▪ I. glory, n.
(ˈglɔərɪ)
Forms: 4–7 glori(e, -ye, 5–7 (chiefly Sc.) gloir(e, glor(e, 4– glory.
[a. OF. glorie (also in semi-popular form glo(i)re), ad. L. glōria.]
† 1. subjectively. a. The disposition to claim honour for oneself; boastful spirit. Obs. exc. in the combination vainglory.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. xi. 70 Suche motyues þei meuen þei maistres in heor glorie. c 1386–1520 [see vainglory]. 1624 Massinger Parl. Love v. i, A little glory in a soldier's mouth Is not uncomely. 1650 Hobbes Hum. Nat. ix. §1. 91 Glory, or internal gloriation or triumph of the Minde. 1656 Evelyn Mem. (1857) III. 73 My animadversions..will I hope..totally acquit me either of glory or impiety. 1753 Smollett Ct. Fathom (1813) I. 119 The disappointment of the ladies my glory will not permit me to overlook. |
† b. Desire for fame; ambition.
Obs.| 1594 Marlowe & Nashe Dido v. i, All glory hath forsaken thee. |
2. objectively.
a. Exalted (and, in
mod. use, merited) praise, honour, or admiration accorded by common consent to a person or thing; honourable fame, renown.
| c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2531 Phillis, It oughte be to yow but lyte glorye. 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love ii. viii. (Skeat) l. 68 O glorye, glorye, thou art none other thinge to thousandes of folke, but a great sweller of eares. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. v. (1885) 119 What dishonour is this, and abatynge of the glorie of a kynge. 1513 Douglas æneis v. iv. 58 Ȝe vailȝeand feris of worthy Hector..think on ȝour glor. 1582–8 Hist. James VI (1804) 158 Quhat gloir and renowne he obtenit of thir twa victories, was all cassin doun by the infamy of the next attempt. 1618 Lithgow Pilgr. Farew. E j, The Noblest striue for State, ambitious Glore. 1663 Gerbier Counsel F viij a, Letters, which the ægiptians did attribute unto them, though the Assyrians would have the glory thereof. 1730–46 Thomson Autumn 1278 Let such as deem it glory to destroy Rush into blood. 1752 Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) II. 5 The glory of Malebranche is confined to his own nation and his own age. 1821 J. S. Adams in C. Davies Metr. Syst. iii. (1871) 295 The glory of the first attempt belongs to France. 1823 Byron Juan viii. xiv, Yet I love Glory;—glory's a great thing. |
b. the glory of God: the honour of God, considered as the final cause of creation, and as the highest moral aim of intelligent creatures.
| 1382 Wyclif 1 Cor. x. 31 Do ȝe alle thingis in to glorie of God. 1558 Extracts Aberd. Reg. (1844) I. 313 In the meinteining and uphalding of Goddis seruice in our saide p[a]roche kirk, to the honor and gloir of God. c 1680 Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 408 No man can do any thing for God's glory but what will tend also to his own. 1715 De Foe Fam. Instruct. i. i, You are to live here to the glory of Him that made you. |
3. Something that brings honour and renown; a subject for boasting; a distinguished ornament; a special distinction; a ‘boast and pride’. Also
pl.| 1382 Wyclif Prov. xvii. 6 The glorie of sones the fadris of hem. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. xlii. §7 The glory of all things is that wherein their highest perfection doth consist. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iii. i. 149 Are all thy Conquests, Glories, Triumphes, Spoiles, Shrunke to this little Measure? a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) II. 1 A Learn'd Society of late, The Glory of a foreign State, Agreed [etc.]. 1715 De Foe Fam. Instruct. i. iii, That which was the glory of a Christian, viz. to worship and call upon him that made him. 1776 Burke Corr. (1844) II. 107 It is the glory of the tories that they always flourish in the decay..of the glory of their country. 1790 ― Fr. Rev. 61 Leading advocates, the glory of the bar. 1792 Anecd. W. Pitt IV. App. 263 The glories of Mr. Pitt's administration are the successes of the war. 1836 J. Gilbert Chr. Atonem. viii. (1852) 245 It is the glory of the Christian Sacrifice that it was made by God as well as to him. 1870 F. R. Wilson Ch. Lindisf. 33 The chief glory of the district..is the grand old castle. 1874 Green Short Hist. vii. §7. 413 Literature had hardly found a place in the glories of the time. |
4. a. Praise, honour, and thanksgiving offered in adoration.
