▪ I. grant, n.1
(grɑːnt, -æ-)
Forms: see the vb.
[f. the vb.]
The action of granting; the thing granted.
† 1. a. Consent, permission. b. Promise. c. Admission, acknowledgement. Also, what is agreed to, promised, admitted, etc. Obs.
| a. a 1225 Ancr. R. 238 Þeo uihteð treouliche þet..hwuch so euer þe lust beo..wiðsiggeð þe graunt þerof. a 1300 Cursor M. 8380 Giue it to quam-sum þou will, For mi grant sal þou haf þer-till. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 317 Ȝet of graunt þou myȝtez fayle. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 119 By graunt of Kingislus, kyng of West Saxon, þe firste Birinus ordeyned a cee at Dorchestre. 1389 Eng. Gilds (1870) 39 He hath oblisshed him-self, bi his avow and his owen graunt, to [etc.]. c 1450 Myrc 399 But heo haue grawnte of hyre husbonde. c 1572 Gascoigne Fruites of Warre (1831) 214 The noble Prince gaue graunt to my request. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. i. i. Wks. 1856 I. 75 Could I avoyde to give a seeming graunt Unto fruition of Antonios love. 1613 Heywood Silver Age i. Wks. 1874 III. 88 Gaine by thy grant, life; thy deniall, death. 1648 Boyle Seraph. Love (1660) 46 [You] might have found yourself as sensibly disappointed by her Grant, as you were by her Change. |
| b. c 1300 Cursor M. 17956 (Arundel MS.) Whenne fyue þousonde ȝeer are past..Þenne shal god his grante fulfille. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 86 Þei hadden graunt of Crist þat he Wolde algatis have mercy. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy i. vi, To perfourme your hestes & your graunt. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 76 The King was blyth..Of the grant that he had maid. 1575 Churchyard Chippes (1817) 98 A wyfe, a queane, did make the French a graunt Upon this rocke in sight of Leeth to stand. |
| c. 1503 in Extracts Aberd. Reg. (1844) I. 431 It was sufficiently pruit befor the said assis, and als be his avne gravnt, that the said William [etc.]. 1552 T. Wilson Logike 57 This is the vse of Reduction by a contradictorie, violently to force the graunt of our saiyng. 1565 Jewel Repl. Harding (1611) 116 By M. Hardings owne grant, we may iustly claime prescription. a 1612 Donne βιαθανατος (1644) 121 To grant that we may wish death to be in heaven..is..somewhat more dangerous..a graunt. 1631 Chapman Cæsar & Pompey Plays 1873 III. 177 Your happy exposition of that place..Euicts glad grant from me you hold a truth. 1659 Hammond On Ps. Pref. 17 The very objection is a grant that the Psalms contein devotions [etc.]. a 1700 Dryden (J.), This grant destroys all you have urg'd before. |
2. The action of according (a request, a favour asked for).
| ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 851 She of hir love graunt him made. 1530 Palsgr. 363 There is no graunt made lyberally, if it be demaunded neglygently. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado i. i. 319 The fairest graunt is the necessitie. 1624 N. De Lawne tr. Du Moulin's Logick 86 If a Prince hath granted something to one Citizen, another Citizen may pretend, that the like grant ought to be made unto him also. 1686 J. Scott Chr. Life (1747) III. 474 The Grant of Remission was wholly in his Will and Pleasure. a 1847 Mrs. Sherwood Lady of Manor (1860) V. xxix. 71 Punished with the grant of my wishes. 1892 Ld. Esher in Law Times Rep. LXVII. 211/2 The grant or refusal of an injunction upon a matter of law is appealable. |
3. a. An authoritative bestowal or conferment of a privilege, right, or possession; a gift or assignment of money, etc. by the act of an administrative body or of a person in control of a fund or the like.
