1. a thing intended or regarded as a sign or promise of what is to come:"the presence of the troops is an earnest of the world's desire not to see the conflict repeated elsewhere"
Word OriginMiddle Englishernes, literally ‘installment paid to confirm a contract’, based on Old French erres, from Latin arra, shortened form of arrabo ‘a pledge’. The spelling was influenced by words ending in -ness; the final -t is probably by association with earnest1.
