▪ I. pride, n.1
(praɪd)
Forms: see A. below.
[Late OE. pr{yacu}to, pr{yacu}tu str. fem., pr{yacu}te weak fem.; also (pr{yacu}do), pr{yacu}de; abstract n. from pr{uacu}t, pr{uacu}d, proud; cf. ON. pr{yacu}ði gallantry, bravery, ornamentation, f. pr{uacu}ðr gallant, brave, stately; both generally held to have been adopted c 1000 from OF. prūt, prūd, mod.F. preux. The period of umlaut formations had passed long before 1000; and these quasi-umlaut derivatives in OE. and ON. must app. be explained as analogical, after the numerous original umlaut derivatives existing in the langs., as in OE. full, fyllo, ON. fullr, fylli.]
A. Illustration of Forms.
(α) (OE. and Southern ME.) 1 pr{yacu}to, -u, -e, 3–5 prute (= y), pruyte; 1 pr{yacu}de, 2 priede, prudu, 2–4 prude (= y), 3–5 pruyde, pruyd, 4–5 pruide.
| a 1000 Aldhelm Gloss. in Napier O.E. Gloss. 18 b. Fastus,..pryte. 1014 Wulfstan Sermo ad Anglos in Hom. (Napier) 165 ᵹelice þam dwæsan, þe for heora prytan lewe nellað beorᵹan. a 1023 Ibid. 178 Se ðe for his prydan gode nele hyran. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 7 Ne we ne beoð iboren for to habbene nane prudu ne forðe nane oðre rencas. Ibid. 61 Þe angles of heouene uolle for heore prude in to helle. c 1200 Vices & Virt. 89 Of modinesse and priede. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 47/16 And pruyte he louede lest. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1252 Such pruyd hym hath ynome [v.rr. a 1400 pruyd, prude]. c 1300 Beket 1928 Forto..alegge his prute [v.r. pruyte]. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. Prol. 23 Summe putten hem to pruide. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 113 For his pride [MS. γ pruyde]. Ibid. 213 Grete boost of pryde [MS. γ pruyte]. Ibid. VII. 263 Pride of herte [MS. γ prute]. c 1400 Rom. Rose 3723 Devoyde of pruyde she was. |
(β) (Kentish) 2–4 prede.
| a 1175 Cott. Hom. 221 Þe ham ȝearcod was fer hare prede. c 1250 O. Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 33 Þurch senne, þurch prede oþer þurch an-vie. 1340 Ayenb. 21 Þe þridde boȝ of prede is arrogance. |
(γ) (midl. and north.) 3– pride (3–6 prid, 4–5 priyd, 4–6 pryde, 4–7 pryd, 5 pryte, 6 pried).
| c 1300 Cursor M. 23751 (Edin.) Þe warlaw, swernes, wreþe, and prid [other MSS. pride]. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 280 Priue pride in pes es nettille in herbere. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 179 For bobaunce & bost & bolnande priyde. Ibid. 1450 Wyth bost & wyth pryde. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxvii. (Machor) 1048 Thru priyd & awaris gredy. Ibid. xxx. (Theodera) 215 Na ogart na pryd is þe with-in. 1375 Barbour Bruce (MS. 1487) i. 408 The King Eduuard, with mekill prid. c 1425 Pryd [see B. 5]. 15.. Sir A. Barton in Surtees Misc. (1888) 68 She is dearelye deighte, and of mickell pried. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. v. 284 Thair pryd sa now was dantount. |
B. Signification. The quality of being proud. I. 1. a. A high or overweening opinion of one's own qualities, attainments, or estate, which gives rise to a feeling and attitude of superiority over and contempt for others; inordinate self-esteem.
Reckoned the first of the ‘seven deadly sins’: see deadly 5.
