dignity
nouncommon in dialogue
- //ˈdɪɡnɪti//
The state of being dignified or worthy of esteem: elevation of mind or character.
noun
- 1
The state of being dignified or worthy of esteem: elevation of mind or character.
He uttered this ... with great majesty, or, as he called it, dignity.
Every individual shall have the right to the respect of the dignity inherent in a human being.
Historically, dignity has been ascribed to an elite group, but human dignity with reference to humanity and the human family has democratized dignity. […]. The idea of dignity as rank was carried over in Christian doctrine […].
- 2
Decorum, formality, stateliness.
The reception room was sacred to the dead wife. Her shiny portrait hung upon the wall - similar, doubtless, in all respects to the one which would be pasted on her tombstone. A little piece of black drapery had been tacked above the frame to lend a dignity to woe. But two of the tacks had fallen out, and the effect was now rakish, as that of a drunkard's bonnet.
Official DIGNITY tends to increase in inverse ratio to the importance of the country in which the office is held.
The presence of an attorney from Washington, he wrote, "would lend dignity to the proceedings," and it also would "remove the questions of local prejudices and faction from the picture and would have a very fine effect upon the jury."
- 3
High office, rank, or station.
Note the preſumption of this Scythian ſlaue: I tel thee villaine, thoſe that lead my horſe Haue to their names tytles of dignitie, And dar’ſt thou bluntly cal me Baiazeth?
And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this?
He ... distributed the civil and military dignities among his favourites and followers.
- 4
One holding high rank; a dignitary.
These filthy dreamers […] speak evil of dignities.
- 5
obsoleteFundamental principle; axiom; maxim.
Sciences concluding from dignities, and principles known by themselves.
- 6
Respect.
That in such an undertaking, if put on its right footing, and treated with dignity by the State, you would have the cheerful assistance of the first scientific teachers who have turned their philosophy to such practical uses, I have no doubt.
In my twenty years of ministry I have found that the minister was treated with dignity when he was dignified, that he was accorded authority and leadership when he was worthy of it.
Patients and residents shall be treated with dignity and kindness at all times.
Students must always be treated with dignity
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English dignyte, from Old French dignité, from Latin dignitās (“worthiness, merit, dignity, grandeur, authority, rank, office”), from dignus (“worthy, appropriate”), from Proto-Italic *degnos, from Proto-Indo-European *dḱ-nos, from *deḱ- (“to take”). See also decus (“honor, esteem”) and decet (“it is fitting”). Cognate to deign. Doublet of dainty. In this sense, displaced native Old English weorþsċipe, which became Modern English worship. It also displaced native Old English hād (“honor, dignity”).
Forms
- plural
- dignities
dignity · The state of being dignified or worthy of esteem: elevation of mind or character.
digs · Lodgings; place of accommodation.dilated · Having undergone dilation; enlarged.dildo · A device used for sexual penetration or another sexual…