Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Deserved; adequate.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Deserving; worthy: applied to persons.
  • Well-deserved; worthily bestowed; merited; suitable: applied to things— With reference to praise or thanks.
  • With reference to censure, punishment, or what is of the nature of punishment: the more common use.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective obsolete Worthy; suitable; deserving; fit.
  • adjective Deserved; adequate; suitable to the fault or crime.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective rare Fitting, appropriate, deserved, especially denoting punishment

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective fitting or appropriate and deserved; used especially of punishment

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English condigne, from Old French, from Latin condignus : com-, intensive pref.; see com– + dignus, worthy; see dek- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old (and modern) French condigne, from Latin condignus, from con- + dignus ‘worthy’.

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Examples

  • Adequate merit, also called condign merit, is merit in the strictest sense of the term; it requires proportion between service and reward.

    Condign and Congruous Merit 2006

  • From this we note that the Guardian too does not regard support for sharia law – which involves of necessity subordinating English law and liberty to principles such as condign punishment for gays and adulterers, second class status and misery for women and ...

    On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with... 2009

  • From this we note that the Guardian too does not regard support for sharia law – which involves of necessity subordinating English law and liberty to principles such as condign punishment for gays and adulterers, second class status and misery for women and the death sentence for apostates (including those to the Guardian’s favourite religion, atheism) -- as extreme.

    On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with... 2009

  • From this we note that the Guardian too does not regard support for sharia law – which involves of necessity subordinating English law and liberty to principles such as condign punishment for gays and adulterers, second class status and misery for women and the death sentence for apostates (including those to the Guardian’s favourite religion, atheism) -- as extreme.

    Britain's first sharia-compliant newspaper 2009

  • Gusty, put the names of all offenders down on a slate, and when I return 'condign' is the word; an 'see, Gusty -- mairk me well -- no bribery -- no bread nor buttons, nor any other materials of corruption from the culprits -- otherwise you shall become their substitute in the castigation, and I shall teach you to look one way and feel another, my worthy con-disciple. "

    The Emigrants Of Ahadarra The Works of William Carleton, Volume Two William Carleton 1831

  • But I felt that Tommy's championing of the lit de soleil, as it's known in Maryhill, was courageous and condign.

    Great Scot, what a bunch of true heroes | Kevin McKenna 2011

  • So welcome, then, El Hadji Diouf, to Scotland, cradle of the enlightenment and beacon of condign behaviour at all times in a dark world.

    Think Diouf is vile? Listen to the fans | Kevin McKenna 2011

  • Having a string of MPs carted off to start some really condign sentences would be a satisfactory and welcome start to this particular programme.

    Archive 2009-04-05 2009

  • "Transition to Christianity: Art of Late Antiquity, 3rd - 7th Century A.D." offers a corrective to the rampant consumerism of our day with a condign lesson in Christianity's classical roots and intense devotions while also reminding us that a trade in objects flourished from its earliest times.

    Transformational Objects Melik Kaylan 2012

  • But I felt that Tommy's championing of the lit de soleil, as it's known in Maryhill, was courageous and condign.

    Great Scot, what a bunch of true heroes | Kevin McKenna 2011

Comments

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  • "The dwarf muttering a terrible oath looked round as if for some weapon with which to inflict condign punishment upon his disobedient wife." (p 96 in the Penguin English Library edition)

    November 14, 2007

  • And so

    Although

    I wish to go,

    And greatly pine

    To brightly shine,

    And take the line

    Of hero fine,

    With grief condign

    I must decline!

    W.S. Gilbert, The Mikado

    August 21, 2008