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 220 Of ydelum ᵹylpe bið acenned pryte and æbiliᵹnys. a 1050 Instit. Polity c. 10 note in Thorpe Anc. Laws II. 318 Ne ᵹerisað heom prita ne idele rænca. a 1225 Ancr. R. 52 Lucifer..leop into prude, & bicom of engel atelich deouel. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 3363 Þir er þa hede syns þat er dedely; Pride, hatreden, and envy [etc.]. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 101 By stynkynge pryde holdyng ous self worþyer to God þan oþer trewe men. 1382 ― Mark vii. 22 Fro withynne, of the herte of men comen forth yuele thouȝtis..pride, folye. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 413/1 Pryde, superbia, fastus, elacio, ambicio. c 1530 Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814) 96 Blessed be God! pryde alwayes ouerthroweth his maister. 1650 Jer. Taylor Holy Living ii. iv. iii. ¶8 Spiritual pride is very dangerous,..because it so frequently creeps upon the spirit of holy persons. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 809 Vain hopes, vain aimes, inordinate desires Blown up with high conceits ingendring pride. 1783 Blair Lect. I. x. 197 Pride makes us esteem ourselves; Vanity makes us desire the esteem of others. It is just to say, as Dean Swift has done, that a man is too proud to be vain. 1837 Sir W. Hamilton Metaph. xlvi. (1870) II. 519 Pride, or the overweening sentiment of our own worth. 1872 Darwin Emotions xi. 264 A peacock or a turkey-cock strutting about with puffed-up feathers, is sometimes said to be an emblem of pride. |
b. in plural. rare.
| c 1000 in Sax. Leechd. III. 428 Mid ofermettum afylled ne mid woruld-prydum, ne mid nyðum. 1609 Bible (Douay) 2 Esdras xv. 18 Because of their prides the citie shal be trubled. 1878 Ruskin Lett. to Faunthorpe (1895) I. 13 My selfishnesses, prides, insolences, failures. |
c. with specification of the cause or subject of pride. (Often passing into 3 or 4.)
| [1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) I. 189 Pride..may be called a habit of dwelling upon the thought of any supposed excellences or advantages men believe themselves possessed of; as well power, birth, wealth, strength of body, or beauty of person as endowments of the mind.] 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian i, His pride of birth was equal to either. 1827 Pollok Course T. ix. 723 Pride of rank And office, thawed into paternal love. 1879 Farrar St. Paul (1883) 133 The pride of system, the pride of nature, the rank pride of the self-styled theologian, the exclusive national Pharisaic pride in which he had been trained—forbade him to examine seriously whether he might not after all be in the wrong. |
d. Personified, esp. as the first of the seven deadly sins.
| c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 621 Pryde was the furst þat next hym roode, God woote, On a roryng lyon. 1606 Dekker Sev. Sinnes ii. (Arb.) 22 Because Pride is the Queene of Sinnes, thou hast chosen her to be thy Concubine. 1870 Longfellow Tales Wayside Inn ii. Bell of Atri, Pride goeth forth on horseback grand and gay, But cometh back on foot, and begs its way. |
e. In various proverbs.
| 1382 Wyclif Prov. xvi. 18 Pride goth befor contricioun; an befor falling the spirit shal ben enhauncid. c 1425 MS. Digby 230 lf. 223 b, Pees makith Plente Plente makith Pride Pride makith Plee Plee makith Pouert Pouert makith Pees. c 1440 Jacob's Well 70 Pride goth beforn, & schame folwyth after. 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1874) II. 159 For it hath be sene is sene, and euer shall That first or last foule pryde wyll haue a fall. 1646 J. Whitaker Uzziah 26 That pride will have a fall, is from common experience grown proverbiall. 1784 Johnson Let. 2 Aug. in Boswell, I am now reduced to think..of the weather. Pride must have a fall. |
