Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Edify
Ed′i-fy
,Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Edified
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Edifying
.] 1.
To build; to construct.
[Archaic]
There was a holy chapel
edified
. Spenser.
2.
To instruct and improve, especially in moral and religious knowledge; to teach.
It does not appear probable that our dispute [about miracles] would either
edify
or enlighten the public. Gibbon.
3.
To teach or persuade.
[Obs.]
Bacon.
Ed′i-fy
,Verb.
I.
To improve.
[R.]
Swift.
Webster 1828 Edition
Edify
ED'IFY
,Verb.
T.
1.
To build, in a literal sense. [Not now used.]2.
To instruct and improve the mind in knowledge generally,and particularly in moral and religious knowledge, in faith and holiness.Edify one another. 1 Thess.5.
3.
To teach or persuade. [Not used.]Definition 2024
edify
edify
English
Alternative forms
- ædify (archaic)
Verb
edify (third-person singular simple present edifies, present participle edifying, simple past and past participle edified)
- (now rare) To build, construct.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.i:
- That Castle was most goodly edifyde, / And plaste for pleasure nigh that forrest syde […]
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.i:
- (transitive) To instruct or improve morally or intellectually.
- Gibbon
- It does not appear probable that our dispute [about miracles] would either edify or enlighten the public.
- 1813, The Connecticut Evangelical Magazine, Vol. VI, page 455
- That they ought to edify one another by maintaining and promoting the knowledge of truth.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)
- Gibbon
Translations
To instruct or improve morally or intellectually