esteem

plural esteems · alternative obsolete æsteem · alternative obsolete esteeme

1. uncountableusuallyAssessment, estimation, or regard; especially; favourable estimation or regard.

   We hold her in high esteem.

   1 more example

   Many liqueurs, among them chartreuse and benedictine, have long been held in great esteem as aphrodisiac aids.

   1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 138

present singular third person esteems · participle present esteeming · participle past esteemed · past esteemed · alternative obsolete æsteem · alternative obsolete esteeme

1. To set a high value on; to regard with respect or reverence.

   Will he esteem thy riches?

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 36:19

   1 more example

   You talk kindlier: we esteem you for it.

   1847, Alfred Tennyson, “(please specify the page number, or |part=Prologue, I to VII, or conclusion)”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC

   Synonyms: respect, revere, honor, idolize, lay store by, look up to, prize, hallow · Antonyms: contemn, despise, contemn, despect, disrespect, despise, disdain, disesteem

2. To regard something as valuable; to prize.

   Synonyms: cherish, treasure, value, appreciate, bedear, cherish, hold dear, prize · Antonyms: scorn, slight

3. To look upon something in a particular way.

   Then he forsook God, which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 32:15

   3 more examples

   Thou shouldest (gentle reader) esteem his censure and authority to be of the more weighty credence.

   1535, Edmund Bonner, De vera obedientia by Stephen Gardiner (Preface)

   Famous men, whose scientific attainments were esteemed hardly less than supernatural.

   1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 9, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC

   And greatly do I respect the solid character, — a blockhead, thou wilt say; yes, but a well-conditioned blockhead, and the best-conditioned, — who esteems all ‘Customs once solemnly acknowledged’ to be ultimate, divine, and the rule for a man to walk by, nothing doubting, not inquiring farther.

   1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “ch. V, The English”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book III (The Modern Worker)

   Synonyms: deem, find, regard, account, appraise, count, see, censure

4. datedTo judge; to estimate; to appraise

   The Earth, which I esteem unable to reflect the rays of the Sun.

   Synonyms: assess, evaluate, appraise, apprise, apprize, assess, evaluate, judge