respect 
The Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. 
Gen. Iv. 4. 
8. Partial regard; undue bias; discrimination 
for or against some one. 
It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment. 
Prov. xxiv. 23. 
It is of the highest importance that judges and admin- 
istrators should never be persuaded by money or other- 
wise to shew "respect of persons." 
H. Sidgwick, Methods of Ethics, p. 239. 
9. Reputation; repute. 
Many of the best respect in Rome . . . 
Have wish'd that noble Brutus had his eyes. 
Shah., J. C., i. 2. 69. 
10. Consideration; motive. 
He was not moved with these worldly respects. 
5109 
You mistake, my good Mrs. Bonnington ! . . . You have 
lived In a quiet and most respectable sphere, but not, you 
understand, not . 
Thackeray, Level the Widower, iv. 
4. Mediocre ; moderate ; fair ; not despisable. 
The Earl of Essex, a man of respectable abilities and of 
some military experience, was appointed to the command 
of the parliamentary army. 
Macaulay, Nugent I Hampden. 
British writers, not of the highest grade, but of respec- 
table rank. H. O. White, Words and Their Uses, lii. 
5. Proper; decent: as, conduct that is not re- 
spectable. [Colloq.] 
It will be necessary to find a milliner, my love. . . . 
Something must be done with -Maggy, too, who at present 
j s _ ha barely respectable. Dickens, Little Dorrit, i. 35. 
Latimer, Sermon of the Plough. re spectableneSS (re-spek'ta-bl-nes), . Ee- 
adv. In a respec- 
merit respect. (6) 
Master 
England to rui 
For respects 
Of birth, degrees of title, and advancement, 
I nor admire nor slight them. 
Ford, Perkin Warbeck, i. 2. 
11. Point or particular ; matter; feature; point 
of view. 
I think she will be ruled 
at, respect: see respect.] In her., looking at 
each other: said of two animals borne face to 
face. Rampant beasts of prey so borne are said 
to be combatant. Compare affronts. [Rare.] 
Respectant in triangle, in her., arranged in a triangle 
with the heads or beaks pointing inward or toward one 
another : said of three beasts or birds. 
In all respects by me. SAai"R. andTTm. " respecter (re-spek'ter), n. One who respects 
Now as we seem to differ in our ideas of expense, I have or regards : chiefly used in the phrase respect- 
resolved she shall have her own way, and be her own mis- er of persons, a person who regards the exter- 
tress in that respect for the future. na l circumstances of others in his judgment, 
Sheridan, School for Scandal, iv. 3. and suffers his op i n i on to be biased by them, 
India is governed bureaucratically, but this bureaucracy j o ^ ne prejudice of candor, justice, and equity, 
differs in more than one respect from ours in Europe. 
Quarterly Rev., CLXII. 453. I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. 
12. Relation; regard; reference: used espe- ' . 
cially in the phrase in or with respect to (or of), respectful (re-spekt ful), a. [< respect + -ful.] 
n.L* J^ ,,,* ,= .^i n f ^ i. , n..i nd 1 Marked or characterized by respect ; show- 
ing respect : as, respectful deportment. 
With humble Joy, and with respectful Fear, 
The listening People shall his Story hear. 
Prior, Carmen Seculare, xxxviii. 
His costume struck me with respectful astonishment. 
Thackeray, Newcomes, vi. 
2. Full of outward or formal civility; cere- 
monious. 
From this dear Bosom shall I ne'er be torn? 
Or you grow cold, respectful, or forsworn ? 
Prior, Celia to Damon. 
3f. Worthy of respect; receiving respect. 
[Rare.] 
And Mr. Miles, of Swansey, who afterwards came to Bos- 
ton, and is now gone to his rest. Both of these have a re- 
spectful character in the churches of this wilderness. 
C. Mather, Mag. Chris., iii., Int. 
Church government that is appointed in the Gospel, and 
has chief respect to the soul. 
Milton, Reformation in Eng., II. 
Shirtliff having his wife by the hand, and sitting by her 
to cheer her, in respect that the said storm was so fierce, 
he was slain, and she preserved. 
N. Morton, New England's Memorial, p. 319. 
In respectt, relatively ; comparatively speaking. 
He was a man ; this, in respect, a child. 
Shak., 3 Hen. VI., v. 5. 56. 
In respect Of. (at) In comparison with ; relatively to. 
All paines are nothing in respect of this. 
Spenser, Sonnets, Ixiii. 
