dignity
//ˈdɪɡnɪti//
Forms
- Plural
- dignities
Definitions
1.The state of being dignified or worthy of esteem: elevation of mind or character.
- He uttered this ... with great majesty, or, as he called it, dignity.
- Every individual shall have the right to the respect of the dignity inherent in a human being.
2.Decorum, formality, stateliness.
- Official DIGNITY tends to increase in inverse ratio to the importance of the country in which the office is held.
3.High office, rank, or station.
- He ... distributed the civil and military dignities among his favourites and followers.
4.One holding high rank; a dignitary.
- These filthy dreamers […] speak evil of dignities.
Frequency
Overall
Rare· #4476
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Rare
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Word family
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English dignyte, from Old French dignité, from Latin dignitās (“worthiness, merit, dignity, grandeur, authority, rank, office”), from dignus (“worthy, appropriate”), from Proto-Italic *degnos, from Proto-Indo-European *dḱ-nos, from *deḱ- (“to take”).