Worthship

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of being worthy, deserving respect or having merit ; an old honorific title once used to address certain officials such as magistrates
2. The state of deserving esteem or regard ; a formal courtesy title that was once given to people like mayors and judges
3. Personal merit or deserving character ; a respectful form of address historically applied to magistrates and other local dignitaries

Etymology: The word "worship" once meant something close to "worthiness" in its own right. Old English "weorthscipe" combined "weorth" (worth, worthy) with the suffix "-scipe," meaning state, condition or quality, so it denoted the condition of being worthy of honour. Over time, the sense narrowed toward reverence owed to a divine being, and "worship" came to mean religious adoration. "Worthship" is the older sense preserved in a compound. Taking "worth" and the same "-ship" suffix found in words like "friendship" and "lordship," it names the quality of being worthy, and specifically the moral merit a person possesses. Because "worship" drifted away from that meaning, "worthship" survives as a near-doublet that keeps the original idea of personal worth visible.