# What is meant by the term to "give an earnest of one's intentions"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 17, 2015, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-term-to-give-an-earnest-of-ones-intentions/712898 "2015-02-17T09:43:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-term-to-give-an-earnest-of-ones-intentions/712898/1 "2015-02-17T09:43:01Z")
Hi, In Simon Schama’s excellent book “Citizens” I came across this phrase on page 246 “give an earnest of one’s intentions”. “Increasingly wexed by the position Calonne had placed in him, Louis gave the Minister an earnest of his intentions by permitting the responses to his advertisement to be published.” Is there a word missing after “earnest” or is the word earnest being treated as a noun. The phrasing looks strange. I look forward to your feedback. davidmich ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-term-to-give-an-earnest-of-ones-intentions/712898/2 "2015-02-17T10:20:42Z")
I vote for missing word ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-term-to-give-an-earnest-of-ones-intentions/712898/3 "2015-02-17T10:46:03Z")
It is an old fashioned way of saying that he is making some consideration as evidence of ‘his’ intention to carry out a promise. He gave me $1,000 as an earnest of his intentions = He gave me $1,000 as proof that he was serious. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-term-to-give-an-earnest-of-ones-intentions/712898/4 "2015-02-17T11:07:36Z")
Earnest is being treated as a noun. It’s essentially being used as a synonym of “guarantee” or “surety” (which is fairly archaic itself) ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-term-to-give-an-earnest-of-ones-intentions/712898/5 "2015-02-17T11:49:48Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > Earnest is being treated as a noun. It’s essentially being used as a synonym of “guarantee” or “surety” (which is fairly archaic itself) Yes. It was a pretty comment usage at one point, and you still see it from time to time. Here’s the Ngram for “give an earnest of” [Google Ngram Viewer: give an earnest of](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=give+an+earnest+of&year_start=1800&year_end=2010&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cgive%20an%20earnest%20of%3B%2Cc0) An example from 1990 “Governments which give an earnest of their intentions to take parks out of politics. . .deserve every encouragement and support” ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-term-to-give-an-earnest-of-ones-intentions/712898/6 "2015-02-17T12:32:43Z")
Thank you all. I had never come across the term before. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-term-to-give-an-earnest-of-ones-intentions/712898/7 "2015-02-17T14:19:33Z")
We use it today in the form of “earnest money”, the common term in real estate deals for a non-refundable deposit the buyer places with the seller when the offer is accepted. It’s the formal form of the colloquial “put your money where your mouth is.” ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-term-to-give-an-earnest-of-ones-intentions/712898/8 "2015-02-17T14:46:20Z")
Nitpick: earnest payments in real estate transactions are often refundable, depending on the terms of the purchase agreement. Nearly all purchase agreements provide that the buyer retains the earnest money if financing proves to be unavailable, for example. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-term-to-give-an-earnest-of-ones-intentions/712898/9 "2015-02-17T15:00:32Z")
For the record, here’s the OED entry: > [@](#): > > Money, or a sum of money, paid as an instalment, esp. for the purpose of securing a bargain or contract. Also _fig._ A foretaste, instalment, pledge, of anything afterwards to be received in greater abundance. > > The lit. sense is now nearly confined to law-books, and the fig. use, which retains its currency chiefly on account of its occurrence in the Bible, has almost ceased to be consciously metaphorical. There are also citations from [Wordsworth](https://books.google.com/books?id=a9RMAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=Peeped+forth,+to+give+an+earnest+of+the+Spring&source=bl&ots=n5e9cLLu7d&sig=p7D3DDfuOTaX1L9kqgdcybryaCk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jFXjVIKdA7PdsASFk4CICg&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false) (“The primrose flower / peeped forth, to give an earnest of the spring”) and [Tennyson](http://www.online-literature.com/tennyson/718/) (“Their love has never past away / the days she never can forget / are earnest that he loves her yet / whate’er the faithless people say”.)