devout

English

Etymology

From Middle English devout, devot, from Old French devot (French dévot), from Latin dēvōtus, perfect passive participle of dēvōveō. Doublet of devote.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈvaʊt/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /dəˈvʌʊt/
• Rhymes: -aʊt

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

devout (comparative devouter or more devout, superlative devoutest or most devout)

1. Devoted to religion or to religious feelings and duties; pious; extremely religious; godly.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 10:2:

     a devout man, and one that feared God

   • a. 1729, John Rogers, The Difficulties of Obtaining Salvation:

     We must be constant and devout in the worship of our God.

   • 2002, Dru C. Gladney, “Ethnoreligious Resurgence in a Northwestern Sufi Community”, in Susan D. Blum, Lionel M. Jensen, editors, China Off Center: Mapping the Margins of the Middle Kingdom‎^[1], Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 109:

     I first became aware of changing Hui-Han social dynamics in the village from a discussion with one of the Han villagers in Team 1. She explained: “Since 1979, we have had less and less social contact with the Hui in the other teams. There are no problems between us, but the Hui are more devout [qian-cheng] now and less willing to come to our homes and visit or borrow tools. We raise pigs in our yards and eat pork, so they are afraid it will influence their religion [yingxiang tamende jiaomen]."

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:devout.
2. (archaic) Expressing devotion or piety.

   devout sighs; devout eyes; a devout posture

3. Warmly devoted; hearty; sincere; earnest.

   devout wishes for one's welfare

Derived terms

• devoutful
• devoutless
• devoutly
• devoutness
• indevout
• undevout

 

Translations

devoted to religion or to religious feelings and duties

• Arabic: مُتَدَيِّن (mutadayyin)
• Bengali: আবেদ (bn) (abed)
• Bulgarian: набожен (bg) (nabožen), благочестив (bg) (blagočestiv)
• Catalan: devot
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 虔誠的／虔诚的 (qiánchéng de), 虔敬的 (qiánjìng de)

• Danish: from (da)
• Esperanto: pia (eo)
• Finnish: harras (fi)
• Galician: devoto
• German: tiefgläubig, andächtig (de), strenggläubig (de)
• Greek: ευσεβής (el) (efsevís)

  Ancient: εὐσεβής (eusebḗs)

• Hungarian: vallásos (hu), ájtatos (hu), istenfélő (hu)
• Irish: urnaitheach, cráifeach
• Italian: devoto (it)
• Japanese: 敬虔な (ja) (けいけんな, kēken na)
• Kazakh: ғибадатшыл (ğibadatşyl), тақуа (taqua)
• Latin: pius (la)
• Norwegian: from (no)
• Ottoman Turkish: قانت (kanit)
• Plautdietsch: fromm
• Portuguese: devoto (pt)
• Russian: на́божный (ru) (nábožnyj)
• Sanskrit: यज्यु (sa) (yajyu)
• Scottish Gaelic: cràbhach
• Spanish: devoto (es)
• Tocharian B: kärtse-ṣälype

Noun

devout (plural devouts)

1. (obsolete) A devotee.
2. (obsolete) A devotional composition, or part of a composition; devotion.

References

• “devout”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• devouth, devot, devote, devolte

Etymology

From Old French devot, devout, from Latin dēvōtus (“vowed, promised”).

Adjective

devout

1. devout
   • c. 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue, lines 21–22:

     Redy to wenden on my pilgrymage
     To Caunterbury with ful devout corage,

     Ready to go on pilgrimage and start
     To Canterbury, full devout at heart,

2. sacred, holy

Descendants

• English: devout
• Scots: devot, devote, devoit

References

• “dēvǒut, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.