worthy

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɜːði/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwɝði/

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• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)ði
• Hyphenation: wor‧thy

From Middle English worthy, wurthi, from Old English *weorþiġ (“"worthy"”), equivalent to worth +‎ -y. Cognate with Dutch waardig (“worthy”), Middle Low German werdig (“worthy”), German würdig (“worthy”), Swedish värdig (“worthy”), Icelandic verðugt (“worthy”).

worthy (comparative worthier, superlative worthiest)

1. having worth, merit, or value
   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare

     These banished men that I have kept withal / Are men endued with worthy qualities.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Sir J. Davies

     This worthy mind should worthy things embrace.

2. honourable or admirable
3. deserving, or having sufficient worth
4. Suited; befitting.
   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare

     No, Warwick, thou art worthy of the sway.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Bible, Matthew iii. 11

     […] whose shoes I am not worthy to bear.

   • (Can we date this quote?) John Milton

     And thou art worthy that thou shouldst not know / More happiness.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Dryden

     The lodging is well worthy of the guest.

• markworthy
• noteworthy
• worthily
• worthiness

• worthly

worthy (plural worthies)

1. a distinguished or eminent person

• -worthy
• unworthy

From Middle English worthien, wurthien, from Old English weorþian (“to esteem, honor, worship, distinguish, celebrate, exalt, praise, adorn, deck, enrich, reward”), from Proto-Germanic *werþōną (“to be worthy, estimate, appreciate, appraise”), from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn, wind”). Cognate with German werten (“to rate, judge, grade, score”), Swedish värdera (“to evaluate, rate, size up, assess, estimate”), Icelandic virða (“to respect, esteem”).

worthy (third-person singular simple present worthies, present participle worthying, simple past and past participle worthied)

1. (transitive) To render or treat as worthy; exalt; revere; honour; esteem; respect; value; reward; adore.
   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare, King Lear

     And put upon him such a deal of man,
     That worthied him, got praises of the king […]

   • 1880, Sir Norman Lockyer, Nature:

     After having duly paid his addresses to it, he generally spends some time on the marble slab in front of the looking-glass, but without showing the slightest emotion at the sight of his own reflection, or worthying it with a song.

   • 1908, Edward Arthur Brayley Hodgetts, The court of Russia in the nineteenth century:

     And it is a poor daub besides," the Emperor rejoined scornfully, as he stalked out of the gallery without worthying the artist with a look.

   • 1910, Charles William Eliot, The Harvard classics: Beowulf:

     No henchman he worthied by weapons, if witness his features, his peerless presence!

• worthier
• worthying

From worth +‎ -y, from Old English weorþ.

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɔrðiː/

worthy

1. worthy

• English: worthy