esteem
verbEtymology First at end of 16th century; borrowed from Middle French estimer, borrowed from Latin aestimō. See estimate and aim, an older word, partly a doublet.
1
To set a high value on; to regard with respect or reverence.
- Will he esteem thy riches?1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 36:19:
- You talk kindlier: we esteem you for it.1847, Alfred Tennyson, “(please specify the page number, or |part=Prologue, I to VII, or conclusion)”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:
2
To regard something as valuable; to prize.
3
To look upon something in a particular way.
- Then he forsook God, which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 32:15:
- Thou shouldest (gentle reader) esteem his censure and authority to be of the more weighty credence.1535, Edmund Bonner, De vera obedientia by Stephen Gardiner (Preface)
2 more examples
- Famous men, whose scientific attainments were esteemed hardly less than supernatural.1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 9, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:
- And greatly do I respect the solid character, — a blockhead, thou wilt say; yes, but a well-conditioned blockhead, and the best-conditioned, — who esteems all ‘Customs once solemnly acknowledged’ to be ultimate, divine, and the rule for a man to walk by, nothing doubting, not inquiring farther.1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “ch. V, The English”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book III (The Modern Worker):
4
Dated To judge; to estimate; to appraise
- The Earth, which I esteem unable to reflect the rays of the Sun.
- Derived terms
- disesteem, esteemable, esteemer, estimable, misesteem, overesteem, self-esteem