Word of the Day

Thursday, May 02, 2002

condign

\kuhn-DINE; KON-dine\ , adjective;

Suitable to the fault or crime; deserved; adequate.

Quotes:

In a story as old as the Greeks, overweening pride brought condign disaster.

-- David Frum, How We Got Here

He is a violent criminal and, like other criminals, he should be brought to condign punishment.

-- Kwasi Kwarteng, "The boy from Brazil should be behind bars", Daily Telegraph, November 14, 1997

Origin:

Condign ultimately derives from Latin condignus, "very worthy," from com-, here used intensively + dignus, "worthy."