deign Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb do something that one considers to be below one's dignity
    condescend; descend.

WordNet

Deign transitive verb
Etymology
OE. deinen, deignen, OF. degner, deigner, daigner, F. daigner, fr. L. dignari to deem worthy, deign, fr. dignus worthy; akin to decere to be fitting. See Decent, and cf. Dainty, Dignity, Condign, Disdain.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Deigned ; present participle & verbal noun Deigning
Definitions
  1. To esteem worthy; to consider worth notice; -- opposed to disdain. Obs.
    I fear my Julia would not deign my lines. Shak.
  2. To condescend to give or bestow; to stoop to furnish; to vouchsafe; to allow; to grant.
    Nor would we deign him burial of his men. Shak.
Deign intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To think worthy; to vouchsafe; to condescend; -- followed by an infinitive.
    O deign to visit our forsaken seats. Pope.
    Yet not Lord Cranstone deigned she greet. Sir W. Scott.
    Round turned he, as not deigning Those craven ranks to see. Macaulay.
    In early English deign was often used impersonally.
    Him deyneth not to set his foot to ground. Chaucer.

Webster 1913