worth2 (werth)

[ Lith. wert as, OBulg. vredu?), MHG. wert, G. wert, werth = Icel. verth = Sw. värde = Dan. værd = Goth. wairths, value; from the adj.: see worth2, a.] 11. Honor; dignity. I will do what worth Shall bid me, and no more. Beau , and Fl . , Maid's Tragedy, iii. 2. Wee read sometimes of two Bishops in one place, and had all the Presbyters there beene of like worth we might perhaps have read of twenty. Milton, Prelatical Episcopacy. 2. Worthine ; excellence of character; excellency; merit; desert: as, a man of great worth. I dispute it not, His worth forest als exception. J. Beaumont , Psyche, iv. 254. I know your worths , And thus low bow in reverence to your virtues. Fletcher, Humorous Lieutenant, iii. 7. Tennyson, Mariana in the South. Old letters, breathing of her worth . 3. Value; importance; excellence; valuable or desirable qualities: said of things. Thy youth's proud livery, so gazed on now, Will be a tatter'd weed, of small worth held. Shak ., Sonnets, ii. A beautiful object may have a worth for feeling inde- pendent of mere contemplation. Mind, XII. 629. 4. Value, especially as expre ed in terms of some standard of equivalency or exchang as, what is his house worth? the worth of a commodity is usually the price it will bring in market, but price is not always worth. "For ofte haue I," quod he, "holpe gow atte barre, And zit zeue ze me neuere the wort he of a ru he.' Piers Plowman (B), iv. 170. A crown's worth of good interpretation. Shak., 2 Hen. IV., ii. 2. 99. If I had but in my pocket The worth of one single pennie. Willie Wallace (Child's Ballads, VI. 233). 5. That which one is worth; po e ions; substance; wealth; riches. worthy But onely the worthely warke of my wyll In my sprete sall enspyre the mighte of me. = Marston . Those high-born dames and worthful females whom Margaret the queen had drawn about her. Rock , Church of our Fathers, ii. 272. Penang and Singapore in the Straits of Malacca, Hong Kong on the route to Canton and Shanghai, are all very worthful. Fortnightly Rev., N. S., XL. 373. worthily (wer'Thi-li), adv. [ Worthili hire he wolcomed wen he hire mette. William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), 1. 4290. 2. Excellently; rightly; becomingly; suitably; fittingly. Thou and thy meaner fellows your last service Did worthily perform. Shak., Tempest, iv. 1. 36. He that hath begun so worthily , It fits not with his resolution To leave off thus, my lord. Beau , and Fl ., Woman-Hater, v. 2. 3. Deservedly; justly; according to merit. They would not leave their sins,... therefore their destruction came worthily upon them. Latimer , Sermons and Remains (Parker ed.), p. 51. Had the gods done so, I had not now Worthily term'd them mercile to us! Shak ., C. of E., i. 1. 100. He found out the author, one Dyer, a most crafty fellow and his ancient Maligner, whom he worthily punished. Quoted in Capt . John Smith's Works, I. 228. You worthily succeed not only to the honours of your ancestors, but also to their virtues. Dryden, To the Duke of Ormond, Ded. of Fables. I affirm that some may very worthily deserve to be hated. South , Sermons. worthine (wer'thi-nes), n . [ worthy , a., + -ne .] The quality of being worthy; honor; excellence; dignity; virtue; merit; desert. After we shull returne hem for to socoure, for grete pite it were yef the i were deed or taken in so tendre age, for the i ben of high valoure and grete worthyne e. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 197. The prayers which our Saviour made were, for his own Hooker . worthine , accepted. I see, even in her looks, gentry and general worthine . B. Jonson, Poetaster, ii. 1. =Syn. See worth2 , n. worthle (werth'les), a . [ worth2 + -le ; wurthleás , wurth , worth, + -leás , E. -le .] 1. Of no value or use; valuele ; usele . Silvia is too fair, too true, too holy, To be corrupted with my worthle gifts. Shak., T. G. of V., iv. 2. 6. 'Tis but a worthle world to win or lose. Byron , Childe Harold, iii. 40. We read how men sell themselves to a certain Personage, and that Personage cheats them. He gives them wealth; yes, but the gold pieces turn into worthle leaves. Thackeray, Roundabout Papers, On a Pear-tree. 2. Lacking in or destitute of worth, dignity, excellence, or merit; mean; contemptible. Some worthle slave of thine I'll slay. Shak ., Lucrece, 1. 515. Habits of di imulation and falsehood, no doubt, mark a man of our age and country as utterly worthle and abandoned. Macaulay , Machi a vell i. The mode of genesis of the worthy and the worthle seems the same. W. James , Prin. of Psychol., I. 552. 3. Unworthy; not deserving. A peevish schoolboy, worthle of such honour. Shak ., J. C., v. 1. 61. Her boons let foolish Fortune throw On worthle heads; more glorious 'tis by far A Diadem to merit than to wear. J. Beaumont, Psyche, i. 149. Worthle they are of Cæsar's gracious eyes. B. Jonson, Poetaster, v. 1. IMG:content-2582.png:[blocks in formation] York Plays , p. 2