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(
w
p) Forms: 
. 4 wor
-, worssipie; 4-5 (6 Sc.) worschipe, 4 -schupe, 5-6 -schype (6 -schypen); 4-5 worshipe(n), -sshipe, -shepe(n), 4- shupe; 4-5 worschippe, 5 -shippe, 5-6 -shyppe; 4 worsip, 4-5 (6 Sc.) worschip (5 -schyp), 4-6 worshyp, 4- worship; 6 woorship, Sc. wourschip; 3-5 worchip (5 -chep, -chyp, -chyppyn), 4-5 worchipe (5 -chepe, -chepyn). 
. 3 wur
supen, wursipe, 5 wurshepe, -schip, -shup, -chippe, -chep, 6 wurship. 
. (Chiefly north. and Sc.) 4 wyr-, wirschipe, 5 wir-, virschepe; 4 wirsc(h)ippe, 5 -schuppe; 4 wirscip (-scep), 4-5 wirschip (6 -schep, virschip); 5 wirchip(e, -chep, wyrchip. [Early ME. wur
-, worscipien, f. wur-, worscipe WORSHIP n.]
1. a. trans. To honour or revere as a supernatural being or power, or as a holy thing; to regard or approach with veneration; to adore with appropriate acts, rites, or ceremonies.
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 5 We understonden ure louerd on ure
e
ele bede, and
wursupen him on ure edie dede.
c1275 XI Pains of Hell 94 in
O.E. Misc. 213 Hole cherche is a house of prayere,
e 
at of heuen crist
do
hit calle, To worchip
er-in our saueour.
a1300 Cursor M. 1937 Noe..did to rais an auter suyth; He
od to wirscippe godd als wis.
Ibid. 22292
at hali trinite..aght ouer-all wirsceped be.
1340 Ayenb. 5
ou ne sselt habbe god bote me ne worssipie ne serui.
Ibid. 6 Zuiche
bye e ilke
et worssipe e momenes.
1390 GOWER Conf. II. 170 The Cronique..Seith that the gentils most of alle Worschipen hire and to hire calle.
1412-20 LYDG. Chron. Troy II. 5796 And
ei of Lewne worschip Wlcanus,
e god of fyre.
1447 O. BOKENHAM Seyntys, Marg. 153 And for she dede wurshepe Crist and loue..Hyr fadyr hyr hatyd.
c1489 CAXTON Sonnes of Aymon xiv. 315, I come from Ierusalem, where I have worshypd the holy grave.
1529 MORE Dyaloge IV. Wks. 253/1 Euery man well woteth how reuerently hym selfe worshypped both our lady and all saintes.
1561 T. NORTON Calvin's Inst. I. v. 8 To driue farre away the true God whome we ought to feare and worshyp.
1599 NASHE Lenten Stuffe 53 The King was as superstitious in worshipping those miraculous herrings as the fisherman.
1639 J. CLARKE Par
m. 12 Men use to worship the rising sunne.
1647 COWLEY Mistr., Leaving me 6 They worshipt many a Beast, and many a Stone.
1680 MORDEN Geog. Rect., Poland (1685) 74 There is no City in the World where God is Worshipped after so many different Ways, unless in Amsterdam.
1743 J. MORRIS Serm. vii. 200 The true God, whom their fathers had worshiped.
1756-7 tr.
Keysler's Trav. (1760) III. 328 The virgin Mary, with the infant Jesus, and St. Mary Magdalene worshipping him.
1774 GOLDSM. Nat. Hist. VII. 191 We may say..that the most frightful of reptiles is worshipped by the most..barbarous of mankind.
1847 HELPS Friends in C. I. vii. 102 Men have worshipped some fantastic being for living alone in a wilderness.
1876 L. STEPHEN Engl. Th. 18th Cent. I. v. 293 The God whom Butler worships is, in fact, the human conscience deified.
b. transf. To regard with extreme respect or devotion; to ‘adore’.
Phr. to worship the ground (one) walks or treads on.
1720 MRS. MANLEY Power of Love I. (1741) 126 Why may I not know and worship my Benefactor?
1749 FIELDING Tom Jones XI. ii, Men are strangely inclined to worship what they do not understand.
1837 LOCKHART Scott IV. ii. 63 Under the shadow of the genius that he had worshipped almost from boyhood.
1848 A. BRONTË Tenant of Wildfell Hall II. viii. 147 As to looking askance to another
woman
he's safe enough for that..he worships the very ground I tread on.
1849 MACAULAY Hist. Eng. vii. II. 258 Lady Churchill was loved and even worshipped by Anne.
1851 KINGSLEY Yeast x, She had worshipped intellect, and now it had become her tyrant.
1854 DICKENS Hard T. III. iii. 287 There are
ladies
born ladies..who next to worship the ground I walk on.
1856 
, etc.
Wreck Golden Mary ii. 19, I worshipped the very ground she walked on!
1889 ‘J. S. WINTER’ Mrs Bob iv, Our mother was the sweetest..of
womenMaimie and I worshipped her.
1906 Lit. World 15 Nov. 508/2 His wife simply worshipped him.
c. absol. To engage in worship; to perform, or take part in, the act of worship.
a1703 BURKITT On N.T. Matt. iv 9 If to worship before the devil, be to worship the devil, then to worship before the image, is to worship the image.
