admonish definition | Dictionary.com

ad⋅mon⋅ish

[ad-mon-ish]

–verb (used with object)

1.	to caution, advise, or counsel against something.

2.	to reprove or scold, esp. in a mild and good-willed manner: The teacher admonished him about excessive noise.

3.	to urge to a duty; remind: to admonish them about their obligations.

Origin:
1275–1325; late ME admonish, amonesche, admonesse, amoness, ME a(d)monest (with -t later taken as ptp. suffix) < AF, OF amonester < VL *admonestāre, appar. deriv. of L admonēre to remind, give advice to (source of -est- uncert.), equiv. to ad- ad- + monēre to remind, warn

Related forms:

ad⋅mon⋅ish⋅er, noun

ad⋅mon⋅ish⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

ad⋅mon⋅ish⋅ment, noun

Synonyms:
1. See warn. 2. rebuke, censure, upbraid. See reprimand.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To admonish

ad·mon·ish (ād-mŏn'ĭsh)

tr.v. ad·mon·ished, ad·mon·ish·ing, ad·mon·ish·es

To reprove gently but earnestly.
To counsel (another) against something to be avoided; caution.
To remind of something forgotten or disregarded, as an obligation or a responsibility.

[Middle English amonishen, admonishen, alteration of amonesten, from Old French amonester, admonester, from Vulgar Latin *admonestāre, from Latin admonēre : ad-, ad- + monēre, to warn; see men-¹ in Indo-European roots.]
ad·mon'ish·er n., ad·mon'ish·ing·ly adv., ad·mon'ish·ment n.

Synonyms: These verbs mean to correct or caution critically. Admonish implies the giving of advice or a warning in order to rectify or avoid something: "A gallows erected on an eminence admonished the offenders of the fate that awaited them" (William Hickling Prescott).
Reprove usually suggests gentle criticism and constructive intent: With a quick look, the teacher reproved the child for whispering in class.
Rebuke and reprimand both refer to sharp, often angry criticism: "Some of the most heated criticism . . . has come from the Justice Department, which rarely rebukes other agencies in public" (Howard Kurtz). "A committee at [the university] asked its president to reprimand a scientist who tested gene-altered bacteria on trees" (New York Times).
Reproach usually refers to regretful or unhappy criticism arising from a sense of disappointment: "Every other author may aspire to praise; the lexicographer can only hope to escape reproach" (Samuel Johnson).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Admonish

Ad*mon"ish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Admonished; p. pr. & vb. n. Admonishing.] [OE. amonesten, OF. amonester, F. admonester, fr. a supposed LL. admonesstrare, fr. L. admonere to remind, warn; ad + monere to warn. See Monition.]

1. To warn or notify of a fault; to reprove gently or kindly, but seriously; to exhort. "Admonish him as a brother." --2 Thess. iii. 15.

2. To counsel against wrong practices; to cation or advise; to warn against danger or an offense; -- followed by of, against, or a subordinate clause.

Admonishing one another in psalms and hymns. --Col. iii. 16.

I warned thee, I admonished thee, foretold The danger, and the lurking enemy. --Milton.

3. To instruct or direct; to inform; to notify.

Moses was admonished of God, when he was about to make the tabernacle. --Heb. viii. 5.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : admonish

Spanish: amonestar,

German: ermahnen,

Japanese: さとす

More Translations »

admonish

c.1325, from O.Fr. amonester, from L. admonere "advise, remind," from ad- "to" + monere "advise, warn" (see monitor). The -d- was restored on L. model. Admonition is c.1374, from L. admonitionem, noun of action from admonere.

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