worship

[wur-ship]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR worship ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred.

formal or ceremonious rendering of such honor and homage: They attended worship this morning.

adoring reverence or regard: excessive worship of business success.

the object of adoring reverence or regard.

(initial capital letter) British. a title of honor used in addressing or mentioning certain magistrates and others of high rank or station (usually preceded by Your, His, or Her).

verb (used with object), wor·shiped, wor·ship·ing or (especially British) wor·shipped, wor·ship·ping.

to render religious reverence and homage to.

to feel an adoring reverence or regard for (any person or thing).

verb (used without object), wor·shiped, wor·ship·ing or (especially British) wor·shipped, wor·ship·ping.

to render religious reverence and homage, as to a deity.

to attend services of divine worship.

to feel an adoring reverence or regard.

Origin of worship

before 900; (noun) Middle English wors(c)hipe, worthssipe, Old English worthscipe, variant of weorthscipe; see worth¹, -ship; (v.) Middle English, derivative of the noun

Related formswor·ship·er, nounwor·ship·ing·ly, adverbmis·wor·ship, verb, mis·wor·shiped, mis·wor·ship·ing or (especially British) mis·wor·shipped, mis·wor·ship·ping.pre·wor·ship, noun, verb, pre·wor·shiped, pre·wor·ship·ing or (especially British) pre·wor·shipped, pre·wor·ship·ping.self-wor·ship, nounself-wor·ship·er, nounself-wor·ship·ing, adjectiveself-wor·ship·ping, adjectiveun·wor·shiped, adjectiveun·wor·ship·ing, adjectiveun·wor·shipped, adjectiveun·wor·ship·ping, adjective

Synonyms for worship

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR worship ON THESAURUS.COM

3. honor, homage, adoration, idolatry. 7. honor, venerate, revere, adore, glorify, idolize, adulate.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for worship

adoration, ritual, prayer, rite, devotion, canonize, idolize, admire, venerate, adore, chant, sing, revere, celebrate, love, adulation, genuflection, respect, idolatry, prostration

Examples from the Web for worship

Contemporary Examples of worship

A long-running argument exists over whether Christians and Muslims worship the same God.
Does Pope Francis Believe Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God?
Jay Parini
December 7, 2014
The worship of some of these deities appears to have included orgiastic rituals: music, wine, sex.
Meet Krampus, the Seriously Bad Santa
Jay Michaelson
December 5, 2014
Her new single, “Pieta,” is something you can worship and blaspheme at the same time.
Is Bigger Better for St. Vincent?
David Yaffe
December 4, 2014
Some streams of Buddhism have the trappings of worship, rituals, and semi-divine beings, but others do not.
What If Meditation Isn’t Good for You?
Jay Michaelson
November 1, 2014
The worship that holds you for a few hours a week becomes, then, the clue to that deep truth inside.
Joseph Campbell on the Roots of Halloween
Joseph Campbell
October 31, 2014

Historical Examples of worship

These circumstances have led me to suppose that you worship them as mere forms.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
I only told your worship where a good son and a good master might be had.
The Armourer's Prentices
Charlotte M. Yonge
He had united them and he had made them the first of all nations to worship a single God.
Ancient Man
Hendrik Willem van Loon
There was even a sort of worship in the bright eyes that looked at the new leader.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
The worship of Life is natural, and must of necessity continue.
The Non-Christian Cross
John Denham Parsons

British Dictionary definitions for worship

worship

verb -ships, -shipping or -shipped or US -ships, -shiping or -shiped

(tr) to show profound religious devotion and respect to; adore or venerate (God or any person or thing considered divine)

(tr) to be devoted to and full of admiration for

(intr) to have or express feelings of profound adoration

(intr) to attend services for worship

(tr) obsolete to honour

noun

religious adoration or devotion

the formal expression of religious adoration; rites, prayers, etc

admiring love or devotion

archaic dignity or standing

Derived Formsworshipable, adjectiveworshipper, noun

Word Origin for worship

Old English weorthscipe, from worth 1 + -ship

Worship

noun

mainly British (preceded by Your, His, or Her) a title used to address or refer to a mayor, magistrate, or a person of similar high rank

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

Word Origin and History for worship

Old English worðscip, wurðscip (Anglian), weorðscipe (West Saxon) "condition of being worthy, honor, renown," from weorð "worthy" (see worth) + -scipe (see -ship). Sense of "reverence paid to a supernatural or divine being" is first recorded c.1300. The original sense is preserved in the title worshipful (c.1300).

c.1200, from worship (n.). Related: Worshipped; worshipping.