Apedia

Encomiums Love Praise Expression Meaning Written Encomium October

Word encomium
Date October 26, 2009
Type noun
Syllables en-KOH-mee-um
Etymology "The love of praise, howe're concealed by art / Reigns more or less, and glows in every heart." British writer Edward Young knew how much people love to hear praise -- and so did the ancient Greeks, the originators of "encomium." They formalized that particular expression of praise and named it an "enkōmion," from their terms "en," meaning "in," and "kōmos," meaning "celebration." The original encomiums were eulogies or panegyrics, often ones prepared in honor of a victor in the Olympics. The term was later broadened to refer to any laudatory ode. Since then encomiums have been written praising everyone from Julius Caesar to Elton John, although not all have been entirely serious -- one of the best known is the satirical "Moriae Encomium" ("Praise of Folly") by Erasmus.
Examples "The book is beautifully written and unquestioningly deserves the encomiums of critics who compared it to 'The Great Gatsby' for its elegiac tone." (David Milofsky, The Denver Post, August 2, 2009)
Definition : glowing and warmly enthusiastic praise; also : an expression of this

Tags: wordoftheday::noun

Learn with these flashcards. Click next, previous, or up to navigate to more flashcards for this subject.

Next card: Swimming natant words contexts who've time local easily

Previous card: Reflect reflected   [v surface ed sth verb 动词

Up to card list: Word of the Day