2. The exhibition of this quality in attitude, bearing, conduct, or treatment of others; arrogance; haughtiness.
| c 1205 Lay. 19409 Bruttes hafden muchel mode & vnimete prute. a 1300 Cursor M. 6224 He [pharaon] went wit mikel prid and bost. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 6222 Þey preied hym [Constantine] he wolde make defens, & abate þe pruyde of Maxens. 1483 Cath. Angl. 291/1 A Pryde, arrogancia. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. i. i. 33 Since first he..chasticed with Armes Our Enemies pride. 1601 ― Twel. N. iii. i. 163, I loue thee so, that maugre all thy pride, Nor wit, nor reason, can my passion hide. 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 327 Pride in their port, defiance in their eye, I see the lords of human kind pass by. 1859 Tennyson Geraint & Enid 195 Doubling all his master's vice of pride. |
3. a. A consciousness or feeling of what is befitting or due to oneself or one's position, which prevents a person from doing what he considers to be beneath him or unworthy of him; esp. as a good quality, legitimate, ‘honest’, or ‘proper pride’, self-respect; also as a mistaken or misapplied feeling, ‘false pride’.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 3393 Vor þe brutons nolde uor prute after þe erl do, Vor he nas noȝt king & þeruore þe worse hom com to. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 251 He, which before writing unto the King, refused in his letters for pride to call him his Lord. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 527 But he his wonted pride Soon recollecting, with high words..dispel'd their fears. 1736 Gray Statius i. 25 These conscious shame withheld, and pride of noble line. 1769 Junius Lett. ii. (1820) 13 He was trained..to the truest and noblest sort of pride, that of never doing or suffering a mean action. 1802 Wordsw. Resolution & Indep. vii, I thought of Chatterton, the marvellous Boy, The sleepless Soul that perished in his pride. 1836 W. Irving Astoria II. 304 This ludicrous affair excited the mirth of the bolder spirits,..and roused the pride of the wavering. 1855 J. R. Leifchild Cornwall Mines 296 A man of considerable scientific attainments, who, I believe, has no false pride about him, and who will rejoice to find that his example may be influential to others. 1880 Dixon Windsor III. viii. 74 His pride of virtue was as lofty as his pride of birth. |
b. Phr. pride and prejudice; occas. prejudice and pride. Cf. prejudice n. 3.
| 1610 J. Hall Sixt Decade of Epistles v. 42 Lay downe first, all pride and preiudice, and I cannot fear you. 1647 J. Taylor Liberty of Prophesying xii. 185 Epiphanius makes pride to be the onely cause of heresies..Pride and Prejudice cause them all, the one criminally, the other innocently. 1650 ― Holy Living iv. 323 There is in it [sc. anger] envy and sorrow, fear and scorn, pride and prejudice, [etc.]. 1758 Idler 13 May 41/2 The prejudices and pride of man. 1758 C. Lennox Henrietta II. 48 The triumph of virtue over pride and prejudice. 1769 H. Brooke Fool of Quality IV. 292 Reason, and the workings of nature had begun to get the better of pride, and prejudice, in the peer. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia V. x. x. 379 The whole of this unfortunate business..has been the result of Pride and Prejudice. 1782 Cowper Hope in Poems I. 170 Now truth perform thine office, waft aside The curtain drawn by prejudice and pride. 1796 R. Bage Hermsprong I. xxxi. 204 But the tender interest they had in each other was torn asunder by pride and prejudice; and this pride and this prejudice, she feared, had been infused into the tender mind of Miss Campinet. 1813 Jane Austen (title) Pride and prejudice. |
4. A feeling of elation, pleasure, or high satisfaction derived from some action or possession; esp. in to take a pride (in, † to do something, etc.).
