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grace

[greys] /greɪs/
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noun
1.
elegance or beauty of form, manner, motion, or action:
We watched her skate with effortless grace across the ice.
Synonyms: attractiveness, charm, gracefulness, comeliness, ease, lissomeness, fluidity.
Antonyms: stiffness, ugliness, awkwardness, clumsiness; klutziness.
2.
a pleasing or attractive quality or endowment:
He lacked the manly graces.
3.
favor or goodwill.
Synonyms: kindness, kindliness, love, benignity; condescension.
4.
a manifestation of favor, especially by a superior:
It was only through the dean's grace that I wasn't expelled from school.
Synonyms: forgiveness, charity, mercifulness.
Antonyms: animosity, enmity, disfavor.
5.
mercy; clemency; pardon:
He was saved by an act of grace from the governor.
Synonyms: lenity, leniency, reprieve.
Antonyms: harshness.
6.
favor shown in granting a delay or temporary immunity.
7.
an allowance of time after a debt or bill has become payable granted to the debtor before suit can be brought against him or her or a penalty applied:
The life insurance premium is due today, but we have 31 days' grace before the policy lapses.
Compare grace period.
8.
Theology.
  1. the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God.
  2. the influence or spirit of God operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them.
  3. a virtue or excellence of divine origin:
    the Christian graces.
  4. Also called state of grace. the condition of being in God's favor or one of the elect.
9.
moral strength:
the grace to perform a duty.
10.
a short prayer before or after a meal, in which a blessing is asked and thanks are given:
Grandfather will now say grace.
11.
(usually initial capital letter) a formal title used in addressing or mentioning a duke, duchess, or archbishop, and formerly also a sovereign (usually preceded by your, his, etc.).
12.
Graces, Classical Mythology. the goddesses of beauty, daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, worshiped in Greece as the Charities and in Rome as the Gratiae.
13.
Music. grace note.
verb (used with object), graced, gracing.
14.
to lend or add grace to; adorn:
Many fine paintings graced the rooms of the house.
Synonyms: embellish, beautify, deck, decorate, ornament; enhance, honor.
Antonyms: disfigure, desecrate, demean.
15.
to favor or honor:
to grace an occasion with one's presence.
Synonyms: glorify, elevate, exalt.
Antonyms: disrespect, dishonor.
Idioms
16.
but for the grace of God, under less fortunate circumstances:
But for the grace of God, the brick that just fell from the roof would have hit me on the head!
17.
by the grace of God, thankfully; fortunately:
By the grace of God, I won't have to deal with tax returns for another year.
18.
fall from grace,
  1. Theology. to relapse into sin or disfavor.
  2. to lose favor; be discredited:
    He fell from grace when the boss found out he had lied.
19.
have the grace to, to be so kind as to:
Would you have the grace to help, please?
20.
in someone's good / bad graces, regarded with favor (or disfavor) by someone:
It is a wonder that I have managed to stay in her good graces this long.
21.
with bad grace, reluctantly; grudgingly:
He apologized, but did so with bad grace.
Also, with a bad grace.
22.
with good grace, willingly; ungrudgingly:
She took on the extra work with good grace.
Origin of grace
Middle English
Old French
Latin
1125-1175
1125-75; Middle English < Old French < Latin grātia favor, kindness, esteem, derivative of grātus pleasing
Related forms
gracelike, adjective
ungraced, adjective
Word story
¡Gracias! Grazie! When a Spanish or Italian speaker says thanks, they are invoking one of the meanings behind the word grace. That’s because grace, gracias, and grazie all descend from the same Latin word, grātia.
For the ancient Romans, grātia had three distinct meanings: (1) a pleasing quality, (2) favor or goodwill, and (3) gratitude or thanks. We find all three of these meanings in modern-day English. The first when we describe someone as having (or not having) grace: “Dancing, she had all the grace of an elephant on skates.” The second when we talk about giving or getting grace: “by the grace of God.” And the third when we say grace (i.e., “thanks”) at a meal.
So if you have something to be grateful for, you can say thank-you, grātia, gracias, or grazie. Just make sure you don’t give that something a coup de grâce.
Popular references
—Amazing Grace: A hymn written by English clergyman John Newton, who participated in the slave trade before finding religion.
—Grace: Jeff Buckley’s sole studio album, released in 1994, just three years before his early death.
Related Quotations
“When a person expends the least amount of motion on one action, that is grace.“
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Complete Works and Letters in Thirty Volumes, Letters, vol. 8, p. 11, “Nauka” (1976)
“Jesus, help me find my proper place. / Help in my weakness, ’cause I’ve fallen out of grace.“
—Lou Reed, “Jesus“ The Velvet Underground (1969)
“When a clergyman is present, he is asked to say grace, often after everyone is seated. But in the case of a friend, he should be asked in advance if he would like to say grace.“
—Nancy Tuckerman & Nancy Dunnan, The Amy Vanderbilt Complete Book of Etiquette (1995)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2017.
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Examples from the Web for graced
Contemporary Examples
Historical Examples

  • Hobbs had seemed more of the craven type which Stryker graced so conspicuously.

    The Black Bag Louis Joseph Vance

  • And, God willing, it shall be graced for each of us with a wife like—her.

    Brighter Britain! (Volume 1 of 2) William Delisle Hay

  • He went over to one of the trunks that graced the window as seats.

    The Spoilers of the Valley Robert Watson

  • Had the hat covered the flint completely, he must assuredly have graced a cabinet.

    "Wee Tim'rous Beasties" Douglas English

  • Has not your generous board been graced with the presence of royalty?

    The English Spy Bernard Blackmantle
British Dictionary definitions for graced

grace

/ɡreɪs/
noun
1.
elegance and beauty of movement, form, expression, or proportion
2.
a pleasing or charming quality
3.
goodwill or favour
4.
the granting of a favour or the manifestation of goodwill, esp by a superior
5.
a sense of propriety and consideration for others
6.
(pl)
  1. affectation of manner (esp in the phrase airs and graces)
  2. in someone's good graces, regarded favourably and with kindness by someone
7.
mercy; clemency
8.
(Christianity)
  1. the free and unmerited favour of God shown towards man
  2. the divine assistance and power given to man in spiritual rebirth and sanctification
  3. the condition of being favoured or sanctified by God
  4. an unmerited gift, favour, etc, granted by God
9.
a short prayer recited before or after a meal to invoke a blessing upon the food or give thanks for it
10.
(music) a melodic ornament or decoration
11.
See days of grace
12.
with bad grace, with a bad grace, unwillingly or grudgingly
13.
with good grace, with a good grace, willingly or cheerfully
verb
14.
(transitive) to add elegance and beauty to: flowers graced the room
15.
(transitive) to honour or favour: to grace a party with one's presence
16.
to ornament or decorate (a melody, part, etc) with nonessential notes
Word Origin
C12: from Old French, from Latin grātia, from grātus pleasing

Grace1

/ɡreɪs/
noun
1.
preceded by your, his, or her. a title used to address or refer to a duke, duchess, or archbishop

Grace2

/ɡreɪs/
noun
1.
W(illiam) G(ilbert). 1848–1915, English cricketer
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word Origin and History for graced

Grace

fem. proper name, literally "favor, grace;" see grace (n.).

grace

v.

c.1200, "to thank," from Old French gracier, from grace (see grace (n.)). Meaning "to show favor" (mid-15c.) led to that of "to lend or add grace to something" (1580s, e.g. grace us with your presence), which is the root of the musical sense in grace notes (1650s). Related: Graced; gracing.

grace

n.

late 12c., "God's favor or help," from Old French grace "pardon, divine grace, mercy; favor, thanks; elegance, virtue" (12c.), from Latin gratia "favor, esteem, regard; pleasing quality, good will, gratitude" (source of Italian grazia, Spanish gracia), from gratus "pleasing, agreeable," from PIE root *gwere- "to favor" (cf. Sanskrit grnati "sings, praises, announces," Lithuanian giriu "to praise, celebrate," Avestan gar- "to praise").

Sense of "virtue" is early 14c., that of "beauty of form or movement, pleasing quality" is mid-14c. In classical sense, "one of the three sister goddesses (Latin Gratiæ, Greek Kharites), bestowers of beauty and charm," it is first recorded in English 1579 in Spenser. The short prayer that is said before or after a meal (early 13c.; until 16c. usually graces) has a sense of "gratitude."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Idioms and Phrases with graced

grace

see:
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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10
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