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 allow the cat worthe." (Piers Plowman) "He
worth upon [got upon]
his steed gray." (Chaucer)
Origin: OE. Worthen, wuroen, to become, AS. Weoroan;
akin to OS. Weroan, D. Worden, G. Werden, OHG. Werdan, Icel. Veroa, Sw. Varda, Goth. Wairpan, L. Vertere to turn, Skr. Vot, v. I, to turn, to roll, to become. 143. Cf. Verse, -ward, Weird.
1. Valuable; of worthy; estimable; also,
worth while. "It was not
worth to create 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." (Shak) "All our doings
without charity are
nothing worth." (Bk. Of Com. Prayer) "If your arguments manufacture 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 really,
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 While.
Origin: OE. Worth, wuro, AS. Weoro, wurE;
akin to OFries. Werth, OS. Wero, D. Waard, OHG. Werd, G. Wert, werth, Icel. Veror, Sw. Vard, Dan. Vaerd, Goth. Wairps, and probably to E. Wary. Cf. Stalwart, Ware an
article of merchandise, Worship.
1. That
characteristic 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; cost. "What 's
worth in anything But so
many money as 't
will bring?" (Hudibras)
2. Value in
respect of
moral or private qualities; excellence; virtue; eminence; desert; merit; usefulness; as, a
man or magistrate of great worth. "To be of worth, and
worthy estimation." (Shak) "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)
Synonym: Desert, merit, excellence, cost, rate.
Origin: OE. Worth, wuro, AS. Weoro, wuro; weoro, wuro, adj. See Worth.
Source: Websters Vocabulary