Adjacent Words

Worth definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WORTH, a. Termination, signifies a farm or court; as in Wordsworth.
WORTH, v.i. This verb is now used only in the phrases, wo worth the day, wo worth the man, etc., in which the verb is in the imperative mode, and the noun in the dative; wo be to the day.
WORTH, n. [G., L. 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 days 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.
All worth-consists in doing good, and in the disposition by which it is done.
3. Importance; valuable qualities; applied to things; as, these things have since lost their worth.
WORTH, a.
1. Equal in value to. Silver is scarce worth the labor of digging and refining. In one country, a days labor is worth a dollar; in another, the same labor is not worth fifty cents. It is worth while to consider a subject well before we come to a decision.
If your arguments produce no conviction, they are worth nothing to me.
2. Deserving of; in a good or bad sense, but chiefly in a good sense. The castle is worth defending.
To reign is worth ambition, though in hell.
This is life indeed, life worth preserving.
3. Equal in possessions to; having estate to the value of. Most men are estimated by their neighbors to be worth more than they are. A man worth a hundred thousand dollars in the United States, is called rich; but no so in London or Paris.
Worthiest of blood, an expression in law, denoting the preference of sons to daughters in the descent of estates.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: worthy of being treated in a particular way; "an idea worth considering"; "the deserving poor" (often used ironically) [syn: deserving, worth]
2: having a specified value; "not worth his salt"; "worth her weight in gold" n
1: an indefinite quantity of something having a specified value; "10 dollars worth of gasoline"
2: the quality that renders something desirable or valuable or useful [ant: ineptitude, worthlessness]
3: French couturier (born in England) regarded as the founder of Parisian haute couture; noted for introducing the bustle (1825-1895) [syn: Worth, Charles Frederick Worth]

Merriam Webster's

I. intransitive verb Etymology: Middle English, from Old English weorthan; akin to Old High German werdan to become, Latin vertere to turn, Lithuanian versti to overturn, Sanskrit vartate he turns Date: before 12th century archaic become — usually used in the phrase woe worth II. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Old English weorth worthy, of (a specified) value; akin to Old High German werd worthy, worth Date: before 12th century 1. archaic having monetary or material value 2. archaic estimable III. noun Date: before 12th century 1. a. monetary value <farmhouse and lands of little worth> b. the equivalent of a specified amount or figure <a dollar's worth of gas> 2. the value of something measured by its qualities or by the esteem in which it is held <a literary heritage of great worth> 3. a. moral or personal value <trying to teach human worth> b. merit, excellence <a field in which we have proved our worth> 4. wealth, riches IV. preposition Date: 13th century 1. a. equal in value to b. having assets or income equal to 2. deserving of <well worth the effort>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --predic.adj. (governing a noun like a preposition) 1 of a value equivalent to (is worth £50; is worth very little). 2 such as to justify or repay; deserving; bringing compensation for (worth doing; not worth the trouble). 3 possessing or having property amounting to (is worth a million pounds). --n. 1 what a person or thing is worth; the (usu. specified) merit of (of great worth; persons of worth). 2 the equivalent of money in a commodity (ten pounds' worth of petrol). Phrases and idioms: for all one is worth colloq. with one's utmost efforts; without reserve. for what it is worth without a guarantee of its truth or value. worth it colloq. worth the time or effort spent. worth one's salt see SALT. worth while (or one's while) see WHILE. Etymology: OE w(e)orth

