warmthn.
/wɔːmθ/, U.S. /ˈwɔrmθ/ 1.
a. A moderately hot or pleasantly heated state of the atmosphere, esp. as an essential of physical comfort and well-being; a temperate heat radiating from the sun, a fire, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > [noun] > warmth or moderate heat
lewthc1000
warmnessc1000
warmthc1175
warma1250
lew1605
c1175 Lamb. Hom. 37 Do þine elmesse of þon þet þu maht ifor ðien..Wrecche men sceos and claðes..and wermþe and herburȝe.
1481 W. Caxton tr. Hist. Reynard Fox (1970) 13 Reynart laye within the gate as he ofte was wonte to doo for the warmth of the sonne.
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Luke xxiv. 25–9, 188 b Petur, who..abiured ye Lorde.. whyle ḃeing throughly taken wt colde, he taketh warmth & heate by the coles of ye wicked Jewes.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 36 Yet desyreth it [sc. Lupines] the warmth of Autume, that it may be well rooted before Winter come.
1662 R. Venables Experienc'd Angler ix. 91 In March, beginning of April, later end of September, and all winter fish bite best in the warmth of the day.
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd ii. 74 When scarce a Shed Could be obtain'd to shelter him or me [sc. Mary] From the bleak air; a Stable was our warmth, A Manger his. View more context for this quotation
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. viii. 57 The same Fire, that at one distance produces in us the Sensation of Warmth, does at a nearer approach, produce in us the far different Sensation of Pain.
1785 W. Cowper Task iv. 310 How the frost, Raging abroad, and the rough wind, endear The silence and the warmth enjoy'd within!
1819 P. B. Shelley Cenci ii. i. 28 If there be a sun in heaven She shall not dare to look upon its beams; Nor feel its warmth.
1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 2nd Ser. 181 He had gathered up his robe behind,..in order that he might feel the full warmth of the fire.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Aylmer's Field in Enoch Arden, etc. 60 The girl, Nursing a child, and turning to the warmth The tender pink five-beaded baby-soles.
1908 S. E. White Riverman iv A fine sun, tempered with a prophetic warmth of later spring, animated the scene.
b. figurative.
ΚΠ
1653 Bp. J. Taylor Ενιαυτος: Course of Serm. i. xiii. 167 Many persons, from vicious, and dead, and cold, have passed into life and an excellent grace, and a spirituall warmth.
1781 W. Cowper Table Talk 382 Virtue quickens, with a warmth divine, The pow'rs that sin has brought to a decline.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in Enoch Arden, etc. 3 But when the dawn of rosy childhood past, And the new warmth of life's ascending sun Was felt by either, [etc.].
2. † b. Of herbs: Aphrodisiac quality. Obsolete.
a. The natural heat of a living body; vital heat.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > temperature and regulation > [noun] > normal temperature
heat1340
warmth1599
animal heat1603
body temperature1865
normothermia1898
1599 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet iv. i. 98 No pulse Shall keepe his natiue progresse..No warmth, no breast shall testifie thou liuest. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) v. ii. 286 Come then, and take the last warmth of my Lippes. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vii. 236 But on the watrie calme His brooding wings the Spirit of God outspred, And vital vertue infus'd, and vital warmth Throughout the fluid Mass. View more context for this quotation
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 120. ¶14 When she has laid her Eggs..what Care does she take in turning them frequently, that all Parts may partake of the vital Warmth?
1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound ii. i. 66 The warmth Of the life-blood, for loss of which I faint, Quivered between our intertwining arms.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual desire > [noun] > aphrodisiac > quality of
warmth1697
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 102 When now the Nuptial time Approaches..Feed him with Herbs, whatever thou can'st find, Of generous warmth . View more context for this quotation
3.
a. A moderate degree of heat inherent or produced in a substance or liquid.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > [noun] > warmth or moderate heat > in or of a substance
warmth1765
1765 Museum Rusticum 4 122 The extreme coldness of the soil had overcome the warmth of the ashes.
a1771 T. Gray Ess. I in W. Mason Mem. Life & Writings (1775) 193 A niggard earth, Whose barren bosom starves her gen'rous birth, Nor genial warmth, nor genial juice retains.
1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 491 Ere the warmth, Slow gathering in the midst [of a hot-bed], through the square mass Diffus'd, attain the surface.
b. Pungency (of seasoning).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > additive > [noun] > pungency of seasoning
warmth1816
the world > physical sensation > taste and flavour > sourness or acidity > [noun] > pungency
peppera1425
tangc1440
mordacity1583
heat1586
saltness1612
piquantness1648
quickness1652
subtilty1661
penetratingness1662
pungency1663
piquancy1664
poignancy1677
mordicancy1693
pertness1756
causticity1772
poignance1782
pungence1810
warmth1816
piquance1867
zinginess1938
1816 J. K. Tuckey Narr. Exped. River Zaire (1818) iv. 138 The stews were..so highly peppered that our gentlemen, not accustomed to such warmth of seasoning, could scarcely swallow them.
