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adulation

 - 3 dictionary results

ad⋅u⋅late

  [aj-uh-leyt]
Use adulation in a Sentence
–verb (used with object), -lat⋅ed, -lat⋅ing.
to show excessive admiration or devotion to; flatter or admire servilely.
Origin:
1770–80; back formation from adulation, ME < MF < L adūlātiōn- (s. of adūlātiō) servile flattery, fawning, equiv. to adūlāt(us), ptp. of adūlārī, -āre to fawn upon (of dogs), appar. a nominal deriv., with ad- ad-, of an otherwise unattested base + -iōn- -ion

Related forms:
ad⋅u⋅la⋅tion, noun
ad⋅u⋅la⋅tor, noun
ad⋅u⋅la⋅to⋅ry  [aj-uh-luh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] , adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ad·u·la·tion   (āj'ə-lā'shən)   
n.  Excessive flattery or admiration.

[Middle English adulacioun, from Old French, from Latin adūlātiō, adūlātiōn-, from adūlātus, past participle of adūlārī, to flatter.]
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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Word Origin & History

adulation 
c.1380, from O.Fr. adulacion, from L. adulationem (nom. adulatio), from aduliari "to flatter," from ad- "to" + ulos "tail," from PIE *ul- "the tail" (cf. Skt. valah "tail," Lith. valai "horsehair of the tail"). The original notion is "to wag the tail" like a fawning dog (cf. Gk. sainein "to wag the tail," also "to flatter;" see also wheedle).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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