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. ii. 7 Men of all sorts take a pride to gird at mee. 1603 ― Meas. for M. ii. iv. 10 My Grauitie Wherein..I take pride. 1666 Dryden Ann. Mirab. cxvi, To rescue one such friend he took more pride, Than to destroy whole thousands of such foes. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 156 Her parental pride seems to overpower every other appetite. 1857 Ruskin Pol. Econ. Art i. 13 You will see the good housewife taking pride in her pretty table cloth, and her glittering shelves. 1867 M. E. Herbert Cradle L. viii. 225 Achill Aga..produced, with natural pride and pleasure, the watch and pistols given him by the Prince of Wales. |
5. a. That of which any person or body of persons is proud; that which causes a feeling of pride in those to whom it belongs; hence, the flower, the best, of a class, country, etc.
| 1382 Wyclif Ezek. xxiv. 21 Y shal defoule my seyntuarie, the pryde of ȝour empyre, and desyrable thing of ȝour eyen. c 1425 Eng. Conq. Irel. 32 Her þe pryd of waterford felle; her all hys myght went to noght. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, i. ii. 112 O Noble English, that could entertaine With halfe their Forces, the full pride of France. 1611 Bible Job xli. 15 His [leviathan's] scales are his pride. a 1721 Prior Garland i, The pride of every grove I chose,..To deck my charming Cloe's hair. 1742 Gray Propertius ii. i. 77 Love and the Fair were of his life the Pride. 1770 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 55 A bold peasantry, their country's pride. 1813 Scott Rokeby iii. xv, See yon pale stripling! when a boy, A mother's pride, a father's joy! |
b. In names of plants: pride of Barbadoes (see Barbados pride); pride-of-California, a perennial wild pea with pink or violet flowers, Lathyrus splendens, native to California; pride of China, pride of India, a tree, the azedarac; = margosa, neem; pride of Columbia, an American species of Phlox, P. speciosa; pride of London = London pride; pride of Ohio, the American cowslip, Dodecatheon Meadia.
| 1629 Parkinson Paradisus 321 Spotted sweet Williams or pride of London. 1683, 1688 [see London pride]. 1756 P. Browne Jamaica 225 Barbadoes Pride... It grows wild in many parts of Liguanea, and makes a beautiful show when in bloom. 1785 G. Washington Diary 13 June (1925) II. 383 Next 3 rows of the Seed of the Pride of China. 1803 J. Davis Trav. U.S.A. 79 The mocking-bird..was warbling, close to my window, from a tree called by some the Pride of India. 1834 J. J. Audubon Ornith. Biogr. II. 191 They..feed voraciously on..the berries of the pride of India. 1835 J. H. Ingraham South-West II. 101 The ‘pride of China’,—the universal shade-tree in the south-west. 1842 Dunglison Med. Lex., Pride of China,..p. of India, Melia azedarach. 1849 Lyell 2nd Visit U.S. (1850) II. 60 Before the house stood a row of Pride-of-India trees. 1856 Olmsted Slave States 416 A broad avenue, planted with Pride-of-China trees. 1893 Harper's Mag. Apr. 756/2 This causeway broadened into a sandy street under huge pride-of-India trees, whose branches met overhead. 1895 ‘F. Franceschi’ Santa Barbara Exotic Flora 64 Lathyrus Splendens, appropriately called ‘the pride of California’,..has made its appearance in our gardens quite lately. 1949 Bull. Hist. & Philos. Soc. Ohio VII. 71 A tall conical envelope of straw..protected the Pride of China, a tree brought from New Orleans. 1970 W. Smith Gold Mine xxvii. 63 The moonlight came in through the window, playing shadow pictures through the branches of the Pride of India tree onto the wall. 1976 Hortus Third (L. H. Bailey Hortorium) 638/2 Lathyrus{ddd}splendens Kellogg. Pride-of-California{ddd}somewhat shrubby. |
II. 6. a. Magnificence, splendour; pomp, ostentation, display. poet. and rhet.
| c 1205 Lay. 14292 He heo lette scruden mid vnimete prude. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 9898 Þe sixte day of Iul he deide and mid gret onour & prute At founte ebraud he was ibured. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 4078 For Theman dyed in that stede And beryed he was with mochel pride. a 1450 Le Morte Arth. 572 They reseyved hym with grete pride, A Riche soper there was dight. c 1460 How Gd. Wif thaught hir Doughter 95 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 186 Ouere done pride makythe nakid syde. 1604 Shakes. Oth. iii. iii. 354 Oh fare⁓well..all Qualitie, Pride, Pompe, and Circumstance of glorious Warre. 1732 Pope Ess. Man ii. 44 Trace Science then, with Modesty thy guide; First strip off all her equipage of Pride. 1876 Morris Sigurd iv. 369 Folk looked on his rich adornment, on King Atli's pride they gazed. |
† b. Love of display or ostentation. Obs.
