hon·or·if·ic

[on-uh-rif-ik]
adjective
1.
Also, hon·or·if·i·cal. doing or conferring honor.
2.
conveying honor, as a title or a grammatical form used in speaking to or about a superior, elder, etc.
noun
3.
(in certain languages, as Chinese and Japanese) a class of forms used to show respect, especially in direct address.
4.
a title or term of respect.

Origin:
1640–50; < Latin honōrificus honor-making. See honor, -i-, -fic

hon·or·if·i·cal·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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00:10
Honorific is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
Collins
World English Dictionary
honorific (ˌɒnəˈrɪfɪk) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adj
1.  showing or conferring honour or respect
2.  a.  (of a pronoun, verb inflection, etc) indicating the speaker's respect for the addressee or his acknowledgment of inferior status
 b.  (as noun): a Japanese honorific
 
honor'ifically
 
adv

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

honorific

a grammatical form used in speaking to a social superior. In English it has largely disappeared, retained only in the use of the third person when speaking to someone clearly superior in rank ("Does your highness wish it?"). In other Indo-European languages it has a vestigial form in the degree of formality attached to the use of second-person pronouns: e.g., in German Sie ("you") rather than the familiar du ("you," or "thou").

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences
The common honorific for all university faculty members.
When asked politely, she'd explain that it was an honorific for one who protects the group.
In some cases an honorific or a patronymic name may be used.
As more nurses, pharmacists and physical therapists claim this honorific, physicians are fighting back.
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