worthy

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Good enough to deserve respect, attention, or a particular thing.

   Her courage made her worthy of the award.

2. 2
   adj

   Having real value or merit.

   It is a worthy cause that deserves our support.

3. 3
   noun

   An important or highly respected person.

   The town's worthies gathered for the opening ceremony.

From Middle English worthien, wurthien, from Old English weorþian (“to esteem, honor, worship, distinguish, celebrate, exalt, praise, adorn, deck, enrich, reward”), from Proto-Germanic *werþōną (“to be worthy, estimate, appreciate, appraise”), from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn, wind”). Cognate with German werten (“to rate, judge, grade, score”), Swedish värdera (“to evaluate, rate, size up, assess, estimate”), Icelandic virða (“to respect, esteem”).

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