| c 1460 How Gd. Wif thaught hir Doughter 97 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 186 Mekille schame ben wymmen worthi,..That bryngyn her lordis in mischef for here mekille pride. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 864 He..leaues it [gold] to be maistred by his yong: Who in their pride do presently abuse it. 1680 Otway Orphan i. ii. 157 Wealth beyond what Woman's Pride could waste. |
c. pride of life, pride of the world, worldly pride or ostentation, vainglory. arch.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1129 Al þat in world men tel can, Es outher yhernyng of þe flesshe of man, Or yhernyng of eghe, þ at may luke, Or pride of lyfe, als says þe buke. 1382 Wyclif 1 John ii. 16 Coueytise of flesch, and coueytise of iȝen, and pride of lijf [Vulg. superbia vitæ, Gr. ἡ ἀλαζονεία τοῦ βίου. So 1611; R.V. vainglory of life]. 1729 Law Serious C. iv. (1732) 49 It is not left to the rich to gratify their passions in the indulgencies and pride of life. Ibid. vi. 82 In conforming to those passions and pride of the world. |
d. Her. in his pride: applied to a peacock when represented with the tail expanded and the wings drooping. See also peacock n. 1 c.
| 1530 in Ancestor xi. (1904) 181 Banester beryth to his crest a pecoke in his pryde. 1721 Strype Eccl. Mem. II. ii. xii. 339 His standard [was] of yellow and blue, with a peacock in pride gold, and pensils with a peacock. 1766 Porny Heraldry Dict. s.v., Peacocks are said to be in their pride when they extend their tails into a circle, and drop their wings. 1864 Boutell Her. Hist. & Pop. xvii. §2 (ed. 3) 272. |
7. Magnificent, splendid, or ostentatious adornment or ornamentation. arch.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 21050 He wroght O grauel bi þe se side Stanes precius o pride. 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 6382 He ȝaf him armes and riche stede, And diȝt him þer alle wiþ prede. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 45 The Sadles were of such a Pride,..So riche syh sche nevere non. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. i. 7 Loftie trees, yclad with sommers pride. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. lxxvi, Why is my verse so barren of new pride? So far from variation or quicke change? 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 15 Their armes are loaden with pride, such make the Iron shackles, beades, twigges of trees and brasse Rings. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 663 A Snake..renew'd in all the speckl'd Pride Of pompous Youth. 1725 Pope Odyss. viii. 439 Whose ivory sheath, inwrought with curious pride, Adds graceful terror to the wearer's side. 1767 Sir W. Jones Sev. Fountains Poems (1777) 33 Deck'd with fresh garlands, like a rural bride, And with the crimson streamer's waving pride. |
† 8. a. Exalted or proud position or estate. Obs.
| c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 46 For ther were, In that on side, Sixti kynges and dukes of pride. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xxvii. (Percy Soc.) 118 Beholdynge Mars how wonderly he stode, On a whele top with a lady of pryde Haunced aboute. 1729 Law Serious C. xi. (1732) 167 The man of pride has a thousand wants. |
† b. Honour, glory. Obs.
| 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 970 Þer-fore, on euerich a side, On him was leyd al þe pride. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. vi. 57 If thou wilt fight, fight by thy Fathers side, And commendable prou'd, let's dye in pride. |
9. a. The best, highest, most excellent or flourishing state or condition; the prime; the flower.
