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Worthy vs Worth - What's the difference?

worthy | worth |

Worth is a derived term of worthy.



As nouns the difference between worthy and worth

is that worthy is a distinguished or eminent person while worth is value.

As verbs the difference between worthy and worth

is that worthy is to render or treat as worthy; exalt; revere; honour; esteem; respect; value; reward; adore while worth is to be, become, betide.

As an adjective worthy

is having worth, merit, or value.

As a preposition worth is

having a value of; proper to be exchanged for.

worthy

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) worthy, wurthi, from (etyl) *.

Adjective

(er)
  • having worth, merit or value
  • * Shakespeare
    • These banished men that I have kept withal / Are men endued with worthy qualities.
  • * Sir J. Davies
    • This worthy' mind should ' worthy things embrace.
  • honourable or admirable
  • deserving, or having sufficient worth
  • Suited; befitting.
  • * Shakespeare
    • No, Warwick, thou art worthy of the sway.
  • * Bible, Matthew iii. 11
    • whose shoes I am not worthy to bear.
  • * Milton
    • And thou art worthy that thou shouldst not know / More happiness.
  • * Dryden
    • The lodging is well worthy of the guest.
    Derived terms
    * worthily * worthiness

    Noun

    (worthies)
  • a distinguished or eminent person

    • Related terms

    * -worthy * unworthy

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) worthien, wurthien, from (etyl) .

    Verb

  • To render or treat as worthy; exalt; revere; honour; esteem; respect; value; reward; adore.
    • And put upon him such a deal of man, That worthied him, got praises of the king [...]'' — Shakespeare, ''King Lear .
  • * 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
    * (l) * (l) ----

    worth

    English

    Etymology 1

    From worth or wurth, from (etyl) .

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • Having a value of; proper to be exchanged for.
    • My house now is worth double what I paid for it.
    Cleanliness is the virtue most worth having but one.
  • Deserving of.
    • I think you’ll find my proposal worth your attention.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=May 9 , author=Jonathan Wilson , title=Europa League: Radamel Falcao's Atlético Madrid rout Athletic Bilbao , work=the Guardian citation , page= , passage=Two years after their first European trophy, Atlético were well worth their second.}}
  • (obsolete, except in Scots) Valuable, worth while.
  • Making a fair equivalent of, repaying or compensating.
    • This job is hardly worth the effort.
    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." 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.
    Derived terms
    * for what it's worth/FWIW * more trouble than it's worth * not worth a dime * worth a try * worth every penny * worthful * worth it * worth its weight in gold * worthless * worth one's salt * worth one's while * worth the risk * worthwhile * worthy

    Noun

  • (countable) Value.
    • I’ll have a dollar's worth of candy, please.
    They have proven their worths''' as individual fighting men and their '''worth as a unit.
  • (uncountable) Merit, excellence.
    • Our new director is a man whose worth is well acknowledged.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=September 7 , author=Phil McNulty , title=Moldova 0-5 England , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Manchester United's Tom Cleverley impressed on his first competitive start and Lampard demonstrated his continued worth at international level in a performance that was little more than a stroll once England swiftly exerted their obvious authority.}}
    Derived terms
    * all one's life's worth * a dime's worth * comparable worth * disworth * jobsworth * money's worth * net worth * pennyworth * self-worth * tuppence worth/tuppenceworth * two pennies' worth * worthen

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) (Norwegian verta, Swedish varda), Latin vertere.

    Verb

  • (obsolete, except in set phrases) To be, become, betide.
  • * 1843 , , book 2, ch. 3, "Lndlord Edmund"
    • For, adds our erudite Friend, the Saxon weorthan'' equivalent to the German ''werden'', means to grow, to become; traces of which old vocable are still found in the North-country dialects, as, ‘What is word of him?’ meaning ‘What is become of him?’ and the like. Nay we in modern English still say, ‘Woe worth the hour.’ ''[i.e. Woe befall the hour]
  • * 14th century , Pearl poet, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
    • Corsed worth cowarddyse and couetyse boþe! [i.e. Cursed be cowardice and covetousness both]
    Woe worth the man that crosses me.
    Derived terms
    * outworth

    References

    * * * * 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.

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