grace
Pluralgraces (some meanings)
Pluralgraces (some meanings)
- 1Free and undeserved favor, especially from God; divine help given to people for their salvation, holiness, or strength against sin.
The preacher reminded the congregation that God's grace is a gift no one can earn.
The sermon explored how divine grace works in the lives of ordinary people.
UsageCommon in by the grace of God and God's grace.
Note
The King James Bible of 1611 gives this sense a much-quoted line: "by the grace of God I am what I am." Here the root's "favor" becomes favor no one has earned. Unlike mercy or pardon, it is not chiefly punishment withheld. It is help freely given, toward holiness and against sin, and it stays uncountable.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- The King James Bible was first published in 1611. wwwe.lib.cam.ac.uk
- The quoted wording occurs in the King James Bible. en.wikisource.org
- 2The charming, pleasing qualities of manner or character that make a person or thing attractive and agreeable.
There is a quiet grace in the way she treats strangers.
The old house had a faded grace that charmed every visitor.
UsageThe plural graces means particular charms, as in social graces; grace names the quality as a whole.
Similarcharm, elegance, dignity, graciousness
Note
Here the word stays closest to "pleasing." Hugh Blair found Addison's prose "full of those graces which a flowery imagination diffuses over writing."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Hugh Blair used the quoted words to describe Addison's writing. en.wiktionary.org
- 3Elegance and ease of movement; balance and poise in the way the body moves.
The skater landed the jump with effortless grace.
He carried the heavy tray through the crowd with unexpected grace.
UsageMost often with grace: moves with effortless grace.
Similargracefulness, elegance, poise
Oppositeclumsiness, awkwardness
Note
Movement is the whole difference from the charm of manner or character: here the grace lives in the body, in balance and poise.
- 4To adorn or decorate something, adding beauty or dignity, including ornamenting a melody with extra notes.
Marble columns grace the entrance of the old courthouse.
Her photographs graced the cover of the magazine.
UsageOften the decoration is the subject: columns grace the entrance, a photo graced the cover.
Similaradorn, decorate, embellish, ornament, beautify
Oppositedisfigure, mar, spoil, deface
Note
The adornment can be a thing or a person. A portrait graces a landing, Alexander Pope's gods grace a noble line, and a guest graces the room with his presence.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Alexander Pope describes gods gracing a noble line in his translation of the first book of Statius's Thebais. gutenberg.org
- 5To honor or dignify someone or something through an act of favor or distinguished attention.
The queen chose to grace the new hospital with an official visit.
Celebrities grace the gala each year to lend it prestige.
UsageSet phrase: grace an event with your presence, sometimes said jokingly to someone who arrives late.
Note
In this sense, favor flows downward from someone with the power to bestow it. Richard Knolles, writing in 1603, pairs the verb with its opposite: a man of power who might "grace, and disgrace whom he would, in court or elsewhere." That pairing makes a good test. If disgrace would fit as the opposite, this is the sense, rather than the decorating verb.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Richard Knolles's The Generall Historie of the Turkes was first published in 1603. blog.lib.utah.edu
- 6A brief prayer offering thanks at a meal, said either before or after eating.
The family paused to say grace before the holiday feast.
He mumbled a quick grace and reached for the bread.
UsageMost often say grace, with no article; a quick grace means one particular prayer.
Similarblessing, thanksgiving, benediction
- 7Extra time allowed after a deadline, especially for a payment, before a penalty applies or the obligation must be met.
The lender offered thirty days' grace before applying any late penalties.
With a short period of grace, the borrower avoided defaulting on the loan.
UsageMeasured in time: thirty days' grace, a period of grace, a grace period.
Similarrespite, reprieve, leeway
Note
The obligation itself is not canceled, only put off, so a debtor still owes. That is what separates it from the older sense of pardon.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- A grace period postpones fulfillment of an obligation without canceling it. en.wikipedia.org
- Grace has an older sense meaning pardon. en.wiktionary.org
- 8An honorific, preceded by His, Her, or Your, for addressing or referring to a duke, a duchess, or an archbishop.
His Grace the Archbishop declined to comment on the synod's vote.
