honorific

English

Alternative forms

  • honorifick (obsolete, rare)
  • honourific (non‐standard)

Etymology

honor + -ific

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌɒnəˈɹɪfɪk/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˌɑːnəˈɹɪfɪk/
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: hon‧or‧if‧ic
  • Rhymes: -ɪfɪk

Noun

honorific (plural honorifics)

  1. A person's title, such as "Mrs" or "Doctor".
  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.
    Coordinate term: humilific

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

honorific (comparative more honorific, superlative most honorific)

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

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

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