▪ I. chasten, v.1
(ˈtʃeɪs(ə)n)
[f. chaste v. + -en2: taking the place of the earlier chaste v.]
1. trans. To inflict disciplinary or corrective punishment on; to visit with affliction for the purpose of moral improvement; to correct, discipline, chastise. (Usually of Divine chastisement.)
| 1526 Tindale Hebr. xii. 6 Whom the Lorde loveth, him he chasteneth. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres iv. i. 96 He shall by this meanes chasten the vnruly and disobedient. 1611 Bible Ps. cxviii. 18 The Lord hath chastened me sore. ― Dan. x. 12 Thou diddest set thine heart..to chasten thy selfe before thy God. 1859 Tennyson Enid 1637 The love Wherewith we love the Heaven that chastens us. |
† 2. To punish, chastise (generally). Obs.
| 1526 Tindale Luke xxiii. 16, I will therfore chasten him and let him lowsse. c 1534 tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (1846) I. 160 He overcamme him and chastened him with crewell death. 1600 Hakluyt Voy. (1810) III. 437 That your Majestie would cause them to be chastened, which were the causes of their vexation. |
3. To render chaste or pure in character or style; to purify, refine. (Cf. chaste a. 8.)
| 1715 tr. Pancirollus' Mem. Th. I. iv. x. 190 The Ancients..were wont to strain their Snow..to chasten their Wine. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Lit. Wks. (Bohn) II. 104 A good writer..makes haste to chasten and nerve his period by English monosyllables. |
4. fig. To restrain from excess or intensity; to moderate, temper, subdue. (Cf. chaste a. 7.)
| 1856 Kane Arct. Exp. I. xx. 246, I am not as sanguine as I was—time and experience have chastened me. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. ii. 110 The feuds of the families had been chastened, if they had not been subdued. 1884 Browning Ferishtah (1885) 318 Reflected possibilities of pain, Forsooth, just chasten pleasure! |
▪ II. † chasten, v.2 Obs.,
for chasen to chase.
| 1548 G. Wishart in Wodr. Soc. Misc. (1844) 17 To resyst the deuyll..and by all meanes to chasten him away. |
▪ III. chasten
var. of chesteine, Obs., chestnut.