Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Warm, glowing praise.
  • noun A formal expression of praise.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Formal praise; laudation; a discriminating expression of approval, either of a person or of a thing.
  • noun Synonyms Panegyric, etc. See eulogy.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Warm or high praise; panegyric; strong commendation.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Warm praise, especially a formal expression of such praise; a tribute.
  • noun rhetoric A general category of oratory.
  • noun rhetoric A method within rhetorical pedagogy.
  • noun The eighth exercise in the progymnasmata series.
  • noun literature A genre of literature that included five elements: prologue, birth and upbringing, acts of the person's life, comparisons used to praise the subject, and an epilogue.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a formal expression of praise

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin encōmium, from Greek enkōmion (epos), (speech) praising a victor, neuter of enkōmios, of the victory procession : en-, in; see en– + kōmos, celebration.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin encōmium ("praise, eulogy"), from Ancient Greek ἐγκώμιον (enkōmion, "laudatory ode, praise"), from ἐγκώμιος (enkōmios, "of or pertaining to the victor"), from κῶμος (kōmos, "festival, revel, ode").

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Examples

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Comments

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  • encomium is a speech about someone redoubtable

    August 13, 2007

  • it is also a mediocre Led Zeppelin tribute album.

    August 26, 2007

  • Sounds like a chemical element!

    December 9, 2007

  • Reminds me way too much of meconium. Which is unfortunate.

    April 8, 2008

  • Isn't everything to do with Led Zep meconium, as ofravens helpfully suggests?

    April 8, 2008

  • I guess musicians like it, because it is also the title of a bittersweet song by Jamie Leonhart.

    April 9, 2008