condign
pronunciation
How to pronounce condign in British English:
UK [kənˈdaɪn]
How to pronounce condign in American English:
US [kənˈdaɪn]
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- Adjective:
- fitting or appropriate and deserved; used especially of punishment
Word Origin
- condign
- condign: [15] From its virtually exclusive modern use in the phrase condign punishment, condign has come to be regarded frequently as meaning ‘severe’, but etymologically it signifies ‘fully deserved’. It comes via Old French condigne from Latin condignus, a compound adjective formed from the intensive prefix comand dignus ‘worthy’ (source of English dainty, deign, dignity, disdain, and indignant, and related to decent). The collocation with punishment arises from the frequent use of the phrase in Tudor acts of parliament.=> dainty, decent, deign, dignity, disdain, indignant
- condign (adj.)
- late 15c., "well-deserved," from Old French condigne "deserved, appropriate, equal in wealth," from Latin condignus "wholly worthy," from com- "together, altogether" (see com-) + dignus "worthy" (see dignity). Of punishment, "deservedly severe," from 1510s, which by Johnson's day (1755) was the only use.