dignity

Meaning

Noun

• The state of being dignified or worthy of esteem: elevation of mind or character.
• Decorum, formality, stateliness.
• High office, rank, or station.
• One holding high rank; a dignitary.
• Fundamental principle; axiom; maxim.

Related

Similar words

• worth
• worthiness

Origin

• From Middle English dignyte, from Old French dignité, from Latin dīgnitās ("worthiness, merit, dignity, grandeur, authority, rank, office"), from dīgnus, from , from Proto-Indo-European *dḱ-nos, from *deḱ-. See also decus and decet. Cognate to deign. dainty.