honorific

Etymology

noun

  1. A title. (e.g., Mister, Misses, Doctor, Professor)
  2. A term of respect; respectful language.
  3. (linguistics) A word or word form expressing the speaker's respect for the hearer or the referent.

adj

  1. Showing or conferring honour and respect.
    According to Pliny, the custom of setting up honorific statues on columns was a comparably ancient one. 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, page 59
  2. Based on or valuing honor
    In the honorific cultural process, individuals (especially men) are extremely sensitive to real or perceived insults, and […] 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, page 143

Attribution / Disclaimer All definitions come directly from Wiktionary using the Wiktextract library. We do not edit or curate the definitions for any words, if you feel the definition listed is incorrect or offensive please suggest modifications directly to the source (wiktionary/honorific), any changes made to the source will update on this page periodically.