worthy

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɜːði/
• (General American) enPR: wûr'thē, IPA^(key): /ˈwɝði/

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• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)ði
• Hyphenation: wor‧thy

From Middle English worthy, wurthi, from Old English *weorþiġ (“"worthy"”), equivalent to worth +‎ -y. Cognate with Dutch waardig (“worthy”), Middle Low German werdig (“worthy”), German würdig (“worthy”), Swedish värdig (“worthy”), Icelandic verðugt (“worthy”).

worthy (comparative worthier, superlative worthiest)

1. Having worth, merit, or value.
   • c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv]:

     These banished men that I have kept withal / Are men endued with worthy qualities

   • c. 1626, John Davies, The Original, Nature, and Immortality of the Soul:

     This worthy mind should worthy things embrace.

2. Admirable or honourable.
3. Deserving, or having sufficient worth.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 5:1–4:

     1 And I saw in þe right hand of him that sate on the Throne, a booke written within, & on the backeside, sealed with seuen seales.
     2 And I saw a strong Angel proclaiming with a loude voice; Who is worthy to open the booke, and to loose the seales thereof?
     3 And no man in heauen, nor in earth, neither vnder the earth, was able to open the booke, neither to looke thereon.
     4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open, and to reade the booke, neither to looke thereon.
     

   • 1659, J[ohn] M[ilton], “To the Parlament of the Commonwealth of England with the Dominions therof”, in Considerations Touching the Likeliest Means to Remove Hirelings out of the Church. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcombe] for L[ivewell] Chapman […], →OCLC:

     [I]t is a deed of higheſt charitie to help undeceive the people, and a vvork vvorthieſt your autoritie, […]

4. Suited; suitable; befitting.
   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vi]:

     No, Warwick, thou art worthy of the sway.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 3:11:

     […] whose shoes I am not worthy to bear.

   • 1634 October 9 (first performance), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC:

     And thou art worthy that thou shouldst not know / More happiness.

   • 1697, Virgil, “The Eleventh Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     The lodging is well worthy of the guest.

   • 2022 January 12, Paul Bigland, “Fab Four: the nation's finest stations”, in RAIL, number 948, page 27:

     The station is clearly well looked after, making it a worthy gateway to the resort.

• markworthy
• noteworthy
• worthily
• worthiness
• the laborer is worthy of his hire

• worthly

worthy (plural worthies)

1. A distinguished or eminent person.
   • 1867, Journal of Agriculture, page 108:

     That worthy one day, in our absence, being caught in the act of culpable talpicide, was rebuked by his mistress for disobeying his master's orders.

• -worthy
• unworthy

From Middle English worthien, wurthien, from Old English weorþian (“to esteem, honor, worship, distinguish, celebrate, exalt, praise, adorn, deck, enrich, reward”), from Proto-Germanic *werþōną (“to be worthy, estimate, appreciate, appraise”), from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn, wind”). Cognate with German werten (“to rate, judge, grade, score”), Swedish värdera (“to evaluate, rate, size up, assess, estimate”), Icelandic virða (“to respect, esteem”).

worthy (third-person singular simple present worthies, present participle worthying, simple past and past participle worthied)

1. (transitive) To render or treat as worthy; exalt; revere; honour; esteem; respect; value; reward; adore.
   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     And put upon him such a deal of man,
     That worthied him, got praises of the king […]

   • 1880, Sir Norman Lockyer, Nature:

     After having duly paid his addresses to it, he generally spends some time on the marble slab in front of the looking-glass, but without showing the slightest emotion at the sight of his own reflection, or worthying it with a song.

   • 1908, Edward Arthur Brayley Hodgetts, The court of Russia in the nineteenth century:

     And it is a poor daub besides," the Emperor rejoined scornfully, as he stalked out of the gallery without worthying the artist with a look.

   • 1910, Charles William Eliot, The Harvard classics: Beowulf:

     No henchman he worthied by weapons, if witness his features, his peerless presence!

• worthier
• worthying

From worth +‎ -y, from Old English weorþ.

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɔrðiː/

worthy

1. worthy

• English: worthy