accolade

The story

1. Latin · derived fromad-
2. Vulgar Latin · derived from*accollō“to hug around the neck”
3. Italian · derived fromaccollato
4. Occitan · derived fromacolada“an embrace”
5. French · borrowed fromaccolade
6. English todayaccolade

First use appears c. 1591 in the publications of Thomas Lodge, borrowed from French accolade, from Occitan acolada (“an embrace”), from acolar (“to embrace”), from Italian accollato, via Vulgar Latin *accollō (“to hug around the neck”), from Latin ad- + collum (“neck”) (English collar) + -āta.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 1852 An expression of approval; praise.