Definitions

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

  • noun Expression of approval, commendation, or admiration.
  • noun The extolling or exaltation of a deity, ruler, or hero.
  • noun Archaic A reason for praise; merit.
  • transitive verb To express warm approval of, commendation for, or admiration for.
  • transitive verb To express a feeling of veneration or gratitude to (a deity); worship or glorify.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To express approbation or admiration of; laud; applaud; eulogize; commend.
  • To extol in gratitude and devotion for blessings received; especially, to offer grateful homage to; worship; glorify.
  • To appraise; set a price upon; value.
  • Synonyms and Praise, Applaud, Extol, laud, eulogize, celebrate, exalt, bless. Praise is the general word; it is positive, but of varying degrees of strength. We praise, applaud, and extol by words written or spoken; we may applaud also by clapping the hands or by other physical demonstrations of approbation. To extol is to praise very highly, generally at some length. See eulogy.
  • noun The expression of approbation or esteem because of some virtue, meritorious performance, or pleasing quality; bestowal of commendation or admiration for something excellent or beautiful; laudation; applause.
  • noun The expression of any opinion, whether in commendation or otherwise; hence, fame; reputation.
  • noun The expression of love and gratitude for benefits received; devotion with thanksgiving; especially, a tribute of grateful homage to God.
  • noun A ground or reason for praise.
  • noun A subject for praise; a person or thing worthy to be praised.

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

  • transitive verb To commend; to applaud; to express approbation of; to laud; -- applied to a person or his acts.
  • transitive verb To extol in words or song; to magnify; to glorify on account of perfections or excellent works; to do honor to; to display the excellence of; -- applied especially to the Divine Being.
  • transitive verb obsolete To value; to appraise.
  • noun Commendation for worth; approval expressed; honor rendered because of excellence or worth; laudation; approbation.
  • noun Especially, the joyful tribute of gratitude or homage rendered to the Divine Being; the act of glorifying or extolling the Creator; worship, particularly worship by song, distinction from prayer and other acts of worship.
  • noun The object, ground, or reason of praise.

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

  • noun commendation; favorable representation in words.
  • noun worship.
  • verb To give praise to.

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

  • noun an expression of approval and commendation
  • noun offering words of homage as an act of worship
  • verb express approval of

Etymologies

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

[Middle English preise, from preisen, to praise, from Old French preisier, from Late Latin pretiāre, to prize, from Latin pretium, price; see per- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English praisen, preisen, from Old French praisier, preisier ("to value, prize"), from Late Latin pretiare ("to value, prize") from pretium "price, worth, reward". See prize. Replaced native Middle English lofen, loven ("to praise") (from Old English lofian, compare Old English and Middle English lof ("praise")), Middle English herien ("to praise, glorify, celebrate") (from Old English herian), Middle English rosen ("to praise, glorify") (from Old Norse hrōsa).

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word praise.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • alabanza

    September 30, 2013