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 348 But ȝif þei han oþir title þan ben bullis of þe pope, or graunt of him, þei [etc.]. 1550 Crowley Epigr. 763 Heare is to se Your seale at a graunte of a pluralitie. 1673 Essex Papers (Camden) I. 67, I know not whether M{supr} Brunker may have deceiv'd you in his assurances concerning y⊇ Grant of y⊇ Phœnix Parke. 1719 W. Wood Surv. Trade 174 To oblige the Persons, who..are in Possession..by virtue of old Grants, either to settle, or sell them [lands]. 1759 Robertson Hist. Scot. (1813) I. iii. 231 The grant of the earldom of Murray to the prior of St. Andrews was confirmed. 1771 Junius Lett. lxvii. 332 You hastened the grant with an expedition unknown to the treasury. 1824 R. Stuart Hist. Steam Engine 34 Fifty years after the grant of the patent. 1841 W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. II. 69 His [Pepin's] invasion had been preceded by his famous Grant to the Popes. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xv. III. 539 He obtained a grant of all the lands..belonging to Jesuits in five or six counties. 1870 Rogers Hist. Gleanings Ser. ii. 234 The primary business of both houses was the grant of money. 1874 Green Short Hist. viii. §3. 481 The Commons restricted their grant of certain Customs duties..to a single year. |
b. The thing granted; a tract of land, a sum of money, etc. which is the subject of a formal grant. Also capitation-grant (see capitation 3); grant in aid of: see also grant-in-aid.
| 1815 Elphinstone Acc. Caubul (1842) II. 197 The revenues..are consumed in grants to learned and religious men. 1851 H. Martineau Hist. Peace v. iv. (1877) III. 246 In 1834 the government obtained from Parliament the first grant in aid of education. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xxiv. 169 A small grant of money to purchase thermometers, &c. 1869 R. T. Claridge Cold Water-cure 136 Jenner..was voted two grants in parliament. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 355 The Chambers voted a grant towards the expenses. 1897 Mag. Art Sept. 254 The trustees of polytechnics are apt to judge of the success of the classes by the amount of grant earned. |
4. Law. a. A conveyance by deed or other written instrument. † b. Formerly in more restricted application: A conveyance of such property (viz. incorporeal hereditaments) as can pass only by deed. to be or lie in grant: (of property) to be of a nature transferable only by deed.
| 1596 Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 611/2 The act of the parent, in any lawfull graunt or conveyaunce. 1607 Cowell Interpr. s.v., A thing is said to lie in graunte which cannot be assigned with out deed. a 1626 Bacon Max. & Uses Com. Law xiv. (1636) 56 Grants are never counter⁓mandable..in respect of the nature of the conveyance. 1628 Coke On Littleton §259. 172 Grant. Concessio is in the Common law a conueyance of a thing that lies in grant, and not in Liuerie, which cannot passe without Deed. 1642 Rogers Naaman 362 Heaven is theirs in the grant and reversion. 1766 Blackstone Comm. II. 317 Grants, concessiones; the regular method by the common law of transferring the property of incorporeal hereditaments, or, such things whereof no livery can be had. 1817 W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 1053 Where the plaintiff complains of an injury to an easement, it will be incumbent on him (unless he can shew an express grant) to carry his evidence..as far back as possible. 1844 Williams Real Prop. i. (1877) 19 A grant to A. B. simply now confers but an estate for his life. 1848 Wharton Law Dict. s.v., A grant of personalty is more properly termed an assignment or a bill of sale. |
5. Chiefly U.S. The name given to a portion of land in the occupation of specified persons. New Hampshire Grants: now the State of Vermont.
| 1719 W. Wood Surv. Trade 321 Silver Mines lately discovered to be within the Grant of Monsieur Croizat. 1777 A. Hamilton Wks. (1886) VII. 514 They may be obliged to increase their attention to this matter by keeping a body of men somewhere about the Grants. 1842 L. Munsell in M. Cutler's Life, etc. (1888) I. 133 There [were] only a few hunters just below the falls, or what is called Clark's grant. 1863 Amer. Cycl. XVI. 73/2 The country west of the Connecticut was only known at that time [1760] by the name of ‘New Hampshire grants’. 1876 Bancroft Hist. U.S. IV. xxv. 502 Men poured in from towns in the Grants. |
6. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 3 b) grant-money; grant-earning (so grant-earner), grant-giving adjs.; † grant-parole, ? respite.