In respect of a fine workman, I am but ... a cobbler. 
Shak., J. C., L 1. 10. 
(l>) In consideration of. 
The feathers of their [Ostriches'] wings and tailes are 
very soft and fine. In respect whereof they are much used 
in the frames of Gentlewomen. 
Coryat, Crudities, I. 40, sig. E. 
They should depress their guns and fire down into the 
= 8711. Civil, dutiful, courteous, complaisant, deferential, 
rney Slioum uupress uieir KUIIB anu lire UOWH mwj me ' ' 11 _ i/.i *\ j T 
hold, in respect of the vessel attacked standing so high respectfully (re-spekt ful-i),adt'. Inarespect- 
out of the water. De Quincey. ful manner; with respect; m a manner com- 
porting with due estimation. 
We relieve idle vagrants and counterfeit beggars, but 
(c) In point of ; in regard to. 
If in respect of speculation all men are either Platonists 
or Aristotelians, in respect of taste all men are either 
Greek or German. 
J. A. Symonds, Italy and Greece, p. 301. 
= Syn. i Estimate Estimation, etc See esteem. ^ 
respectability (re-spek-ta-bil'i-ti), n. ; pi. re- acter of ](, e i ng respectful. 
spectabilities (-tiz). [= F. respectabtlite = Sp. respecting (re-spek'ting), prep. [Ppr. of re- 
respetabilidad = Yg.respeitabilidade;&srespec- gl) g c t v "] 1 'Considering 
table + -it;/ (see -bilitij).'] 1. The state or char- 
acter of being respectable; the condition or 
qualities which deserve or command respect. 
A gold-headed cane, of rare oriental wood, added ma- 
terially to the high respectability of his aspect. 
Hawthorne, Seven Gables, viii. 
2. A respectable person or thing ; a specimen 
have no care at all of these really poor men, who are, me- 
thinks, to be respectfully treated in regard of their quality. 
Cowley, Avarice. 
respectfulness (re-spekt'ful-nes), n. The char- 
There is none worthy, 
Respecting her that 's gone. 
Shak., W. T., v. 1. 85. 
2. Regarding; in regard to; relating to. 
Respecting man, whatever wrong we call 
May, must be right, as relative to all. 
Pope, Essay on Man, 1. 51. 
Respecting my sermons, I most sincerely beg of you to 
extenuate nothing. Treat me exactly as I deserve. 
Sydney Smith, To Francis Jeffrey. 
or type of what is respectable. 
Smooth-shaven respectabilities not a few one finds that 
are not good for much. Carlyle. 
respectable (re-spek'ta-bl), a. [<OF. (andF.) respection (re-spek'shon), n. [< LL. respec- 
respectable = Sp. respetable = Pg. respeitavel = tio(n-), < L. r8pleere,Jp. respectus, respect, re- 
It, rispeltabile, < ML. respectabilis, worthy of re- 
spect, < L. respectare, respect : see respect.'} 1. 
Capable of being respected ; worthy of respect 
or esteem. 
In the great civil war, even the bad cause had been ren- 
dered respectable and amiable by the purity and elevation 
of mind which many of its friends displayed. 
She irritates my nerv 
gard: see respect.] The act of respecting; re- 
spect; regard. [Obsolete or colloq.] 
Then sayd Christ, Goe thou and do likewise that is, 
without difference or respection of persons. 
Tyndale, Works, p. 78. 
Now, mum, with respections to this boy. 
Dickens, Great Expectations, xii. 
2. Having an honest or good reputation; stand- respectus, look at, observe, respect: see re- 
ing well with other people ; reputable: as, born spec t.] 1 . Observing or noting with attention ; 
of poor but respectable parents. 
At this time . . . Mrs. Prior was outwardly respectable; 
and yet . . . my groceries were consumed with remarka- 
ble rapidity. Thackeray, Lovel the Widower, i. 
3. Occupying or pertaining to a fairly good 
position in society ; moderately well-to-do. 
regardful ; hence, careful ; circumspect ; cau- 
tious ; attentive to consequences. [Obsolete 
or archaic.] 
Respective and wary men had rather seek quietly their 
own . . . than with pain and hazard make themselves 
advisers for the common good. Hooker. 
respell 
Love that is respective for increase 
Is like a good king, that keeps all in peace. 
Middleton, Women Beware Women, i. 3. 
To be virtuous, zealous, valiant, wise. 
Learned, respective of his country's good. 
