessc1450

worthinessc1450

pomperyc1460

affairc1480

gloryc1480

majesty1481

triumpha1513

shine?1529

royalness?1548

sumptuosity1550

triumphing1569

magnificie1570

presence1570

gite1589

equipage1612

majesticalness1613

ceremonya1616

splendour1616

stateliness1637

majesticnessa1643

scheme1647

pageantry1651

grandeur1652

splendidnessa1657

magnanimity1658

magnificency1668

fluster1676

energy1764

pompa1783

panoply1790

pageanting1873

c1450 (c1430) Brut (Galba) (1908) 428 (MED) The Quene was dellyuyryd of a feyre sone..whiche with high and grete worthynesse was brought forthe and cristenyd.

6. Chiefly British. In negative sense: the quality of having or embodying good or noble intent but lacking humour, imagination or excitement. Cf. worthy adj. 10d.Frequently with reference to literary or other artistic works.

ΚΠ

1930 New Statesman 29 Mar. 809/2 Altogether, one feels a little of that particular weariness that comes from too much worthiness.

1965 Guardian 16 July 9/1 Design Centre exhibitions have a solid reputation. A bit too solid..; too much worthiness, too little stimulation.

1972 Melody Maker 11 Nov. 56/4 His..speeches to the audience—including a little dance here and there—added some light relief to the earnest worthiness of some of his contemporaries.

1995 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 15 May 19 I want the festival to avoid worthiness and exude joy, vitality and theatricality.

2015 Guardian (Nexis) 22 Jan. The dish [sc. vegetarian haggis] needs a serious injection of something savoury to save it from unbearable worthiness.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2017; most recently modified version published online December 2021).

