NOTWITHSTANDING • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Notwithstanding

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/nˌɑtwɪθstˈændɪŋ/ Listen

preposition

Notwithstanding prep. Without prevention, or obstruction from or by; in spite of. "We gentil women bee Loth to displease any wight, Notwithstanding our great right." "Those on whom Christ bestowed miraculous cures were so transported that their gratitude made them, notwithstanding his prohibition, proclaim the wonders he had done." Note: Notwithstanding was, by Johnson and Webster, viewed as a participle absolute, an English equivalent of the Latin non obstante. Its several meanings, either as preposition, adverb, or conjunction, are capable of being explained in this view. Later grammarians, while admitting that the word was originally a participle, and can be treated as such, prefer to class it as a preposition or disjunctive conjunction.

Synonyms: In spite of; despite. Notwithstanding, In spite of, Despite. Of these, only notwithstanding can be used postpositively; as, I will go, the weather notwithstanding. With respect to meaning, these words and phrases are often interchanged, but there is a difference between them, chiefly in strength. Notwithstanding is the weaker term, and simply points to some obstacle that may exist; as, I shall go, notwithstanding the rain. In spite or despite of has reference primarily to active opposition to be encountered from others; as, "I'll be, in man's despite, a monarch; " "I'll keep mine own, despite of all the world." Hence, these words, when applied to things, suppose greater opposition than notwithstanding. We should say. "He was thrust rudely out of doors in spite of his entreaties," rather than "notwithstanding". On the other hand, it would be more civil to say, "Notwithstanding all you have said, I must still differ with you."

adverb

Notwithstanding adv., conj. Nevertheless; however; although; as, I shall go, notwithstanding it rains. "I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. Notwithstanding, in thy days I will not do it." "They which honor the law as an image of the wisdom of God himself, are, notwithstanding, to know that the same had an end in Christ." "You did wisely and honestly too, notwithstanding She is the greatest beauty in the parish."

Notwithstanding that, notwithstanding; although. "These days were ages to him, notwithstanding that he was basking in the smiles of the pretty Mary."

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Etymology of 'Notwithstanding'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Notwithstanding" Quotes from Famous Books

... sheathes for the leaves of the Ita palm really made capital shoes. We had only to dry them a little in the sun. They did not however last very long, and it was no uncommon thing for the boys to want a new pair every day. Notwithstanding there being such an abundance of these naturally-growing ready-made shoes, we were not sorry at the ingenious invention of Sybil and Serena, who, after repeated efforts, contrived to plait most excellent shoes ...

— Yr Ynys Unyg - The Lonely Island • Julia de Winton

... burdened like mules with heavy and disgusting loads. It is an exceptionally good-looking race; tall, well-grown, and strong.—But to the streets again. The shops in the upper town are few, chiefly wine-booths and stalls for the sale of salt fish, eggs, and bread, or cobblers' and tinkers' ware. Notwithstanding the darkness of their dwellings, the people have a love of flowers; azaleas lean from their windows, and vines, carefully protected by a sheath of brickwork, climb the six stories, to blossom out into a pergola upon the roof. Look ...

— Sketches and Studies in Italy and Greece • John Addington Symonds

... and formality, that it might not remain in the power of any one, by a careless transportation of these honored remains, to lose a relic, connected with an event which formed the most glorious epoch of Spanish history, and that it might be manifested to all nations, that Spaniards, notwithstanding the lapse of ages, never ceased to pay all honors to the remains of that "worthy and adventurous general of the seas;" nor abandoned them, when the various public bodies, representing the Spanish ...

— The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (Vol. II) • Washington Irving

... was the inevitable mother of such a daughter, and that Nature's combination was more harmonious than mine. The first thing that struck me was that the personal energy I had missed in the daughter survived in the mother, notwithstanding her seventy-five years. The daughter reminded me now of a tree that had been overshadowed; Miss Forman had remained a child, nor could she have grown to womanhood unless somebody had taken her away; no doubt somebody had wanted to marry her; there is ...

— Memoirs of My Dead Life • George Moore

... English, or Italian writers. His apprehension was quick, his imagination fine, and his memory remarkably strong; though his greatest commendations were a very genteel address, a ready wit and an excellent elocution, which shewed him to advantage wherever he went. There was, notwithstanding, one principal defect in his disposition, and this was an infinite vanity, which gave him so insufferable a presumption, as led him to think that nothing was too much for his capacity, nor any preferment, or favour, beyond his deserts. Mr. Addison's fondness for him perhaps increased this disposition, ...

— The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (1753),Vol. V. • Theophilus Cibber

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