Earnest

n. [See supra.] 1. Seriousness; reality; fixed determination; eagerness; intentness. Take heed that this jest do not one day turn to earnest. Sidney. And give in earnest what I begged in jest. Shak. 2. [Probably corrupted, like O. Eng. arles, earles, from Fr. arrhes. See EARLES-PENNY.] A pledge or payment given as an assurance of earnest or serious purpose to discharge an engagement or fulfill a promise; an assurance of intention; a token of what is to come. “With no mean earnest of a heritage.” Wordsworth. *And weary hours of woe and pain Are earnests of serener years.* Bryant. 3. (Law.) Something given by the buyer to the seller, by way of token or pledge, to bind the bargain and prove the sale. Kent. Ayliffe. To be in earnest, to be determined or resolved; not to be in jest. Syn.—EARNEST, PLEDGE. These words are here compared as used in their figurative sense. An earnest, like first-fruits, gives assurance that more is coming of the same kind; a pledge, like money deposited, affords security and ground of reliance for the future. Washington gave earnest of his talent as a commander by saving his troops after Braddock's defeat; his fortitude and that of his soldiers, during the winter at Valley Forge, were a pledge of their ultimate triumph. *Which leader shall the doubtful victory bless, And give an earnest of the war's success.* Waller. *That voice their liveliest pledge Of hope in fears and dangers.* Milton.

To use in earnest. [Old and rare.] “To earnest them [arms] with men.”