Document 53: Reprobate

William_Blake's_Cain_and_Abel

Shorter Oxford English Dictionary

reprobate n. M16 1 A person rejected by God; a person who has fallen from grace. M16. b collect. pl. The people rejected by God and thus denied salvation. M16. 2 An unprincipled person; a person of loose or immoral character. L16. 2 S. O’Casey Gimme money, y’oul’ reprobate!

reprobate a. L15. 1 Rejected by God; hardened in sin. L15. b Lacking religious or moral obligation; condemned as worthless, inferior, or impure. M17. 2 Rejected or condemned as worthless, inferior, or impure. Now rare. M16. 3 Depraved, degraded, morally corrupt. Also foll. by to. M16–M18. 4 Deserving of condemnation or reproof; appropriate to reprobates. E17–L18. 2 J. Spencer A great deal of reprobate Silver which . . . looks like Sterling.

reprobate v.t. LME. 1 Disapprove of, censure, condemn. LME. 2 Of God: reject or condemn (a person); exclude from salvation. L15. 3 Reject, refuse, put aside. E17. b Law (chiefly Sc.). Reject (an instrument or deed) as not binding. E18. 1 H. L. Wilson Especially reprobated by the matrons of the correct set. G. Gorer Whether premarital experience is advocated or reprobated. 2 G. Lavington Look upon themselves as reprobated, and forsaken of God. 3b approbate and reprobate: see APPROBATE 2.

Webster’s 10th Collegiate

rep-ro-bate vt (15c) 1: to condemn strongly as unworthy, unacceptable, or evil (reprobating the laxity of the age) 2: to foreordain to damnation 3: to refuse to accept : REJECT syn see CRITICIZE

reprobate adj (1545) 1 archaic : rejected as worthless or not standing a test : CONDEMNED 2 a :  foreordained to damnation b : morally abandoned : DEPRAVED 3 : expressing or involving reprobation 4 : of, relating to, or characteristic of a reprobate

reprobate n (1545) : a reprobate person

Cassell’s German Dictionary

reprobate 1. adj verworfen, ruchlos; verdammt (Theol.). 2. s. Verworfene(r), m., ruchloser Mensch. 3. v.a. verdammen, verurteilen, mißbilligen, verwerfen.

[see “Plan B,” ll. 93–98]

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