earnest
see also: Earnest
Pronunciation Etymology 1
Earnest
Proper noun
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.005
see also: Earnest
Pronunciation Etymology 1
From Middle English ernest, eornest, from Old English eornest, eornost, eornust ("earnestness, zeal, seriousness, battle"), from Proto-Germanic *ernustuz, a derivative of Proto-Germanic *arniz, from Proto-Indo-European *er-.
The adjective is from Middle English eornest, from Old English eornoste, from the noun.
Nounearnest (uncountable)
- Gravity; serious purpose; earnestness.
- 1914, February 13, The Times, Obituary: Canon Augustus Jessopp
- He wrote well in a forcible, colloquial style, with the air of being tremendously in earnest, and full of knowledge which overflowed his pages, tricked out with somewhat boisterous illustrations.
- a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC ↗:
- Take heed that this jest do not one day turn to earnest.
- c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act V, scene i]:
- That high All-Seer which I dallied with
Hath turn'd my feigned prayer on my head
And given in earnest what I begg'd in jest.
- 1914, February 13, The Times, Obituary: Canon Augustus Jessopp
- Seriousness; reality; actuality (as opposed to joking or pretence)
- German: Ernst, Ernsthaftigkeit
- Portuguese: seriedade
- Spanish: seriedad
earnest (earnests, present participle earnesting; simple past and past participle earnested)
- (transitive) To be serious with; use in earnest.
- 1602, Pastor Fido, (Please provide the book title or journal name):
- Let's prove among ourselves our armes in jest, That when we come to earnest them with men, We may them better use.
earnest (comparative earnester, superlative earnestest)
- (said of an action or an utterance) Serious, sincere, ingenuous.
- (with a positive sense) Focused in the pursuit of an objective; honestly eager to obtain or do.
- earnest prayers
- Intent; focused; showing a lot of concentration.
- earnest attention
- (said of a person or a person's character) Possessing or characterised by seriousness.
- an earnest disposition
- Strenuous; diligent.
- earnest efforts
- Serious; weighty; of a serious, weighty, or important nature; important.
- French: ardent
- German: leidenschaftlich, sehnsüchtig
- Italian: voglioso, desideroso, fervente, zelante
- Portuguese: sério
- Russian: ре́вностный
- German: intensiv
- Italian: pressante
- Russian: уси́ленный
- Spanish: atento
- French: sérieux, grave
- German: ernst, ernsthaft, aufrichtig
- Italian: serio, grave
- Portuguese: sério, sincero
- Russian: серьёзный
- Spanish: serio
earnest (plural earnests)
A sum of money paid in advance as a deposit; hence, a pledge, a guarantee, an indication of something to come. - 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC ↗, pages 152–153 ↗:
- The vanity is at once encouraged and gratified; while the present small triumph is too readily taken as earnest for a greater one.
- 1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society, published 2010, page 365:
- But if all this was viewed by Gladstone and the Cabinet as an earnest of St Petersburg's future good intentions in Central Asia, then disillusionment was soon to follow.
- (archaic) second-person singular simple present indicative of earn
Earnest
Proper noun
- A male given name.
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.005
