Meanings
plural fontes honorum
- A person who, by virtue of sovereignty, holds the exclusive right to create and confer legitimate titles of nobility and orders of chivalry.
It doesn’t seem that the smaller or lower-ranking states behaved as fontes honorum before 1806.
2002 February 11th, Francois R. Velde, alt.talk.royalty, “Re: Fons honorum germanorum”, (see the original message)1 more example
In 1919 Pʻun-kʻaṅ taiji bKra-śis-rdo-rje was appointed kung, the only attempt by the Dalai-Lama to succede the defunct Chinese Ch’ing dynasty as fons honorum.
1973, Luciano Petech, Aristocracy and Government in Tibet, 1728–1959, page 27Synonyms: fount of honour
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA person who, by virtue of sovereignty, holds the exclusive right to create and confer legitimate titles of nobility and orders of chivalry.
Origin
Latin: fōns (“fount, source”) + honōrum (“of honours”; the genitive plural form of honor (“honour”)) = “source of honours” ≈ “fount of honour”
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
fons honorum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fons%20honorum
“fons honorum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fons%20honorum. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fons honorum,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fons%20honorum.
Source: fons honorum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.