Definify.com
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.
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.
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
But so much money as 't will bring?
worth
in anythingBut 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.
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.
WORTH
,Verb.
I.
WORTH
,Noun.
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.