Adjacent Words

Deign definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DEIGN, v.i. Dane. To think worthy; to vouchsafe; to condescend.
O deign to visit our foraken seats.
DEIGN, v.t. dane. To grant or allow; to condescend to give to.
Nor would we deign him burial of his men.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: do something that one considers to be below one's dignity [syn: condescend, deign, descend]

Merriam Webster's

verb Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French deigner, from Latin dignare, dignari, from dignus worthy — more at decent Date: 14th century intransitive verb to condescend reluctantly and with a strong sense of the affront to one's superiority that is involved ; stoop <would not even deign to talk to him> transitive verb to condescend to give or offer

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 intr. (foll. by to + infin.) think fit, condescend. 2 tr. (usu. with neg.) archaic condescend to give (an answer etc.). Etymology: ME f. OF degnier, deigner, daigner f. L dignare, -ari deem worthy f. dignus worthy

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Deign Deign, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Deigned; p. pr. & vb. n. Deigning.] [OE. deinen, deignen, OF. degner, deigner, daigner, F. daigner, fr. L. dignari to deem worthy, deign, fr. dignus worthy; akin to decere to be fitting. See Decent, and cf. Dainty, Dignity, Condign, Disdain.] 1. To esteem worthy; to consider worth notice; -- opposed to disdain. [Obs.] I fear my Julia would not deign my lines. --Shak. 2. To condescend to give or bestow; to stoop to furnish; to vouchsafe; to allow; to grant. Nor would we deign him burial of his men. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Deign Deign, v. i. To think worthy; to vouchsafe; to condescend; - - followed by an infinitive. O deign to visit our forsaken seats. --Pope. Yet not Lord Cranstone deigned she greet. --Sir W. Scott. Round turned he, as not deigning Those craven ranks to see. --Macaulay. Note: In early English deign was often used impersonally. Him deyneth not to set his foot to ground. --Chaucer.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(deigns, deigning, deigned) If you say that someone deigned to do something, you are expressing your disapproval of the fact that they did it unwillingly, because they thought they were too important to do it. (FORMAL) At last, Harper deigned to speak... VERB: V to-inf [disapproval]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. Condescend, vouchsafe, think fit, see fit. II. v. a. Grant, vouchsafe, accord.

Moby Thesaurus

OK, accede to, accept, accord to, agree, agree to, approve, approve of, assent, be willing, concede, condescend, connive at, consent, consent to silently, descend, endorse, give consent, go along with, grant, have no objection, hold with, lower oneself, nod, nod assent, not refuse, okay, permit, ratify, sanction, say aye, say yes, stoop, take kindly to, vote affirmatively, vote aye, vouchsafe, wink at, yield, yield assent