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Webster 1913 Edition

Rich

Rich

,
(rĭch)
,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Richer
;
sup
erl.
Richest
.]
[OE.
riche
, AS.
rīce
rich, powerful; akin to OS.
rīki
, D.
rijk
, G.
reich
, OHG.
rīhhi
, Icel.
rīkr
, Sw.
rik
, Dan.
rig
, Goth.
reiks
; from a word meaning, ruler, king, probably borrowed from Celtic, and akin to L.
rex
,
regis
, king,
regere
to guide, rule. √283. See
Right
, and cf.
Derrick
,
Enrich
,
Rajah
,
Riches
,
Royal
.]
1.
Having an abundance of material possessions; possessed of a large amount of property; well supplied with land, goods, or money; wealthy; opulent; affluent; – opposed to
poor
.
“Rich merchants.”
Chaucer.
The
rich
[person] hath many friends.
Prov. xiv. 20.
As a thief, bent to unhoard the cash
Of some
rich
burgher.
Milton.
2.
Hence, in general, well supplied; abounding; abundant; copious; bountiful;
as, a
rich
treasury; a
rich
entertainment; a
rich
crop
.
If life be short, it shall be glorious;
Each minute shall be
rich
in some great action.
Rowe.
The gorgeous East with
richest
hand
Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold.
Milton.
3.
Yielding large returns; productive or fertile; fruitful;
as,
rich
soil or land; a
rich
mine.
4.
Composed of valuable or costly materials or ingredients; procured at great outlay; highly valued; precious; sumptuous; costly;
as, a
rich
dress;
rich
silk or fur;
rich
presents
.
Like to
rich
and various gems.
Milton.
5.
Abounding in agreeable or nutritive qualities; – especially applied to articles of food or drink which are high-seasoned or abound in oleaginous ingredients, or are sweet, luscious, and high-flavored;
as, a
rich
dish;
rich
cream or soup;
rich
pastry;
rich
wine or fruit
.
Sauces and
rich
spices are fetched from India.
Baker.
6.
Not faint or delicate; vivid;
as, a
rich
color
.
7.
Full of sweet and harmonius sounds;
as, a
rich
voice;
rich
music
.
8.
Abounding in beauty; gorgeous;
as, a
rich
landscape;
rich
scenery
.
9.
Abounding in humor; exciting amusement; entertaining;
as, the scene was a
rich
one; a
rich
incident or character
.
[Colloq.]
Thackeray.
☞ Rich is sometimes used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, rich-fleeced, rich-jeweled, rich-laden, rich-stained.
Syn. – Wealthy; affluent; opulent; ample; copious; abundant; plentiful; fruitful; costly; sumptuous; precious; generous; luscious.

Rich

,
Verb.
T.
To enrich.
[Obs.]
Gower.

Webster 1828 Edition

Rich

RICH

,
Adj.
[L. rego, regnum, Eng. reach, region, from extending.]
1.
Wealthy; opulent; possessing a large portion of land, goods or money, or a larger portion than is common to other men or to men of like rank. A farmer may be rich with property which would not make a nobleman rich. An annual income of 500 sterling pounds would make a rich vicar, but not a rich bishop. Men more willingly acknowledge others to be richer, than to be wiser than themselves.
Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver and in gold.
Genesis 13.
2.
Splendid; costly; valuable; precious; sumptuous; as a rich dress; a rich border; a rich silk; rich furniture; a rich present.
3.
Abundant in materials; yielding great quantities of any thing valuable; as a rich mine; rich ore.
4.
Abounding in valuable ingredients or qualities; as a rich odor or flavor; rich spices.
So we say, a rich description; a discourse rich in ideas.
5.
Full of valuable achievements or works.
Each minute shall be rich in some great action.
6.
Fertile; fruitful; capable of producing large crops or quantities; as a rich soil; rich land; rich mold.
7.
Abundant; large; as a rich crop.
8.
Abundant; affording abundance; plentiful.
The gorgeous East with richest hand pours on her sons barbaric pearl and gold.
9.
Full of beautiful scenery; as a rich landscape; a rich prospect.
10.
Abounding with elegant colors; as a rich picture.
11.
Plentifully stocked; as pastures rich in flocks.
12.
Strong; vivid; perfect; as a rich color.
13.
Having something precious; as a grove of rich trees.
14.
Abounding with nutritious qualities; as a rich diet.
15.
Highly seasoned; as rich paste; a rich dish of food.
16.
Abounding with a variety of delicious food; as a rich table or entertainment.
17.
Containing abundance beyond wants; as a rich treasury.
18.
In music, full of sweet or harmonious sounds.
19.
In Scripture, abounding; highly endowed with spiritual gifts; as rich in faith. James 2.
20.
Placing confidence in outward prosperity. Matt. 19.
21.
Self-righteous; abounding, in one's own opinion, with spiritual graces. Rev. 3.
Rich in mercy, spoken of God, full of mercy, and ready to bestow good things on sinful men. Eph 2. Rom. 10.
The rich, used as a noun, denotes a rich man or person, or more frequently in the plural, rich men or persons.
The rich hath many friends. Prov. 14.

