honor

• honour (British, Commonwealth, Ireland)

From Middle English honour, honor, honur, from Anglo-Norman honour, honur, from Old French honor, from Latin honor.

Displaced Middle English menske (“honor, dignity among men”), from Old Norse menskr (“honor”).

The verb is from Middle English honouren, honuren (“to honor”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɒn.ə/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈɑ.nɚ/

  • Audio (California):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈɔn.ə/
• Rhymes: -ɒnə(ɹ)

honor (countable and uncountable, plural honors) (chiefly American spelling)

1. (uncountable) Recognition of importance or value; respect; veneration (of someone, usually for being morally upright or successful).

   The crowds gave the returning general much honor and praise.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 13:57:

     A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country.

   • 1852, Alfred Tennyson, “Stanza X”, in Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 14:

     And when the long-illumined cities flame, / Their ever-loyal iron leader's fame, / With honour, honour, honour, honour to him, / Eternal honour to his name.

2. (uncountable) The state of being morally upright, honest, noble, virtuous, and magnanimous; excellence of character; the perception of such a state; favourable reputation; dignity.

   He was a most perfect knight, for he had great honor and chivalry.

   His honor was unstained.

   • 2012, BioWare, Mass Effect 3: From Ashes (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, PC, scene: Normandy SR-2:

     Prothean: Those who share my purpose become allies. Those who do not become casualties.
     Shepard: Nothing in our fight against the Reapers has been that cut-and-dried.
     Prothean: Because you still have hope that this war will end with your honor intact.
     Shepard: I do.
     Prothean: Stand in the ashes of a trillion dead souls and ask the ghosts if honor matters.
     Prothean: The silence is your answer.

3. (countable) A token of praise or respect; something that represents praiseworthiness or respect, such as a prize or award given by the state to a citizen.

   Honors are normally awarded twice a year: on The Queen's Birthday in June and at the New Year.

   He wore an honor on his breast.

   military honors; civil honors

   Audie Murphy received many honors, such as the Distinguished Service Cross.

   • 1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     their funeral honours

4. A privilege (which honors the person experiencing it).

   I had the honour of dining with the ambassador.

5. (in the plural) The privilege of going first.

   I'll let you have the honours, Bob—go ahead.

   1. (golf) The right to play one's ball before one's opponent.
6. A cause of respect and fame; a glory; an excellency; an ornament.

   He is an honour to his nation.

7. (feudal law) A seigniory or lordship held of the king, on which other lordships and manors depended.
   • 1523, Anthony Fitzherbert, Book of Surveying:

     The lorde of the honour or manour

8. (heraldry, countable) The center point of the upper half of an armorial escutcheon (compare honour point).
9. (countable, card games) In bridge, an ace, king, queen, jack, or ten especially of the trump suit; in some other games, an ace, king, queen or jack.
10. (in the plural) (Courses for) an honours degree: a university qualification of the highest rank.

    At university I took honours in modern history.

• Like many other words ending in -our/-or, this word is usually spelled honour in the UK and honor in the US. However, the spelling honour is considered more formal in the United States, and is standard in formulations such as "the honour of your presence" as used on wedding invitations and other very formal documents.^[1]

• chivalry
• glory
• gentlemanliness

• dishonor, dishonour

honor (third-person singular simple present honors, present participle honoring, simple past and past participle honored) (chiefly US)

1. (transitive) To think of highly, to respect highly; to show respect for; to recognise the importance or spiritual value of.

   The freedom fighters will be forever remembered and honored by the people.

2. (transitive) To conform to, abide by, act in accordance with (an agreement, treaty, promise, request, or the like).

   I trusted you, but you have not honored your promise.

   refuse to honor the test ban treaty

   Some application software does not honor the theme colors chosen in the operating system settings.

3. (transitive) To confer (bestow) an honour or privilege upon (someone).

   Ten members of the profession were honored at the ceremony.

   The prince honored me with an invitation to his birthday banquet.

4. (transitive) To make payment in respect of (a cheque, banker's draft, etc.).

   I'm sorry Sir, but the bank did not honour your cheque.

• worthy (verb)

• despise
• contempt

• dishonor, dishonour
• honor in the breach, honour in the breach

honor

1. (archaic) On one's honor; truthfully.
   • 1861, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations:

     “Not a ha’porth. Different gangs and different ships. He was tried again for prison breaking, and got made a Lifer.”
     “And was that—Honour!—the only time you worked out, in this part of the country?”
     “The only time.”

