dignities

Noun

dignity (countable and uncountable, plural dignities)

1. The state of being dignified or worthy of esteem: elevation of mind or character.
   • He uttered this ... with great majesty, or, as he called it, dignity.1751 December (indicated as 1752), Henry Fielding, chapter VIII, in Amelia. […], volume I, London: […] [William Strahan] for A[ndrew] Millar […], →OCLC
2. Decorum, formality, stateliness.
   • The reception room was sacred to the dead wife. Her shiny portrait hung upon the wall - similar, doubtless, in all respects to the one which would be pasted on her tombstone. A little piece of black drapery had been tacked above the frame to lend a dignity to woe. But two of the tacks had fallen...1905, E. M. Forster, Where Angels Fear to Tread, chapter 7, third paragraph
3. High office, rank, or station.
   • Note the preſumption of this Scythian ſlaue:
     I tel thee villaine, thoſe that lead my horſe
     Haue to their names tytles of dignitie,
     And dar’ſt thou bluntly cal me Baiazeth?c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...
4. One holding high rank; a dignitary.
   • These filthy dreamers […] speak evil of dignities.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jude 1:8
5. (obsolete) Fundamental principle; axiom; maxim.
   • Sciences concluding from dignities, and principles known by themselves.1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC
6. (proscribed, sometimes) Respect.
   • That in such an undertaking, if put on its right footing, and treated with dignity by the State, you would have the cheerful assistance of the first scientific teachers who have turned their philosophy to such practical uses, I have no doubt.a. 1873, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, “Prefatory Memoir”, in Speeches of Edward, Lord Lytton Now First Collected. With Some of His Political Writings Hitherto Unpublished, volume 13, published 1874, page xl