earnest
nounverbadjectivenounverbattested in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈɜː.nɪst//
- United States//ˈɝ.nɪst//
Gravity; serious purpose; earnestness.
noun
- 1
Gravity; serious purpose; earnestness.
Take heed that this jest do not one day turn to earnest.
That high All-Seer which I dallied with / Hath turn'd my feigned prayer on my head / And given in earnest what I begg'd in jest.
1914, February 13, The Times, Obituary: Canon Augustus Jessopp He wrote well in a forcible, colloquial style, with the air of being tremendously in earnest, and full of knowledge which overflowed his pages, tricked out with somewhat boisterous illustrations.
- 2
Seriousness; reality; actuality (as opposed to joking or pretence)
Etymology
From Middle English ernest, eornest, from Old English eornest, eornost, eornust (“earnestness, zeal, seriousness, battle”), from Proto-Germanic *ernustuz (“earnest, strength, solidity, struggle, fight”), a derivative of Proto-Germanic *arniz (“efficient, capable, diligent, sure”), from Proto-Indo-European *er- (“to cause to move, arouse, increase”). Cognate with West Frisian earnst (“earnest, seriousness”), Dutch ernst (“seriousness, gravity, earnest”), German Ernst (“seriousness, earnestness, zeal, vigour”), Icelandic ern (“brisk, vigorous”), Gothic 𐌰𐍂𐌽𐌹𐌱𐌰 (arniba, “secure, certain, sure”). The adjective is from Middle English eornest, from Old English eornoste (“earnest, zealous, serious”), from the noun. Cognate with North Frisian ernste (“earnest”), Middle Low German ernest, ernst (“serious, earnest”), German ernst (“serious, earnest”).
verb
- 1
To be serious with; use in earnest.
Let's prove among ourselves our armes in jest, That when we come to earnest them with men, We may them better use.
adjective
- 1
Serious, sincere, ingenuous.
- 2
Focused in the pursuit of an objective; honestly eager to obtain or do.
earnest prayers
- 3
Intent; focused; showing a lot of concentration.
earnest attention
- 4
Possessing or characterised by seriousness.
an earnest disposition
- 5
Strenuous; diligent.
earnest efforts
- 6
Serious; weighty; of a serious, weighty, or important nature; important.
noun
- 1
A sum of money paid in advance as a deposit; hence, a pledge, a guarantee, an indication of something to come.
Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
As therefore the morning devv, is a pavvne of the evenings fatneſſe, ſo, O Lord, let this daies comfort be the earneſt of to morrowes, […]
The vanity is at once encouraged and gratified; while the present small triumph is too readily taken as earnest for a greater one.
The farmer agreed, and in the evening the Dwarf brought him a sack of wheat as an earnest.
Etymology
Uncertain; apparently related to erres. Compare also arles.
verb
- 1
Also a form of earnarchaicsecond-person singular simple present indicative of earn
Etymology
Etymology tree English earn Proto-Indo-European *-yōs Proto-Indo-European *-tHós Proto-Indo-European *-istos Proto-Germanic *-istaz Proto-West Germanic *-ist Old English -est Middle English -est English -est English earnest From earn + -est.
Forms
- plural
- earnests
- comparative
- earnester, more earnest
- superlative
- earnestest, most earnest
- past tense
- earnested
- past participle
- earnested
- present participle
- earnesting
- third person singular
- earnests
earnest · Gravity; serious purpose; earnestness.
Earnest · A male given name from the Germanic languages, of occasional…earnings · Wages, money earned, income.Earp · A surname.