Encomium

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ɛŋˈkəʊ.mɪ.É™m/
• US IPA: /É›nˈkoÊŠ.mɪ.É™m/, /ɪnˈkoÊŠ.mɪ.É™m/

Origin

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").

Full definition of encomium

Noun

1. Warm praise, especially a formal expression of such praise; a tribute.
• 1763, Antoine-Simon Le Page du Pratz, History of Louisiana (1763 tr. of L'Histoire de la Louisiane, 1758) (PG), p. 39I rejoined our people, and expected a reprimand for having forced the enemy without orders; though I had my excuse ready. But here I was mistaken; for I met with nothing but encomiums. —
• Grey Riders|3"I never seen their like," was Lassiter's encomium, "an' in my day I've seen a sight of horses.
• 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, I am, you will agree, mature, and in my earlier days I won no little praise for my skill at hunt-the-slipper. I remember one of the hostesses whose Christmas parties I attended comparing me to a juvenile bloodhound. An extravagant encomium, of course, but that is what she said.
2. (rhetoric) A general category of oratory.
3. (rhetoric) A method within rhetorical pedagogy.
4. The eighth exercise in the progymnasmata series.
5. (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.

Anagrams

• meconium