august — English Dictionary

Adjective

1. Awe-inspiring, majestic, noble, venerable.

   Examples

   an august patron of the arts

   More examples (2)

   In the book of Pſalms there are many things ſaid of David, which ſeem capable of a much auguſter ſenſe than can be pretended to be anſwered by any thing that befel himſelf.

   [W]e shall not, I think, be able to find language which can convey in few words more fully the idea we should always have impressed on our minds of the august character of our Lord, than the expression, "the word of life."

   The commands of the august sovereign are the imperial commands, or the phœnix (the incomparable) mandate.

   More examples (5)

   —Inconsciously to the augustest end / Thou hast arisen: second not in rank / So much as time, to him who first ordained / That Florence, thou art to destroy, should be— […]

   The foolish dog […] flew at the cat, who in her fright and consternation took refuge behind the screen of the breakfast-room where his Majesty then was. The Mikado was greatly shocked and agitated. He took the cat into his august bosom, and summoning the chamberlain Tadataka, gave orders that Okinamaro should have a good thrashing and be banished to Dog Island at once.

   For once the story was not about Jamie Vardy, unable to equal Jimmy Dunne's top-flight record of scoring in a dozen consecutive games, but about his august deputy Riyad Mahrez.

   Countless proposals flooded in, sent by sources as august as the World Academy of Sciences and as humble as elementary schools.

   The story of “Strangers” is a cliché of well-to-do Manhattan: Husband makes gobs of money. Wife, despite her august educational pedigree, stays at home to raise the kids, relinquishing career and otherwise idling in the make-work realm of school boards and volunteering.

2. Of noble birth.

   Examples

   an august lineage

   More examples (1)

   A branch of the house of Lorraine, in comparison with which even the royal race of Capet was mean, the Guises traced back their august lineage through a long line of warrior princes to the Imperial figure of Charlemagne.

Verb

1. To make ripe; ripen.

   Usage

   • Obsolete
   • Rare

2. To bring to realization.

   Usage

   • Obsolete
   • Rare

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   By divine science and cœlestial art / He for the cause of the dear nations toiled, / And augusted man's heavenly hopes that so, / […] / he might, by awful rites / […] / Adhæsion with Divinity achieve.

Adjective

1. of or befitting a lord

   Synonyms

   grandlordly

   Examples

   heir to a lordly fortune

   of august lineage

2. profoundly honored

   Synonyms

   reveredvenerable

   Examples

   revered holy men