23 August 2017
deign
[deyn]
verb (used without object)
1. to think fit or in accordance with one’s dignity; condescend:
He would not deign to discuss the matter with us.
verb (used with object)
2. to condescend to give or grant:
He deigned no reply.
3. Obsolete. to condescend to accept.
Origin of deign
Middle English Old French Latin
1250-1300; Middle English deinen < Old French deignier < Latin dignārī to judge worthy, equivalent to dign(us) worthy + -ārī infinitive suffix
Can be confused
deign, dine.
Dictionary.com
Examples from the Web for deign
Contemporary Examples
Should we be grateful for whatever music they deign to release and grade them on a curve because of it?
‘High Hopes’ Review: Bruce Springsteen Lowers the Bar
Andrew Romano
January 6, 2014
Historical Examples
The khan, however, did not deign to interfere in a strife which caused him no trouble.
The Empire of Russia
John S. C. Abbott
Yet deign, white Queen of Beauty, thy fair eyes On our souls’ sacrifice.
Endymion
John Keats
Nor does she deign to look at you until you are back in the city street where you met.
Seductio Ad Absurdum
Emily Hahn
Riviere smiled sadly, but consented to deign to eat a morsel in the porch.
White Lies
Charles Reade
Today’s quote
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
– Henry David Thoreau
On this day
23 August 1305 – Sir William Wallace, leader of Scottish rebellion, executed for high treason in England.
23-24 August 1572 – St Bartholomew’s Day massacre. Part of the French Wars of Religion, the massacre was a undertaken against Huguenot Protestants by Catholics following the assassination of Admiral de Coligny by the Guises (Cardinal of Lorraine and his nephews). Two leading Huguenot princes, Henry of Navarre and his cousin, the Prince of Conde) were spared their lives by converting to Catholicism. French Catholic peasants attacked Protestants during August to October. The exact death toll is unknown and depends on who reports it. Catholics claim it was 2,000. Protestants claim it was 70,000.
23 August 1791 – St Domingue Slave Revolt – commencing 21 August, the slaves of St Domingue (now known as Haiti) revolted against the French colonial government, plunging the country into civil war. This revolt was the catalyst for the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.
23 August 1948 – death of José Paronella. He was born on 26 February 1887 in Catalonia, northern Spain. In 1913, Paronella travelled to Innisfail, Queensland, to establish himself before bringing his fiance, Matilda, over to join him. Eleven years later he returned for her, only to find that she’d married someone else. José was determined to return to Australia with a wife, so proposed to Matilda’s younger sister, Margarita, and the couple travelled to Australia 12 months later. José purchased 5 hectares (13 acres) of land at Mena Creek where the couple commenced building their dream home, which ended up being a regal Catalan-style castle. They planted more than 7,000 trees around the property and in 1933, built North Queensland’s first hydro-electric plant to power the property. They built a 47 step stair case, tennis courts, a pavilion with turret-topped balconies, a movie theatre which they transformed into a ball-room with live bands that people from surrounding areas could enjoy for dances, a museum that housed collections of coins, pistols, dolls, timbers and keepsakes. He also excavated a tunnel through a small hill on the property. It was never completed, but he had intended on it becoming a ‘tunnel of love’. He and Margarita had two children. Margarita died in 1967. In 1979 the castle was ravaged by fire, leaving on the walls and turrets standing. In 1986, the park was further damaged from Cyclone Winifred. In 1993, the park was partially restored. The park again suffered damage in 2006 when Cyclone Larry struck. In 2009, the hydro-electric plant was rebuilt. Today, visitors can tour the grounds and walk through what would have been the ‘tunnel of love’, which is now inhabited by ghost bats. The property is heritage-listed and a fascinating and spectacular part of North Queensland’s history.
23 August 1946 – birth of Keith Moon, British musician, drummer for ‘The Who’. Died 7 September 1978.
23 August – International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. The United Nations chose this date as it is the anniversary of the St Domingue Slave Revolt.