人本身的價值：該被這樣對待
最接近字根的一層：價值在人身上，因此對待方式有底線。這是箭頭從外面指向這個人的方向。
human worth, respect · noun · C2
The fact that a person is respected, or should be respected, simply as a human being.
尊嚴
核心畫面
A picture you can hold: a person standing at their full height. Nobody is bowing, nobody is being made small. Whatever happens around them, there is a line below which they are not treated — and below which they do not carry themselves.
一個人站著，站得直，沒有被壓低，也沒有把自己縮小。周圍發生什麼事——被為難、被質疑、生病、變老——都有一條線在那裡：…更多收起
一個人站著，站得直，沒有被壓低，也沒有把自己縮小。周圍發生什麼事——被為難、被質疑、生病、變老——都有一條線在那裡：低於這條線就不該這樣對待他，他自己也不會低於那條線去行動。所有的用法都繞著這條「不被壓下去的高度」在轉，差別只在於是別人給的、自己守的，還是旁人看見的。From the word’s history
Latin dignitās ("worth, merit, rank"), from dignus ("worthy"). At root the word is about worth — and the treatment that worth calls for. English "worthy" and "deign" belong to the same family.
這個字來自拉丁文 dignitās（價值、身分、地位），再往上是 dignus（有價值的、配得上的）。也就是說，它從一開始講的就是「值多少」與「因此該被怎麼對待」這兩件連在一起的事。這解釋了為什麼今天的 dignity 同時可以指別人欠你的尊重，和你自己認為配得上的高度——古羅馬用它講一個人的官階與威望，現代則把這份「配得上」擴大到每一個人身上，不再看身分。同一家族的字還有 dignified（有威儀的）、indignant（覺得被冒犯而生氣的）。
Wiktionary, "dignity" (Middle English dignyte < Old French dignité < Latin dignitās < dignus)
Three branches
自己守住那條線
同一條線，但箭頭轉向內：不是別人給不給，而是自己怎麼守。守得住是從容，守得太用力就變成計較。
self-respect · noun · C2
Your own feeling that you have value and importance, so some actions can seem too small or low for you.
自尊
看起來莊重的氣質
從「這個人有價值」轉到「這個人（或這個地方）看起來有份量」：不再談該被怎麼對待，而是旁觀者感受到的那種沉穩、不輕浮的氣息。
gravitas · noun · C2
A calm and serious quality that a person, place, or event seems to have.
莊嚴
原始詞典資料6 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
dignitynoun/ˈdɪɡnɪti/
- 1
The state of being dignified or worthy of esteem: elevation of mind or character.
- He uttered this ... with great majesty, or, as he called it, dignity.
- Every individual shall have the right to the respect of the dignity inherent in a human being.
- 2
Decorum, formality, stateliness.
- The reception room was sacred to the dead wife. Her shiny portrait hung upon the wall - similar, doubtless, in all respects to the one which would be pasted on her tombstone. A little piece of black drapery had been tacked above the frame to lend a dignity to woe. But two of the tacks had fallen out, and the effect was now rakish, as that of a drunkard's bonnet.
- Official DIGNITY tends to increase in inverse ratio to the importance of the country in which the office is held.
- 3
High office, rank, or station.
- Note the preſumption of this Scythian ſlaue: I tel thee villaine, thoſe that lead my horſe Haue to their names tytles of dignitie, And dar’ſt thou bluntly cal me Baiazeth?
- And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this?
- 4
One holding high rank; a dignitary.
- These filthy dreamers […] speak evil of dignities.
- 5
obsoleteFundamental principle; axiom; maxim.
- Sciences concluding from dignities, and principles known by themselves.
- 6
Respect.
- That in such an undertaking, if put on its right footing, and treated with dignity by the State, you would have the cheerful assistance of the first scientific teachers who have turned their philosophy to such practical uses, I have no doubt.
- In my twenty years of ministry I have found that the minister was treated with dignity when he was dignified, that he was accorded authority and leadership when he was worthy of it.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。