worth

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Pronunciation 1.2 Etymology 1 1.2.1 Adjective 1.2.1.1 Usage notes 1.2.1.2 Derived terms 1.2.1.3 Translations 1.2.2 Noun 1.2.2.1 Derived terms 1.2.2.2 Translations 1.3 Etymology 2 1.3.1 Verb 1.3.1.1 Derived terms 1.4 External links 1.5 Anagrams 2 Scots 2.1 Adjective

[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

• (RP): IPA: /wɜːθ/
• (US): IPA: /wɜːrθ/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

  Rhymes: -ɜː(r)θ

[edit] Etymology 1

Old English weorþ < Proto-Germanic *werþaz, *towards, opposite (the noun developing from the adjective). Cognate with German wert/Wert, Dutch waard (“‘adjective’”), Swedish värd.

[edit] Adjective

worth (comparative more worth, superlative most 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.

3. (obsolete, except in Scots) Valuable, worth while.
4. Making a fair equivalent of, repaying or compensating.

   This job is hardly worth the effort.

[edit] 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."

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Translations

[edit] 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.

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Translations

[edit] Etymology 2

Old English weorþan. Cognate with Dutch worden, German werden, Latin vertere, Old Norse verða (Norwegian verta).

[edit] Verb

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

1. (obsolete, except in set phrases) To be, become, betide.

   Woe worth the man that crosses me.

   • 1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, book 2, ch. 3, "Lndlord 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.’ {Woe befall the hour}

[edit] Derived terms

• outworth

[edit] External links

• 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

[edit] Anagrams

• Alphagram: hortw
• throw
• wroth

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[edit] Scots

[edit] Adjective

worth (comparative mair worth, superlative maist worth)

1. Valuable, worth while.