Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Countenance

Coun′te·nance (koun′tē·nans), n. [OE. contenance, countenaunce, demeanor, composure, F. contenance demeanor, fr. L. continentia continence, LL. also, demeanor, fr. L. continere to hold together, repress, contain. See Contain, and cf. Continence.] 1. Appearance or expression of the face; look; aspect; mien.

So spake the Son, and into terror changed His countenance. Milton.

2. The face; the features.

In countenance somewhat doth resemble you. Shak.

3. Approving or encouraging aspect of face; hence, favor, good will, support; aid; encouragement.

Thou hast made him . . . glad with thy countenance. Ps. xxi. 6.

This is the magistrate's peculiar province, to give countenance to piety and virtue, and to rebuke vice. Atterbury.

4. Superficial appearance; show; pretense. [Obs.]

The election being done, he made countenance of great discontent thereat. Ascham.

In countenance, in an assured condition or aspect; free from shame or dismay. "It puts the learned in countenance, and gives them a place among the fashionable part of mankind." Addison. — Out of countenance, not bold or assured; confounded; abashed. "Their best friends were out of countenance, because they found that the imputations . . . were well grounded." Clarendon. — To keep the countenance, to preserve a composed or natural look, undisturbed by passion or emotion. Swift.

Coun′te·nance (koun′t?-nans), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Countenanced (-nanst); p. pr. & vb. n. Countenancing.] 1. To encourage; to favor; to approve; to aid; to abet.

This conceit, though countenanced by learned men, is not made out either by experience or reason. Sir T. Browne.

Error supports custom, custom countenances error. Milton.

2. To make a show of; to pretend. [Obs.]

Which to these ladies love did countenance. Spenser.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.