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Worth Worth, v. i. [OE. worthen, wur[thorn]en, to become, AS. weor[eth]an; akin to OS. wer[eth]an, D. worden, G. werden, OHG. werdan, Icel. ver[eth]a, Sw. varda, Goth. wa['i]rpan, L. vertere to turn, Skr. v[.r]t, v. i., to turn, to roll, to become. [root]143. Cf. Verse, -ward, Weird.] To be; to become; to betide; -- now used only in the phrases, woe worth the day, woe worth the man, etc., in which the verb is in the imperative, and the nouns day, man, etc., are in the dative. Woe be to the day, woe be to the man, etc., are equivalent phrases. I counsel . . . to let the cat worthe. --Piers Plowman. He worth upon [got upon] his steed gray. --Chaucer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Worth Worth, n. [OE. worth, wur[thorn], AS. weor[eth], wur[eth]; weor[eth], wur[eth], adj. See Worth, a.] 1. That quality of a thing which renders it valuable or useful; sum of valuable qualities which render anything useful and sought; value; hence, often, value as expressed in a standard, as money; equivalent in exchange; price. What 's worth in anything But so much money as 't will bring? --Hudibras. 2. Value in respect of moral or personal qualities; excellence; virtue; eminence; desert; merit; usefulness; as, a man or magistrate of great worth. To be of worth, and worthy estimation. --Shak. As none but she, who in that court did dwell, Could know such worth, or worth describe so well. --Waller. To think how modest worth neglected lies. --Shenstone. Syn: Desert; merit; excellence; price; rate.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Worth Worth, a. [OE. worth, wur[thorn], AS. weor[eth], wurE; akin to OFries. werth, OS. wer[eth], D. waard, OHG. werd, G. wert, werth, Icel. ver[eth]r, Sw. v["a]rd, Dan. v[ae]rd, Goth. wa['i]rps, and perhaps to E. wary. Cf. Stalwart, Ware an article of merchandise, Worship.] 1. Valuable; of worthy; estimable; also, worth while. [Obs.] It was not worth to make it wise. --Chaucer. 2. Equal in value to; furnishing an equivalent for; proper to be exchanged for. A ring he hath of mine worth forty ducats. --Shak. All our doings without charity are nothing worth. --Bk. of Com. Prayer. If your arguments produce no conviction, they are worth nothing to me. --Beattie. 3. Deserving of; -- in a good or bad sense, but chiefly in a good sense. To reign is worth ambition, though in hell. --Milton. This is life indeed, life worth preserving. --Addison. 4. Having possessions equal to; having wealth or estate to the value of. At Geneva are merchants reckoned worth twenty hundred crowns. --Addison. Worth while, or Worth the while. See under While, n.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Present value Pres"ent value or worth worth (of money payable at a future date). The principal which, drawing interest at a given rate, will amount to the given sum at the date on which this is to be paid; thus, interest being at 6%, the present value of $106 due one year hence is $100.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. If something is worth a particular amount of money, it can be sold for that amount or is considered to have that value. These books might be worth £80 or £90 or more to a collector... The contract was worth £25 million a year. v-link worth amount 2. Worth combines with amounts of money, so that when you talk about a particular amount of money's worth of something, you mean the quantity of it that you can buy for that amount of money. I went and bought about six dollars' worth of potato chips... COMB in QUANT: QUANT of n • Worth is also a pronoun. 'How many do you want?'—'I'll have a pound's worth.' PRON 3. Worth combines with time expressions, so you can use worth when you are saying how long an amount of something will last. For example, a week's worth of food is the amount of food that will last you for a week. You've got three years' worth of research money to do what you want with... COMB in QUANT: QUANT of n • Worth is also a pronoun. There's really not very much food down there. About two weeks' worth. PRON 4. If you say that something is worth having, you mean that it is pleasant or useful, and therefore a good thing to have. He's decided to get a look at the house and see if it might be worth buying... Most things worth having never come easy. v-link worth -ing 5. If something is worth a particular action, or if an action is worth doing, it is considered to be important enough for that action. I am spending a lot of money and time on this boat, but it is worth it... This restaurant is well worth a visit... It is worth pausing to consider these statements from Mr Davies. v-link worth n/-ing 6. Someone's worth is the value, usefulness, or importance that they are considered to have. (FORMAL) He had never had a woman of her worth as a friend... N-UNCOUNT: usu with poss 7. If you do something for all you are worth, you do it with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. We both began waving to the crowd for all we were worth... Push for all you're worth! PHRASE: V inflects 8. If you add for what it's worth to something that you say, you are suggesting that what you are saying or referring to may not be very valuable or helpful, especially because you do not want to appear arrogant. I've brought my notes, for what it's worth. PHRASE: PHR with cl 9. If an action or activity is worth someone's while, it will be helpful, useful, or enjoyable for them if they do it, even though it requires some effort. It might be worth your while to go to court and ask for the agreement to be changed... = worthwhile PHRASE: v-link PHR 10. worth your weight in gold: see weight

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Merit, desert, worthiness, excellence, virtue, credit, character, integrity. 2. Value, price, cost.

Moby Thesaurus

accent, account, ad valorem, advantage, advantageousness, agreeableness, appraised, approbation, approval, assessed, auspiciousness, avail, behalf, behoof, beneficialness, benefit, benevolence, benignity, blessed with, caliber, class, cogency, concern, concernment, consequence, consequentiality, consideration, convenience, conversion factor, credit, dearness, desert, emphasis, enfeoffed, esteem, estimation, evaluated, excellence, expedience, extraordinary worth, face, face value, fairness, favor, favorableness, fineness, first-rateness, fortune, good for, goodliness, goodness, grace, great price, great value, having, having and holding, healthiness, helpfulness, high order, high rank, holding, honor, import, importance, in possession of, interest, invaluableness, kindness, landed, landholding, landowning, mark, market value, master of, materiality, merit, moment, net worth, niceness, note, occupying, owning, par value, paramountcy, pennyworth, percentage, perfection, pleasantness, point, possessed of, possessing, precedence, preciousness, preeminence, price, priced, pricelessness, primacy, priority, prized, pro rata, profit, profitableness, propertied, property, property-owning, quality, rate, rated, regard, resources, respect, rewardingness, riches, seized of, self-importance, service, significance, skillfulness, soundness, stature, stress, substance, superiority, supremacy, tenured, use, usefulness, utility, validity, valuableness, valuation, value, value received, valued, valued at, virtue, virtuousness, weight, wholeness