If it pleases Your Grace, the guests will now be shown into the dining hall.
UsageYour Grace when speaking to the person; His Grace or Her Grace when speaking about them.
Note
Rank decides which title fits: Your Grace for a duke, duchess or archbishop, though a royal duke is Your Royal Highness, and Your Majesty for a monarch.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Your Grace is a conventional form of address for dukes, duchesses and archbishops in British usage. en.wikipedia.org
- A royal duke is conventionally addressed as Your Royal Highness. royal.uk
- Your Majesty is the formal address for the British monarch. royal.uk
- 9Mercy, pardon or leniency, especially as granted by one who holds the power to punish, or patience toward someone's mistakes.
Note
The word has long meant mercy or pardon granted by someone with power over the offender, as in the old acts of grace that pardoned rebels and pirates. It is current in a gentler form too: to give someone, or yourself, grace is to go easy on their mistakes. Do not confuse it with the theological sense. That grace is favor freely given, while this one is punishment held back.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Grace has long meant mercy or pardon. en.wiktionary.org
- Historical acts of grace pardoned rebels. en.wikipedia.org
- Historical acts of grace offered pardons to pirates. en.wikipedia.org
- The theological sense denotes freely given divine favor, distinct from the mercy or pardon sense. en.wiktionary.org
Less common meanings
- 10Enough decency and regard for others to act with courtesy or do what is proper, as in having the grace to apologize.
The senator did not even have the grace to admit the mistake.
To his credit, the departing manager had the grace to thank every member of staff by name.
UsageMost often have the grace to + verb: had the grace to apologize.
Similardecency, courtesy, graciousness
Oppositerudeness, discourtesy
- 11A quick ornamental note added to decorate a melody, not essential to its harmony.
The flutist ornamented the melody with a delicate grace before the downbeat.
Baroque players often improvised graces over the written line.
Similarornament, embellishment, flourish
Note
Musicians once used the bare word for any ornament. John Playford calls the trill "the most usual Grace," made at closes and cadences, or on a long note where passion is expressed. Today the full form grace note is the usual name, and the short form lives on mainly in older writing and in the verb of decorating and ornamenting.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Musicians historically used grace for musical ornaments generally. en.wikisource.org
- 1683 dates the tenth edition, not the first publication. The manual first appeared in 1654. Under the requested first-publication dating rule, remove the year; the wording is verified in the later edition. openlibrary.org
- Playford calls the trill the most usual Grace. s9.imslp.org
- Playford describes using the trill at closes and cadences and on a long note expressing passion. s9.imslp.org
- 12To endow a person with heavenly grace; to fill them with divine favor.
The liturgy asks God to grace the newly baptized with His favor.
Believers trust that the Spirit will grace them in their weakest moments.
Note
Here the theological noun turns into a verb meaning to give what the noun names. The object need not be a person. Joseph Hall's Contemplations has "Thy first publique miracle graceth a marriage," where an occasion receives the blessing. That example also shows the old -eth ending of the third-person form.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- The verb grace derives from the noun. linguistics.northwestern.edu
- In this theological sense, the verb means to bestow grace. en.wiktionary.org
- Joseph Hall's Contemplations contains the quoted wording, with a marriage as the verb's object. en.wiktionary.org
- Graceth is an archaic third-person singular present form. en.wiktionary.org
- 13In games of patience or solitaire, a special move that is normally against the rules but is allowed as an exception.
- 14A formal act or decree issued by the governing body of an English university.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
This word came through Middle English and Old French grace from Latin grātia ('kindness, favor, esteem'), which came from grātus ('pleasing') and ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'to praise, welcome'. It replaced several native Old English words for grace, such as held, ēst, and ār.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Grace came through Middle English and Old French from Latin grātia, derived from grātus and ultimately a Proto-Indo-European root meaning ‘to praise, welcome’. en.wiktionary.org
- Grace displaced native vocabulary descended from Old English held. en.wiktionary.org
- The displaced vocabulary included a descendant of Old English ēst. en.wiktionary.org
- The displaced vocabulary included descendants of Old English ār. en.wiktionary.org