1824 LAMB Elia Ser.
II.
Blakesmoor, I..knew every nook and corner, wondered and worshipped everywhere.
1860 J. W. WARTER Seaboard II. 462 It distresses me sadly to see the effect of not worshipping where good men of all ages have been used to worship.
1889 ‘J. S. WINTER’ Mrs. Bob ii, Ever since the first day..he had persistently and abjectly worshipped at the shrine of Mrs Lovelace.
1908 R. B
AGOT A. Cuthbert vi. 52 The parish church in which the Cuthbert family had worshipped.
2. a. trans. To honour; to regard or treat with honour or respect. Obs.
c1250 Gen. & Ex. 511
Sien sal..chirches ben wursiped mor and mor.
a1300 Cursor M. 6474 Fader and moder
ou wirschip ai.
Ibid. 28141 Ic hafe coueitid in blis to be
for-i at alle suld wirschippe me.
1338 R. BRUNNE Chron. (1810) 163 Richard curteise was,..Forgaf alle
e trespas, wirschipid himself aboue,..Wirschipped him at reson, right as himself was digne.
1362 LANGL. P. Pl. A.
VII. 94, I wol Worschupe
er-Wi Treue in my lyue.
1390 GOWER Conf. I. 7 The privilege of regalie Was sauf, and al the baronie Worschiped was in his astat.
c1440 Alphabet of Tales 39
ai war fayr yong men..and
ai war wurshuppid & had in grete dayntie with evure man.
c1489 CAXTON Sonnes of Aymon xxv. 538 Worship your better, & love your neyghbour.
1530 PALSGR. 784/2, I worshyp a man,
Je honnore... I have ever worshypped hym for his great vertues.
1561 T. HOBY tr.
Castiglione's Courtyer III. (1577) Qivb, A womanne knowing hir selfe so muche beloued and worshipped many yeares togither..at length is brought to loue him.
1579 LYLY Euphues (Arb.) 120, I..will honour those alwayes that be honest, and worship them..whom I shall know to be worthy in their liuinge.
b. To treat with signs of honour or respect; to salute, bow down to. Obs.
1362 LANGL. P. Pl. A.
XI. 168, I grette
e goode mone as
e gode wyf me
taute, And afterward his wyf, I worschupet hem
boe.
c1440 Alphabet of Tales 62 And
is Putiphar & his wife come & mett hym, and wurschippid hym.
c1450 LOVELICH Grail lii. 480 Thanne his Meyne
Aens hym gonne gon, and hym worschepid Everichon.
1523 LD. BERNERS Froiss. I. cxlvi. 175 When he had thus sayde, euery man worshypped hym, and dyuers kneled downe at his fete.
1535 COVERDALE 1 Kings ii. 19 The kynge stode vp, and wente to mete her, and worshipped her.
a1591 H. SMITH Serm. (1594) 228 If they doe so admire me in silkes, how would they cap me..and worship mee, if I were in veluets?
1737 WHISTON Josephus, Antiq. VII. ix. §5 When he had worshipped Absalom, he withal wished that his Kingdom might last a long time.
c. To honour with gifts, etc. Obs.
1387 TREVISA Higden II. 113 Offa..worschipped [L.
insignivit] Aldulf, bisshop of Lichefeld,
wi e archebisshoppes pal.
Ibid. III. 69
e kyng of Babilon worschepede [L.
honoravit]
is Ezechias
wi iftes.
c1450 Lay-Folks Mass-Bk., Bidding Prayer iii. 71 We sal pray specially for all
aes at wirchips
is kirke owther with buke or bell, uestment or chales.
1475 Bk. Noblesse (Roxb.) 84 So that none of us reserve and kepe to his propre use but ringis and uouches for to worship his wiffe and children withalle.
1482 Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 87, I suppose..that oure lord dyd worschype hys seruante with seche benefettys to geue other example.
3. To invest with, raise to, honour or repute; to confer honour or dignity upon. Obs.
1338 R. BRUNNE Chron. (1810) 330 At London is his heued, his quarters ere leued, in Scotland spred, To wirschip
er iles.
c1380 WYCLIF Sel. Wks. I. 286
e manheed of Crist is a margarite
at worshipi his Chirche and
conforti mennis hertis.
a1425 tr.
Arderne's Treat. Fistula 4 The excercyse of bokes
worshippe a leche.
Ibid. 38 Sich pronosticacion..shal worshipe
e bisynes of
e leche.
c1450 B
URGH Secrees 2326 Lyke as a Robe fayr of greet Rychesse, Worshippeth the body of a mighty kyng, So fair language Worshippeth a lettir with good endityng.
c1530 Songs, Carols, etc. (E.E.T.S.) 111 She had a-went, she had worshipped all her kyn.
a1591 H. SMITH Serm. (1594) 337 He gapes for a phrase that..he may haue one figure more to grace and worship his tale.
1601 A. MUNDAY Downf. Earl Huntington I. iii. B3, You haue dishonoured mee, I worshipt you, You..Unto a Iustice place I did preferre, Where you vniustly haue my tenants rackt.
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