In 2 wermþe. [OE. *wiermþu, *wærmþu = MLG. wermede, Du. warmte, MHG. wermede, warmede, warmte (early mod.G. wärmte):—OTeut. type *warmiþō, f. *warmo-: see WARM a. and -TH.]
1. A moderately hot or pleasantly heated state of the atmosphere, esp. as an essential of physical comfort and well-being; a temperate heat radiating from the sun, a fire, etc.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 37. Do þine elmesse of þon þet þu maht iforðien … Wrecche men sceos and claðes … and wermþe and herburȝe.
1481. Caxton, Reynard, vii. (Arb.), 12. Reynart laye within the gate as he ofte was wonte to doo for the warmth of the sonne.
1548. Udall, etc., Erasm. Par. Luke xxiv. 25–9, 188 b. Petur, who … abiured ye Lorde … whyle being throughly taken wt colde, he taketh warmth & heate by the coles of ye wicked Jewes.
1577. B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., I. 36. Yet desyreth it [Lupines] the warmth of Autume, that it may be well rooted before Winter come.
1662. R. Venables, Exper. Angler, ix. 91. In March, beginning of April, later end of September, and all winter fish bite best in the warmth of the day.
1671. Milton, P. R., II. 74. When scarce a Shed Could be obtain’d to shelter him or me [Mary] From the bleak air; A Stable was our warmth, A Manger his.
1690. Locke, Hum. Und., II. viii. § 16. 57. The same Fire, that at one distance produces in us the Sensation of Warmth, does at a nearer approach, produce in us the far different Sensation of Pain.
1784. Cowper, Task, IV. 310. How the frost, Raging abroad, and the rough wind, endear The silence and the warmth enjoy’d within!
1819. Shelley, Cenci, II. i. 187. If there be a sun in heaven She shall not dare to look upon its beams; Nor feel its warmth.
1836. Dickens, Sk. Boz, Doctors’ Commons. He had gathered up his robe behind,… in order that he might feel the full warmth of the fire.
1864. Tennyson, Aylmer’s F., 185. The girl Nursing a child, and turning to the warmth The tender pink five-beaded baby-soles.
1908. S. E. White, Riverman, iv. A fine sun, tempered with a prophetic warmth of later spring, animated the scene.
b. fig.
1653. Jer. Taylor, Serm. for Year, I. xiii. 167. Many persons, from vicious, and dead, and cold, have passed into life and an excellent grace, and a spirituall warmth.
1781. Cowper, Table-T., 382. Virtue quickens, with a warmth divine, The pow’rs that sin has brought to a decline.
1864. Tennyson, En. Arden, 38. But when the dawn of rosy childhood past, And the new warmth of life’s ascending sun Was felt by either, [etc.].
2. The natural heat of a living body; vital heat.
1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., IV. i. 98. No pulse Shall keepe his natiue progresse…: No warmth, no breath shall testifie thou liuest. Ibid. (1606), Ant. & Cl., V. ii. 294. Come then, and take the last warmth of my Lippes.
1667. Milton, P. L., VII. 236. But on the watrie calme His brooding wings the Spirit of God outspred, And vital vertue infus’d, and vital warmth Throughout the fluid Mass.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 120, ¶ 14. When she has laid her Eggs … what Care does she take in turning them frequently, that all Parts may partake of the vital Warmth?
1820. Shelley, Prometh. Unb., II. i. 104. The warmth Of the life-blood, for loss of which I faint, Quivered between our intertwining arms.
† b. Of herbs: Aphrodisiac quality. Obs.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 199. When now the Nuptial time Approaches … Feed him with Herbs, whatever thou canst find, Of generous Warmth.
3. A moderate degree of heat inherent or produced in a substance or liquid.
1748. Gray, Alliance, 3. A niggard Earth, Whose flinty Bosom starves her generous Birth, Nor genial Warmth, nor genial Juice retains.
1765. Museum Rust., IV. 122. The extreme coldness of the soil had overcome the warmth of the ashes.
1784. Cowper, Task, III. 491. Ere the warmth, Slow gathering in the midst [of a hot-bed], through the square mass Diffus’d, attain the surface.
b. Pungency (of seasoning).