| 1382 Wyclif Luke ii. 14 Glorie be in the hiȝeste thingis to God. 1530 Mirr. Our Ladyes 41 b in Maskell Mon. Rit. II. 3 note, When ye bydde glory to the father, and to the sone, and to the holy goste. c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) xxxv. 29 To Fader gloir be evirmoir, To Sone and Haly Spreit. 1603 Philotus clx, Giue gloir to God that in this thrang, Hes bene all our relief. 179. Coleridge Sibyl. Leaves (1862) 271 Glory to Thee, Father of Earth and Heaven! |
† b. nonce-use.
Obs.| 1627–77 Feltham Resolves i. xiii. 21 How unmovedly did he take his poyson? as if he had been drinking off a Glory to the Deity. [Similarly 1718 Entertainer xxi. ¶3. 139.] |
c. Used as a devout ejaculation (short for
Glory be to God) in the worship of various religious sects. Hence
vulgarly as a mere exclamation expressive of delight. Also in form
glory be!| 1816 Sporting Mag. XLVIII. 29 One of the poachers said ‘glory!’ and a line was formed in the wood. 1853 F. Hall in Ledlie's Miscell. II. 174 To get religion, as he words it, periodically, costs him nothing more than a few spasmodic amens and epigastric glorys. 1893 Q. [Couch] Delectable Duchy 109 Was it only you?.. O, glory be! 1954 Koestler Invis. Writing xxxvi. 392 For, glory be, man is a stubborn creature. 1968 B. Turner Sex Trap xiii. 120 ‘Your hours are numbered.’ Grange's eyes sparkled... ‘Glory be!’ |
5. In Biblical phraseology:
the glory of God: the majesty and splendour attendant upon a manifestation of God.
| 1382 Wyclif Rom. i. 23 Thei chaungiden the glorie of God vncorruptible..in to the lyknesse of an ymage of corruptible man. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 3 Moyses..made supplicacyon to god..that he wolde shewe hym his glory. 1611 Bible Ezek. ix. 3 The glory of the God of Israel was gone vp from the Cherub whereupon hee was. 1689–90 Temple Ess. Learning Wks. 1731 I. 299 Moses was..admitted both to see his Glory, and to learn his name, Jehovah. |
6. Resplendent beauty or magnificence. Now often with suggestion of sense 5 or 7: An effulgence of light such as is associated with our conceptions of heaven;
fig. an unearthly beauty attributed by imagination. Also
pl., features of resplendent beauty or magnificence, splendours.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 933 Loke on þe glory of þys gracious gote. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 166 To themperour in all his gloire He said: Take [etc.]. 1509 Fisher Funeral Serm. C'tess Richmond Wks. (1876) 306 The kynge..was crowned in..grete tryumphe and glorye. 1585 M. W. in Jas. I Ess. Poesie (Arb.) 10 O Phœbus then reioyce with glauncing glore. 1602 T. A[cherley] Massacre Money B ij, Whilst that my glory midst the clouds was hid. a 1693 Aubrey Lives, Barrow (1898) I. 91 As he lay expiring..the standers-by could heare him say softly, I have seen The glories of the world. 1726 C. D'Anvers Craftsm. xvi. (1727) 134 The Roll appeared encompassed with rays of glory. 1738 Wesley Psalms v. ii, None without Holiness shall see The Glories of thy Face. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest ii, Which, quickly expanding, the sun appeared in all his glory. 1803–6 Wordsw. Intim. Immort. ii, There hath past away a glory from the earth. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey ii. iv, The scarlet glories of the pyrus japonica. 1836 Emerson Nature, Beauty Wks. (Bohn) II. 146 The heavens..reflect their glory or gloom on the plains beneath. 1878 Browning La Saisiaz 10 What will be the morning glory, when at dusk thus gleams the lake? |
7. a. The splendour and bliss of heaven. (
Cf. F.
la gloire éternelle.)