Ford, Fame's Memorial. 
2f. Relative ; having relation to something 
else ; not absolute. 
Which are said to be relative or respective' Those that 
cannot be well understood of themselves without having 
relation to some other thing. 
Blundeville, Arte of Logicke (1599), i. 11. 
Heat, as concerning the humane sense of feeling, is a 
various and respective thing. 
Bacon, Nat and Exper. Hist, of Winds (trans. 1653), 
[p. 275. 
3f. Worthy of respect ; respectable. 
What should it be that he respects in her 
But I can make respective in myself? 
Shak.,T. Q. of V., Iv. 4. 200. 
Winw. Pray thee forbear, for my respect, somewhat. 
Qwor. Hoy-day ! how respective you are become o' the 
sudden I B. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, i. 1. 
4f. Rendering respect; respectful. 
The bold and careless servant still obtains ; 
The modest and respective nothing gains. 
Chapman, All Fools, i. 1. 
I doubt not but that for your noble name's sake (not 
their own merit), wheresoever they [sermons] light, they 
shall find respective entertainment, and do yet some more 
good to the church of God. Rev. T. Adams, Works, 1. 14. 
5f. Characterized by respect for special per- 
sons or things ; partial. 
Away to heaven respective lenity, 
And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now ! 
Shak., R. and J., iii. 1. 128. 
This is the day that must . . . reduce those seeming 
inequalities and respective distributions in this world to 
an equality and recompensive justice in the next. 
Sir T. Browne, Religio Medici, i. 47. 
6. Relating or pertaining severally each to 
each; several; particular. 
To those places straight repair 
Where your respective dwellings are. 
S. Butler, Hudibias, I. ii. 666. 
They both went very quietly out of the court, and re- 
tired to their respective lodgings. 
Addison, Trial of False Affronts. 
Beyond the physical differences, there are produced by 
the respective habits of life mental differences. 
H. Spencer, Prin. of Sociol., 463. 
Respective being, being which in its essential nature 
refers to something else, as action, passion, date, place, 
posture, and habit. Respective ens, locality, etc. See 
the nouns. 
respectively (re-spek'tiv-li), adv. In a re- 
spective manner, in any sense. 
The World hath nor East nor West, but respectively. 
Raleigh, Hist. World, p. 36. 
Sir, she ever 
For your sake most respectively lov'd me. 
Beau, and Fl., Laws of Candy, iv. 2. 
respectiyenesst (re-spek'tiv-nes), n. The state 
or quality of being respective ; regard or re- 
spect had to anything. 
So that hee shall find neither a paraphrasticall, epito- 
mized, or meere verball translation : but such a mixed 
respectivenesse as may shewe I indevoured nothing more 
then the true use, benefit, and delight of the reader. 
Lomatius on Painting, by Haydock, 1598. (Nares.) 
respectivistt (re-spek'tiv-ist), H. [< respective 
+ -ist.] A captious person or critic. 
But what haue these our refpectiuists to doe with the 
Apostle Paule? Foxe, Martyrs, p. 1173. 
respectless (re-spekt'les), a. [< respect + -less.] 
1. Having no respect; without regard; with- 
out reference ; careless; regardless. [Rare.] 
The Cambrian part, respectless of their power. 
Drayton, Polyolbion, xii. 17. 
I was not 
Respectless of your honour, nor my fame. 
Shirley, Maid s Revenge, 11. 5. 
2|. Having no respect or regard, as for repu- 
tation, power, persons, etc. 
He that is so respectlesse in his courses 
Oft sells his reputation at cheap market. 
B. Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, i. 1. 
O, indignity 
To my respectless free-bred poesy ! 
Marston, Scourge of Villanie, vi. 100. 
respectUOUSt (re-spek'tu-us), a. [< OF. (and 
F.) respectueux = Sp. respetuoso, respetoso = Pg. 
respeitoso, respectuoso = It. rispetioso, < L. re- 
spectus, respect: see respect, n.] 1. Inspiring 
respect. 
Neither is it to be marvelled ... if they [princes] be- 
come respectuous and admirable in the eyes and sight of 
the common people. Knolles, Hist. Turks (1610). (Nares.) 
2. Respectful. 
I thought it pardonabler to say nothing by a respectuous 
silence than by idle words. Boyle, Works, VI. 44. 
respell (re-spel'), r. t. [< re- + spelfi.] To 
spell again ; specifically, to spell again in an- 
other form, according to some phonetic system 