| 1909 Daily Chron. 8 Sept. 6/3 Boys who will reach this age [14] between now and next Easter are inferior *grant-earners as compared with boys who can put in a full year's attendance. |
| 1892 Daily News 19 Oct. 5/4 The attendance of considerable numbers of *grant-earning children. 1900 H. G. Wells Love & Mr. Lewisham xxv. 231 Some grant-earning grammar-school. 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 16 Feb. 146/1 (Advt.), In Britain, Canadian Douglas fir plywood has been designated a grant-earning material. |
| 1963 Higher Educ. (Cmnd. 2154) xiv. 213 The increased burden on the local *grant-giving authorities. 1964 J. S. Huxley Ess. Humanist 267 The great grant-giving..agencies such as the U.N. [etc.]. |
| 1893 Westm. Gaz. 27 May 5/1 A number of men have been ‘hustled’ out of the place in order to get their *grant money. |
| 1616 B. Jonson Devil an Ass v. vi, H'hath sent thee *grant-paroll by me to stay longer A moneth here on earth. |
▪ II. grant, n.2 U.S.
(grɑːnt, -æ-)
[? var. grand n. 6.]
‘In brewing, a copper or iron vessel into which the wort flows from the clarifying battery, and from which it is lifted into the wort-pan’ (Cent. Dict.).
▪ III. grant, v.
(grɑːnt, -æ-)
Pa. tense and pa. pple. granted. Forms: 3 granti, 3–7 graunt(e, 4 grant(t)e, granty, 5–6 grawnt(e, (5 grawunt, grownte), 3– grant. Also pa. tense 4 gra(u)nt; pa. pple. 4–6 gra(u)nt.
[a. AF. graunter, granter, OF. graanter, greanter, altered form of craanter, creanter:—pop. L. type *crēdentāre, f. crēdent-em pr. pple. of crēdĕre to entrust, believe.]
† 1. intr. To agree, consent; to assent to the request of (a person: const. dat.); to agree or consent to or to do (rarely at do) something. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 16851 Ioseph..Ne granted neuer wit wil ne werc, to þair gret felunni. 1340 Ayenb. 225 Þe ilke bernþ þet to zenne graunteþ. 1375 Barbour Bruce iv. 352 I grant thar-till; To ly heir mair war litill skill. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2665 Hypermnestra, [Egiste commanded his daughter, with threats, to kill her husband;] And, for to passyn harmles of that place, She grauntyth hym. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 338 He..graunteth with hem for to wende. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxx. 138 Þai graunted at do all þat he wald bidd þam do. c 1400 Sowdone Bab. 250, I graunte to be his derlynge. c 1440 Jacob's Well (E.E.T.S.) 198 Þe freendys prayed þe preest to ley þe dede body on his asse. Þerto grauntyd he hem. 1485 Caxton Paris & V. 15 At these words graunted Parys to goo to the sayd Ioustes. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccxliii. 363 He graunted to the warr with an yuell wyll. a 1547 Surrey æneid ii. 164 Assigning me To the altar; whereto they graunted all. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, i. i. 245 The Souldiers should haue toss'd me on their Pikes, Before I would haue granted to that Act. |
2. trans. To agree to, promise, undertake. † a. Const. dat. of person, and acc. of thing. Obs.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1423 Ðo gan ðat moder and laban Rebecca freinen ðor for-ðan, And ȝhe it grantede mildelike. c 1305 St. Cristopher 77 in E.E.P. (1862) 61 He grantede þis anon. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 243 She graunteth and behight him this. c 1400 Destr. Troy 978 And he hir graunted þat gate with a good wille. a 1400–50 Alexander 516 ‘Þat graunt I gudly,’ quod þe gome. 1559 Mirr. Mag., Hen. VI, xxvii, Aduise wel ere they graunt, but what they graunt, perfourme. |
b. with inf. (preceded by to) or clause as obj. Obs. exc. in legal documents.