1816. Tuckey, Narr. Exped. R. Zaire, iv. (1818), 138. The stews were … so highly peppered that our gentlemen, not accustomed to such warmth of seasoning, could scarcely swallow them.
4. An excited or fervent state of the feelings; strength or glow of feeling; fervent or vehement character (of an expression, welcome, salute, etc.); ardor, enthusiasm; cordiality, heartiness.
1596. Shaks., Merch. V., I. ii. 36. But what warmth is there in your affection towards any of these Princely suters that are already come?
1647. Clarendon, Hist. Reb., I. § 44. His majesty sent for them, and with much warmth and passion dissuaded them from appearing further in it.
1677. Sir W. Temple, Ess. Gout, Wks. 1720, I. 134. The same warmth of Head disposes Men to both, though one be commonly esteemed an Honour, and the other a Reproach.
1702. Steele, Funeral (1735), Pref. I know not in what words to thank my Fellow-Soldiers for their Warmth and Zeal in my behalf.
1709. Pope, Ess. Crit., 678. An ardent Judge, who zealous in his trust, With warmth gives sentence, yet is always just.
1776. Mirror, No. 6. The singular opinions which have influenced his conduct, I have often heard him attempt, with great warmth, to defend.
1833. Ht. Martineau, Manch. Strike, vii. 81. All with different degrees of warmth declared their readiness to sacrifice or to be sacrificed.
1835. Marryat, J. Faithful, xxxiii. Mr. Drummond … shook me by the hand with a warmth which made me more ashamed of my conduct towards him.
1856. N. Brit. Rev., XXVI. 204. The warmth of his gratitude to Warburton, for helping to vindicate him from the reproach, may be taken as the measure of his fears.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 496. The warmth of your professions will be of no avail.
1893. F. Adams, New Egypt, 277. When the Conservatives came in,… the matter was taken up with unexpected warmth.
1902. ‘Linesman,’ Words by Eyewitness, Pref. p. vii. The warmth of welcome accorded to my book has surprised no less than it has gratified me.
b. A heated state of the temper approaching anger; the expression or exhibition of this; also, heated language or argument.
1710. Steele, Tatler, No. 150, ¶ 6. As an honest Man ought, (when he sees Two Friends in Warmth with each other) I took the first Opportunity I could to leave them by themselves.
1712. in Maclaurin, Argts. & Decis. (1774), 53. An apology for the warmth of expression in his former paper, to which he had been … provoked.
1817. Jas. Mill, Brit. India, II. IV. vii. 243. He expressed warmth, and even resentment, upon the hardness of these arbitrary conditions.
1837. Dickens, Pickw., iii. I am ashamed to have been betrayed into this warmth of feeling.
1879. Cassell’s Techn. Educ., IV. 22/2. The strife was carried on with great warmth.
c. Excitement, exhilaration. rare.
1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, XII. ii. Sportsmen, in the warmth of a chase, are too much engaged to attend to any manner of ceremony.
5. A glowing hue (of coloring in a picture, in nature); spec. in Painting, a glowing effect produced by the use of warm colors (see WARM a. 15).
1717. Pope, Ep. to Mr. Jervas, 38. We … Match Raphael’s grace with thy lov’d Guido’s air,… Paulo’s free stroke, and Titian’s warmth divine.
1803. Ibbetson, Accid. Painting (1828), 9. Warmth, or a tint made of red and yellow, so exactly combined that neither predominates, is the next valuable thing.
1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, I. i. As to complexion, his skin had a truly Spanish warmth and intensity of colouring.
1855. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xii. III. 135. When the sun shines out in all his glory, the landscape has a freshness and a warmth of colouring seldom found in our latitude.
1856. Kane, Arct. Expl., II. iii. 47. For the past ten days we have been watching the growing warmth of our landscape.
6. nonce-use. The state of being prosperous or ‘well-off.’ (Cf. WARM a. 8.)
1888. J. Payn, Prince of Blood, I. x. 163. What care I for his ‘warmth’ and reputation for integrity in the city?
7. attrib. and Comb.
c. 1830. Coleridge, Marginalia, in Blackw. Mag. (1882), Jan., 116. Animal magnetism will be found connected with a warmth sense.
1909. trans. Hopf’s Human Species, 39. A warmth-loving fauna.
