Pride of India

Pride Pride, n. [AS. pr[=y]te; akin to Icel. pr[=y][eth]i honor, ornament, pr??a to adorn, Dan. pryde, Sw. pryda; cf. W. prydus comely. See {Proud}.] 1. The quality or state of being proud; inordinate self-esteem; an unreasonable conceit of one's own superiority in talents, beauty, wealth, rank, etc., which manifests itself in lofty airs, distance, reserve, and often in contempt of others. [1913 Webster]

Those that walk in pride he is able to abase. --Dan. iv. 37. [1913 Webster]

Pride that dines on vanity sups on contempt. --Franklin. [1913 Webster]

2. A sense of one's own worth, and abhorrence of what is beneath or unworthy of one; lofty self-respect; noble self-esteem; elevation of character; dignified bearing; proud delight; -- in a good sense. [1913 Webster]

Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride. --Goldsmith. [1913 Webster]

A people which takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote descendants. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]

3. Proud or disdainful behavior or treatment; insolence or arrogance of demeanor; haughty bearing and conduct; insolent exultation; disdain. [1913 Webster]

Let not the foot of pride come against me. --Ps. xxxvi. 11. [1913 Webster]

That hardly we escaped the pride of France. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

4. That of which one is proud; that which excites boasting or self-gratulation; the occasion or ground of self-esteem, or of arrogant and presumptuous confidence, as beauty, ornament, noble character, children, etc. [1913 Webster]

Lofty trees yclad with summer's pride. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]

I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. --Zech. ix. 6. [1913 Webster]

A bold peasantry, their country's pride. --Goldsmith. [1913 Webster]

5. Show; ostentation; glory. [1913 Webster]

Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

6. Highest pitch; elevation reached; loftiness; prime; glory; as, to be in the pride of one's life. [1913 Webster]

A falcon, towering in her pride of place. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

7. Consciousness of power; fullness of animal spirits; mettle; wantonness; hence, lust; sexual desire; esp., an excitement of sexual appetite in a female beast. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

{Pride of India}, or {Pride of China}. (Bot.) See {Margosa}.

{Pride of the desert} (Zo["o]l.), the camel. [1913 Webster]

Syn: Self-exaltation; conceit; hauteur; haughtiness; lordliness; loftiness.

Usage: {Pride}, {Vanity}. Pride is a high or an excessive esteem of one's self for some real or imagined superiority, as rank, wealth, talents, character, etc. Vanity is the love of being admired, praised, exalted, etc., by others. Vanity is an ostentation of pride; but one may have great pride without displaying it. Vanity, which is etymologically ``emptiness,'' is applied especially to the exhibition of pride in superficialities, as beauty, dress, wealth, etc. [1913 Webster]