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Placidas 264 Quhare euir-lestand glore sal be, & eschewine of al payne. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lvi. 190 It semed to them that they were in the glory of paradyce. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 42 The glore quhilk is promissit to the sonnis of God. 1631 Milton Epit. Marchioness Winchester 61 Thou, bright Saint, high sitt'st in glory. 1648 Shorter Catech. Westm. Assemb. Answ. 37 The souls of Beleevers are at their death made perfect in holiness, & do immediately pass into glory. 1732 Law Serious C. (ed. 2) 9 And strive to enter through the Strait Gate into a life of eternal Glory. 1848 A. Jameson Sacr. & Leg. Art (1850) 34 The crown is placed on the head of the maternal Virgin in glory. |
b. colloq. to go to glory: to go to heaven; to die.
| 1814 Sailor's Return i. i, Adimar was in the act of boarding, with several others, when the Dasher went to glory. Thus was he saved. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xli, Tell her ye found me going into glory. 1884 Craddock In Tennessee Mts. i. 9 He hev been in glory twenty year. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 179 Had we got caught in this, we should have..gone to glory. |
8. A state of exaltation and splendour.
in one's glory: in one's highest state of magnificence or prosperity; also
colloq., in a state of unbounded gratification or enjoyment.
| 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage i. xvii. 90 Tyrus, now called Sur, (whose glorie is sufficiently blazed by the Prophets Esay, and Ezechiel). 1816 Keatinge Trav. (1817) II. 62 The real Spanish beau..at midnight and at the billiard-table, he appears in his glory. 1829 W. Irving Granada I. xiii. 132 They thought that the days of their ancient glory were about to return. 1879 M. E. Braddon Clov. Foot xiv, Mr. Smolendo was in his glory. 1893 G. E. Matheson About Holland 14 The commerce of Holland was at its full glory. a 1895 Ld. C. E. Paget Autobiog. vii. (1896) 209, I think, too, the fleet liked my coming and living on board and taking an interest in everybody and everything; in truth, I was in my glory. |
9. a. The circle of light represented as surrounding the head, or the whole figure, of the Saviour, the Virgin, or one of the Saints; an
aureole n. or
nimbus.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. v. ix. 247 Radiant Halo's..which after the French expression are usually tearmed, the Glory. 1745 Gentl. Mag. 197 A glory, which is..that border of light which adorns the pictures of saints. 1862 H. Kingsley Ravenshoe I. xxi. 246 Her own glorious golden hair, which hung round her lovely face like a glory. 1864 Skeat Uhland's Poems 19 On Thy clear eyes she [Mary] fixed her view, And thence celestial lustre drew Till o'er her glowed a glory bright. |
b. A representation of the heavens opening and revealing celestial beings. ?
Obs. (
Cf. F.
gloire.)
| 1708 New View Lond. II. 488/1 Painted on Glass under a Glory between 2 Cherubims. 1782 R. Cumberland Anecd. (1787) II. 136 The Holy Virgin is displayed in the center of the piece, above is a glory of Angels. |
c. transf. Any circle or ring of light; a halo, corona. Also,
† a name for the star of an order of knighthood (
obs.), and
spec. an anthelion or fog-bow.
| 1693 Lond. Gaz. No. 2845/2 They presented to his Electoral Highness..the Two Stars or Glories, and Two Pieces of Ribbon of the Order [of the Garter]. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 504 Seeming Stars fall headlong..And..gild the Night With sweeping Glories, and long Trails of Light. 1725 Lond. Gaz. No. 6382/1 With a Glory or Rays issuing from the Center. 1766 Entick London IV. 88 An altar piece gilt and carved, with a glory and the king's arms above the commandments. 1811 Pinkerton Petral. I. 559 Anthracite..consumes slowly without any flame; but only encircled with a little glory, or irradiation. 1823 W. Scoresby Whale Fish. 275 The interior circle..forms a brilliant anthelion, or glory, round the spectrum of the observer. 1842 W. Howitt Rur. & Dom. Life Germany 452 If the fog is dry, you see not only yourself, but your neighbour; if very damp, only yourself, surrounded by a rainbow-coloured glory. 1871 tr. Schellen's Spectr. Anal. xlix. 207 This crown of rays is usually designated the glory. 1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 43 A broad beam of the garish light Smote with a glory her golden hair. 1884 P. G. Tait Light §167 It seems possible that glories may be due to a cause somewhat analogous to that which produces the spurious rainbows. 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 435/1 (margin) Coronas or glories. 1910 C. C. Turner Aerial Navig. 141 Halos round the sun and moon, rainbows, ‘glories’, or ‘aureoles’—the coloured rings seen round the shadow cast by the balloon on the clouds. 1925 C. F. Brooks Why Weather? x. 122 Sometimes there is a double glory, that of larger diameter containing the full range of colors of the rainbow, from violet to red. 1963 G. C. Bowden tr. Schöpfer's Young Specialist looks at Weather vi. 95 The airman is also familiar with the ‘glory’, as he often sees the system of coloured rings surrounding the shadow of his aircraft cast by the sun on a layer of cloud below. |
† d. Bot. = corona 7 b.
