Promise

Pronunciation

UK IPA: /ËˆpÉ¹É’mÉªs/
US IPA: /ËˆpÉ¹É‘mÉªs/

Alternative forms

promyse obsolete

Origin

From Middle English promis ("promis, promisse"), from Old French promesse, from Medieval Latin promissa, Latin promissum ("a promise"), feminine and neuter of Latin promissus, past participle of promittere ("to send or put forth, let go forward, say beforehand, promise"), from pro ("forth") + mittere ("to send"); see mission. Compare admit, commit, permit, etc. Displaced native Middle English beheste, bihest ("promise, behest") (from Old English behÇ£s ("promise, vow")), Middle English hight ("promise") (from Old English hÄ“ht, past tense of Old English hÄtan ("to promise")), Middle English hat, haut ("promise, vow") (from Old English Ä¡ehÄt ("promise, vow")), Middle English quidde, quid ("saying, promise"). Compare Middle English forhaten, forhauten ("to promise").

Full definition of promise

Noun

promise

(plural promises)

An oath or affirmation; a vow.
if I make a promise, I always stick to it; he broke his promise
A transaction between two persons whereby the first person undertakes in the future to render some service or gift to the second person or devotes something valuable now and here to his use.

1668 July 3rd, James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount of Stair, â€œThomas Rue contra Andrew HouÅ¿tounâ€ in The DeciÅ¿ions of the Lords of Council & SeÅ¿Å¿ion I (Edinburgh, 1683), pages 547â€“548He purÅ¿ued Andrew HouÅ¿toun upon his promiÅ¿e, to give him the like Sallary for the next year, and in abÅ¿ence obtained him to be holden as confeÅ¿t and Decerned.

Reason to expect improvement or success; potential.

Washington IrvingMy native country was full of youthful promise.
1963, Margery Allingham, The China Governess Chapter 1, The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement.

She shows great promise as an actress.
(computing, programming) A placeholder object that can be manipulated in code before it has been assigned a value.
(obsolete) Bestowal or fulfillment of what is promised.

Bible, Acts i. 4He ... commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father.

Verb

(transitive) To commit to something or action; to make an oath; make a vow.

2013-06-22, Engineers of a different kind, Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers....Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industryâ€™s veterans. â€œOperational improvementâ€ in a portfolio company has often meant little more than promising colossal bonuses to sitting chief executives if they meet ambitious growth targets. That model is still prevalent today.

If you promise not to tell anyone, I will let you have this cake for free.
She promised me it was her first time.
He promised to never return to this town again.
She promised me a big kiss if I pick her up for the airport.
I can't promise success, but I'll do the best I can.
(intransitive) To give grounds for expectation, especially of something good.The clouds promise rain.

1897, w, The Celebrity Chapter 1, I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me. I look upon notoriety with the same indifference as on the buttons on a man's shirt-front, or the crest on his note-paper.