deign

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English

Etymology

From Middle English deynen, from Old French deignier (“consider worthy”), from Latin dignāre (“consider worthy”), from dignus (“worthy”). Cognate to dignity and French daigner.

Pronunciation

Verb

deign (third-person singular simple present deigns, present participle deigning, simple past and past participle deigned)

  1. (intransitive) To condescend; to do despite a perceived affront to one's dignity.
    He didn’t even deign to give us a nod of the head; he thought us that far beneath him.
    • c. 1599 (date written), I. M. [i.e., John Marston], The History of Antonio and Mellida. The First Part. , London: for Mathewe Lownes, and Thomas Fisher, , published 1602, →OCLC, Act I, signature C2, verso:
      My fathers Palace, Madam, vvill be proud / To entertaine your preſence, if youle daine / To make repoſe vvithin.
    • 1898, George Bernard Shaw, Caesar and Cleopatra:
      THE MAJOR-DOMO. Caesar will deign to choose his wine? Sicilian, Lesbian, Chian——
    • 1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 192:
      "He will deign to finish this simple fare and wash it down with nothing more Lucullan than beer."
    • 2022, Ling Ma, “G”, in Bliss Montage, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN:
      Before I could knock, Bonnie opened the door. “Finally you deign to show up” were the first words said to me. It had been a year.
  2. (transitive) To condescend to give; to do something.
    • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 131, column 2:
      Nor would we deigne him buriall of his men, / Till he diſburſed, at Saint Colmes ynch, / Ten thouſand Dollars, to our generall vſe.
    • 1871, Charlotte Mary Yonge, Heartsease, Or, The Brother's Wife, volume 2, page 189:
      He, who usually hardly deigned a glance at his infants, now lay gazing with inexpressible softness and sadness at the little sleeping face […]
  3. (obsolete) To esteem worthy; to consider worth notice.
    • c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :
      Go, go, be gone, to ſaue your Ship from wrack, / Which cannot periſh hauing thee aboarde, / Being deſtin’d to a drier death on ſhore : / I muſt goe ſend ſome better Meſſenger, / I fear my Iulia would not daigne my lines, / Receiuing them from ſuch a worthleſſe poſt.

Usage notes

Like condescend, this word was often used in the past with a positive, earnest valence in referring to exalted personages such as God or monarchs. Today it is most often used sarcastically, frequently in the negative, to connote an unjustified air of superiority.

Translations

See also

Anagrams

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