| c 1420 Chron. Vilod. st. 141 Þe Kyng of Denmark ȝold hym anon þo And granted crystenmon ever to be. c 1450 Merlin 23 They that shull come to seche me, have graunted their lorde that they shull me sle. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop ii. xi, To promytte & graunte to gyue to the that whiche thou neuer leuest to me. 1512 J. Wastell in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 609 The said John Wastell graunteth to gyff...xx. markes. 1558 in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. v. 186 The said T. D...couenaunteth and graunteth, to and with the said T. V...that if he [etc.]. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. (1739) 200 Do you grant to hold and keep the Laws and rightful Customs, which the Commonalty of your Realm shall have chosen? 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) IV. 68 A. covenanted, granted, and agreed that B. should have the land. |
3. To accede to, consent to fulfil (a request, prayer, wish, etc.).
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 34 Holdeð hine ueste, uort he habbe igranted ou al þet ȝe euer wulleð. c 1275 Lay. 14152 Þe bet we wolleþ cweme þe ȝef þou þis wolt granti me [1205 Ȝif þu þis ȝettest me]. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 20/33 And grauntede al his bone. a 1300 Cursor M. 13988 Iesus grant him his praier. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 182 The souldan graunteth her axinge. c 1450 Mirour Saluacioun 3878 So crist..what eure sho wille aske grauntis he hire fauourably. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) G b, Yf I sholde graunt you at all tymes your affeccyons and desyres. 1600 J. Lane Tom Tel-troth 110 O graunt my suit. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 63 Use thyself betimes to hear and grant our Pray'rs. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian iii. (1826) 20 Grant me then the only request I have to make. 1867 Smiles Huguenots Eng. vii. (1880) 126 The authorities at once cheerfully granted all that they asked. |
4. a. To allow or concede as an indulgence; to permit or suffer (a person) to have (something); to bestow or confer as a favour, or in answer to a request. Const. dat. of person, and acc. of thing.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 11552 Leue him was igraunted god wot to wuch ende. a 1300 Cursor M. 2506 (Cott.) Was nan þai raght þai grantid grith. Ibid. 25340 Grant vs þi maght til oþer sua forgiue þair sin, þat [etc.]. c 1340 Ibid. 20011 + 894 (B.M. Add. MS.) Þe archibisshop..haþ graunted xl daies to pardoun to alle þat þis vie wol here. c 1374 Chaucer Anel. & Arc. 188 Sheo ne graunted him in hir lyvynge No grace. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 132 First Crist apperide to þes holy wommen, fer to graunt a privylegie to womman's kynde. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 219 God to hem that ben well thewed Hath yove and graunted the victoire. c 1400 Rom. Rose 2986 He me graunted ful gladly The passage of the outer hay. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour H iv b, He graunted his [Absalon's] grace and pardon. 1484 Surtees Misc. (1888) 41 God graunte & gyff thaym joy and comforth. c 1500 Lancelot 456 Grant ws dais three. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. (1590) 274 To onely thee thou seest we graunt this speciall grace Vs to attend. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xviii. 93 When he has granted all he can, if we grant back the Soveraignty, all is restored. c 1709 Prior Callimachus' Hymn to Jupiter 116 Great father! grant us virtue, grant us wealth. 1711 Fingall MSS. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 172 By his granting better conditions to the garrison. 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 102 Granting him a delay of three days. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xii. III. 208 It was an Act purporting to grant entire liberty of conscience to all Christian sects. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. viii. 60 He had..the good sense..to grant me the liberty I requested. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus xvii. 7 This rare favour, a laugh for all time, Colonia, grant me. 1885 Mabel Collins Prettiest Woman x, Why might he not grant himself one more sight of her at the door of the Church. |
† b. With a thing as subj. or as indirect obj.: To allow to have. Obs.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 105 Thikke and drie, espie & graunte hit rest. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. ii. vi. 98 A smal valve..grants entrance to the blood into the right Ventricle. |
† c. To sanction, permit (an action). Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Melib. 22 Attempree weping is nothing defended to him that sorweful is..but it is rather graunted him to wepe..But thogh attempree weping bee y-graunted, outrageous weping certes is defended. |
d. with inf. or clause as obj.; rarely with obj. and compl.