Inherited from Old Catalan honor, from Latin honōrem.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [uˈnor]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [oˈno]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [oˈnoɾ]

honor m or (archaic, regional or poetic) f (plural honors)

1. honour

   Antonym: deshonor

• deshonor

• honorable
• honorari
• honorífic
• honrar
• seat of honor

• “honor” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “honor”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “honor” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “honor” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• honos (Old Latin)

From Old Latin honōs, a form notably still used by Cicero, of unknown origin; possibly from a Proto-Indo-European root *gʰon- or *ǵʰon- (which in turn can lead to the reconstruction of an early Proto-Italic form *xonōs before Old Latin), but lacking any clear cognates.^[1][2]

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈho.nor/, [ˈhɔnɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈo.nor/, [ˈɔːnor]

honor m (genitive honōris); third declension

1. honor, esteem, dignity, reputation, office

Third-declension noun.

• “honor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “honor”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• honor in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• honor in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • a man who has held every office (up to the consulship): vir defunctus honoribus
    
  • a man who has held many offices: honoribus ac reipublicae muneribus perfunctus (De Or. 1. 45)
    
  • a man who has held many offices: amplis honoribus usus (Sall. Iug. 25. 4)
    
  • (ambiguous) to be deprived of the rites of burial: sepulturae honore carere
    
  • (ambiguous) to be honoured, esteemed by some one: esse in honore apud aliquem
    
  • (ambiguous) to honour, show respect for, a person: aliquem honore afficere, augere, ornare, prosequi (vid. sect. VI. 11., note Prosequi...)
    
  • (ambiguous) to kindle ambition in some one's mind: aliquem cupiditate honorum inflammare (or aliquem ad cupiditatem honorum inflammare)
    
  • (ambiguous) to aspire to dignity, high honours: honores concupiscere (opp. aspernari)
    
  • (ambiguous) to speak of some one respectfully: honoris causa aliquem nominare or appellare
    
  • (ambiguous) to pay divine honours to some one: alicui divinos honores tribuere, habere
    
  • (ambiguous) to rise, mount to the honours of office: ad honores ascendere
    
  • (ambiguous) to reach the highest grade of office: amplissimos honorum gradus assequi, adipisci
    
  • (ambiguous) to attain to the highest offices: ad summos honores pervenire (cf. also sect. V. 17)
    
  • (ambiguous) to seek office: petere magistratum, honores
    
  • (ambiguous) to invest a person with a position of dignity: honores alicui mandare, deferre
    
• “honor”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “honor”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7)‎^[2], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN

From Latin honōrem.

• (Old Lombard) IPA^(key): [oˈnoɾ]

honor m

1. (Old Lombard) honour
   • 1274, Bonvesin de la Riva, Libro de Tre Scrigiure:

     Quest’ovra al so honor acomenzadha sia:

     This work began in their honor:

• Lombard: onor

• anor, enor, honnor, honur, onor, onur

From Latin honor, honōrem.

honor oblique singular, m (oblique plural honors, nominative singular honors, nominative plural honor)

1. honor; honour

• → English: honor, honour
• Middle French: honneur
  • French: honneur
• → Middle Irish: onóir, anóir
  • Irish: onóir
  • Scottish Gaelic: onoir

Inherited from Old Polish honor, from Latin honor.

• IPA^(key): /ˈxɔ.nɔr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔnɔr
• Syllabification: ho‧nor
• Homophone: Honor

honor m inan

1. (uncountable) honor (sense of self-worth derived from being someone or belonging to some group, obligating one to certain behaviors considered appropriate)

   Synonyms: ambicja, cześć, duma, godność

2. (uncountable, literary) honor (privilege which honors the person experiencing it)

   Synonym: zaszczyt

   Antonyms: dyshonor, niehonor

3. (countable, bridge, card games) honor (in bridge: an ace, king, queen, jack, or ten, especially of the trump suit; in some other games: an ace, king, queen, or jack)

   Antonym: blotka

   Hypernym: karta

4. (literary, in the plural) honors, distinctions (marks of honor, rank, eminence, or excellence)
5. (literary, in the plural) honors (signs of reverence and respect)

• → Old Ruthenian: го́норъ (hónor), го́неръ (hóner)
  • Belarusian: го́нар (hónar)
  • Carpathian Rusyn: го́нор (hónor)
  • Ukrainian: го́нор (hónor); го́нір (hónir) (dialectal)
  • → Middle Russian: го́норъ (gónor)
    • Russian: го́нор (gónor)

• honor in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• honory in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• honor in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• honor in PWN's encyclopedia

Inherited from Old Spanish onor, from Latin honōrem.

• IPA^(key): /oˈnoɾ/ [oˈnoɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: ho‧nor

honor m (plural honores)

1. honor

• “honor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28

• honro, honró, horno

honor

1. indefinite plural of hona