grace
//ɡɹeɪs//
Forms
- Plural
- graces
- present (v1)
- grace
- past (v2)
- graced
- past participle (v3)
- graced
- present participle
- gracing
- 3rd person singular
- graces
Definitions
1.Charming, pleasing qualities.
- The Princess brought grace to an otherwise dull and boring party.
- Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.
- I have formerly given the general character of Mr. Addison's style and manner as natural and unaffected, easy and polite, and full of those graces which a flowery imagination diffuses over writing.
2.A short prayer of thanks before or after a meal.
- It has become less common to say grace before having dinner.
3.In the games of patience or solitaire: a special move that is normally against the rules.
4.A grace note.
1.To adorn; to decorate; to embellish and dignify.
- He graced the room with his presence.
- We are graced with wreaths of victory.
- He graced the room by simply being there.
2.To dignify or raise by an act of favour; to honour.
- He might, at his pleasure, grace […]or disgrace whom he would in court.
3.To supply with heavenly grace.
4.To add grace notes, cadenzas, etc., to.
- For D and E, the G and A fingers are generally used for gracing, though E is sometimes more conveniently graced by F#.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #3271
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Etymology
From Middle English grace, from Old French grace (modern French grâce), from Latin grātia (“kindness, favour, esteem”), from grātus (“pleasing”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH- (“to praise, welcome”); compare grateful.