desirous, a.
(dɪˈzaɪərəs)
Also 5 desirouse, -rose, desyrows, dessyrous, -rus, dissyrus, dyssirus, 5–6 desyrous(e, 6 desyreous, -rus, -rowus, desierous, dissirous, 7 desireous.
[a. AFr. desirous = OF. desireus (earlier desidros, desirrus, mod.F. désireux) = Pr. deziros, It. desideroso:—late L. or Rom. dēsīderōs-us, f. stem of dēsīder-āre to desire: see -ous. Orig. with stress on third and first syllable.]
1. Having desire or longing; characterized by or full of desire: wishful; desiring. a. with of; also † to (obs. rare).
| c 1300 K. Alis. 416 Olimpias stont byfore Neptanabus, Of hire neowe love wel desirous. c 1400 Destr. Troy 8003 More dessyrous to the dede, þen I dem can. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. iii. i. 169 A dyscyple desyrouse of lernynge. 1508 Dunbar Goldyn Targe 54 As falcounn swift desyrouse of hir pray. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. iii. 221 They that haue a desirous mind of amendment. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. 4 The Grecians being desirous of learning. 1755 Young Centaur i. Wks. 1757 IV. 125 Man is not only desirous, but ambitious too, of happiness. 1891 Law Reports Weekly Notes 78/2 The lessor was desirous of pulling the house down and building a new one. |
b. with inf.
| c 1374 Chaucer Former Age 59 Ne nembrot desyrous To regne had nat maad his towres hye. c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn vii. 29 Ryght desyrouse to here tydynges of her louer. 1555 Eden Decades 158 Owre men..were desyrous to see the towne. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iv. xlv. 360 He is desirous to save himselfe from death. 1752 Johnson Rambler No. 207 ¶9 We never find ourselves so desirous to finish, as in the latter part of our work. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xvi. 66 Being desirous to learn something of its [the glacier's] general features. |
c. with obj. clause.
| 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iii. i. 83 My Neece is desirous you should enter. 1625 Bacon Ess., Revenge (Arb.) 503 Some..are Desirous the party should know. 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 18 That I, desirous we might recover againe our liberty. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth iii, He averted his face, as if desirous that his emotion should not be read upon his countenance. |
d. simply.
| c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) iii. 1110 To shew desyrows hartes I am full nere. 1535 Coverdale 2 Sam. xxiii. 15 Dauid was desyrous, and sayde: Wolde God y{supt} some man wolde fetch me a drynke of water. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 631 From dance to sweet repast they turn Desirous. |
† 2. Of feelings, actions, etc.: Characterized by, of the nature of, or expressing, desire or longing; sometimes in bad sense, covetous. Obs.
| a 1420 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1403 The desirous talent Ye han to goode. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 272/2 Thou hast brought me into a desyrous affection. 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1570) 178 Alas note well thy desirous vanitie. 1580 Sidney Arcadia (1622) 166 With a desirous sigh. 1652 L. S. People's Liberty ii. 4 The word for desire..implieth a desirous affection. |
† 3. Full of eagerness or spirit; eager, ardent (esp. in deeds of arms). Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 15 Yong, fressh, strong, and in Armes desirous, As any Bacheler of al his hous. 1393 Gower Conf. I. 89 Of armes he was desirous, Chivalerous and amorous. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione iii. xii, Þat þou be not a louer of þiself, but a desirous folower of my wille. c 1470 Henry Wallace ii. 2 In prys of armys desirous and sauage. 1470–85 Malory Arthur iv. iii, A good knyght and ful desyrous in armes. [Modernized reprint of 1634 desirous.] |
† 4. Longing for something lost; regretful. Obs. rare. (Cf. desire n. 3, v. 4.)
| c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) iv. 1077 My swete lorde of þe which desirose I am, and nedes must be. |
† 5. Exciting desire; desirable; pleasant, delectable. Obs.
| 1430 Lydg. Chron. Troy i. viii, The lusty season freshe and desyrous. 1556 in Strype Eccl. Mem. I. App. lxi. 219 Whiche most desirous daye of thy comfortable commynge hasten, deare Lorde. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 96 They make the Woods, and Groves, and Solitary places, places desirous to be in. 1728 Gay Begg. Op. ii. i, Wine inspires us, And fires us..Women and Wine should Life employ. Is there ought else on Earth desirous? [1796 cf. Pegge Anonym. (1809) 434.] |