laureate

[ lawr-ee-it, lor- ]

See synonyms for laureate on Thesaurus.com

noun

a person who has been honored for achieving distinction in a particular field or with a particular award: a Nobel laureate.
poet laureate.

adjective

deserving or having special recognition for achievement, as for poetry (often used immediately after the noun that is modified): poet laureate; conjurer laureate.
having special distinction or recognition in a field: the laureate men of science.

crowned or decked with laurel as a mark of honor.
consisting of or resembling laurel, as a wreath or crown.

Origin of laureate

1350–1400; Middle English; <Latin laureātus crowned with laurel, equivalent to laure(us) of laurel (laur(us) bay tree + -eus-eous) + -ātus-ate¹

Other words from laureate

lau·re·ate·ship, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use laureate in a sentence

“It was Stephen Hawking and five other Nobel laureates,” Krauss recalled.
Sleazy Billionaire’s Double Life Featured Beach Parties With Stephen Hawking | M.L. Nestel | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
Dissing its Nobel laureates is a bit of a tradition in Pakistan, too.
Why So Many Pakistanis Hate Their Nobel Peace Prize Winner | Chris Allbritton | October 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Thousands of officials are allowed to nominate Peace Prize laureates.
Nobel Nomination Nonsense | Michael Moynihan | January 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Two of this year's Nobel laureates are Israeli―but both live outside Israel.
Why is the E.U. So Willing to Compromise on Settlement Guidelines? | Matt Lerner | October 25, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
He asked for the works of philosophers and generals; presidents and past laureates; King and Gandhi.
Jon Favreau on Obama’s War for Peace | Jon Favreau | September 10, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST

This implies that the recitations were not single, as if by poet laureates, but that many shared in them.
Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 1 of 3 | W. E. Gladstone
In many cases they were devised by clever play-wrights, and their glories recorded in the verses of the poet laureates.
Holidays & Happy-Days | Hamish Hendry
Sternhold and Hopkins were his Laureates, for perpetually on all kinds of wings of mighty winds he came flying all abroad.
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. II, No. X., March 1851 | Various
I have also convoked a few young laureates of the college, but only such as are little versed in affairs.
The Executioner's Knife | Eugne Sue
Certainly, no one of the Laureates, Cibber excepted, was so mercilessly lampooned.
Atlantic Monthly, Volume 2, Issue 10, August, 1858 | Various

British Dictionary definitions for laureate

laureate

/ (ˈlɔːrɪɪt) /

adjective(usually immediately postpositive)

literary crowned with laurel leaves as a sign of honour
archaic made of laurel

noun

short for poet laureate
a person honoured with an award for art or science: a Nobel laureate

rare a person honoured with the laurel crown or wreath

Origin of laureate

C14: from Latin laureātus, from laurea laurel

Derived forms of laureate

laureateship, noun
laureation (ˌlɔːrɪˈeɪʃən), noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Browse