grateful
adjUK /ˈɡɹeɪtf(ʊ)l/ · US /ˈɡɹeɪtf(ə)l/
Etymology From grate (“(obsolete) serving to gratify, agreeable, pleasing; grateful, thankful”) + -ful (suffix forming adjectives with the sense of tending to have or thoroughly having a quality). Grate is a learned borrowing from Latin grātus (“agreeable, pleasing; beloved, dear; grateful, thankful”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH- (“to express approval, praise; to elevate”).
1
Of a person or their actions, feelings, etc.: expressing gratitude or appreciation; appreciative, thankful.
- I’m grateful that you helped me out.
- I cannot giue thee leſſe to be cal'd gratefull: / Thou thoughtſt to helpe me, and ſuch thankes I giue, / As one neere death to thoſe that vviſh him liue: […]c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 236, column 1:
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- They ſat them dovvn, and after no more toil / Of thir ſvveet Gardning labour then ſuffic'd / To recommend coole Zephyr, and made eaſe / More eaſie, vvholſom thirſt and appetite / More grateful, to thir Supper Fruits they fell, / Nectarine Fruits vvhich the compliant boughes / Yeilded them, ſide-long as they ſat recline / On the ſoft dovvnie Bank damaskt vvith flours: […]1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC, signature [M4], recto, lines 327–334:
- Ye Nations, vvho the Globe divide, / Ye num'rous Nations ſcatter'd vvide, / To God your grateful Voices raiſe: […]1739, John Wesley, Charles Wesley, “Psalm CXVII”, in Hymns and Sacred Poems, London: […] William Strahan; and sold by James Hutton, […]; and at Mr. Bray’s, […], →OCLC, part II, stanza I, page 139:
- VVhen ſhe and I vvere alone, ſhe took grateful notice of the concluding part of the third Letter; vvhere ſhe is mentioned vvith ſo much tenderneſs, and in a manner ſo vvorthy of the character of the politeſt of men, as vvel reſpecting herſelf as her Sex, […]1753 (indicated as 1754), [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXXIII. Continuation of Lady G.’s Letter to Lady L.”, in The History of Sir Charles Grandison. […], volume IV, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by C. Hitch and L. Hawes, […], →OCLC, page 239:
- [T]he noble secretary had not only been given a choice toast, sung a choice song, and been hailed by the grateful plaudits of all present; but had proceeded in his attempt to fulfil the pledge which he had given at the gate to the very letter, by calling out lustily for a bottle of Geisenheim, lemons, brandy, and a bowl.1827, [Benjamin Disraeli], chapter I, in Vivian Grey, volume IV, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book VI, page 22:
2
Archaic Of a thing or (obsolete) person: pleasing to the mind or senses; agreeable, pleasant, welcome.
- [T]his is a guift / Very gratefull, I am ſure of it, to expreſſe / The like kindneſſe my ſelfe, that haue beene / More kindely beholding to you then any: […]c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 215, column 1:
- Chaſt, nothing better; vvanton, nothing vvorſe, / The grate-fulſt Bleſsing, or the greateſt Curſe.1609, Tho[mas] Heywood, “Canto. 9.”, in Troia Britanica: Or, Great Britaines Troy. […], London: […] W[illiam] Iaggard, →OCLC, stanza 2, page 197:
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- [T]he aſſvvagement of his [a wise man's] diſcontent conſiſts in tvvo things, formerly preſcribed as remedies againſt corporeall pain; viz. Diverſion of his thoughts from his loſſe, or the cause of it; and an application of them to thoſe things, vvhich he knovves to be gratefull and pleaſant to his mind.1659–1660, Thomas Stanley, “[The Doctrine of Epicurus.] Chap[ter] XXIII. Of Fortitude, against Discontent of Mind.”, in The History of Philosophy, the Third and Last Volume, […], volume III, London: […] Humphrey Moseley, and Thomas Dring, […], →OCLC, 5th part (Containing the Epicurean Sect), 3rd part of philosophy (Ethick, or Morals), page 261:
- [page 178] The Seer, vvhile Zephyrs curl the ſvvelling deep, / Basks on the breezy ſhore, in grateful ſleep, / His oozy limbs. […] [page 180] VVith joy impetuous, to the port I ſpeed: / The vvants of nature vvith repaſt ſuffice, / 'Till night vvith grateful ſhade involv'd the skies, / And ſhed ambroſial devvs.1725, Homer, “Book IV”, in [Elijah Fenton], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC, pages 178 and 180, lines 541–543 and 580–583:
- Then in Oblivion's grateful cup I drovvn / The galling ſneer, the ſupercilious frovvn, / The ſtrange reſerve, the proud affected ſtate / Of upſtart knaves grovvn rich and fools grovvn great.1761, [Charles Churchill], Night. An Epistle to Robert Lloyd. […], London: […] W[illiam] Flexney, […], →OCLC, page 5:
- [W]hen a ſhovver comes to refreſh the earth, then the vvhole multitude [of frogs] are ſeen to quit their retreats, in order to enjoy the grateful humidity.1791, Oliver Goldsmith, “Of the Frog, and Its Varieties”, in An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature. […], new edition, volume VII, London: […] F[rancis] Wingrave, successor to Mr. [John] Nourse, […], →OCLC, page 76:
- Derived terms
- gratefully, gratefulness, ingrateful, overgrateful, pergrateful, ungrateful