▪ I. devout, a. and n.
(dɪˈvaʊt)
Forms: α. 3–5 (6 Sc.) devot, 3–7 (9 arch.) devote, (4 devoste), 6 Sc. devoit, divoit, divot. β. 3– devout, 4–5 devowt(e, 4–6 devoute.
[ME. devot, devout, a. OF. devot, devote (12th c. in Littré), = Pr. devot, Sp. devoto, It. divoto, ad. L. dēvōt-us devoted, given up by vow, pa. pple. of dēvovēre to devote. The close OF. ō became the vowel ou (uː) in ME., whence the modern diphthong ou; but a form in ō, Sc. oi, was also in use: see devote a.]
1. Devoted to divine worship or service; solemn and reverential in religious exercises; pious, religious.
| α a 1225 Ancr. R. 376 Þuruh aromaz, þet beoð swote, is understonden swotnesse of deuot heorte. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 406 Be dep deuote in hol mekenesse. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) viii. 30 Þai er deuote men and ledez pure lyf. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 567 Diuoit he wes with mony almous deid. 1549 Compl. Scot. (1872) 4 The deuot Kyng, Numa pompilius. 1651 [see devote a.]. |
| β 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 369 In chyrche he was deuout ynou. 1382 Wyclif Ex. xxxv. 29 Alle men and wymmen with a deuowt mynde offerden ȝiftis. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 120 Devowte, devotus. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 7 A shorte orison, saide with good devouute herte. c 1511 1st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.) Introd. 31/2 These people be very deuoute. 1530 Palsgr. 310/1 Devoute, holy disposed to praye, deuot. 1636 Sir H. Blount Voy. Levant (1637) 87 All the devouter sort (which are not many) goe to Church, and say their prayers. 1732 Law Serious C. i. (ed. 2) 1 He..is the devout Man who lives no longer to his own will..but to the sole will of God. 1865 M. Arnold Ess. Crit. ix. (1875) 398 The devoutest of your fellow Christians. 1883 Froude Short Stud. IV. ii. ii. 185 Keble was a representative of the devout mind of England. |
† b. gen. Devoted, religiously or reverently attached (to a person or cause). Obs.
| c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 113 God wolle have oure herte devoute to him wiþouten ende. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 6953 To saint cuthbert he was deuoute. 1609 Bible (Douay) Comm. 201 Isaac was..devout to God. 1659 B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 205 Sir Thomas Wentworth..became the most devout friend of the Church. |
2. Of actions and things: Showing or expressing devotion; reverential, religious, devotional.
| α a 1340 Hampole Psalter, Cant. 502 Þe deuot ȝernyngis of his halighis. c 1500 Blowbol's Test. in Halliwell Nugae Poet. 3 He wold syng Foure devoite masses at my biryng. a 1541 Barnes Wks. 318 (R.), To help mee wyth his deuote prayer. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 8 Faithful and devoit prayar. 1625– [see devote a.]. |
| β c 1340 Hampole Prose Tr. 24 Deuoute prayers, feruent desires, and gostely meditacions. 1526 (title), The Pylgrymage of Perfeccyon, a devoute Treatyse in Englysshe. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 78 The devout warre, taken in hand for the reliefe of the poore Christians in Syria. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 863 With uplifted hands, and eyes devout. 1763 John Brown Poetry & Mus. xii. 214 Our parochial Music..is solemn and devout. 1841 Elphinstone Hist. Ind. II. 347 In his writings, he affects the devout style usual to all Mussulmans. |
3. Earnest, sincere, hearty.
| 1828 Webster s.v., You have my devout wishes for your safety. 1880 Mrs. E. Lynn Linton Rebel of Family I. v, The sanctity of caste, in which she..was so devout a believer. |
B. as n.
† 1. A devotee. Obs.
| [c 1440 Gesta Rom. xcii. 419 (Add. MS.) This knyght had a good woman to wife, and a deuoute to oure ladie.] 1616 R. Sheldon Miracles Antichrist 247 (T.) Not..the ordinary followers of Antichrist, but..his special devouts. 1675 tr. Machiavelli's Prince xv. (Rtldg. 1883) 98 One a devout, another an atheist. |
2. That which is devout; the devotional part.
| 1649 Milton Eikon. i. (1851) 344 This is the substance of his first Section, till we come to the devout of it, model'd into the form of a privat Psalter. |
▪ II. † deˈvout, v.
Obs. Variant of devote v.
| 1605 Stow Chron. an. 1603 (R.) Hee shewed himselfe a well deuouted Christian. 1639 Drummond of Hawthornden Libraries Wks. (1711) 223 How much is Florence adebted..to Bessarion..who at his death devouted to it a library. 1651 tr. Bacon's Life & Death 15 A Man peaceable, Contemplative and much devouted to Religion. |