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Webster 1913 Edition

Worth

Worth

,
Verb.
I.
[OE.
worthen
,
wurþen
, to become, AS.
weorðan
; akin to OS.
werðan
, D.
worden
, G.
werden
, OHG.
werdan
, Icel.
verða
, Sw.
varda
, Goth.
waírpan
, L.
vertere
to turn, Skr.
vṛt
, v. i., to turn, to roll, to become. √143. Cf.
Verse
, -
ward
,
Weird
.]
To be; to become; to betide; – now used only in the phrases, woe worth the day, woe worth the man, etc., in which the verb is in the imperative, and the nouns day, man, etc., are in the dative. Woe be to the day, woe be to the man, etc., are equivalent phrases.
I counsel . . . to let the cat
worthe
.
Piers Plowman.
He
worth
upon [got upon] his steed gray.
Chaucer.

Worth

,
Adj.
[OE.
worth
,
wurþ
, AS.
weorð
,
wurE
; akin to OFries.
werth
, OS.
werð
, D.
waard
, OHG.
werd
, G.
wert
,
werth
, Icel.
verðr
, Sw.
värd
, Dan.
værd
, Goth.
waírps
, and perhaps to E.
wary
. Cf.
Stalwart
,
Ware
an article of merchandise,
Worship
.]
1.
Valuable; of worthy; estimable; also, worth while.
[Obs.]
It was not
worth
to make it wise.
Chaucer.
2.
Equal in value to; furnishing an equivalent for; proper to be exchanged for.
A ring he hath of mine
worth
forty ducats.
Shakespeare
All our doings without charity are nothing
worth
.
Bk. of Com. Prayer.
If your arguments produce no conviction, they are
worth
nothing to me.
Beattie.
3.
Deserving of; – in a good or bad sense, but chiefly in a good sense.
To reign is
worth
ambition, though in hell.
Milton.
This is life indeed, life
worth
preserving.
Addison.
4.
Having possessions equal to; having wealth or estate to the value of.
At Geneva are merchants reckoned
worth
twenty hundred crowns.
Addison.
Worth while
, or
Worth the while
.
See under
While
,
Noun.

Worth

,
Noun.
[OE.
worth
,
wurþ
, AS.
weorð
,
wurð
;
weorð
,
wurð
, adj. See
Worth
,
Adj.
]
1.
That quality of a thing which renders it valuable or useful; sum of valuable qualities which render anything useful and sought; value; hence, often, value as expressed in a standard, as money; equivalent in exchange; price.
What ’s
worth
in anything
But so much money as 't will bring?
Hudibras.
2.
Value in respect of moral or personal qualities; excellence; virtue; eminence; desert; merit; usefulness;
as, a man or magistrate of great
worth
.
To be of worth, and worthy estimation.
Shakespeare
As none but she, who in that court did dwell,
Could know such worth, or worth describe so well.
Waller.
To think how modest worth neglected lies.
Shenstone.
Syn. – Desert; merit; excellence; price; rate.

Webster 1828 Edition

Worth

WORTH

,
Adj.
Termination, signifies a farm or court; as in Wordsworth.

WORTH

,
Verb.
I.
This verb is now used only in the phrases, wo worth the day, wo worth the man, &c., in which the verb is in the imperative mode, and the noun in the dative; wo be to the day.

WORTH

,
Noun.
[G., L. The primary sense is strength.]
1.
Value; that quality of a thing which renders it useful, or which will produce an equivalent good in some other thing. The worth of a days labor may be estimated in money, or in wheat. The worth of labor is settled between the hirer and the hired. The worth of commodities is usually the price they will bring in market; but price is not always worth.
2.
Value of mental qualities; excellence; virtue; usefulness; as a man or magistrate of great worth.
As none but she, who in that court did dwell, could know such worth, or worth describe so well.
All worth-consists in doing good, and in the disposition by which it is done.
3.
Importance; valuable qualities; applied to things; as, these things have since lost their worth.

