glory

views updated May 11 2018

glo·ry / ˈglôrē/ • n. (pl. -ries) 1. high renown or honor won by notable achievements: to fight and die for the glory of one's nation. ∎  praise, worship, and thanksgiving offered to God.2. magnificence; great beauty: the train has been restored to all its former glory. ∎  (often glories) a thing that is beautiful or distinctive; a special cause for pride, respect, or delight: the glories of Paris. ∎  the splendor and bliss of heaven: with the saints in glory.3. a luminous ring or halo, esp. as depicted around the head of Jesus Christ or a saint.• v. [intr.] (glory in) take great pride or pleasure in: they were individuals who gloried in their independence. ∎  exult in unpleasantly or boastfully: readers tended to defend their paper or even to glory in its bias.PHRASES: glory be! expressing enthusiastic piety. ∎ inf. used as an exclamation of surprise or delight.go to glory die; be destroyed.in one's glory inf. in a state of extreme joy or exaltation.

glory

views updated May 17 2018

glory †boastful spirit; resplendent beauty; splendour (in religious lang., of God, etc.) XIII; exalted praise or honour XIV; halo, nimbus XVII. — OF. (AN.) glorie (mod. gloire) — L. glōria.
So glory vb. exult, †boast. XIV. — L. gloriārī, f. glōria. glorify XIV. — (O)F. — ecclL. glorious XIII. — AN. glori(o)us, OF. glorieux — L. glōriōsus.

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