Who says Texans live in the dark ages?

Originally Posted by Skybird

A definition that catches a widespread populistic understanding of the term, but I very strongly disagree with it's correctness.

wikipedia:

Pride is, depending on the context, either a high sense of the worth of one's self or one's own or a pleasure taken in the contemplation of these things. Social psychologists identify it as linked to a signal of high social status.[1] One definition of pride in the first sense comes from St. Augustine: "the love of one's own excellence." [2] In this sense, the opposite of pride is humility.
Pride is sometimes viewed as excessive or as a vice, sometimes as proper or as a virtue. While some philosophers such as Aristotle consider pride a profound virtue, most world religions consider it a sin.
According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, proud comes from late Old English prut, probably from Old French prud "brave, valiant" (11th century) (which became preux in French), from Late Latin term prodis "useful", which is compared with the Latin prodesse "be of use".[3] The sense of "having a high opinion of oneself", not in French, may reflect the Anglo-Saxons' opinion of the Norman knights who called themselves "proud", like the French knights preux.[citation needed]
When viewed as a virtue, pride in one's appearance and abilities is known as virtuous pride, greatness of soul or magnanimity, but when viewed as a vice it is often termed vanity or vainglory. Pride can also manifest itself as a high opinion of one's nation (national pride) and ethnicity (ethnic pride).


As ex-psychologist I especially agree with Wikipedia's entry on pride in psychological understanding:

Pride is "a pleasant, sometimes exhilarating, emotion that results from a positive self-evaluation" (Lewis, 2002). The standard view of pride was that it results from satisfaction with meeting the personal goals set by oneself. Most research on pride attempts to distinguish the positive aspects of pride and the negative. Pride involves exhilarated pleasure and a feeling of accomplishment. Pride is related to "more positive behaviors and outcomes in the area where the individual is proud" (Weiner, 1985). Pride is generally associated with positive social behaviors such as helping others and outward promotion. According to Bagozzi et al., pride can have the positive benefits of enhancing creativity, productivity, and altruism.

I'll stick with The New Oxford American Dictionary.
Somehow Oxford impresses me as a higher authority on the english language (US or EN) than Wikipedia.