from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Grace \Grace\ (gr[=a]s), n. [F. gr[^a]ce, L. gratia, from gratus
beloved, dear, agreeable; perh. akin to Gr. ? to rejoice,
cha`ris favor, grace, Skr. hary to desire, and E. yearn. Cf.
{Grateful}, {Gratis}.]
1. The exercise of love, kindness, mercy, favor; disposition
to benefit or serve another; favor bestowed or privilege
conferred.
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To bow and sue for grace
With suppliant knee. --Milton.
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2. (Theol.) The divine favor toward man; the mercy of God, as
distinguished from His justice; also, any benefits His
mercy imparts; divine love or pardon; a state of
acceptance with God; enjoyment of the divine favor.
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And if by grace, then is it no more of works. --Rom.
xi. 6.
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My grace is sufficicnt for thee. --2 Cor. xii.
9.
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Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.
--Rom. v. 20.
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By whom also we have access by faith into this grace
wherein we stand. --Rom. v.2
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3. (Law)
(a) The prerogative of mercy execised by the executive, as
pardon.
(b) The same prerogative when exercised in the form of
equitable relief through chancery.
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4. Fortune; luck; -- used commonly with hard or sorry when it
means misfortune. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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5. Inherent excellence; any endowment or characteristic
fitted to win favor or confer pleasure or benefit.
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He is complete in feature and in mind.
With all good grace to grace a gentleman. --Shak.
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I have formerly given the general character of Mr.
Addison's style and manner as natural and
unaffected, easy and polite, and full of those
graces which a flowery imagination diffuses over
writing. --Blair.
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6. Beauty, physical, intellectual, or moral; loveliness;
commonly, easy elegance of manners; perfection of form.
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Grace in women gains the affections sooner, and
secures them longer, than any thing else. --Hazlitt.
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I shall answer and thank you again For the gift and
the grace of the gift. --Longfellow.
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7. pl. (Myth.) Graceful and beautiful females, sister
goddesses, represented by ancient writers as the
attendants sometimes of Apollo but oftener of Venus. They
were commonly mentioned as three in number; namely,
Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia, and were regarded as the
inspirers of the qualities which give attractiveness to
wisdom, love, and social intercourse.
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The Graces love to weave the rose. --Moore.
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The Loves delighted, and the Graces played. --Prior.
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8. The title of a duke, a duchess, or an archbishop, and
formerly of the king of England.
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How fares your Grace ! --Shak.
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9. (Commonly pl.) Thanks. [Obs.]
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Yielding graces and thankings to their lord
Melibeus. --Chaucer.
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10. A petition for grace; a blessing asked, or thanks
rendered, before or after a meal.
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11. pl. (Mus.) Ornamental notes or short passages, either
introduced by the performer, or indicated by the
composer, in which case the notation signs are called
grace notes, appeggiaturas, turns, etc.
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12. (Eng. Universities) An act, vote, or decree of the
government of the institution; a degree or privilege
conferred by such vote or decree. --Walton.
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13. pl. A play designed to promote or display grace of
motion. It consists in throwing a small hoop from one
player to another, by means of two sticks in the hands of
each. Called also {grace hoop} or {hoops}.
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{Act of grace}. See under {Act}.
{Day of grace} (Theol.), the time of probation, when the
offer of divine forgiveness is made and may be accepted.
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That day of grace fleets fast away. --I. Watts.
{Days of grace} (Com.), the days immediately following the
day when a bill or note becomes due, which days are
allowed to the debtor or payer to make payment in. In
Great Britain and the United States, the days of grace are
three, but in some countries more, the usages of merchants
being different.
{Good graces}, favor; friendship.
{Grace cup}.
(a) A cup or vessel in which a health is drunk after
grace.
(b) A health drunk after grace has been said.
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The grace cup follows to his sovereign's
health. --Hing.
{Grace drink}, a drink taken on rising from the table; a
grace cup.
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To [Queen Margaret, of Scotland] . . . we owe the
custom of the grace drink, she having established it
as a rule at her table, that whosoever staid till
grace was said was rewarded with a bumper. --Encyc.
Brit.
{Grace hoop}, a hoop used in playing graces. See {Grace}, n.,
13.
{Grace note} (Mus.), an appoggiatura. See {Appoggiatura}, and
def. 11 above.
{Grace stroke}, a finishing stoke or touch; a coup de grace.
{Means of grace}, means of securing knowledge of God, or
favor with God, as the preaching of the gospel, etc.
{To do grace}, to reflect credit upon.
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Content to do the profession some grace. --Shak.
{To say grace}, to render thanks before or after a meal.
{With a good grace}, in a fit and proper manner grace fully;
graciously.
{With a bad grace}, in a forced, reluctant, or perfunctory
manner; ungraciously.
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What might have been done with a good grace would at
least
be done with a bad grace. --Macaulay.
Syn: Elegance; comeliness; charm; favor; kindness; mercy.
Usage: {Grace}, {Mercy}. These words, though often
interchanged, have each a distinctive and peculiar
meaning. Grace, in the strict sense of the term, is
spontaneous favor to the guilty or undeserving; mercy
is kindness or compassion to the suffering or
condemned. It was the grace of God that opened a way
for the exercise of mercy toward men. See {Elegance}.
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