| c 1250 Old Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 36 Þider lord granti us to cumene. c 1380 Wyclif Last Age Chirche p. xxxvi, Þe whiche semlant he graunte us to see. a 1400–50 Alexander 1826 Bot wald ȝe grant vs to gaa & gefe vs ȝour lefe. 1513 Douglas æneis i. viii. 51 O hie princes, quham to Jupiter hes grant To beild ane new cietie. 1535 Coverdale Isa. xxvi. 13 Graunte, that we may only hope in the. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 207 They graunt him to take it with him. 1607 Shakes. Cor. ii. i. 156 The Gods graunt them true. 1720 Strype Stow's Surv. I. i. viii. 35/2 Our Lord Richard the King..hath granted..That all the Kidels that are in the Thames be taken away. 1834 Southey Lett. (1856) IV. 384 God grant that I may find you well enough..for a morning walk. |
e. In pa. pple. as a polite rejoinder to an apology.
| 1902 Kipling Traffics & Discov. (1904) 238 ‘Granted—granted as soon as asked,’ he said, unbending. ‘I did think it a shade odd at the time.’ 1924 ― Debits & Credits (1926) 311 ‘..I beg your pardon...’ ‘Granted.’ 1926 R. Macaulay Crewe Train ii. v. 103 When others craved their pardon for stepping on their toes, their reply was, ‘Granted.’ 1951 E. Coxhead One Green Bottle v. 115 ‘Pardon?’ said Cathy, momentarily bewildered; whereat Mr. Derwent..replied: ‘Oh-er, granted.’ 1967 ‘H. Calvin’ Nice Friendly Town vi. 87 She yawned a great yawn and said, ‘Sorry.’ ‘Granted,’ I said. |
5. a. To bestow or confer (a possession, right, etc.) by a formal act. Said of a sovereign or supreme authority, a court of justice, a representative assembly, etc. Also, in Law, to transfer (property) from oneself to another person, especially by deed.
| c 1305 Pilate 82 in E.E.P. (1862) 113 Þemperour..grantede pilatus al þat lond to holde bi maistrie. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 103 Asia..Was graunted by commune assent To Sem. 1463 Bury Wills (Camden) 17, I graunte hem fulle pover. 1485 Wriothesley Chron. (1875) I. 1 A great taske and disme grawnted to the Kinge. 1605 Camden Rem. 138 Graunted by Patents. 1625 Bacon Ess., Friendship (Arb.) 181 Where Friendship is, all Offices of Life, are as it were granted to Him, and his Deputy. 1632 Sanderson Serm. 436 God the Father hath graunted vs..a new Patent. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iii. xlii. 302 The Power here granted belongs to all Supreme Pastors. 1766 Blackstone Comm. App. II. §2 They the said Abraham Barker and Cecilia his Wife..do, and each of them doth, grant, bargain, sell, release, and confirm unto the said [D. E. and F. G.;], their heirs and assigns, All that the capital messuage called Dale Hall. 1817 W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 725 Granting letters of administration, belongs to the prerogative court of the archbishop of that province. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 193 The Commons alone could legally grant him money. 1858 Buckle Civiliz. (1873) II. viii. 575 They granted charters to the towns and privileges to the inhabitants. 1883 Law Reports 11 Q. Bench Div. 545 (headnote) An attachment granted to enforce compliance with the order of court. |
b. with advs., in technical phrases: to grant (land, a title) away, out. † to grant forth (a warrant): to issue.
| 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 16 The other officers who grant foorth the warrants, the Subpœnas. 1661 A. Brome Royalist's Answ. ii. Songs 75 All titles of honours..being granted away With the grantees stay. 1844 Williams Real Prop. i. (1877) 2 The lands thus confiscated were granted out by the Conqueror to his followers. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. x. II. 657 The estates of accused persons had been granted away before conviction. 1876 Digby Real Prop. i. i. §2. 14 The grantee of the land is to be entitled to grant the land away to whomsoever he pleases in his lifetime. |
† 6. To yield, give up. Also with over. Obs.
| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 122 For Libra graunteth him [i.e. Scorpion] his ende Of eighte sterres. a 1400–50 Alexander 3103 Þi meche we beseke..to grant vs oure modire..out of bande. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia i. (1590) 42 b, Palladius not accustomed to grant ouer the possession of him self vpon so vniust titles, with sword drawne gaue them so rude an answer, that [etc.]. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 331 Certain Thracian women.. granted their haire to this purpose. |
7. To admit, confess, acknowledge. Now only in a more restricted use: To concede to an actual or hypothetical opponent (a proposition) to be used as a basis of argument. a. with obj. either acc. with inf. or a clause introduced by that (often suppressed), rarely how. In this sense the imperative mood, the pres. pple. (used absol.) and the pa. pple. often introduce an adverbial (concessive) clause.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 27428 (Fairf.) A man..grauntis [Cott. yetes]..þat he is falling in misliking. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Laurentius 366 Þat ypolyt..before al had granttyt þare, þat he had bene a cristine mane. 1411 Rolls of Parlt. III. 650/1 The sayd Robert wold nouht graunte that he had submytted hym in that mater. a 1450 Le Morte Arth. 1652 There he grauntyd a monge hem alle..How in an appelle he dede the galle. 1558 Bp. Watson Seven Sacram. xxi. 123 A synner maye graunt and confesse, that he hathe not considered thys great kyndenes of God. 1581 Mulcaster Positions xli. (1887) 237 But graunting thinges there to be well done already. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies i. v. 16 They graunt there is a Heaven on this other part of the world. 1659 D. Pell Impr. Sea 73 Grant they never used drinking and bezling before they came to Sea..they will soon finde out the art. 1659–60 Pepys Diary 11 Jan., I went to see Mrs. Jem, who was in bed, and now granted to have the small-pox. 1674 tr. Scheffer's Lapland 4 Granting there were antiently such names..it remaines doubtfull [etc.]. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 4 ¶5, I grant her Dress is very becoming, but [etc.]. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 156 Grant that such a man had, by his recent services, fairly earned his pardon. Yet [etc.]. 1849 Ruskin Sev. Lamps iv. §1. 94 Only asserting that to be beautiful which I believe will be granted me to be so without dispute. 1853 J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1876) 161 Granting that that downfall is to come, it is reasonable [etc.]. a 1861 T. Woolner My Beautiful Lady (1863) 128, I grant a few, the greatest, live content. 1884 tr. Lotze's Metaph. 101 Granted that two Beings, A and B, are so independent of each other..then [etc.]. |
b. with n. or pron. as obj. Also absol.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter xxi. 15 In dust of ded thou has me broght. This says he, noght grauntand it, for his body rot noght. 1375 Barbour Bruce xix. 48 The lord sowlis hass grantit thar The deid in-to plane parliament. 1428 Surtees Misc. (1888) 3 He gart yarof, als he graunted, ixxx peces & xij. 1526 Tindale Acts xxiii. 8 The phariseies graunt bothe. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 390, I grant ye, vpon instinct. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. 1 This will easily be granted, by as many as know story. 1612 in Extracts Aberd. Reg. (1848) II. 312 Patrick Gordoune..being accusit for trubling of this burght..in drawing of ane sword, and persewing thairwith Gilbert Leslie..graunted the drawing of his sword to the said Gilbert, and persewing him thairwith. 1671 Grew Anat. Plants i. Ep. Ded., Like the first Principles of Mathematical Science, they are..granted by all. 1709 Berkeley Th. Vision §15 Though we should grant the real existence of those optic angles. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) I. 107 This granted, we shall take something more. 1848 Keble Serm. Pref. 41 If thus much be granted,..how is not our principle conceded? 1879 Geo. Eliot Coll. Breakf. P. 287 We settle first the measure of man's need Before we grant capacity to fill. |
c. with obj. and complement: To admit or concede (a person or thing) to be so and so. rare.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 367 Vienna was þo i⁓graunted the place of corsynge. a 1400–50 Alexander 3125 And if [he] grant him noȝt de-grayd. 1602 Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 100 Mad let vs grant him then. 1653 Walton Angler 139 [I] haue not tryed it; yet I grant it probable. 1730 Swift Traulus i. 83 Grant him but a drone at best. 1810 Scott Lady of L. ii. xiv, I grant him brave, But wild. |
d. To admit the existence of. Obs. rare—1.
| a 1619 M. Fotherby Atheom. i. vi. §3 (1622) 46 For, of necessitie hee granteth him [God], though of impotencie hee blaspheme him. |