Adjacent Words

Piety definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PI'ETY, n. [L. pietas, from pius, or its root, probably a contracted word.]
1. Piety in principle, is a compound of veneration or reverence of the Supreme Being and love of his character, or veneration accompanied with love; and piety in practice, is
the exercise of these affections in obedience to his will and devotion to his service.
Piety is the only proper and adequate relief of decaying man.
2. Reverence of parents or friends, accompanied with affection and devotion to their honor and happiness.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: righteousness by virtue of being pious [syn: piety, piousness] [ant: impiety, impiousness]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural pieties) Etymology: French pieté piety, pity, from Old French, from Latin pietat-, pietas, from pius dutiful, pious Date: 1579 1. the quality or state of being pious: as a. fidelity to natural obligations (as to parents) b. dutifulness in religion ; devoutness 2. an act inspired by piety 3. a conventional belief or standard ; orthodoxy Synonyms: see fidelity

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -ies) 1 the quality of being pious. 2 a pious act. Etymology: ME f. OF pieté f. L pietas -tatis dutifulness (as PIOUS)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Piety Pi"e*ty, n. [F. pi['e]t['e]; cf. It. piet[`a]; both fr. L. pietas piety, fr. pius pious. See Pious, and cf. Pity.] 1. Veneration or reverence of the Supreme Being, and love of his character; loving obedience to the will of God, and earnest devotion to his service. Piety is the only proper and adequate relief of decaying man. --Rambler. 2. Duty; dutifulness; filial reverence and devotion; affectionate reverence and service shown toward parents, relatives, benefactors, country, etc. Conferred upon me for the piety Which to my country I was judged to have shown. --Milton. Syn: Religion; sanctity; devotion; godliness; holiness. See Religion.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Piety is strong religious belief, or behaviour that is religious or morally correct.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Lat. pietas, properly honour and respect toward parents (1 Tim. 5:4). In Acts 17:23 the Greek verb is rendered "ye worship," as applicable to God.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

pi'-e-ti: Only in 1Ti 5:4: "Let them learn first to show piety toward their own family," where "let them show piety" represents a single Greek verb (eusebeo), in its only other occurrence (Ac 17:23) being rendered "worship." In Elizabethan English "piety" (like the Latin pietas) could be used of devotion to one's parents (as still in the phrase "filial piety"), as well as of devotion to God. Hence, there is no explicit statement here that filial devotion is one form of divine worship.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Filial reverence. 2. Godliness, religion, devotion, holiness, sanctity, grace.

Moby Thesaurus

Tartuffery, Tartuffism, affectation, affection, allegiance, ardor, cant, dedication, deference, devotedness, devotion, devoutness, docility, dutifulness, enthusiasm, faithfulness, false piety, falseness, fealty, fervor, godliness, goody-goodiness, grace, holiness, hypocrisy, insincerity, loyalty, mealymouthedness, mummery, obedience, observance, oiliness, passion, pharisaicalness, pharisaism, pietism, pietisticalness, piousness, religionism, religiosity, religiousness, respect, reverence, sanctimoniousness, sanctimony, sanctity, self-righteousness, snivel, snuffle, unction, unctuousness, veneration, zeal