DictionaryAI

worth

SayWURTH/wɝθ/UK/wɜːθ/

Noun pluralworths

7 meanings of worth

Practice

  1. 1
    pays offadjective
    Good, useful, or important enough to justify the effort, time, or cost involved; deserving of a specified action.

    The extra training proved worth every painful hour once race day arrived.

    A reliable car is worth the higher price you pay upfront.

    UsageFollowed by a noun or -ing: worth the price, worth visiting (not incorrect: worth to visit). Also worth it.

  2. 2
    money amountadjective
    Having a value equal to a stated amount; able to be exchanged for that amount.

    The antique vase turned out to be worth several thousand dollars.

    My grandfather's old baseball card is now worth about two hundred dollars.

    UsageNeeds an amount after it: worth thousands, worth a lot, not worth much, worth more than the car.

  3. 3
    valuenouncountable or uncountable
    The value of someone or something, whether in money or in usefulness, importance, or good qualities.

    Experts debated the worth of the manuscript for years.

    She badly underestimated the worth of her grandmother's jewelry.

    UsageOften the worth of something, of great worth, or prove your worth.

    Similarvalue, merit, importance, usefulness

    Note

    The possessive can also be dropped, as in £2 million worth of stock. Sir William Petty already uses that bare form in Political Arithmetick (1690): "one Million worth of Work."

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Sir William Petty wrote Political Arithmetick. en.wikisource.org
    • Political Arithmetick was first published under that title in 1690. en.wikisource.org
    • Petty uses the exact words “one Million worth of Work,” without a possessive ending. marxists.org
  4. 4
    amount (time)noununcountable
    The amount of something that a stated sum of money buys, or that is produced, used, or lasts within a stated period of time.

    The reservoir holds about a month's worth of water for the town.

    We bought twenty dollars' worth of gas before setting off on the long drive.

    UsagePattern: a week's worth of clothes, twenty dollars' worth of gas, with the apostrophe after a plural.

    Similarsupply

Less common meanings

  1. 5
    adjectiveobsolete
    Valuable or worthwhile in itself.
    Note

    This use stood on its own, without the amount or object the modern adjective requires: something was simply worth, meaning valuable. Standard English has dropped it, and only Scots keeps it.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Worth formerly functioned as a standalone adjective meaning valuable or worthwhile. en.wiktionary.org
    • This adjectival sense became obsolete outside Scots. en.wiktionary.org
  2. 6
    happen toverbobsolete
    To be, become, or befall; to happen to someone.

    Woe worth the hour she ever set foot in that cursed house.

    Sonne of man, prophecie and say, Thus saith the Lord God, Howle ye, woe worth the day.
    1611, The Holy Bible, King James Version

    UsageSurvives in old curses: woe worth the day.

    Note

    A different word under the same spelling. It comes from Old English weorþan, "to come into being, become," not from the adjective's root. It survives in curses such as the King James Bible's "woe worth the day" (1611), where woe is what befalls and the day is what it falls on. It also survives in a friendly reverse, well worth thee. Carlyle, in 1843, links it to German werden and to North-country dialect.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 8 facts

    • The verb has a separate Old English source, weorþan, meaning to come into being or become. en.wiktionary.org
    • The adjective instead derives from Old English weorþ. en.wiktionary.org
    • The King James Bible contains the words “woe worth the day,” in Ezekiel 30:2. en.wikisource.org
    • The King James Bible was first published in 1611. en.wikipedia.org
    • In this construction, woe befalls the specified day or hour. gutenberg.org
    • “Well worth thee” expresses a friendly wish for good fortune. en.wiktionary.org
    • Carlyle links the verb to German werden and North-country dialect in Past and Present. gutenberg.org
    • Past and Present was first published in 1843. searcharchives.bl.uk
  3. 7
    nounobsoleteuncountable
    High social standing; noble rank or dignity.
    Note

    An old social yardstick that is now lost. It treats a person's worth as their place in the hierarchy, not their character. In The Life and Death of Iacke Straw (first printed 1593–94), the question whether certain men are "of any worth" is answered that they are "of no great account," mere tilers, thatchers and millers. Modern readers easily take "men of worth" as the sense of merit.

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–5, 7

From Middle English worth, from Old English weorþ, going back through Proto-West Germanic to Proto-Germanic *werþaz ("worthy, valuable") and probably Proto-Indo-European *wert-. It is related to German wert, Dutch waard, and Swedish värd, all meaning "worth."

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

  • Worth descends from Middle English worth and Old English weorþ through Proto-West Germanic to Proto-Germanic *werþaz, meaning 'worthy, valuable'. en.wiktionary.org
  • German wert, Dutch waard and Swedish värd are cognates of English worth and mean 'worth'. en.wiktionary.org
Meaning 6

From Middle English worthen ("to be, exist, become"), from Old English weorþan ("to come into being, become, arise"), from Proto-Germanic *werþaną ("to come about, become") and Proto-Indo-European *wert- ("to turn, turn out"). It is related to German werden and Latin vertere.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

  • The verb worth derives from Middle English worthen, meaning to be, exist, or become. en.wiktionary.org
  • The Middle English verb derives from Old English weorþan, with the stated meanings. en.wiktionary.org
  • Old English weorþan descends from Proto-Germanic *werþaną, meaning to come about or become. en.wiktionary.org
  • The verb ultimately derives from Proto-Indo-European *wert-, meaning to turn or turn out. en.wiktionary.org
  • The verb is related to German werden and Latin vertere. en.wiktionary.org