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earnest

noun
/ˈɝ.nɪst/US/ˈɜː.nɪst/UK

Etymology

From Middle English ernest, eornest, from Old English eornest, eornost, eornust (“earnestness, zeal, seriousness, battle”), from Proto-Germanic *ernustuz (“earnest, strength, solidity, struggle, fight”), a derivative of Proto-Germanic *arniz (“efficient, capable, diligent, sure”), from Proto-Indo-European *er- (“to cause to move, arouse, increase”). Cognate with West Frisian earnst (“earnest, seriousness”), Dutch ernst (“seriousness, gravity, earnest”), German Ernst (“seriousness, earnestness, zeal, vigour”), Icelandic ern (“brisk, vigorous”), Gothic 𐌰𐍂𐌽𐌹𐌱𐌰 (arniba, “secure, certain, sure”). The adjective is from Middle English eornest, from Old English eornoste (“earnest, zealous, serious”), from the noun. Cognate with North Frisian ernste (“earnest”), Middle Low German ernest, ernst (“serious, earnest”), German ernst (“serious, earnest”).

  1. inherited from eornoste
  2. inherited from eornest
  3. derived from *er-✻
  4. derived from *arniz✻
  5. inherited from *ernustuz✻
  6. inherited from eornest
  7. inherited from ernest

Definitions

  1. Gravity

    Gravity; serious purpose; earnestness.

    • Take heed that this jest do not one day turn to earnest.
    • That high All-Seer which I dallied with / Hath turn'd my feigned prayer on my head / And given in earnest what I begg'd in jest.

  2. Seriousness

    Seriousness; reality; actuality (as opposed to joking or pretence)

  3. To be serious with

    To be serious with; use in earnest.

    • Let's prove among ourselves our armes in jest, That when we come to earnest them with men, We may them better use.
  4. ›+ 9 more definitions

    1. Serious, sincere, ingenuous.

    2. Focused in the pursuit of an objective

      Focused in the pursuit of an objective; honestly eager to obtain or do.

      • earnest prayers

    3. Intent

      Intent; focused; showing a lot of concentration.

      • earnest attention

    4. Possessing or characterised by seriousness.

      • an earnest disposition

    5. Strenuous

      Strenuous; diligent.

      • earnest efforts

    6. Serious

      Serious; weighty; of a serious, weighty, or important nature; important.

    7. A sum of money paid in advance as a deposit

      A sum of money paid in advance as a deposit; hence, a pledge, a guarantee, an indication of something to come.

      • Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
      • As therefore the morning devv, is a pavvne of the evenings fatneſſe, ſo, O Lord, let this daies comfort be the earneſt of to morrowes, […]
      • The vanity is at once encouraged and gratified; while the present small triumph is too readily taken as earnest for a greater one.

    8. second-person singular simple present indicative of earn

    9. A male given name from the Germanic languages, of occasional usage, variant of Ernest.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at earnest. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01earnest02opposed03unopposed04opposition05conflict06clash07crash08intense

A definitional loop anchored at earnest. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

8 hops · closes at earnest

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA