esteem

English

Alternative forms

• æsteem (archaic)
• esteeme (obsolete)

Etymology

First at end of 16th century; borrowed from Middle French estimer, borrowed from Latin aestimō.

See estimate and aim, an older word, partly a doublet.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈstiːm/, /əˈstiːm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːm

Noun

esteem (usually uncountable, plural esteems)

1. Assessment, estimation, or regard; especially; favourable estimation or regard.

   We hold her in high esteem.

Translations

favourable regard

• Afrikaans: ag
• Armenian: հարգանք (hy) (hargankʻ)
• Bulgarian: уважение (bg) n (uvaženie), почит (bg) f (počit)
• Catalan: estima (ca) f, estimació (ca) f
• Cherokee: ᎦᎸᏉᏗ (galvquodi)
• Czech: úcta (cs) f
• Dutch: achting (nl) f
• Finnish: kunnioitus (fi)
• French: estime (fr) f, respect (fr) m
• German: Achtung (de) f, Ansehen (de) n, Wertschätzung (de) f
• Greek: υπόληψη (el) (ypólipsi), εκτίμηση (el) (ektímisi)

  Ancient: τιμή f (timḗ)

• Hebrew: כבוד (he) (kavod)
• Irish: urraim f, ardmheas m, gradam m
• Italian: stima (it) f
• Latin: diligere
• Maori: matihere, kōtua
• Middle English: deynte
• Nahuatl: itta (nah)
• Ottoman Turkish: صان (san), اعتبار (i’tibâr)
• Plautdietsch: Acht (nds) f
• Portuguese: estima (pt)
• Romanian: stimă (ro) f
• Russian: уваже́ние (ru) n (uvažénije), почте́ние (ru) n (počténije), почёт (ru) m (počót)
• Scottish Gaelic: onair f, urram m
• Spanish: estima (es), miramiento (es) m, reguardo (es) m
• Swedish: vördnad (sv) c, aktning (sv) c
• Ukrainian: пова́га (pováha), шана́ (šaná)

Verb

esteem (third-person singular simple present esteems, present participle esteeming, simple past and past participle esteemed)

1. To set a high value on; to regard with respect or reverence.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 36:19:

     Will he esteem thy riches?

   • 1847, Alfred Tennyson, “(please specify the page number, or |part=Prologue, I to VII, or conclusion)”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:

     You talk kindlier: we esteem you for it.

2. To regard something as valuable; to prize.
3. To look upon something in a particular way.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 32:15:

     Then he forsook God, which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

   • 1535, Edmund Bonner, De vera obedientia by Stephen Gardiner (Preface)

     Thou shouldest (gentle reader) esteem his censure and authority to be of the more weighty credence.

   • 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 9, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:

     Famous men, whose scientific attainments were esteemed hardly less than supernatural.

   • 1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “ch. V, The English”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book III (The Modern Worker):

     And greatly do I respect the solid character, — a blockhead, thou wilt say; yes, but a well-conditioned blockhead, and the best-conditioned, — who esteems all ‘Customs once solemnly acknowledged’ to be ultimate, divine, and the rule for a man to walk by, nothing doubting, not inquiring farther.

4. (dated) To judge; to estimate; to appraise

   The Earth, which I esteem unable to reflect the rays of the Sun.

Synonyms

• (to regard with respect): respect, revere
• (to regard as valuable): cherish

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “to regard with respect”): contemn, despise
• (antonym(s) of “to regard as valuable”): scorn, slight

Translations

to regard with respect

• Bulgarian: уважавам (bg) (uvažavam), почитам (bg) (počitam)
• Czech: uznávat (cs) impf, uctívat impf, respektovat (cs) impf, ctít (cs) impf
• Dutch: achten (nl), waarderen (nl), prijzen (nl)
• Finnish: kunnioittaa (fi)
• French: respecter (fr)
• German: schätzen (de), ansehen (de), achten (de)
• Greek: εκτιμώ (el) (ektimó), σέβομαι (el) (sévomai), υπολήπτομαι (el) (ypolíptomai), τρέφω εκτίμηση (tréfo ektímisi), τρέφω σεβασμό (tréfo sevasmó)
• Japanese: 重んじる (ja) (omonjiru), 敬う (ja) (uyamau), 尊敬する (ja) (sonkei suru)
• Latin: dīligō
• Maori: whakamiha, rāhiri, monoa, monowa, kauanuanu
• Polish: szanować (pl)
• Portuguese: estimar (pt)
• Romanian: stima (ro), aprecia (ro)
• Russian: уважа́ть (ru) impf (uvažátʹ), почита́ть (ru) impf (počitátʹ), чтить (ru) impf (čtitʹ)
• Swedish: vörda (sv)
• Ukrainian: поважа́ти (považáty), шанува́ти (šanuváty)

to regard as valuable

• Czech: oceňovat impf, vážit si (cs) impf
• Esperanto: alttaksi
• Finnish: arvostaa (fi)
• Italian: stimare (it)
• Japanese: 重んじる (ja) (omonjiru), 貴ぶ (ja) (tōtobu), 珍重する (ja) (chinchō suru), 重視する (ja) (jūshi suru)
• Maori: kaingākau
• Piedmontese: stimà
• Russian: цени́ть (ru) impf (cenítʹ)
• Swedish: uppskattning (sv) c

Derived terms

• disesteem
• esteemable
• esteemer
• estimable
• misesteem
• overesteem
• self-esteem

 

References

• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “esteem”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.

Further reading

• “esteem”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “esteem”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Mestee, mestee

Galician

Verb

esteem

1. (reintegrationist norm, less recommended) inflection of estear:
   1. third-person plural present subjunctive
   2. third-person plural imperative