deigning

Verb

deign (third-person singular simple present deigns, present participle deigning, simple past and past participle deigned)

1. (transitive) To consider it appropriate or worthy to do or give (something), often when it is seen as beneath one's dignity; to condescend, to vouchsafe.
   • Nor vvould vve deigne him buriall of his men, / Till he diſburſed, at Saint Colmes ynch, / Ten thouſand Dollars, to our generall vſe.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
2. (obsolete, transitive) To consider it appropriate or worthy to accept or take (something).
   • Shee deignes not my good will, but doth reprove / And of my rurall muſick holdeth ſcorne.1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Ianuarye. Ægloga Prima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC, folio 2, recto

   Antonyms:

   disdain

3. (obsolete, transitive) Often followed by of: to consider (someone) as worthy of something; to dignify.
   • VVill you not daigne his Majeſty vvith an Anſvver?1591 (date written), [Daniel Defoe], “Part II. Of the Church in Her Growing State.. Addenda. Here Follows Some Original Papers and Accounts of Things, which are Referred to in the Foregoing Part. No....
4. (intransitive) To consider it appropriate or worthy to do something, often when it is seen as beneath one's dignity; to condescend, to think fit, to vouchsafe.
   • He didn’t even deign to give us a nod of the head; he thought us that far beneath him.