| c 1420 Avow. Arth. lv, Hertis conne thay home bring, And buckes of pride. c 1590 Marlowe Faust. xiii. 31 Since we have seen the pride of Nature's works..Let us depart. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. vii. 16 There di'de My Icarus, my Blossome, in his pride. 1611 Sir W. Mure Misc. Poems i. 54 Lyk to a blooming meadou Quhose pryd doth schort remaine. 1615 W. Lawson Country Housew. Gard. (1626) 19 If you remoue them in the pride of sap. 1674 Playford Skill Mus. i. 65 When as May was in her pride. 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 188/1 Pride of Grease is full Fat and in good liking. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour (1861) II. 58/2 Sometimes, in the pride of the season, a bird-catcher engages a costermonger's poney or donkey cart. 1904 Daily Chron. 24 May 3/1 But deer are already almost in ‘pride of grease’. |
† b. Exuberance. Obs.
| 1603 Owen Pembrokeshire viii. (1892) 62 One Cropp of oates pulleth downe the pride of good grounde verye lowe. 1613 Markham Eng. Husbandm. i. v. 24 The ground hauing his pride abated in the first croppe. |
10. Mettle or spirit in a horse.
| 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 420 The colt that's backt and burthend being yong, Loseth his pride, and neuer waxeth strong. 1596 ― 1 Hen. IV, iv. iii. 22 Your Vnckle Worcesters Horse came but to day, And now their pride and mettal is asleepe. 1864 N. & Q. 3rd Ser. VI. 495/1 A little pride is good even in a wild horse. |
† 11. Sexual desire, ‘heat’; esp. in female animals.
| 1486 Bk. St. Albans E v, The noyes of theyes beestys thus ye shall call For pride of theyre make thay vsen hit all. 1590 Cokaine Treat. Hunting B iij b, Your man must be very carefull in the time of the Braches pride. 1604 Shakes. Oth. iii. iii. 404 As salt as Wolues in pride. |
12. A group of lions forming a social unit.
| 1486 Bk. St. Albans F vi, A Pride of Lionys. |
| 1929 Times 30 Sept. 12/6 Owing to the dry weather a pride of 16 lions, including females and cubs, concentrated on the Kajiado road..less than 20 miles from Nairobi. 1940 V. Pohl Bushveld Adventures x. 218 Presently we distinguished outlines of several other forms beyond the one we now knew to be the leader of the pride. 1964 C. Willock Enormous Zoo v. 75 We found the pug-marks of a pride of lion. 1975 Sci. Amer. May 54/2 The social unit of the lion—the pride—is a long-lasting entity. Ibid. 55 (caption) A typical pride usually includes two or three adult males, from five to ten adult females and a number of cubs. |
13. Falconry. pride of place: see place n. 8 c.
14. pride of the morning, a widely used rural phrase for a morning shower which promises or is expected to usher in a fine day.
| 1854 in N. & Q. 1st Ser. X. 360 (fr. Cornwall). 1867 Ibid. 3rd Ser. XI. 529 (fr. Kent). 1877 Ibid. 5th Ser. VIII. 129 (fr. Yorksh.). Ibid. 275 (fr. Lancash., Shropsh., Berks.). |
15. Comb.: objective, as pride-inspiring adj.; instrumental as pride-blind, pride-blinded, pride-bloated, pride-inflamed, pride-ridden, pride-sick, pride-swollen adjs.; pride-money: see quot. 1632.
