Word of the Day: Grace

grace / ɡrās noun  

1. beauty or elegance of form, motion, etc.

Grace is the beauty of form under the influence of freedom. Friedrich Schiller, 1759-1805  

2. an attractive quality

I please myself with the graces of winter scenery, and believe that we are as much touched by it as by the genial influences of summer. Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882  

3. favor; approval

Words can sometimes, in moments of grace, attain the quality of deeds. Elie Wiesel, 1928-2016  

4. privilege

One of the few graces of getting old – and God knows there are few graces – is that if you’ve worked hard and kept your nose to the grindstone, something happens: The body gets old but the creative mechanism is refreshed, smoothed and oiled and honed. That is the grace. Maurice Sendak, 1928-2012  

5. charm

One must know not just how to accept a gift, but with what grace to share it. Maya Angelou, 1928-2014  

6. mercy; pardon

All human nature vigorously resists grace because grace changes us and the change is painful. Flannery O’Connor, 1925-1964  

7. a short prayer said before a meal

You say grace before meals. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, and grace before I dip the pen in the ink. G. K. Chesterton, 1874-1936  

8. moral strength

Whatever we are waiting for – peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance – it will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart. Sarah Ban Breathnach, 1947-  

9. (plural) in classical mythology, the goddesses of beauty, daughters of Zeus and Eurynome

The Graces are described as masters of dancing, singing, and poetry, in which capacity they entertained the guests at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. Mark Cartwright, ?- https://www.ancient.eu/Graces/   10. in music, a short note that provides ornamentation to another note …as long as I had a part in the music of the spheres, even if it was only a single grace note, I was not worthless. from ‘Ultraviolet’ by R. J. Anderson, 1970-   11. in theology, the unmerited favor of God God answers the mess of life with one word: ‘grace’. Max Lucado, 1955-   12. a virtue of divine origin Love is the crowning grace of humanity. Petrarch, 1304-1374   13. a formal title used to address a duke, duchess, or archbishop, usually preceded by ‘your’ An English duke should be addressed as “Duke’ by the aristocracy and gentry, and not as “Your Grace” by members of either of these classes. All other classes should address him colloquially as “Your Grace.” www.edwardianpromenade.com/resources/the-colloquial-application-of-titles/   verb

1. to adorn

Her virtues, graced with external gifts, Do breed love’s settled passions in my heart; And like as rigor of tempestuous gusts Provokes the mightiest hulk against the tide, So am I driven by breath of her renown Either to suffer shipwreck or arrive Where I may have fruition of her love. from ‘Henry VI’ by William Shakespeare, 1564-1616  

2. to honor or favor

Heroes are made by the paths they choose, not the powers they are graced with. from ‘Everneath’ by Brodi Ashton, ?-