honest (the ordinary mod. sense is freq., as also are 1 and 3)
1.
holding an honourable position,
respectable
Tp. III. iii. 34
“
lord,”
Wiv. II. ii. 121
“Master Page is an
man,”
H8 IV. ii. 161
“ lord”
; hence (like ‘worthy’) a vague
epithet of appreciation
MND. III. i. 191
“Your name,
gentleman?,”
Cor. I. i. 65
“my good friends, mine
honest neighbours.”
2.
decent, seemly,
befitting Wiv. I. i. 188, Meas. III. ii. 170,
IV. iii. 189
“your company is fairer
than ,”
1H4 III. iii. 194
“thou shalt find me
tractable to any reason.”
3.
chaste
Wiv. IV. ii. 110
“Wives may be merry, and
yet
too,”
&c., Oth. III. iii.
385; transf.
Ado III. i. 84
“I'll devise some
slanders”
(‘some slanders which do not affect
her virtue’, Wright).
4.
genuine Wiv. IV. ii. 129*
“Behold what clothes you send forth
to bleaching!.”