| 1598 Marston Scourge of Villanie x. sig. H3, These pride-swolne dayes. 1599 Broughton's Let. xii. 43 A..brainsicke, pride-swolne companion. 1632 Brome Court Beggar i. i. Wks. 1873 I. 193, 1 P. For every wearer of his first o' th' fashion To pay a groat to th' King... Gab. And what may this pride money amount unto Per annum, can you guesse? 1712 M. Henry Popery a Spir. Tyranny Wks. 1853 II. 350/1 Your glory may well be turned into shame if you be pride-ridden, and passion-ridden, and lust-ridden. 1818 Milman Samor 12 Like the pride-drunken Babylonian king. 1839 Bailey Festus xxxi. (1852) 502 Then she elate, and with pride-blinded soul The towering seat..assumed. a 1846 B. R. Haydon Autobiogr. (1927) i. 10 His large, red, pride-swollen, big-featured face. 1884 J. Tait Mind in Matter (1892) 332 A pride-inspiring style of Christianity, leading to a dangerous consciousness of power. |
▪ II. pride, n.2 local.
(praɪd)
[Etymology obscure. Perh. abbreviated from obs. lamprid (17th c.: see lampret; orig. stressed lamˈprid) = med.L. lamprēda, lamprīda, lamprey.]
The fresh-water or river lamprey; also called sand-pride.
| a 1490 Botoner Itin. (1778) 291 Homines possunt piscare..de prides ad similitudinem lampreys. 1538 Elyot Dict. Additions, Lumbrici, lytell fyshes taken in small riuers whyche are lyke to lampurnes,..callyd in Wylteshire prides. 1661 Walton Angler xiii. (ed. 3) 192 A very little Lamprey, which some call a Pride.., may..be found many of them in the River Thames. 1677 Plot Oxfordsh. 183 We have a sort in the River Isis, that we call here a Pride, of the long cartilagineous smooth Kind. a 1705 Ray Syn. Method. Piscium (1713) 35 A Lampern, Pride of the Isis. 1886 Seeley Fresh-water Fishes Europe xii. 427 Petromyzon branchialis (Linnæus),..is locally known as the Pride. |
b. Comb.; pride-net. (See also pride-gavel.)
| a 1300 Liber Custum. (Rolls) I. 117 Ilia un autre manere de reies, qe len apele ‘pridnet’. 1584 in R. Griffiths Ess. Conserv. Thames (1746) 63 A pride Net, not to be occupied but by Special Licence of the Water-Bailiff, and not above a Yard in Length. |
▪ III. † pride, n.3 Obs. rare.
[Origin and sense uncertain.]
? The spleen of a deer. (So taken by editor of S.T.S. ed.)
| 13.. Sir Tristr. 475 Tristrem schare þe brest, Þe tong sat next þe pride. |
▪ IV. pride, v.
(praɪd)
Forms: 3 south. prude (ü); 4 Kentish prede (pa. tense prette); 4– pride (5 north. prid, 5–7 pryde, 6 Sc. pryd).
[Early ME. prüden, prīden, f. prüde pride n.1; cf. ON. pr{yacu}ða to adorn, f. pr{yacu}ði an ornament. The pa. tense prette in Ayenbite perh. points to a form prēte beside prēde: cf. pride n.1]
† 1. trans. To ornament or adorn magnificently or proudly. Obs.
