worth

worth n

Worth, value are close synonyms in more than one of their senses, often differentiated by demands of idiom rather than differences of meaning or connotation. Both worth and value denote the equivalent in money or sometimes in goods or services given or asked in exchange for another thing; thus, the value or worth of these coins to collectors is much greater than their monetary worth or value[/ex]}

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the current exchange value of the dollar

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he always gets his money's worth

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gets full value for his money

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When, however, worth and value mean the quality of being useful, important, excellent in its kind, or highly desirable or meritorious, they do not always come so closely together. In such use worth more often than value applies to what is excellent intrinsically (as by being superior morally, spiritually, intellectually, or aesthetically)

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of ancient race by birth, but nobler yet in his own worth— Dry den

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Archer's . . . coherent thinking, his sense of the worth of order and workmanship— Montague

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assumption . . . that the social whole has greater worth and significance than its individual parts— Huxley

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Value, on the other hand, applies more frequently than worth to the qualities (as excellence, usefulness, or importance) imputed to a person or thing or to the degree in which that person or thing is regarded as excellent, useful, or important especially in its relation to other things

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a special association may give an inflated value to a certain poem

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there is always a gap between their appreciation of a man's value at any moment and his real weight— Belloc

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nothing in the [church] service was slighted, every phrase and gesture had its full value— Cather

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Further, value may be applied, as worth is not, to something (as a principle, a quality, a condition, or a substance)

which is regarded as important, useful, desirable, or of value, sometimes in its relation to other things, sometimes in the degree which seems proper or fitting to it, and sometimes absolutely

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we may call food a value for the animal . . . because it is nutritious and fills his need of life— Alexander

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the opinion . . . that while science . . . contemplates a world of facts without values, religion contemplates values apart from facts— Inge

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prolongation of the . . . war . . . threatens not only the lives of millions, but the humanitarian values and goals which we are striving to maintain— Science)

Analogous words: *excellence, merit, virtue, perfection: *use, usefulness, utility