Worth
King James Dictionary [1]
Worth, a. Termination, signifies a farm or court as in Wordsworth.
Worth, 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.
Webster's Dictionary [2]
(1): ( v. i.) 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.
(2): ( a.) Valuable; of worthy; estimable; also, worth while.
(3): ( a.) Deserving of; - in a good or bad sense, but chiefly in a good sense.
(4): ( a.) Having possessions equal to; having wealth or estate to the value of.
(5): ( a.) 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.
(6): ( a.) Value in respect of moral or personal qualities; excellence; virtue; eminence; desert; merit; usefulness; as, a man or magistrate of great worth.
(7): ( a.) Equal in value to; furnishing an equivalent for; proper to be exchanged for.