WORTH

,
Adj.
1.
Equal in value to. Silver is scarce worth the labor of digging and refining. In one country, a days labor is worth a dollar; in another, the same labor is not worth fifty cents. It is worth while to consider a subject well before we come to a decision.
If your arguments produce no conviction, they are worth nothing to me.
2.
Deserving of; in a good or bad sense, but chiefly in a good sense. The castle is worth defending.
To reign is worth ambition, though in hell.
This is life indeed, life worth preserving.
3.
Equal in possessions to; having estate to the value of. Most men are estimated by their neighbors to be worth more than they are. A man worth a hundred thousand dollars in the United States, is called rich; but no so in London or Paris.
Worthiest of blood, an expression in law, denoting the preference of sons to daughters in the descent of estates.

Definition 2024

Worth

Worth

See also: worth, worð, worþ, and -worth

English

Proper noun

Worth

  1. A surname​.

worth

worth

See also: Worth, worð, worþ, and -worth

English

Preposition

worth

  1. Having a value of; proper to be exchanged for.
    My house now is worth double what I paid for it.
    Cleanliness is the virtue most worth having but one.
  2. Deserving of.
    I think you’ll find my proposal worth your attention.
    • 2012 May 9, Jonathan Wilson, “Europa League: Radamel Falcao's Atlético Madrid rout Athletic Bilbao”, in the Guardian:
      Two years after their first European trophy, Atlético were well worth their second.
  3. (obsolete, except in Scots) Valuable, worth while.
  4. Making a fair equivalent of, repaying or compensating.
    This job is hardly worth the effort.
Usage notes

The modern adjectival senses of worth compare two noun phrases, prompting some sources to classify the word as a preposition. Most, however, list it an adjective, some with notes like "governing a noun with prepositional force." Fowler's Modern English Usage says, "the adjective worth requires what is most easily described as an object."

Joan Maling (1983) shows that worth is best analysed as a preposition rather than an adjective. CGEL (2002) analyzes it as an adjective.

Derived terms
Translations

Noun

worth ‎(countable and uncountable, plural worths)

  1. (countable) Value.
    I’ll have a dollar's worth of candy, please.
    They have proven their worths as individual fighting men and their worth as a unit.
  2. (uncountable) Merit, excellence.
    Our new director is a man whose worth is well acknowledged.
    • 2012 September 7, Phil McNulty, “Moldova 0-5 England”, in BBC Sport:
      Manchester United's Tom Cleverley impressed on his first competitive start and Lampard demonstrated his continued worth at international level in a performance that was little more than a stroll once England swiftly exerted their obvious authority.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Old English weorþan, from Proto-Germanic *werþaną, from Proto-Indo-European *wert-. Cognate with Dutch worden, Low German warrn, German werden, Old Norse verða (Norwegian verta, Swedish varda), Latin vertere.

Verb

worth ‎(third-person singular simple present worths, present participle worthing, simple past worth or worthed, past participle worth or worthed or worthen)

  1. (obsolete, except in set phrases) To be, become, betide.
    • 1611, Bible (KJV), Ezekiel 30:2:
      Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Howl ye, Woe worth the day!
    • 1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, book 2, ch. 3, "Landlord Edmund"
      For, adds our erudite Friend, the Saxon weorthan equivalent to the German werden, means to grow, to become; traces of which old vocable are still found in the North-country dialects, as, ‘What is word of him?’ meaning ‘What is become of him?’ and the like. Nay we in modern English still say, ‘Woe worth the hour.’ [i.e. Woe befall the hour]
    Woe worth the man that crosses me.
    What's word of him now?‎
    Well worth thee, me friend‎. (May good fortune befall you, my friend)
Derived terms

References

  • worth in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • worth in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
  • worth at OneLook Dictionary Search
  • Joan Maling (1983), Transitive Adjectives: A Case of Categorial Reanalysis, in F. Henry and B. Richards (eds.), Linguistic Categories: Auxiliaries and Related Puzzles, vol.1, pp. 253-289.

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: evil · outside · beside · #695: worth · please · quiet · exclaimed

Anagrams

Scots

Adjective

worth ‎(comparative mair worth, superlative maist worth)

  1. Valuable, worth while.

Etymology

From Middle English worth, from Old English weorþ, from Proto-Germanic *werþaz ‎(“worthy, valuable”); from Proto-Indo-European *wert-. Cognate with Dutch waard ‎(“adjective”), Low German weert ‎(“adjective”), German wert, Wert, Swedish värd.

Pronunciation

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