Hope n. 1. Desire of some good, with at least a slight expectation of obtaining. 2. That which furnishes ground of expectation. 3. That which is hoped for.
SYN. - Confidence; expectation; anticipation; trust; belief.
- v.i. [-E D; -ING.] 1. To entertain or indulge hope. 2. To place confidence. -v. t. To desire with expectation. [Promising.
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary 1867
Hope. The second round in the theological and Masonic ladder, and symbolic of hope in immortality. It is appropriately placed there, for, having attained the first, or faith in God, we are led by a belief in his wisdom and goodness to the hope of immortality. This but a reasonable expectation; without it, virtue would lose its necessary stimulus and vice its salutary fear; life would be devoid of joy, and the grave but a scene of desolation. The ancients represented hope by a nymph holding in her hand a bouquet of opening flowers, indicative of the coming fruit; but in modern and Masonic iconology it represented by a virgin leaning on anchor, the itself being a symbol of hope.
SYN. - Confidence; expectation; anticipation; trust; belief.
- v.i. [-E D; -ING.] 1. To entertain or indulge hope. 2. To place confidence. -v. t. To desire with expectation. [Promising.
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary 1867
Hope. The second round in the theological and Masonic ladder, and symbolic of hope in immortality. It is appropriately placed there, for, having attained the first, or faith in God, we are led by a belief in his wisdom and goodness to the hope of immortality. This but a reasonable expectation; without it, virtue would lose its necessary stimulus and vice its salutary fear; life would be devoid of joy, and the grave but a scene of desolation. The ancients represented hope by a nymph holding in her hand a bouquet of opening flowers, indicative of the coming fruit; but in modern and Masonic iconology it represented by a virgin leaning on anchor, the itself being a symbol of hope.
Encyclopedia of Freemasonry 1895