| a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1460 Se prudeliche ischrud & iprud [v.r. iprudd] ba wið pel & wið purpre. a 1661 B. Holyday Juvenal (1673) 22 One, with his crisping pinne, his eye⁓brows dies With black: paint too prides-up his lustful eyes. |
† 2. intr. To be or become proud. Also to pride it.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 232 note, An is, {thbar}et we ne pruden. a 1340 Hampole Psalter ix. 23 Whils þe wickid prides, kyndeld is þe pore. 1382 Wyclif Ecclus. x. 9 What pridist thou, erthe and asken? [1388 What art thou proude?] c 1440 Promp. Parv. 413/1 Prydyn, or wax prowde, superbio. 1656 S. H. Gold. Law 103 If then thou..seest more, or beyond me, pride it not, nor contemn me. a 1670 Hacket Abp. Williams ii. (1692) 203 Neither were the vain-glorious content to pride it upon Success. 1802 H. Martin Helen of Glenross IV. 50, I pride to feel [etc.]. |
3. trans. To make proud, fill with pride; † to display proudly (quot. 1667). Chiefly in pass., to be made or become proud.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter ii. 11 If ȝe doe wele as ȝe aghe at doe, seruys til god in dred that ȝe be noght pridid. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iv. xx. (1869) 186 Þat þe seruantes of Adonai ben so pryded ayens us. a 1619 M. Fotherby Atheom. ii. vii. §4 (1622) 265 Those, that are prided with prosperous Fortune. 1639 Earl of Barrymore in Lismore Papers Ser. ii. (1888) IV. 39 Titles and commissions..with which they are soe pryded vpp. 1667 Waterhouse Fire Lond. 159 King Sesostris..forgot himself much, when he caused four captive kings to draw his chariot..when he prided his inconstant Fortune, in the desport of their Vassalage. 1785 Burns Holy Fair xi, Nae wonder that it pride him! 1884 J. Sharman Hist. Swearing 42 A people who, perhaps unjustly, have been prided for the choiceness of their swearing. |
4. a. refl. To make or show oneself proud; to take pride, take credit to oneself, congratulate oneself; to plume oneself. Const. on, upon, in († for, of, about, with), that.
| a 1275 Prov. ælfred 686 in O.E. Misc. 138 Þe luttele mon..Bute he mote himseluen pruden, he wole maken fule luden. 1340 Ayenb. 258 Onder þe uayre robes is þe zaule dyad be zenne, and nameliche ine þan þet ham gledyeþ and predeþ [F. orgoillissent]. Yef þe pokoc him prette [F. orgueillist, v.r. orgueillissoit] uor his uayre tayle, and þe coc uor his kombe, hit ne is no wonder... Ac man oþer wyfman..he ne ssel him naȝt prede [F. orgueillir]. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶385 For to pride hym in his strengthe of body it is an heigh folye. Ibid. ¶387 Eek for to pride hym of his gentrie is a ful greet folie. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1063 Prydë þe noght for no prosperitee. 1535 Coverdale Ecclus. x. 9 What prydest thou the, o thou earth and aszshes? 1674 Boyle Excell. Theol. ii. ii. 138 The variety of inventions..make us pride ourselves about things, that [etc.]. 1691 tr. Emilianne's Frauds Rom. Monks (ed. 3) 361, I know..Reason, why the Priests should pride themselves with this. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) III. 108 At Mantua, where they pride themselves not a little on account of their city being the birthplace of that great poet. 1806 Med. Jrnl. XV. 437, I prided myself that my hands had never been guilty of communicating that disease. 1807–8 W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 35 We pride ourselves upon giving satisfaction in every department of our paper. a 1849 H. Coleridge Ess. (1851) II. 146 The impotence of that which some women pride themselves in. 1850 D. M. Craik Olive I. v. 71 How Elspie then prided herself for the continual tutoring which had made the image..an image of love. 1882 A. W. Ward Dickens iv. 91 He prided himself on his punctuality. |
b. intr. in same sense. Now rare.
| c 1470 Henry Wallace xi. 1271 Quha pridys tharin, that laubour is in waist. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) II. 17 [They] prydit everie ane of thame quho sould be maist gallzeart in thair clething. 1648 tr. Senault's Paraphr. Job 326 Hee walkes publikely with lost men, and priding in his sinne. 1659 Hoole Comenius' Vis. World (1672) 43 The gay Peacock prideth in his feathers..pennis superbit. 1747 Richardson Clarissa (1749) I. xxx. 193 Distinction or quality may be prided in by those to whom distinction or quality are a new thing. 1897 Anna M. Wilson Days Mahommad 39 My brother, I pride in your courage. |
Hence ˈprided ppl. a., filled with pride.
| [a 1340: see 3 above.] c 1400 Gower Addr. Hen. IV, in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 11 Whan humble pacience is prided. 1883 A. S. Hardy But yet Woman 12 Many a stouter heart, whose prided stoicism is often only a strait-jacket. |