prize

a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

a fool or simpleton; ninny.

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Origin:
1250–1300; in senses referring to something seized, continuing Middle English prise something captured, a seizing < Middle French < Latin pre(hē)nsa, noun use of feminine past participle of pre(he)ndere to take; in senses referring to something won, spelling variant of price (Middle English pris(e)) since the late 16th century

Synonyms
1. premium. See reward.

Dictionary.com Unabridged

verb (used with object), prized, priz·ing.

to value or esteem highly.

to estimate the worth or value of.

Origin:
1325–75; Middle English prisen < Middle French prisier, variant of preisier to praise

Synonyms
1. See appreciate.

verb (used with object)

pry².

noun

leverage.

a lever.

Also, prise.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English prise < Middle French: a hold, grasp < Latin pre(hē)nsa. See prize¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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World English Dictionary

prise or prize (praɪz)

—vb
1.	to force open by levering
2.	to extract or obtain with difficulty: they had to prise the news out of him

—n
3.	rare, dialect or a tool involving leverage in its use or the leverage so employed

[C17: from Old French prise a taking, from prendre to take, from Latin prehendere; see prize¹]

prize or prize

—vb

—n

[C17: from Old French prise a taking, from prendre to take, from Latin prehendere; see prize¹]

prize¹ (praɪz)

—n
1.	a. a reward or honour for victory or for having won a contest, competition, etc
	b. (as modifier): prize jockey; prize essay
2.	something given to the winner of any game of chance, lottery, etc
3.	something striven for
4.	any valuable property captured in time of war, esp a vessel

[C14: from Old French prise a capture, from Latin prehendere to seize; influenced also by Middle English prise reward; see price]

prize² (praɪz)

—vb
	(tr) to esteem greatly; value highly

[C15 prise, from Old French preisier to praise]

prize³ (praɪz)

—vb, —n
	a variant spelling of prise

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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

prize

"reward," 1590s, alteration of M.E. prise (c.1300 in this sense; see price). Prize-fighter is from 1703; prize-fight from 1824. Prized "highly esteemed" is from 1538.

prize

"something taken by force," late 14c., from O.Fr. prise "a taking, seizing, holding," prop. fem. pp. of prendre "to take, seize," from L. prendere, contraction of prehendere (see prehensile). Especially of ships captured at sea (1512).

prize

"to estimate," 1586, alteration of M.E. prisen "to prize, value," from stem of O.Fr. preisier (see praise).

Example sentences

The prize could be trillions of cubic metres of gas.

Tao's accomplishments have already earned him nearly every major mathematics

prize.

The prize money has touched people from all walks of life.

Players compete in a race against time to capture some prize.

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"I've been described as a tough and noisy woman, a prize fighter, a man-hater, you name it. They call me Battling Bella, Mother Courage, and a Jewish mother with more complaints than Portnoy. There are those who say I'm impatient, impetuous, uppity, rude, profane, brash, and overbearing. Whether I'm any of those things, or all of them, you can decide for yourself. But whatever I am —and this ought to be made very clear—I am a very serious woman."

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