dignity

plural dignities · alternative obsolete dignitie

1. countableuncountableThe 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.

   1751 December (indicated as 1752), Henry Fielding, chapter VIII, in Amelia. […], volume I, London: […] [William Strahan] for A[ndrew] Millar […], →OCLC

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   Every individual shall have the right to the respect of the dignity inherent in a human being.

   1981, African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, art. 5

   Historically, dignity has been ascribed to an elite group, but human dignity with reference to humanity and the human family has democratized dignity. […]. The idea of dignity as rank was carried over in Christian doctrine […].

   2021, Magdalena Smieszek, “A Brief History of Dignity”, in The Evolving Psyche of Law in Europe: The Psychology of Human Rights and Asylum Frameworks, page 205

2. countableuncountableDecorum, formality, stateliness.

   Official DIGNITY tends to increase in inverse ratio to the importance of the country in which the office is held.

   1934, Aldous Huxley, “Puerto Barrios”, in Beyond the Mexique Bay

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   The reception room was sacred to the dead wife. Her shiny portrait hung upon the wall - similar, doubtless, in all respects to the one which would be pasted on her tombstone. A little piece of black drapery had been tacked above the frame to lend a dignity to woe. But two of the tacks had fallen out, and the effect was now rakish, as that of a drunkard's bonnet.

   1905, E. M. Forster, Where Angels Fear to Tread, chapter 7, third paragraph

   The presence of an attorney from Washington, he wrote, "would lend dignity to the proceedings," and it also would "remove the questions of local prejudices and faction from the picture and would have a very fine effect upon the jury."

   2000, Shawn Francis Peters, Judging Jehovah's Witnesses: Religious Persecution and the Dawn of the Rights Revolution, page 120

3. countableuncountableHigh office, rank, or station.

   And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this?

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Esther 6:3

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   Note the preſumption of this Scythian ſlaue: I tel thee villaine, thoſe that lead my horſe Haue to their names tytles of dignitie, And dar’ſt thou bluntly cal me Baiazeth?

   c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii

   He ... distributed the civil and military dignities among his favourites and followers.

   1781, Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, F. III. 231

4. countableuncountableOne holding high rank; a dignitary.

   These filthy dreamers […] speak evil of dignities.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jude 1:8

5. countableobsoleteuncountableFundamental principle; axiom; maxim.

   Sciences concluding from dignities, and principles known by themselves.

   1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC

6. countableproscribedsometimesuncountableRespect.

   Students must always be treated with dignity

   2011, Kimberly Persiani, Steve Springer, The Organized Teacher's Guide to Classroom Management, page 7

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   That in such an undertaking, if put on its right footing, and treated with dignity by the State, you would have the cheerful assistance of the first scientific teachers who have turned their philosophy to such practical uses, I have no doubt.

   a. 1873, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, “Prefatory Memoir”, in Speeches of Edward, Lord Lytton Now First Collected. With Some of His Political Writings Hitherto Unpublished, volume 13, published 1874, page xl

   In my twenty years of ministry I have found that the minister was treated with dignity when he was dignified, that he was accorded authority and leadership when he was worthy of it.

   1916 March 9, Howard T. Cree, The Christian Century, page 7

   Patients and residents shall be treated with dignity and kindness at all times.

   1988, “Licensing of Long-term Care Facilities”, in Code of Massachusetts regulations, 1988, section 150.015, page 3013

   In the animal kingdom, spiders are a lot like Rodney Dangerfield — they get no respect, says Sebastian Echeverri, a 2019 American Association for the Advancement of Science Mass Media Science & Engineering Fellow.

   2019 October 18, Lenore T. Adkins, “Scientist Sebastian Echeverri Treats Spiders with the Dignity They Deserve”, in AAAS blog