Obs.| 1785 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xxvii. 427 The petals of the corol are white, with a double purple fringe, star, or glory. Ibid. 428 The glory or crown is violet. |
10. In names of insects and plants. (See
quots.)
| 1819 G. Samouelle Entomol. Compend. 247 Endromis versicolor (Kentish glory). 1866 Treas. Bot. 757/1 Morning Glory, a name applied to certain species of Ipomœa and Pharbitis, e.g. P. hispidus the Convolvulus major of gardens. 1897 Willis Flower. Pl. II. 86 Chionodoxa Luciliae (glory of the snow) is a favourite border plant. |
11. attrib. and
Comb. a. simple
attrib., as
glory-bath,
glory-crown,
glory-days,
glory-mist,
glory-robe,
glory-seat,
glory-throne.
b. instrumental, as
glory-cinctured,
glory-circled,
glory-crowned,
glory-laden,
glory-smitten,
glory-stricken,
glory-tinged adjs. Also
glory-box Austral. and
N.Z., a box in which a woman stores clothes, etc., in preparation for marriage;
cf. glory-hole 1 b;
glory-pea, a name for the Australasian genus
Clianthus;
glory-tree, a shrub of the genus
Clerodendron.
| 1875 Browning Inn Album i. 50 He leans into a living *glory-bath Of air and light. |
| 1949 D. M. Davin Roads from Home ii. iv. 129 Seeing the neatly folded linen there, the carefully worked doilies and table spreads, the unworn silk nightdress, she knew she had blundered on Moira's hoard, her *glory-box. 1963 Wanganui Herald (N.Z.) 9 July 16/2 Sideboard (as new), 2 wardrobes, 4 fireside chairs, tin trunk, light oak glory-box. 1971 Sunday Australian 8 Aug. 46/8 The traditional work used on all the linen items in a girl's glory box. |
| 1853 Talfourd Castilian iv. ii, These *glory-cinctured towers. |
| a 1711 Ken Hymns Evang. Poet. Wks. 1721 I. 66 The *Glory-circled Infant. |
| 1895 K. T. Hinkson Miracle Plays 13 On his head a *glory crown Fine as the evening star. |
| 1603 J. Davies (Heref.) Microcosmos (Grosart) 16/2 Such Kings should be obaid, and *glory-cround, Because their Vertues al men's else exceede. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xcvii, He finds on misty mountain-ground His own vast shadow glory-crown'd. |
| 1956 R. Andrews (title) *Glory days of logging. 1984 Economist 20 Oct. 73/3 In Opec's glory days in the mid and late 1970s, the spot markets accounted for only 5–10% of internationally-traded oil. |
| 1825 D. L. Richardson Sonn. 19 Her radiant smile Illumines now this *glory-haunted Isle. |
| 1866 J. H. Newman Let. Pusey (ed. 2) 91 That pure Virgin..So weak yet so strong; so delicate yet so *glory-laden. |
| 1875 E. White Life in Christ iii. xvii. (1878) 210 If it be urged that Christ hid much of His truth in a *glory-mist of metaphors [etc.]. |
| 1848 Rural Cycl. II. 458 *Glory-pea or Glory-flower—botanically Clianthus..The crimson glory-pea, Clianthus puniceus, is a native of the northern island of New Zealand. |
| 1827 Keble Chr. Y., St. Michael vii, Brighter and brighter streams his *glory-robe. |
| 1838 Eliza Cook Poems, Melaia lxxxi, The *glory-seat of arts and power. |
| 1817 Coleridge Biog. Lit. 156 The two *glory-smitten summits of the poetic mountain. |
| 1871 G. Macdonald Manchester Poem 210 *Glory-stricken birds. |
| 1827 Keble Chr. Y., Palm Sunday iii, Angels round His *Glory-throne. |
| 1839 Talfourd Glencoe iii. ii, To wander on the bank Of *glory-tinged Loch-Leven. |
| 1848 Rural Cycl. II. 458 *Glory-tree: see Clerodendron. |
▪ II. glory, v.1 (
ˈglɔərɪ)
Also 6
Sc. glore,
gloir.