单词	worthiness
释义	worthinessn. Brit. /ˈwəːðɪnᵻs/, U.S. /ˈwərðinᵻs/ Forms: α. Middle English worthenes, Middle English worþines, Middle English worþinesse, Middle English worþynes, Middle English worþynesse, Middle English wroþenes (transmission error), Middle English wurthines, Middle English wurthynes, Middle English wurthynesse, Middle English wurþynesse, Middle English–1500s worthynesse, Middle English–1500s wurghtinesse, Middle English–1600s worthinesse, Middle English–1600s worthynes, Middle English–1700s worthines, 1500s woorthiness, 1500s wourthines, 1500s–1600s woorthinesse, 1500s–1600s woorthynesse, 1500s– worthiness, 1600s woorthines, Middle English–1600s 1800s 2000s– worthyness; also Scottish pre-1700 worthenes. β. Middle English wordynes, Middle English wordynesse; also Scottish pre-1700 wirdines, pre-1700 wordines. Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: worthy adj., -ness suffix. Etymology: < worthy adj. + -ness suffix. Compare earlier worthness n.Forms with medial -e- (as worthenes at α. forms) could perhaps alternatively be interpreted as showing spellings of worthness n. 1. a. With reference to a person, his or her attributes, conduct, etc.: (originally) honour, dignity, nobility; (in later use also) worth, merit, excellence. ΘΠ the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > worth > [noun] worthOE worthfulnessOE price?c1225 savour?c1225 aughtshipc1275 dearworthinessc1325 worthiness1372 preciousnessc1390 richesa1400 preciosity1402 valeur1433 valurec1440 preciousheadc1450 vail1471 paragea1475 valour?a1475 availa1522 vailance1532 validity1593 carat1600 condignity1605 valiant1606 esteeming1609 self-worth1610 telling1636 valuableness?1649 worthship1664 treasurableness1898 α. 1372 in E. Wilson Descriptive Index Lyrics John of Grimestone's Preaching Bk. (1973) 6 (MED) In anima debet esse..Buxumnesse withouten grochingge, Worþinesse of good doyngge. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1872) IV. l. 221 (MED) Þere were tweie noble men, Marcus Cato and Gaius Iulius, wel nyh of worþynesse of blood, of age, and of noble and real speche. a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 1435 Remembrance That thei toke of his worthinesse Of knyhthod and of gentilesse. a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1881) ii. l. 178 In al þis world ner nys a bettre knyght Than he þat is of worthinesse welle. a1425 Medulla Gram. (Stonyhurst) f. 21 Dignitas, wroþenes [read worþenes]. a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) 3757 Þe help..Availles til þe saules in purgatory, Bot to som mare and til som les, Aftir þai er of worthynes. 1447 O. Bokenham Lives of Saints (Arun.) (1938) l. 2002 This lady to preysen..Aftyr ye [read þe] meryte of hyr worthynesse, Fer pasyth my wyt. 1490 Caxton's Blanchardyn & Eglantine (1962) xliii. 167 By the hyghe prouesse & grete worthynes of blanchardyn. a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1546) sig. L.vj^v All the world feared Rome onely, for her worthynes in armes. 1548 R. Crowley Informacion & Peticion sig. Avii^v Stand not to much in your own conceyte, gloriynge in the worthynesse of your bloude. c1592 Faire Em sig. B2 Such costly robes As may become her beauties worthynes. a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) ii. i. 211 He is a good one, and his worthinesse, Does challenge much respect. View more context for this quotation 1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan i. x. 46 Worthinesse, is a thing different from the worth, or value of a man; and also from his merit, or desert; and consisteth in a particular power, or ability for that, whereof he is said to be worthy. a1676 M. Hale Hist. Common Law (1713) 239 They are in Law in the same Right of Worthiness and Proximity of Blood, as their Root..was. 1740 S. Richardson Pamela I. xxix. 104 I am awaken'd to see more Worthiness in you than ever I saw in any Lady in the World. a1768 T. Secker Serm. Several Subj. (1771) VI. 132 Convinced of their Mission from Heaven by..the singular Worthiness of their Conduct. 1801 W. Wordsworth Prioress' Tale i. 30 My knowledge is so weak,..To tell abroad thy mighty worthiness. 1879 F. W. Farrar Life & Work St. Paul I. iii. xiii. 231 A Divine charity not only perceives real worth, but even creates worthiness where it did not before exist. 1910 Western Dental Jrnl. Jan. 45 We all honor and respect your worthiness, and may my mite of appreciation tonight add an extra glow around your heart. 1990 Quarterly (U.S.) Spring 117 Only my fundamental belief in my own worthiness prevented me from deliberately crashing my car against a Van Wyck Expressway guardrail. β. 1490 Caxton's Blanchardyn & Eglantine (1962) xiv. 49 O thou free knyght, replenysshed wyth prowesse & of grete wordynesse.a1500 (a1400) Ipomedon (Chetham) (1889) l. 1975 (MED) Ille thow kythes..Off thy wordynes, þat þou haste done.a1500 (?c1450) Merlin xiv. 203 Thei semede to be of grete wordynesse.1564 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1875) III. 188 That thai..tak their jugement of the wordynes of the said assay gevar and of the justnes of the coloure. b. With reference to a thing: worth, value. ΘΠ the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > worth > [noun] > of thing worshipa1200 worth1340 value1379 valuec1380 emprisea1393 worthinessa1398 valure1470 valor1579 a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvi. vii. 833 It [sc. siluer] bereþ þe pris after gold in worþinesse and value. a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 5536 For ther may be no Richesse Ageyns frendshipp of worthynesse. a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) l. 17383 (MED) Love excellyth in worthynesse Euery tresour and rychesse. 