# dignity

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈdɪɡnɪti/ · frequency rank #6,892

## Definitions
1. The state of being dignified or worthy of esteem: elevation of mind or character.
2. Decorum, formality, stateliness.
3. High office, rank, or station.
4. One holding high rank; a dignitary.
5. Fundamental principle; axiom; maxim.
6. Respect.

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English dignyte, from Old French dignité, from Latin dignitās (“worthiness, merit, dignity, grandeur, authority, rank, office”), from dignus (“worthy, appropriate”), from Proto-Italic *degnos, from Proto-Indo-European *dḱ-nos, from *deḱ- (“to take”). See also decus (“honor, esteem”) and decet (“it is fitting”). Cognate to deign. Doublet of dainty. In this sense, displaced native Old English weorþsċipe, which became Modern English worship.

## Easily confused with
- **divinity** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dignity-vs-divinity)
- **digit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/digit-vs-dignity)
- **digits** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/digits-vs-dignity)

## Common misspellings (11)
`ddignity`, `dginity`, `diggnity`, `diginty`, `dignitty`, `dignityy`, `digniyt`, `dignnity`, `digntiy`, `dingity`, `idgnity`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/dignity