I. ˈänə(r) noun
( -s )
Usage: see -or, often attributive
Etymology: Middle English onour, honour, honor from Old French onur, honur, honeur, honor, from Latin honor-, honos or honor
1.
a. : good name or public esteem : reputation , glory
a national administration of such integrity … that its honor at home will ensure respect abroad — D.D.Eisenhower
a prophet is not without honor except in his own country — Mt 13:57 (Revised Standard Version)
b. : outward respect or admiration : recognition , deference
a dinner in honor of the football coach
treat the clergy with honor
2. : a special prerogative : privilege
I have the honor to inform you
the second artist … to be accorded the honor of designing the annual Christmas seal — Phoenix Flame
3. : a person of superior standing or importance — now used especially as a title for and in a mode of address to certain holders of high office (as judges and mayors of cities)
if Your Honor please
His Honor presided
4.
a. : one that is of intrinsic value : asset
he is an honor to his profession
b. obsolete : one that decorates : ornament
the woods, in scarlet honors bright — William Cowper
5. : an evidence or symbol of distinction : mark of respect or admiration: as
a. : an exalted title or rank
elected United States Senator in 1794 and governor of Maryland … he declined both honors — American Guide Series: Maryland
b.
(1) : badge , decoration
among his honors is the Order of the Golden Fleece
(2) : a ceremonial rite or observance
the general was buried with full military honors
(3) honors plural : drum ruffles and trumpet flourishes and the national anthem or other music played during a ceremony when troops are presented
c. archaic : a gesture of deference : bow
they … made their honors very prettily as they passed by us — Samuel Richardson
d. honors plural : social courtesies or civilities especially as when rendered by a host
the president did the honors and the new club member acknowledged each introduction with a gracious nod
handed him the carving knife, and asked him to do the honors of the table
e.
(1) : an academic grade, distinction, or award conferred on a superior student by a school or college
received her B.A. with first class honors from the University of London — B.F.Wright
gained a first with honors in mathematics — Lois I. Woodville
(2) or honors plural but singular in construction : a course of study either supplementing or replacing a regular course, open to students of superior ability, and usually culminating in an examination or thesis to determine eligibility for a degree with special distinction
honor study gives to seniors … an opportunity to do independent study and research in their major field — Bulletin of Bates College
British universities offer two types of courses in the faculties of arts and science: an honors course … and an ordinary, pass, or general course — I.L.Kandel
f. : an accolade for supremacy in a contest or field of competition
the debating team won regional honors
airlines vie for commercial honors
g. : an achievement award earned by a camp fire girl
Camp Fire's method of giving individual recognition is the honor bead — Camp Fire Girl
6. : chastity , purity , virginity — used of a woman
fought fiercely for her honor and her life — Barton Black
7.
a. : a holding of a large amount of land including numerous manors
b. : the seignorial franchise or jurisdiction annexed to such a holding
8.
a. : adherence to high standards of justice and responsibility : ethical conduct : integrity
code of honor
an acute sense of honor in private and business matters — Edith Wharton
— compare bushido , noblesse oblige
b. : one's word given as a guarantee of performance
9.
a.
(1) or honor-card : an ace, king, queen, jack, or ten
(2) : the ace, king, queen, jack, or ten of the trump suit in bridge or any ace when the contract is no-trump considered from the standpoint of its scoring value
(3) : the ace, king, queen, or jack of the trump suit in whist
4. : the scoring value of honors held in bridge or whist — usually used in plural
(5) honors plural : honor score
b. : the privilege of playing first ; specifically : the privilege of driving a golf ball first from the tee that is granted the winner of the previous hole or the last unhalved hole
c. : one of 28 special-value tiles in the game of Mah-Jongg
Synonyms:
honor , homage , reverence , deference , and obeisance agree in signifying respect or esteem shown to another or claimed by him as a right. honor can apply to the recognition of one's title to great respect or to the expression of that respect
to hold a statesman in high honor
some member of the family there to see you get your honor — Agnes S. Turnbull
to accept the honor the university proffered him
homage adds the idea of accompanying praise or tribute especially from one owing allegiance
the ostentatious homage paid by state officials to bishops — Times Literary Supplement
brought up in the veneration of a man so truly worthy of homage — Matthew Arnold
the homage which man owes his Creator — M.W.Baldwin
reverence implies profound respect usually colored by love, devotion, or awe
a reverence for all things sacred
they rather produce in man thoughtfulness, reverence, a sense, confused yet precious, of the boundless importance of the unseen world — Charles Kingsley
a reverence for government — Sherwood Anderson
deference implies a yielding or submitting to another's judgement or preference out of respect or reverence
the attitude of deference which Elizabethan children were taught to cultivate toward their fathers — G.E.Dawson
the magistrate and the clergyman … were conceded a deference which superior education, and not superior birth, compelled — H.E.Scudder
obeisance implies a show of honor or reverence by or as if by bowing or kneeling, often applying to a self-humbling gesture in confession of defeat or subjection
the court is also showing great obeisance to the wishes of the executive and administrative branches — New Republic
continually making humble obeisance to supercilious superiors — A.E.Wier
unfortunate growing things … found that they were clipped, mowed, segregated, pruned, espaliered and generally bullied into obeisance — T.H.Robsjohn-Gibbings
Synonym: see in addition fame .
II. transitive verb
( honored ; honored ; honoring -n(ə)riŋ ; honors )
Usage: see -or
Etymology: Middle English onouren, honouren, from Old French onurer, honurer, honeurer, from Latin honorare, from honor-, honos or honor
1.
a. : to show high regard or appreciation for : pay tribute to : exalt , praise
honor your father and your mother — Exod 20:12 (Revised Standard Version)
he has been honored at half a dozen public luncheons and banquets — J.A.Morris b. 1904
b. : to confer a distinction upon
the only Englishman in all history that the world honors with the surname of Great — Kemp Malone
in addition to his French decorations, he was honored by the governments of Great Britain, Italy, Belgium, Serbia, and Venezuela — J.J.Senturia
2. : to be a credit to : adorn
the quality of his statesmanship would honor any country
3.
a. : to treat with consideration : recognize , respect
federal bill … to honor state commitments of addicts — D.W.Maurer & V.H.Vogel
truck drivers were honoring the picket line — Springfield (Massachusetts) Union
b. : to live up to or fulfill : carry out
honor a treaty
honor a contract
specifically : to accept and comply with the terms of
honor a check
honor a requisition … for the surrender of a violator — P.G.Auchampaugh
4. : to salute with a bow usually at the beginning or at the end of a square dance
honor your partner