worth
WORTH, a. Termination, signifies a farm or court; as in Wordsworth.
WORTH, v.i. This verb is now used only in the phrases, wo worth the day, wo worth the man, &c., in which the verb is in the imperative mode, and the noun in the dative; wo be to the day.
WORTH, n. G., L. The primary sense is strength.
1. Value; that quality of a thing which renders it useful, or which will produce an equivalent good in some other thing. The worth of a days labor may be estimated in money, or in wheat. The worth of labor is settled between the hirer and the hired. The worth of commodities is usually the price they will bring in market; but price is not always worth.
2. Value of mental qualities; excellence; virtue; usefulness; as a man or magistrate of great worth.
As none but she, who in that court did dwell, could know such worth, or worth describe so well.
All worth-consists in doing good, and in the disposition by which it is done.
3. Importance; valuable qualities; applied to things; as, these things have since lost their worth.
WORTH, a.
1. Equal in value to. Silver is scarce worth the labor of digging and refining. In one country, a days labor is worth a dollar; in another, the same labor is not worth fifty cents. It is worth while to consider a subject well before we come to a decision.
If your arguments produce no conviction, they are worth nothing to me.
2. Deserving of; in a good or bad sense, but chiefly in a good sense. The castle is worth defending.
To reign is worth ambition, though in hell.
This is life indeed, life worth preserving.
3. Equal in possessions to; having estate to the value of. Most men are estimated by their neighbors to be worth more than they are. A man worth a hundred thousand dollars in the United States, is called rich; but no so in London or Paris.
Worthiest of blood, an expression in law, denoting the preference of sons to daughters in the descent of estates.