different between worthy vs mighty

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?w??ði/
• (General American) enPR: wûr'th?, IPA^(key): /?w?ði/
• Rhymes: -??(r)ði
• Hyphenation: wor?thy

Etymology 1

From Middle English worthy, wurthi, from Old English *weorþi? (“"worthy"”), equivalent to worth +? -y. Cognate with Dutch waardig (“worthy”), Middle Low German werdig (“worthy”), German würdig (“worthy”), Swedish värdig (“worthy”), Icelandic verðugt (“worthy”).

Adjective

worthy (comparative worthier, superlative worthiest)

1. having worth, merit, or value
   • c. 1626, John Davies, The Original, Nature, and Immortality of the Soul

     This worthy mind should worthy things embrace.

2. honourable or admirable
3. deserving, or having sufficient worth
4. Suited; befitting.
   • […] whose shoes I am not worthy to bear.

   • The lodging is well worthy of the guest.

Derived terms

• markworthy
• noteworthy
• worthily
• worthiness

Related terms

• worthly

Translations

Noun

worthy (plural worthies)

1. a distinguished or eminent person

Related terms

• -worthy
• unworthy

Etymology 2

From Middle English worthien, wurthien, from Old English weorþian (“to esteem, honor, worship, distinguish, celebrate, exalt, praise, adorn, deck, enrich, reward”), from Proto-Germanic *werþ?n? (“to be worthy, estimate, appreciate, appraise”), from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn, wind”). Cognate with German werten (“to rate, judge, grade, score”), Swedish värdera (“to evaluate, rate, size up, assess, estimate”), Icelandic virða (“to respect, esteem”).

Verb

worthy (third-person singular simple present worthies, present participle worthying, simple past and past participle worthied)

1. (transitive) To render or treat as worthy; exalt; revere; honour; esteem; respect; value; reward; adore.
   • c. 1603-1606, William Shakespeare, King Lear

     And put upon him such a deal of man,
     That worthied him, got praises of the king […]

   • 1880, Sir Norman Lockyer, Nature:

     After having duly paid his addresses to it, he generally spends some time on the marble slab in front of the looking-glass, but without showing the slightest emotion at the sight of his own reflection, or worthying it with a song.

   • 1908, Edward Arthur Brayley Hodgetts, The court of Russia in the nineteenth century:

     And it is a poor daub besides," the Emperor rejoined scornfully, as he stalked out of the gallery without worthying the artist with a look.

   • 1910, Charles William Eliot, The Harvard classics: Beowulf:

     No henchman he worthied by weapons, if witness his features, his peerless presence!

Derived terms

• worthier
• worthying

Middle English

Etymology

From worth +? -y, from Old English weorþ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?w?rði?/

Adjective

worthy

1. worthy

Descendants

• English: worthy

English

Alternative forms

• mightie (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English mighty, mightie, mighti, myghty, mi?ty, ma?ty, from Old English mihti?, mehti?, meahti?, mæhti? (“mighty”), from Proto-West Germanic *maht?g (“mighty”), from Proto-Germanic *maht?gaz (“mighty”), equivalent to might +? -y.

Cognate with Scots michty, mychty, Saterland Frisian machtich, Dutch machtig, German Low German machtig, German mächtig, Swedish mäktig.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?ma?ti/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?ma?ti/, [?m???i]
• Rhymes: -a?ti

Noun

mighty (plural mighties)

1. (obsolete, rare) A warrior of great strength and courage.

Adjective

mighty (comparative mightier, superlative mightiest)

1. Very strong; possessing might.

   He's a mighty wrestler, but you are faster than him.

   • Wise in heart, and mighty in strength.

2. Very heavy and powerful.

   Thor swung his mighty hammer.

   He gave the ball a mighty hit.

3. (colloquial) Very large; hefty.
   • 1809, Washington Irving, A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrich Knickerbocker

     Having listened attentively to the statement of Wandle Schoonhoven, giving an occasionable grunt, as he shovelled a mighty spoonful of Indian pudding into his mouth […]

4. Accomplished by might; hence, extraordinary; wonderful.

   • His mighty works

   • Mighty was their fuss about little matters.

5. (informal) Excellent, extremely good.

   Tonight's a mighty opportunity to have a party.

   She's a mighty cook.

Derived terms

• high and mighty
• mightiness
• unmighty

Translations

Adverb

mighty (not comparable)

1. (colloquial, dialect) Very; to a high degree.

   • The lady is not heard of, and the King mighty angry and the Lord sent to the Tower.

   • 1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land That Time Forgot Chapter IV

     I was mighty glad that our entrance into the interior of Caprona had been inside a submarine rather than in any other form of vessel. I could readily understand how it might have been that Caprona had been invaded in the past by venturesome navigators without word of it ever reaching the outside world, for I can assure you that only by submarine could man pass up that great sluggish river, alive.

Related terms

• might
• almighty