RICH

,
Verb.
T.
To enrich. [Not used. See Enrich.]

Definition 2024

Rich

Rich

See also: rich, rích, and -rich

English

Proper noun

Rich

  1. A diminutive of the male given name Richard.
  2. A surname​.

rich

rich

See also: Rich, rích, and -rich

English

Adjective

rich ‎(comparative richer, superlative richest)

  1. Wealthy: having a lot of money and possessions.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 7, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      “A very welcome, kind, useful present, that means to the parish. By the way, Hopkins, let this go no further. We don't want the tale running round that a rich person has arrived. Churchill, my dear fellow, we have such greedy sharks, and wolves in lamb's clothing. […]”
    • 2013 May 17, George Monbiot, “Money just makes the rich suffer”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 23, page 19:
      In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. The welfare state is dismantled. […]
  2. Having an intense fatty or sugary flavour.
    a rich dish; rich cream or soup; rich pastry
    • Baker
      Sauces and rich spices are fetched from India.
  3. Plentiful, abounding, abundant, fulfilling.
    a rich treasury; a rich entertainment; a rich crop
    • Rowe
      If life be short, it shall be glorious; / Each minute shall be rich in some great action.
    • Milton
      The gorgeous East with richest hand / Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold.
    • 2013 July 27, “Battle of the bulge”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8846:
      For countries with rich culinary traditions that date back to the Aztecs and Incas, Mexico and Peru have developed quite a taste for modern food fashions. Mexicans quaff more fizzy drinks than any other country; Peru has the highest density of fast-food joints in the world.
  4. Yielding large returns; productive or fertile; fruitful.
    rich soil or land; a rich mine
  5. Composed of valuable or costly materials or ingredients; procured at great outlay; highly valued; precious; sumptuous; costly.
    a rich dress; rich silk or fur; rich presents
    • Milton
      rich and various gems
  6. Not faint or delicate; vivid.
    a rich red colour
  7. (informal, dated) Very amusing.
    The scene was a rich one.
    a rich incident or character
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Thackeray to this entry?)
  8. (informal) Ridiculous, absurd.
  9. Used to form adjectives when combined with common nouns for things considered desirable in the context. The resulting adjectives usually mean "abounding in (common noun)".
  10. (computing) Elaborate, having complex formatting, multimedia, or depth of interaction.
    • 2002, David Austerberry, The Technology of Video and Audio Streaming
      A skilled multimedia developer will have no problems adding interactive video and audio into existing rich media web pages.
    • 2003, Patricia Cardoza, Patricia DiGiacomo, Using Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
      Some rich text email messages contain formatting information that's best viewed with Microsoft Word.
    • 2008, Aaron Newman, Adam Steinberg, Jeremy Thomas, Enterprise 2.0 Implementation
      But what did matter was that the new web platform provided a rich experience.
  11. Of a fuel-air mixture, having less air than is necessary to burn all of the fuel; less air- or oxygen- rich than necessary for a stoichiometric reaction.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

rich ‎(third-person singular simple present riches, present participle riching, simple past and past participle riched)

  1. (obsolete) To enrich.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Gower to this entry?)

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: seeing · won't · plain · #632: rich · carry · immediately · trees

Etymology

From Richard. The surname also derives from rich as a nickname.

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