1541–2 Act 33 Henry VIII c. 37 in Statutes of Realm (1963) III. 876 Suche..hereditamentes shoulde be knytt unyted and annexed,..agreable to the worthiness and dignitye thereof. 1561 tr. J. Calvin Foure Godlye Serm. Idolatries ii. Sig. D.ii Onles we know and be perfectly persuaded of the right, truthe, and worthenes of the cause wherfore we contend. 1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry ii. f. 67 Next vnto the Rose in woorthynesse, for his sauour and beautifull whitenesse is the Lillye. 1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 47 Art can doe nothing without the materiall; whereas the materiall without Art hath her own worthinesse. 1675 R. Baxter Catholick Theol. ii. i. 235 Is there ever the less worthiness in it, because God causeth it? 1733 I. Maddox Vindic. Govt. Church of Eng. App. 332 Queen Elizabeth..not meaning to attribute any Holiness or special Worthiness to the said Garments. 1850 A. H. Clough Corr. 3 Jan. (1957) I. 279 Consider..the long preparations of this strange marriage of coal and oxygenic air, and say, if you can,..when was their most real worthiness of existence. 1854 G. R. Gliddon in J. C. Nott & G. R. Gliddon Types of Mankind iii. ii. 652 We now know the archæological worthiness of the only proof yet standing. 1918 V. G. Michel Crit. Princ. Orestes A. Brownson (Ph.D. diss., Catholic Univ. of Amer.) v. 69 A quality that can well be termed the spiritual worthiness of a work of art. 1980 M. Shoard Theft of Countryside iii. x. 103 Apart from the inherent worthiness of food production as an activity, farmers do ‘real work’. 2008 Independent 6 Mar. (Extra section) 9/5 A debate has been raging about the worthiness of so-called Advance Stop Lines. 2. With possessive adjective, as Your Worthiness. A title of respect or form of address given to a person of high rank or status. In later use sometimes ironic. ΚΠ c1391 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Bodl. 294) Prol. l. 50* He..bad me doo my besynesse That to his hihe worthinesse Som newe thing I scholde boke. c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 1938 Sire, wetis it wele, ȝoure worthines [etc.]. 1455–6 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. July 1455 §36. m. 21 The grete and outrageouse costes and expenses not unknowen unto your wurthynesses, which..I bare, in execucion of the said charge. 1564 Briefe Exam. sig. Bj Your worthynesse may knowe what my iudgement is. a1607 H. Chettle Trag. Hoffman (1631) sig. C1 We know your worthinesse is experienc't in all true wisedome. 1609 T. Heywood in tr. Sallust Two Worthy & Notable Hist. Ep. Ded. Your Worthinesse. 1688 W. Scot True Hist. Families ii. Ep. Ded. I humbly crave your Worthiness excuse, This boldness of my poor unlearned Muse. 1866 W. W. Good Polit., Agric. & Commerc. Fallacies 247 When his Worthiness penned the above epistle, he may well have started with an excuse, lame as it was. 1877 Compan. Monthly Mag. Odd Fellows Jan. 370/1 ‘Jack’ had seized upon the tip of his nose, where he had ‘set his seal’ of approbation, no doubt, at his Worthy-ness' recent elevation to that high and responsible office. 1903 Outlook 19 Dec. 957/1 The one rush-bottom rocking-chair was always reserved for Her Worthiness. 1962 Traditio 18 372 A petition to an Egyptian strategos begins, ‘unlawful conduct, my Lord Prefect, is suppressed by none other than Your Worthiness’. 1994 D. Gurr Arcadia West 122 Believe me, to get a message to such a moron a simple picture is the only way to go. Allow me to show Your Worthiness. 3. a. With infinitive as complement. The quality of deserving to be treated in a specified manner; the quality of being worthy to do something. ΘΠ society > morality > dueness or propriety > [noun] > deserving (good or ill) worthnesseOE addlingc1175 ofservingc1225 desert1297 ofgoing1340 deserving1388 merita1393 worthiness1395 deservice1480 just desert1548 deservednessa1628 fitness1648 12 Concl. Lollards (Trin. Hall Cambr.) in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1907) 22 303 Ȝet [this sin]..passith in worthinesse to ben punischid in peynis of helle. 1576 G. Gascoigne Droomme of Doomes Day ii. sig. F.iii^v In comparison of whose..blessednesse, and worthinesse to be loued and desired, all things that euer were created, doe vtterly faile by infinite wayes or meanes. 1612 J. Speed Theatre of Empire of Great Brit. i. xl. 78/2 Of no lesse worthinesse to bee remembred is Saint Wilfrids needle, a place very famous in times past. 1671 S. Scandrett Antidote against Quakerisme 21 The Scriptures worthiness to be embraced as the chief and highest Rule. 1727 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. II Tremendousness,..tremendous Quality, Worthiness to be feared or dreaded. 1782 Exam. of Public Meas. Proposed 6 He has therefore given proofs of his worthiness to be employed again. 1851 tr. in Jrnl. Amer. Oriental Soc. 2 323 Let worthiness to be glorified, and worthiness to be hallowed, be ascribed to his noble presence! 1886 Christian Union 4 Feb. 19/1 His unselfishness, or, speaking positively, his self-sacrifice, is the pivot of his worthiness to receive riches. 