Tuesday, July 1, 2008

condign

condign \kuhn-DINE; KON-dine\, adjective:

Suitable to the fault or crime; deserved; adequate.

In a story as old as the Greeks, overweening pride brought condign disaster.
-- David Frum, How We Got Here
He is a violent criminal and, like other criminals, he should be brought to condign punishment.
-- Kwasi Kwarteng, "The boy from Brazil should be behind bars", Daily Telegraph, November 14, 1997

Condign ultimately derives from Latin condignus, "very worthy," from com-, here used intensively + dignus, "worthy."

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