honour

[ on-er ]

noun, verb (used with object), adjectiveChiefly British.

usage note For honour

See -or1.

Words Nearby honour

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

How to use honour in a sentence

  • This was reported by the Toronto Sun, which quoted Councillor Joe Mihevc as saying: “He did not do honour to our good city.”

  • honour the physician for the need thou hast of him: for the most High hath created him.

  • Great was the surprise of Alf at the honour and labour thus thrust upon him, but he did not shrink from it.

    The Giant of the North | R.M. Ballantyne
  • Toward the close of it were the usual number of toasts in honour of Liszt, to which he responded in rather a bored sort of way.

  • All Koreans pay great honour to their dead parents, and tablets to their memory are placed in some room set apart for the purpose.

    Our Little Korean Cousin | H. Lee M. Pike
  • He was honour's self, till he brought the serpent to his bosom, in the shape of his perfidious son.

British Dictionary definitions for honour (1 of 2)

honour

US honor

/ (ˈɒnə) /


noun
  1. personal integrity; allegiance to moral principles

    • fame or glory

    • a person or thing that wins this for another: he is an honour to the school

  1. (often plural) great respect, regard, esteem, etc, or an outward sign of this

  2. (often plural) high or noble rank

  3. a privilege or pleasure: it is an honour to serve you

  4. a woman's virtue or chastity

    • bridge poker any of the top five cards in a suit or any of the four aces at no trumps

    • whist any of the top four cards

  5. golf the right to tee off first

  6. do honour to

    • to pay homage to

    • to be a credit to

  7. do the honours

    • to serve as host or hostess

    • to perform a social act, such as carving meat, proposing a toast, etc

  8. honour bright British school slang an exclamation pledging honour

  9. in honour bound under a moral obligation

  10. in honour of out of respect for

  11. on one's honour or upon one's honour on the pledge of one's word or good name

verb(tr)
  1. to hold in respect or esteem

  2. to show courteous behaviour towards

  1. to worship

  2. to confer a distinction upon

  3. to accept and then pay when due (a cheque, draft, etc)

  4. to keep (one's promise); fulfil (a previous agreement)

  5. to bow or curtsy to (one's dancing partner)

Origin of honour

1
C12: from Old French onor, from Latin honor esteem

Derived forms of honour

  • honourer or US honorer, noun
  • honourless or US honorless, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for Honour (2 of 2)

Honour

/ (ˈɒnə) /


noun
  1. (preceded by Your, His, or Her)

    • a title used to or of certain judges

    • (in Ireland) a form of address in general use

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