Honorific

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /ˌɒnəˈɹɪfɪk/
• US IPA: /ˌɑːnəˈɹɪfɪk/
• Hyphenation: hon + or + if + ic

Alternative forms

• honorifick obsolete, rare
• honourific non‐standard

Full definition of honorific

Noun

1. A title. (i.e., Mister, Misses, Doctor, Professor)
2. A term of respect; respectful language.

Adjective

1. Showing or conferring honour and respect.
• 1996, T. P. Wiseman, “The Minucii and Their Monument”, in Jerzy Linderski (editor), Imperium Sine Fine: T. Robert S. Broughton and the Roman Republic, Franz Steiner Verlag, ISBN 978-3-515-06948-9, page 59:According to Pliny, the custom of setting up honorific statues on columns was a comparably ancient one.
2. Based on or valuing honor
• 2010, Orlando Patterson, “The mechanisms of cultural reproduction: explaining the puzzle of persistence”, in John R. Hall et al. (editors), Handbook of Cultural Sociology, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 978-0-415-47445-0, page 143:In the honorific cultural process, individuals (especially men) are extremely sensitive to real or perceived insults, and ...

Derived terms

• honorifically