v. i. [ OE. worthen, wurþen, to become, AS. weorðan; akin to OS. werðan, D. worden, G. werden, OHG. werdan, Icel. verða, Sw. varda, Goth. waírpan, L. vertere to turn, Skr. v&rsdot_;t, v. i., to turn, to roll, to become. √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. [ 1913 Webster ]

I counsel . . . to let the cat worthe. Piers Plowman. [ 1913 Webster ]

He worth upon [ got upon ] his steed gray. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OE. worth, wurþ, AS. weorð, wurE; akin to OFries. werth, OS. werð, D. waard, OHG. werd, G. wert, werth, Icel. verðr, Sw. värd, Dan. værd, Goth. waírps, and perhaps to E. wary. Cf. Stalwart, Ware an article of merchandise, Worship. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Valuable; of worthy; estimable; also, worth while. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

It was not worth to make it wise. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Equal in value to; furnishing an equivalent for; proper to be exchanged for. [ 1913 Webster ]

A ring he hath of mine worth forty ducats. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

All our doings without charity are nothing worth. Bk. of Com. Prayer. [ 1913 Webster ]

If your arguments produce no conviction, they are worth nothing to me. Beattie. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Deserving of; -- in a good or bad sense, but chiefly in a good sense. [ 1913 Webster ]

To reign is worth ambition, though in hell. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

This is life indeed, life worth preserving. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Having possessions equal to; having wealth or estate to the value of. [ 1913 Webster ]

At Geneva are merchants reckoned worth twenty hundred crowns. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

Worth while, or
Worth the while. See under While, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. worth, wurþ, AS. weorð, wurð; weorð, wurð, adj. See Worth, a. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

What 's worth in anything
But so much money as 't will bring? Hudibras. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Value in respect of moral or personal qualities; excellence; virtue; eminence; desert; merit; usefulness; as, a man or magistrate of great worth. [ 1913 Webster ]

To be of worth, and worthy estimation. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

As none but she, who in that court did dwell,
Could know such worth, or worth describe so well. Waller. [ 1913 Webster ]

To think how modest worth neglected lies. Shenstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Desert; merit; excellence; price; rate. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ 1913 Webster ]

a. Full of worth; worthy; deserving. Marston. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a worthy manner; excellently; deservedly; according to merit; justly; suitably; becomingly. [ 1913 Webster ]

You worthily succeed not only to the honors of your ancestors, but also to their virtues. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some may very worthily deserve to be hated. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being worthy; desert; merit; excellence; dignity; virtue; worth. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who is sure he hath a soul, unless
It see, and judge, and follow worthiness? Donne. [ 1913 Webster ]

She is not worthy to be loved that hath not some feeling of her own worthiness. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

The prayers which our Savior made were for his own worthiness accepted. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ AS. weorðleás. ] Destitute of worth; having no value, virtue, excellence, dignity, or the like; undeserving; valueless; useless; vile; mean; as, a worthless garment; a worthless ship; a worthless man or woman; a worthless magistrate. [ 1913 Webster ]

'T is a worthless world to win or lose. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Worth"less*ly, adv. -- Worth"less*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Worthier superl. Worthiest. ] [ OE. worthi, wurþi, from worth, wurþ, n.; cf. Icel. verðugr, D. waardig, G. würdig, OHG. wirdīg. See Worth, n. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Having worth or excellence; possessing merit; valuable; deserving; estimable; excellent; virtuous. [ 1913 Webster ]

Full worthy was he in his lordes war. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

These banished men that I have kept withal
Are men endued with worthy qualities. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Happier thou mayst be, worthier canst not be. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

This worthy mind should worthy things embrace. Sir J. Davies. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Having suitable, adapted, or equivalent qualities or value; -- usually with of before the thing compared or the object; more rarely, with a following infinitive instead of of, or with that; as, worthy of, equal in excellence, value, or dignity to; entitled to; meriting; -- usually in a good sense, but sometimes in a bad one. [ 1913 Webster ]

No, Warwick, thou art worthy of the sway. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The merciless Macdonwald,
Worthy to be a rebel. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. Matt. iii. 11. [ 1913 Webster ]

And thou art worthy that thou shouldst not know
More happiness. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

The lodging is well worthy of the guest. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Of high station; of high social position. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Worthy women of the town. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Worthiest of blood (Eng. Law of Descent), most worthy of those of the same blood to succeed or inherit; -- applied to males, and expressive of the preference given them over females. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Worthies A man of eminent worth or value; one distinguished for useful and estimable qualities; a person of conspicuous desert; -- much used in the plural; as, the worthies of the church; political worthies; military worthies. [ 1913 Webster ]

The blood of ancient worthies in his veins. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]