Emily Dickinson Lexicon

WORTH, n.

A termination, signifies a farm or court; as in Wordsworth.

WORTH, n. [Sax. weorth, wurth, wyrth; G. werth; D. waarde; Sw. värd; Dan. værd; W. gwerth; L. virtus, from the root of vireo. The primary sense is strength.]

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 day's 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. – Walter. All worth consists in doing good, and in the disposition by which it is done. – Dwight.
3. Importance; valuable qualities; applied to things; as these things have since lost their worth.

WORTH, v.i. [Sax. weorthan, to be.]

This verb is now used only in the phrases, woe worth the day, woe worth the man, &c., in which the verb is in the imperative mode, and the noun in the dative; woe be to the day.

WORTH'I-ER, a. [comp.]

More worthy.

WORTH'I-EST, a. [superl.]

Most worthy. – Borrow.

WORTH'I-LY, adv.

1. In a manner suited to; as, to walk worthily of our extraction. [Bad.] – Ray.
2. Deservedly; according to merit. You worthily succeed not only to the honors of your ancestors, but also to their virtues. – Dryden.
3. Justly; not without cause. I affirm that some may very worthily deserve to be hated. – South.

WORTH'I-NESS, n.

1. Desert; merit. The prayers which our Savior made, were for his own worthiness accepted. – Hooker.
2. Excellence; dignity; virtue. Who is sure he hath a soul, unless / It see and judge and follow worthiness? – Donne.
3. Worth; quality or state of deserving. – Sidney.

WORTH'LESS, a.

1. Having no value; as, a worthless garment; a worthless ship.
2. Having no value of character or no virtue; as, a worthless man or woman.
3. Having no dignity or excellence; as, a worthless magistrate.

WORTH'LESS-NESS, n.

1. Want of value; want of useful qualities; as, the worthlessness of an old garment or of barren land.
2. Want of excellence or dignity; as, the worthlessness of a person.

WORTH'Y, a. [G. wurdig; D. waardig; Sw. värdig.]

1. Deserving; such as merits; having worth or excellence; equivalent; with of, before the thing deserved. She has married a man worthy of her. Thou art worthy of the sway. – Shak. I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies. – Gen. xxxii.
2. Possessing worth or excellence of qualities; virtuous; estimable; as, a worthy citizen; a worthy magistrate. Happier thou may'st be, worthier canst not be. – Milton. This worthy man should worthy things embrace. – Davies.
3. Suitable; having qualities suited to; either in a good or bad sense; equal in value; as, flowers worthy of paradise.
4. Suitable to any thing bad. The merciless Macdonald, / Worthy to be a rebel. – Shak.
5. Deserving of ill; as, things worthy of stripes. – Luke xii.

WORTH'Y, n.

A man of eminent worth; a man distinguished for useful and estimable qualities; a man of valor; a word much used in the plural; as, the worthies of the church; political worthies; military worthies. – Holyday. Milton.

WORTH'Y, v.t.

To render worthy; to exalt. [Not in use.] – Shak.

WOT, v.i. [originally wat; the preterite of Sax. witan, to know; formerly used also in the present tense.]

To know; to be aware. [Obs.] – Spenser.

WOULD, v. [wood; pret. of Will. G. wollen; L. volo.]

Would is used as an auxiliary verb in conditional forms of speech. "I would go, if I could." This form of expression denotes will or resolution, under a condition or supposition. You would go, He would go, denote simply an event, under a condition or supposition. The condition implied in would is not always expressed. “By pleasure and pain, I would be understood to mean what delights or molests us;” that is, if it should be asked what I mean by pleasure and pain, I would thus explain what I wish to have understood. In this form of expression, which is very common, there seems to be an implied allusion to an inquiry, or to the supposition of something not expressed. Would has the sense of wish or pray, particularly in the phrases, "would to God," " would God we had died in Egypt," "I would that ye knew what conflict I have;" that is, I could wish such a thing, if the wish could avail. Here also there is an implied condition. Would is used also for wish to do, or to have. What wouldst thou? What would he?

WOULD'ING, n.

Motion of desire. [Not in use.] – Hammond.

WOUND, n. [Sax. wund; D. wond; G. wunde; W. gwanu, to thrust, to stab.]

1. A breach of the skin and flesh of an animal, or of the bark and wood of a tree, or of the bark and substance of other plants, caused by violence or external force. The self-healing power of living beings, animal or vegetable, by which the parts separated in wounds, tend to unite and become sound, is a remarkable proof of divine benevolence and wisdom.
2. Injury; hurt; as, a wound given to credit or reputation.

WOUND, pp. [and pret. of Wind.]

WOUND, v.t.

To hurt by violence; as, to wound the head or the arm; to wound a tree. He was wounded for our transgressions. – Is. liii.

WOUND'ED, pp.

Hurt; injured.

WOUND'ER, n.

One that wounds.

WOUND'ING, n.

Hurt; injury. – Gen. iv.

WOUND'ING, ppr.

Hurting; injuring.

WOUND'LESS, a.

Free from hurt or injury.

WOUND'WORT, n.

The name of several plants; one, a species of Achillea; another, a species of Stachys; another, a species of Laserpitium; another, a species of Solidago; and another a species of Senecio. – Cyc.

WOUND'Y, a.

Excessive. [Not English.]