1955 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 300 125/2 The issue was not whether he had disclosed secrets but only his general worthiness to serve his government. 1986 B. Dijkstra Idols of Perversity i. 20 The women, who found themselves being forced into the position of having to prove their worthiness to be wives. 2002 Wall St. Jrnl. 11 Dec. d8/4 Intricate architectural fantasias in wood executed by early 19th-century cabinetmakers as proof of their worthiness to be accepted into the cabinetmakers guild. b. With of or for. The quality of deserving to have or receive something, to be treated in a specified way, or to perform an action or duty; (also) an instance of this. Π 1566 E. Henrison in Actis & Constit. Scotl. Pref. to Rdr. sig. ✠.iii^v Nane of all the Lordis Commissaris can be praisit aneuch, and proportionallie to their worthynes for the trauell and diligence takin be thame in this present editioun. 1693 J. Kirkwood New Family-bk. (ed. 2) ii. 227 'Twas..their fitness and worthiness for such a Charge, which made them be chosen before others. 1754 J. Edwards Careful Enq. Freedom of Will iv. i. 195 Their Worthiness of Esteem or Disesteem, Praise or Dispraise. 1885 Eau Claire (Wisconsin) News 4 July Will you give an idea of the impression that Cuba made on you as to her worthiness for commercial enterprise by Americans? 1932 Scotsman 29 Feb. 8/4 As one of the latest entrants into the circle of first-class Powers Japan has been anxious hitherto to show her worthiness of that position. 1997 New Jrnl. & Guide (Norfolk, Va.) 19 Feb. 1/5 Is our worthiness of being citizens to be determined every 25 years? 2015 M. Appel in S. Steinberg & L. Spatz Colonel & Hug Foreward, p. xi Questions arose about his worthiness for inclusion in the Baseball Hall of Fame. 4. As a count noun. An instance of being worthy; a worthy quality, feature, or thing. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > worth > [noun] > thing or person of worth jewelc1330 worthiness?a1425 ?a1425 tr. Catherine of Siena Orcherd of Syon (Harl.) (1966) 213 (MED) The world wiþ alle hise excellencis & worþinessis, and tyrauntis wiþ alle her powers myȝte neuere defende hem fro hem, for þe myȝt and strenkþe of þis qweene, pacience, was myȝtily worchinge in hym [read hem]. c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 235 Forto be..deuoutli remembrid..upon Goddis worthinessis. 1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) ii. 91 A prerogatyue is an excellente worthynes. 1590 J. Stockwood Eng. Accidence 8 This woorthiness of one person aboue another, is not of birth or blood. 1657 Bp. J. Taylor Disc. Friendship 39 I may take in also the accidental and extrinsick worthinesses. 1685 R. Baxter Paraphr. New Test. Matt. x. 11 There is a worthiness consistent with free Grace. 1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison I. xxxvi. 256 My brother is valued by those who know him best, not..for this or that single worthiness [etc.]. 1803 R. Southey Select. from Lett. (1856) I. 243 I could make a swelling..passage about the old gentlemen and their worthinesses. 1860 R. C. Trench Serm. in Westm. Abbey xxxiii. 382 There is a worthiness in God's saints,..though that worthiness is itself of God's free giving. 1922 Cent. Mag. Apr. 917/1 The ‘worthinesses’ and ‘disgraces’ implicit in Harvard atmosphere, which Peter had spent four years of his life imbibing, slowly melted away. 1956 Spectator 25 May 729/2 It is probably doing more good to television as a whole than the other worthinesses put together. †5. Ceremony, pomp. Obsolete. ΘΠ the mind > emotion > pride > ostentation > splendour, magnificence, or pomp > [noun] prideOE nobleyec1300 farec1330 pompc1330 statec1330 rialtya1375 estatec1385 lordliness1440 pompousness1447 noblenessc1450 worthinessc1450 pomperyc1460 affairc1480 gloryc1480 majesty1481 triumpha1513 shine?1529 royalness?1548 sumptuosity1550 triumphing1569 magnificie1570 presence1570 gite1589 equipage1612 majesticalness1613 ceremonya1616 splendour1616 stateliness1637 majesticnessa1643 scheme1647 pageantry1651 grandeur1652 splendidnessa1657 magnanimity1658 magnificency1668 fluster1676 energy1764 pompa1783 panoply1790 pageanting1873 c1450 (c1430) Brut (Galba) (1908) 428 (MED) The Quene was dellyuyryd of a feyre sone..whiche with high and grete worthynesse was brought forthe and cristenyd. 6. Chiefly British. In negative sense: the quality of having or embodying good or noble intent but lacking humour, imagination or excitement. Cf. worthy adj. 10d.Frequently with reference to literary or other artistic works. ΚΠ 1930 New Statesman 29 Mar. 809/2 Altogether, one feels a little of that particular weariness that comes from too much worthiness. 1965 Guardian 16 July 9/1 Design Centre exhibitions have a solid reputation. A bit too solid..; too much worthiness, too little stimulation. 1972 Melody Maker 11 Nov. 56/4 His..speeches to the audience—including a little dance here and there—added some light relief to the earnest worthiness of some of his contemporaries. 1995 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 15 May 19 I want the festival to avoid worthiness and exude joy, vitality and theatricality. 2015 Guardian (Nexis) 22 Jan. The dish [sc. vegetarian haggis] needs a serious injection of something savoury to save it from unbearable worthiness. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2017; most recently modified version published online December 2021). < n.1372
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