[ad. L. glōri-ārī, f. glōri-a glory.] 1. intr. To exult with triumph, rejoice proudly. Const.
in,
† on,
to with
inf., and
that.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1522 Þise lordes..gloryed on her falce goddes & her grace calles. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Mark xii. 13–17 Thou gloryest in the name and tytle of a Chrystian manne. Ibid. Luke ii. 25–32 Nowe from hensforth the gostly Israel..shall glory on thy sonne. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 42 We glore & ar blyth throw the hoip quhilk we haif. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia ii. (1633) 129 With like iudgement glorying, when he had happened to do a thing well, as when he had performed some notable mischiefe. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. x. 406 Quha tuik to thame the title gloireng in the name. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, ii. i. 66 Let 'em looke they glory not in mischiefe. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 238 Both glorying to have scaped the Stygian flood As Gods. 1795 Gentl. Mag. 542/1 Licentiousness, prophaning the sacred name of liberty, has gloried in the destruction of order. 1832 H. Martineau Ella of Gar. iii. 36 Cries that would have dismayed a stranger but which Archie always gloried in provoking. 1863 Fr. K. Kemble Resid. in Georgia 17, I have heard it..repeatedly asserted—and, what is more, much gloried in. 1868 J. T. Nettleship Ess. Browning's Poetry i. 59 Would I not glory to go into your very tomb? |
† 2. To boast. Const.
of,
to with
inf., or
that. Also
refl. and quasi-trans. with
complement in
indirect passive.
Obs.| 1382 Wyclif Judith viii. 17 As oure herte is disturbid in the pride of hem, so also of oure mecnesse wee glorien. 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. 2 Cor. 51 Albeit we maye glory our selfes of the stocke of Jewes [etc.]. 1635 E. Pagitt Christianogr. 47 The Romanists glory much of the conversion of these Indians. 1640 tr. Verdere's Rom. Rom. i. 114 That which I require of you, replied she, is, that..I may one day glory, that I have seen a number of good knights unhorsed upon the quarrell of my beauty. 1648 Symmons Vind. Chas. I 138 We have seen a glimpse of that perspicuity and modesty which is gloried to be in these annotations. 1673 Vain Insolency Rome 25, I think the same might now be said in several instances, to those of Rome, in reference to St. Peter, of whom she glorieth. |
† 3. trans. a. To give glory to; to honour.
b. To make glorious; to adorn.
Obs.| c 1400 Apol. Loll. 37 Glory þe bischop, wan he haþ chosun wise prestis, for þe cause of ruyn of þo peple are iuil prestis. 1501 Douglas Pal. Hon. Prol. 88 Quha that constranit ar in luifis rage Weill auchtis the till gloir and magnifie. 1563–76 Foxe A. & M. To Rdr. ¶ii b, Let vs yelde thus much vnto their commemoration, to glory the Lord in hys saintes. 1594 Greene & Lodge Looking Glasse Wks. (Rtldg.) 118 The troop That gloried Venus at her wedding-day. a 1639 Wotton Ps. civ. in Reliq. W. (1651) 527 Be ever gloried here Thy Soveraign Name. 1661 Davenport City Night-cap i. 4 See How he that glories Heaven with no Honour, Covets to glorifie himself with Honesty. |
† 4. intr. Of light: To spread like a ‘glory’.
| 1651 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. ii. vi. (1739) 36 It is a good sign of a clear morning, when the Sun-rising glorieth upon the top of the Mountains. |
Hence
† ˈgloried ppl. a.| 1671 Milton Samson 334 If old respect..towards your once gloried friend, My son, now captive, hither hath informed Your younger feet. |
▪ III. † ˈglory, v.2 Obs. [? cf. glar v.] (See
quot.)
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 199/2 Gloryyn, or wythe onclene þynge defoylyn, maculo, deturpo. |