pride - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English pryde, pride, from Old English prȳde, prȳte (“pride”) (compare Old Norse prýði (“bravery, pomp”)), derivative of Old English prūd (“proud”). More at proud. The verb derives from the noun, at least since the 12th century.

pride (countable and uncountable, plural prides)

  1. The quality or state of being proud.
    1. A sense of one's own worth; reasonable self-esteem and satisfaction (in oneself, in one's work, one's family, etc).
      He swelled with pride as he held the trophy. His family watched with pride from the bleachers.
      He takes great pride in his work.
      He had pride of ownership in his department.
      • 1766, Oliver Goldsmith, chapter 3, in The Vicar of Wakefield:
        My chief attention therefore was now to bring down the pride of my family to their circumstances; for I well knew that aspiring beggary is wretchedness itself.
    2. An unreasonable overestimation of one's own superiority in terms of talents, or looks, wealth, importance, etc., which comes across as being haughty, lofty, and often showing contempt of others; exaggerated self-worth.
  2. Proud or disdainful behavior or treatment that reflects such an attitude (of haughtiness); arrogance.
    Synonyms: disdain, hubris
    • 1912, G. K. Chesterton, Introduction to Aesop's Fables:
      Pride goeth before the fall.
  3. Something or someone of which one is proud; that which is the source of self-congratulation and self-esteem (whether reasonable or arrogant), for example
    Her long ginger hair is her pride.
    The 18th century table is the pride of Mark's house/
    My children's accomplishments are my pride.
  4. Show; ostentation; glory.
  5. Highest level or rank; (figurative) elevation reached; loftiness or glory.
  6. Consciousness of power; fullness of animal spirits; mettle; wantonness.
  7. (archaic) Lust or heat; sexual desire (especially in a female animal)
  8. (zoology, collective) A company of lions or other large felines.
    A pride of lions often consists of a dominant male, his harem and their offspring, but young adult males 'leave home' to roam about as bachelors pride until they are able to seize/establish a family pride of their own.
  9. Alternative letter-case form of Pride (“festival for LGBT people”).

quality or state of being proud; inordinate self-esteem; an unreasonable conceit of one's own superiority in talents, beauty, wealth, rank etc.

sense of one's own worth, and abhorrence of what is beneath or unworthy of one

proud or disdainful behavior or treatment; insolence or arrogance of demeanor; haughty bearing and conduct

show; ostentation; glory

highest pitch; elevation reached; loftiness; prime; glory

consciousness of power; fullness of animal spirits; mettle; wantonness

lust; sexual desire; especially, an excitement of sexual appetite in a female beast

company of lions

Translations to be checked

pride (third-person singular simple present prides, present participle priding, simple past and past participle prided)

  1. (reflexive) To take or experience pride in something; to be proud of it.
    I pride myself on being a good judge of character.
    • 1820, Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow:
      Ichabod prided himself upon his dancing as much as upon his vocal powers. Not a limb, not a fibre about him was idle; and to have seen his loosely hung frame in full motion and clattering about the room you would have thought Saint Vitus himself, that blessed patron of the dance, was figuring before you in person.
    • 2021 December 29, Paul Stephen, “Rail's accident investigators”, in RAIL, number 947, page 32:
      RAIB prides itself on being able to send any of its inspectors to site with sufficient investigative skills and technical knowledge to gather evidence for any type of accident.

take or experience pride in something

From Middle English pryde, from Middle Low German lampride, from Medieval Latin lampreda.

pride (uncountable)

  1. (zoology) The small European lamprey species Petromyzon branchialis.
    Synonyms: prid, sandpiper

small European lamprey (Petromyzon branchialis)

pride

  1. alternative form of pryde (“proudness”)

pride

  1. alternative form of pryden