worth

English Online Dictionary. What means worth‎? What does worth mean?

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /wɜːθ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /wɝθ/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)θ

Etymology 1

From Middle English worth, from Old English weorþ, from Proto-Germanic *werþaz (“worthy, valuable”); from Proto-Indo-European *wert-.

Cognate with Dutch waard (adjective), Low German weert (adjective), German wert, Wert, Swedish värd, Welsh gwerth, Ukrainian вартість (vartistʹ).

Adjective

worth (not comparable)

1. Having a value of; proper to be exchanged for.

2. Deserving of.
3. (obsolete, except in Scots) Valuable, worthwhile.
4. Making a fair equivalent of, repaying or compensating.

Usage notes

The modern adjectival senses of worth compare two noun phrases, prompting some sources to classify the word as a preposition. Most, however, list it an adjective, some with notes like "governing a noun with prepositional force." Fowler's Modern English Usage says, "the adjective worth requires what is most easily described as an object."

Joan Maling (1983) shows that worth is best analysed as a preposition rather than an adjective. CGEL (2002) analyzes it as an adjective.

Compare:

• Organic strawberries are worth paying extra money for.
• It's worth paying extra money for organic strawberries.

When "worth" is used as an adjective of a subject, the verb "to be" (usually associated with "worth") is singular or plural in accordance with the subject (in the first example, in the plural). In the other case, shown in the second example, the subject is the pronoun "it".

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

worth (countable and uncountable, plural worths)

1. (countable) Value.
2. (uncountable) Merit, excellence.
3. (uncountable) Wealth, fortune, riches, property, possessions.
4. (uncountable) An amount that could be achieved or produced in a specified time.
5. (uncountable, obsolete) High social standing, noble rank.

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English worthen, wurthen, werthen (“to be; exist; come into being; come into existence”), from Old English weorþan (“to come into being; be made; become; arise; be”), from Proto-West Germanic *werþan, from Proto-Germanic *werþaną (“to come about; happen; come into being; become”), from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn; turn out”).

Cognate with Dutch worden, Low German warrn, German werden, Old Norse verða (Norwegian verta, Swedish varda), Latin vertere.

Alternative forms

• word

Verb

worth (third-person singular simple present worths, present participle worthing, simple past worth or worthed, past participle worth or worthed or worthen)

1. (obsolete, except in set phrases or dialectal) To be, become, betide.

   (May good fortune befall you, my friend.)

Derived terms

• forworth

References

• “worth”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “worth”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “worth”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• Joan Maling (1983), Transitive Adjectives: A Case of Categorial Reanalysis, in F. Henry and B. Richards (eds.), Linguistic Categories: Auxiliaries and Related Puzzles, vol.1, pp. 253-289.

Anagrams

• throw, whort, wroth

Cornish

Alternative forms

• orth

Etymology

Permanently lenited form of gorth.

Adverb

worth

1. Alternative form of orth (“at, against”)

Usage notes

• When compared to orth, this word is used much less frequently.

Derived terms

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English worth it.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɔʁs/

Adjective

worth

1. (slang) Worth doing; worth the time, effort, etc.

Scots

Etymology

From Old English weorþ.

Adjective

worth (comparative mair worth, superlative maist worth)

1. Valuable, worth while.