admonish, v.
(ædˈmɒnɪʃ)
Forms: 4–6 amonest; 4 ammonest, amonist; 5 amonace, amonesshe, -esche; 5–6 admonest; 6 admonase, admonyss, -ysch, -yssh; 6– admonish.
[a. OFr. amoneste-r:—late L. admonestā-re an unexplained derivative form of L. admonēre. In Eng. the final -t was at length taken as the ppl. ending, leaving the stem as amoness, amonase, which soon by form-association with vbs. like abolisse, abolish, became amonesh. Meanwhile the prefix also was refashioned after L., giving admonest, admonesse, admonish. The refashioning of the termination is seen in the following:
c 1386 Chaucer Parsons T. 509 Whan a man is sharpely amonested in his schrift to forleten his synne. So Ellesmere and Christch. MSS.; Camb. amonestid, Petw. amonased, = amonest, Selden amonesshed, Lansd. amonesched.]
1. gen. To put (a person) in mind of duties; to counsel against wrong practices; to give authoritative or warning advice; to exhort, to warn.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. (1868) 171 Ȝif þou erþely man wexest yuel..þis figure amonesteþ þe. 1382 Wyclif 1 Cor. iv. 14, I amoneste or warne [ȝou] as my moost dereworthe sones. c 1400 Apol. for Lollards 93 Feiþful prestis ammonest þe peple. 1489 Caxton Fayt of Armes iv. xiii. 270 Thus oughte the sayde wysemen to exorte and admoneste them. 1534 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. of M. Aurel (1546) K ij, Admonishe her often, and reproue her but seldome. 1611 Bible 2 Thess. iii. 15 Count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 1174, I warned thee, I admonished thee, foretold The danger. 1807 Crabbe Libr. 44 Fools they admonish and confirm the wise. 1824 Dibdin Libr. Comp. 92 He makes our hearts reprove, admonish and comfort us. |
b. absol.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce viii. 348 Bot he mycht nocht amonist swa That ony for him vald turne agane. 1754 Chatham Lett. to Nephew v. 39 When they [servants] are bad, pity, admonish, and part with them if incorrigible. |
† 2. To call to mind, inculcate (a thing). Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Melib. 328 In manye othere places he amonesteth pees and accord [Corpus amonysscheþ]. c 1400 Apol. for Lollards 32 To preche is in siche maner to a monest good þingis, as Crist bad His disciplis do. |
3. To put (one) in mind to do a duty; to charge (a person) authoritatively, to exhort, urge (always with a tacit reference to the danger or penalty of failure). Const. inf. or subord. clause; (to rare and obs.)
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 818 Loth..his men amonestes mete for to dyȝt. 1340 Ayenb. 8 Þis heste ous amonesteþ þet we ous loky þet we ne wreþþi uader ne moder. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. vii. (1520) 84 We admonest you fyrste in the popes halfe that ye make full restytucyon. 1523 Ld. Berners Froissart I. ccccxix. 733 Admonyst your people to do well their deuoyre. 1557 Kynge Arthur v. viii, Syrs I admonest you that thys daye ye fyght..as men. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. 11 Doth not a margine do well to admonish the Reader to seeke further? 1709 Strype tr. Beza in Ann. Ref. (1824) I. xliv. 174 To send their letter..to the queen and bishops, to admonish them to their duty. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. II. xli. 502 He admonished the usurper to repent of his treason. 1860 Tyndall Glaciers i. §16. 117 Bennen admonished me to tread in his steps. |
4. To put (a person) in mind of anything to be avoided; to warn or caution against danger, error, or fault. Const. usually of, rarely against, for, or subord. clause.
| 1541 Elyot Image of Gov. (1549) 49 He would admonest or warne him of his lacke in diligence. 1718 Free-thinker No. 68, 87, I promised..to admonish the Ladies against the Innovation of Masquerades. 1754 Sherlock Disc. (1759) I. x. 289 Moses was sent..to reprove and admonish the People for their manifold Transgressions. 1785 Rolliad. Ded. (1799) 21 To admonish them, how they rush into future dangers. 1855 Prescott Philip II, I. ii. xii. 277 A gallows erected on an eminence admonished the offenders of the fate that awaited them. |
5. To put (a person) in mind of a thing forgotten, overlooked, or unknown; to give formal or express notice; to notify, apprize, or inform. Const. of or subord. clause.
| 1574 tr. Marlorats Apocalips 3 Miracles doe teache men and admonishe them of Gods will. 1586 Thynne Contn. Holinshed in Animadv. 70, I am to admonish thee, good reader, that..I have neither word for word, nor sentence for sentence, set downe the writings of Lesleus. 1661 Bramhall Just Vind. vii. 198 So soon as he shall be admonished of the Kings pleasure. 1710 Berkeley Princ. Hum. Knowl. i. §44 [They] only admonish us what ideas of touch will be imprinted in our minds. 1844 Lingard Hist. A.-Sax. Ch. (1858) II. i. 11 Admonished her of the obligations which it imposed. 1851 Carlyle Sterling i. ii. (1872) 10 Descended, too, from the Scottish hero Wallace, as the old gentleman would sometimes admonish them. 1855 Prescott Philip II, ii. (1857) 281 The duchess of Parma admonished her brother that the lords chafed much under his long silence. |