4.
a. An excited or fervent state of the feelings; strength or glow of feeling; fervent or vehement character (of an expression, welcome, salute, etc.); ardour, enthusiam; cordiality, heartiness.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > zeal or enthusiasm > [noun]
jealoustea1382
yeverousheada1400
zeala1413
zealc1425
jealousy1436
eagernessc1450
heartinessc1475
estudy1483
fierceness1533
zealousnessc1555
zealousyc1565
edge1591
warmth1600
empressement1709
enthusiasm1717
entrain1847
impressment1854
fanaticism1855
keenness1875
the mind > emotion > passion > ardour or fervour > [noun]
heatc825
earnestOE
fervour1340
ardourc1386
fever heata1398
burning1398
lowea1425
fervencec1430
ferventnessc1430
flame1548
ardency1549
fervency1554
fire1579
calenture1596
inflammation1600
warmth1600
brimstonea1616
incandescence1656
fervidness1692
candency1723
glow1748
white heat1814
hwyl1899
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice i. ii. 32 But what warmth is there in your affection towardes any of these Princelie suters that are already come? View more context for this quotation
1680 W. Temple Ess. Cure of Gout in Miscellanea 190 The same warmth of head disposes men to both, though one be commonly esteemed an honour, and the other a reproach.
1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. i. 20 His Majesty sent for them, and, with much warmth and passion, disswaded them from appearing Farther in it.
1702 R. Steele Funeral Pref. sig. A2v I know not in what words to thank my Fellow-Soldiers for their Warmth and Zeal in my behalf.
1711 A. Pope Ess. Crit. 39 An ardent Judge, that Zealous in his Trust, With Warmth gives Sentence, yet is always Just.
1776 Mirror No. 6 The singular opinions which have influenced his conduct, I have often heard him attempt, with great warmth, to defend.
1833 H. Martineau Manch. Strike (new ed.) vii. 81 All with different degrees of warmth declared their readiness to sacrifice or to be sacrificed.
1834 F. Marryat Jacob Faithful III. iv. 70 Mr. Drummond..shook me by the hand with a warmth which made me more ashamed of my conduct towards him.
1856 N. Brit. Rev. 26 204 The warmth of his gratitude to Warburton,..may be taken as the measure of his fears.
1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) I. 496 The warmth of your professions will be of no avail.
1893 F. W. L. Adams New Egypt 277 When the Conservatives came in,..the matter was taken up with unexpected warmth.
1902 ‘Linesman’ Words by Eyewitness Pref. 7 The warmth of welcome accorded to my book has surprised no less than it has gratified me.
b. A heated state of the temper approaching anger; the expression or exhibition of this; also, heated language or argument.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > anger > [noun] > heated state approaching anger
warmth1710
the mind > emotion > anger > manifestation of anger > [noun] > angry speech
misword?c1225
hard words1583
storm1602
bark1663
warmth1710
1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 150. ⁋6 As an honest Man ought, (when he sees Two Friends in Warmth with each other) I took the first Opportunity I could to leave them by themselves.
1712 in J. Maclaurin Argts. & Decis. (1774) 53 An apology for the warmth of expression in his former paper, to which he had been..provoked.
1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India II. iv. vii. 243 He expressed warmth, and even resentment, upon the hardness of these arbitrary conditions.
1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) iii. 34 I am ashamed to have been betrayed into this warmth of feeling.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) IV. 22/2 The strife was carried on with great warmth.
c. Excitement, exhilaration. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > excitement > pleasurable excitement > [noun]
exaltationa1513
exhilaration1626
gusto1629
gust1635
warmth1749
zest1758
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. xii. ii. 200 Sportsmen, in the Warmth of a Chase, are too much engaged to attend to any Manner of Ceremony. View more context for this quotation
5. A glowing hue (of colouring in a picture, in nature); spec. in Painting, a glowing effect produced by the use of warm colours (see warm adj. 15).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [noun] > warmth
warmth1716
1716 A. Pope Epist. Jervas in J. Dryden tr. C. A. du Fresnoy Art of Painting (ed. 2) sig. A7 We..Match Raphael's Grace, with thy lov'd Guido's Air,..Paulo's free Stroke, and Titian's Warmth divine.
1803 J. C. Ibbetson Accidence of Painting (1828) 9 Warmth, or a tint made of red and yellow,..is the next valuable thing.
1834 W. H. Ainsworth Rookwood I. i. i. 11 As to complexion, his skin had a truly Spanish warmth and intensity of colouring.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xii. 135 When the sun shines out in all his glory, the landscape has a freshness and a warmth of colouring seldom found in our latitude.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. II. iii. 47 For the past ten days we have been watching the growing warmth of our landscape.
6. The state of being prosperous or ‘well-off’. (Cf. warm adj. 8.)Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > wealth > [noun] > state of being well-off
warmness1399
competency1600
competence1738
well-to-do-ness1842
well-to-do-ism1848
well-offness1866
warmth1888
easy street1901
1888 J. Payn Prince of Blood I. x. 163 What care I for his ‘warmth’ and reputation for integrity in the city?
Compounds
attributive and in other combinations.
ΚΠ
c1830 S. T. Coleridge Marginalia in Blackwood's Mag. (1882) Jan. 116 Animal magnetism will be found connected with a warmth sense.
1909 tr. Hopf's Human Species 39 A warmth-loving fauna.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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