promise (prom is)

[Early mod. E. also promys, promes; (The winds asleepe) he freely poures, till highest Promi- ly, a declaration that something shall be done or given for the benefit of the promisee or another. nents, Hill tops, low meddowes, and the fields, that crowne with In law, a promise is not binding in such sense as to be most contents The toiles of men, sea-ports, and shores, are hid. Chapman , Iliad, xii. 2. One of certain bombycid moths; a tooth back or pebble. The American red-humped prominent is No to dont a concinna; the European coxcomb prominent is N. camel in a. See cut under No to dont a. directly enforceable through the courts, unle made upon a consideration good or valuable; in which case the promise and the consideration together form a contract or agreement (if under seal, termed a covenant ) which binds the promisor, and it may be his legal representatives, and gives the promisee, and in some cases a third person for whose benefit the promise was made, the right to enforce it by suit, or to recover damages for its breach. promise Also, no Straungere come the before him but that he make the him sum Promys and Graunt, of that the Straungere askethe resonabely. Mandeville , Travels, p. 40. O Rome, I make thee promise ; If the redre will follow, thou receivest Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus! .. Shak ., J. C., ii. 1. 56. Statesman, yet friend to Truth! of soul sincere, Who broke no promise , served no private end. Pope , To Add is on, 1. 69. 2. Ground or basis of expectation; earnest; pledge. There buds the promise of celestial worth! Young , The Last Day, iii. Thy [Friendship's] blo oms deck our unsuspecting years; The promise of delicious fruit appears. Cowper , Valediction. 3. That which affords a ground or basis for hope or for expectation of future excellence or distinction: as, a youth of great promise . You have an unspeakable comfort of your young prince Mamillius; it is a gentleman of the greatest promise that ever came into my note. Shak ., W. T., i. 1. 39. O, I see the crescent promise of my spirit hath not set. Tennyson , Locksley Hall. 4. That which is promised; fulfilment or grant of what is promised. And commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father. Act i. 4. Glou . Look, when I am king, claim thou of me The earldom of Here ford. Buck . I'll claim that promise at your grace's hands. Shak., Rich. III., iii. 1. 197. Absolute promise, a promise which pledges fulfilment at all events; a promise unqualified by a condition.Breach of promise. See breach. - Conditional promise, a promise the obligation to fulfil which depends on the performance of a condition, or on a contingent or yet unknown event. - Expre promise, a promise expre ed orally or in writing. Implied promise, a promise the law implies from conduct, as when one employs a man to perform a day's labor, without any expre promise to pay him. The law then presumes a promise on the em ployer's part to give the man a reasonable reward, and it will enforce such implied promise. - Land of Promise, Canaan: so called because promised by God to Abraham in Haran; figuratively, heaven. Also called The Promised Land. By faith he [Abraham] sojourned in the land of promise, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob. Heb. xi. 9. Mesmeric promise, mutual promises, new promise. See the adjectives. Parole promise. (a) A promise made orally. (b) A promise made without seal, either orally or in writing, as distinguished from one made under seal, which is technically called a covenant. - Promise and offer. In Scots law, an offer is a proposal made to give or to do something, either gratuitously or on an onerous consideration; a promise is an offer of such a nature that the promisor takes the other party's a ent for granted. An offer is not binding till it is accepted; a promise is binding as soon as it is known by the party it is made to - Special promise, an actual promise as distinguished from an implied promise. The Promise, according to the account given in the Bible, the a urance given by God to Abraham that his descendants should become the chosen people, and that in him all the families of the earth should be ble ed. "So help me the promise, fair sirs," said Isaac, "as no such sounds ever cro ed my lips!" Scott , Ivanhoe, xxxii. To give a lick and a promise of better. See lick. =Syn. 1. A urance, Promise, Engagement, Pledge, Covenant. These words are arranged in the order of strength; it would be dishonorable to fail to keep what even the weakest of them expre es. The formality and solemnity of each are proportioned to its strength. A covenant is a mutual obligation; the others are not. Each of them may be either spoken or written, but the written is generally more formal, and may have greater legal obligation. promise (prom'is), v.; pret. and pp. promised, ppr. promising. [ Thei hym promyseden that the i sholde kepe well the Citee while there life myght endure. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 295. I was promised them [ribbons] against the feast. Shak ., W. T., iv. 4. 237. You said that your Sponsors did promise for you that you should keep God's commandments. Book of Common Prayer , Catechism. 2. To afford reason to expect: as, the year promises a good harvest; the clouds promise rain. Surely this seemeth a plott of great reason and small difficult ye, which promiseth hope of a shorte end. Spenser , State of Ireland. Seeing the old castle of the state, That prom is'd once more firmne , so a ail'd. 3. To a ure. [Colloq.] Cowper, Task, v. 526. And what that euer be withynne this place, That wolle for the entrete in eny wise, He shall not spede, I yow promy e. 4768 I do not like thy look, I promise thee. Shak., Much Ado, iv. 2. 47. I promise you I don't think near so ill of you as I did. Sheridan , School for Scandal, iv. 3. 4. To make as promisor; be the promisor in. [Rare trade use.] These notes were promised by S. and S. Boston Traveller, Jan. 24, 1880. The Promised Land. Same as Land of Promise (which see, under promise, n.). - To be promisedt, to have an engagement. Ca ius . Will you sup with me to-night, Casca? Casca. No, I am promised forth. Shak ., J. C., i. 2. 293. =Syn. 1. To a ure, engage, covenant. See the noun. II. in trans. 1. To a ure one by a promise or binding declaration. Tho' fickle fortune has deceiv'd me, She prom is'd fair, and perform'd but ill. Burns, I Dream'd I Lay. 2. To afford hopes or expectations; give ground for expecting satisfactory or agreeable results. A... son of the last Archbishop, who promises very greatly. Walpole, Letters, II. 99. The day was named, the weather promised well. pro morphological promi ory (prom'i-sō-ri), a. [L. promi or, a promiser, As the preceptive part enjoins the most exact virtue, so is it most advantageously enforced by the promi ory . Decay of Christian Piety . Promi ory note, in law, an absolute promise in writing, signed but not sealed, to pay a specified sum ata time therein limited, or on demand, or at sight, to a person therein named or designated, or to his order, or to the bearer. Byles. See negotiable. - Promi ory oath. See oath . 3. To stand sponsor. [Rare.] There were those who knew him near the king And promised for him; and Arthur made him knight. Tennyson , Pelleas and Ettarre. promise-breach (prom'is-brēch), n . Failure to perform what is promised. [Rare.] Since miserie hath daunted all my mirth, And I am quite undone through promise - breach . Nashe , Pierce Penile e, p. 6. In double violation Of sacred chastity and of promise - breach Thereon dependent. Shak . , M. for M., v. 1. 410. promise-breaker (prom'is-brā"kėr), n . One who breaks or fails to make good his promises. He's a most notable coward, an infinite and endle liar, an hourly promise - breaker . Shak ., All's Well, iii. 6. 12. promise-crammed (prom'is-kramd), a . Crammed or stuffed with promises. [Rare.] I eat the air, promise - crammed . Shak ., Hamlet, iii. 2. 99. promisee (prom-i-sē′), n . [ promise + -eel .] The person to whom a promise is made. Where things promised in a treaty are incompatible, the promisee may choose which he will demand the performance of. Woolsey, Introd. to Inter. Law, § 109. promiseful (prom'is-fül), a. [ So som he wins with promise - full intreats, With presents som, and som with rougher threats. Sylvester , tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., Babylon, promiser (prom'i-sėr), n. [ He was a subtyle deceiner, a fayer false promiser . Joye, Expos, of Daniel xi. Though the expectation which is raised by impertinent promisers is thus barren, their confidence, even after failures, is so great that they subsist by still promising on. Steele , Spectator, No. 448. promising (promʻi-sing), p. a. [Ppr. of prom ise, v.] Giving promise; affording just expectations of good; affording reasonable ground of hope for the future; looking as if likely to turn out well: as, a promising youth; a promising prospect. A course more promising Than a wild dedication of yourselves To unpath'd waters, undream'd shores. Shak ., W. T., iv. 4. 576. promisingly (prom'i-sing-li), adv. [ ing +-ly2.] In a promising manner. promisor (prom'i-sor), n. [ promi t, a. [ I know him by his promi e beard, And beetle browes. Heywood, Dialogues (Works, ed. Pearson, 1874, VI. 190). pro mi ion† (prō-mish'on), n . [ prom is- sioun , promi io ( n- ), promise, promittere , pp.pro mi us , promise: see promise .] Promise. The Holy Land, that Men callen the Lond of Promys sioun , or of Beheste. Mandeville , Travels, p. 1. Isaac, that was the child of Pro mi ion , although God kept his life that was vnlooked for. Sir T. More, Cumfort against Tribulation (1573), fol. 37. promi ive prō-mis'iv), a. [ promi orily (prom'i-sō-ri-li), adv. By way of Generydes (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1603.promise. Sir T. Browne. Promising frank and free pardon of all offences and crimes promitted . Hall , Chron. Hen.. VII., fol. 33. ( Encyc . Dict .) 3. To promise. It like, therfore, to my Lord of Gloucestre, and to alle the Lordes of the Kinges Counsail, to promitte to the said Erle and a ure him that the i shul fermely and trewely a isten him in the excercise of the charge and occupacion that he hat he aboute the Kinges persone. Paston Letters , I. 33.