Meanings
- not comparablepostpositionalsometimesCrowned, or decked, with laurel.
Soft on her lap her laureate son reclines.
1728, [Alexander Pope], “(please specify the page)”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin; London: […] A. Dodd, →OCLC2 more examples
To strew the laureate hearse where Lycid lies.
1637 (date written; published 1638), John Milton, “Lycidas”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLCAlthough the post of poet laureate as we know it was not established until John Dryden's appointment in 1668,
2007, Robert J. Meyer-Lee, Poets and Power from Chaucer to Wyatt
plural laureates
- datedOne crowned with laurel, such as a poet laureate or Nobel laureate.
a learn'd laureate
a. 1658, John Cleveland, An Elegy to Ben Johnson1 more example
Maria Ressa, the chief executive and cofounder of Rappler, and Dmitry Muratov, the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, were named as this year’s laureates by Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee.
2021 October 8, Jon Henley and Rebecca Ratcliffe, “Journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov win Nobel peace prize”, in The GuardianSynonyms: honoree
- A graduate of a university.
present singular third person laureates · participle present laureating · participle past laureated · past laureated
- intransitiveTo honor with a wreath of laurel, as formerly was done in bestowing a degree at English universities.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounOne crowned with laurel, such as a poet laureate or Nobel laureate.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveworthy of the greatest honor or distinction
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinlaureātus
- Englishlaureate
First attested during the end of the 15th century, in Middle English; borrowed from Latin laureātus, from laurea (“laurel crown, wreath”, a high reward given to poets and later to the triumphant) + -ātus (forming adjectives indicating possession) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and -ate (noun-forming suffix)), from laureus (“of laurel”), from laurus (“laurel”). The verb was formed by metanalysis, see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Cognate with French lauréat.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian увенча́н, лауреа́т
- увенча́н (uvenčán)crowned with laurel
- лауреа́т (laureát)one crowned with laurel
- лауреа́тка (laureátka)one crowned with laurel
- увенча́вам (uvenčávam)to honor with a wreath of laurel
- увенча́я (uvenčája)to honor with a wreath of laurel
Chinese Mandarin 獲獎者 /获奖者
- 獲獎者 /获奖者 (huòjiǎngzhě)one crowned with laurel
Czech nositel, nositelka
- nositelone crowned with laurel
- nositelkaone crowned with laurel
- laureátone crowned with laurel
- laureátkaone crowned with laurel
Dutch laureaat, prijswinnaar
- laureaatone crowned with laurel
- prijswinnaarone crowned with laurel
Esperanto laŭreato
- laŭreatoone crowned with laurel
Estonian laureaat
- laureaatone crowned with laurel
Finnish palkinnon saaja
- palkinnon saajaone crowned with laurel
French lauréat, lauréate
- lauréatcrowned with laurel
- lauréatecrowned with laurel
- lauréatone crowned with laurel
- lauréateone crowned with laurel
German Laureat, Laureatin
- Laureatone crowned with laurel
- Laureatinone crowned with laurel
Greek δαφνοστεφής, δαφνοστεφής
- δαφνοστεφής (dafnostefís)crowned with laurel
- δαφνοστεφής (dafnostefís)one crowned with laurel
Hungarian koszorús, babérkoszorús
- koszorúscrowned with laurel
- babérkoszorúscrowned with laurel
- díjnyertesone crowned with laurel
- kitüntetettone crowned with laurel
- díjazottone crowned with laurel
- díjasone crowned with laurel
Italian laureato, laureata
- laureatoone crowned with laurel
- laureataone crowned with laurel
Japanese 受賞者
- 受賞者 (jushōsha)one crowned with laurel
Korean 수상자
- 수상자 (susangja)one crowned with laurel
Latvian laureāts
- laureātsone crowned with laurel
Lithuanian laureatas
- laureatasone crowned with laurel
Polish uwieńczony, laureat
- uwieńczonycrowned with laurel
- laureatone crowned with laurel
- laureatkaone crowned with laurel
- uwieńczaćto honor with a wreath of laurel
- uwieńczyćto honor with a wreath of laurel
Portuguese laureado, laureado
- laureadocrowned with laurel
- laureadoone crowned with laurel
- laurearto honor with a wreath of laurel
Russian уве́нчанный, лауреа́т
- уве́нчанный (uvénčannyj)crowned with laurel
- лауреа́т (laureát)one crowned with laurel
- лауреа́тка (laureátka)one crowned with laurel
- венча́ть (venčátʹ)to honor with a wreath of laurel
- уве́нчивать (uvénčivatʹ)to honor with a wreath of laurel
- увенча́ть (uvenčátʹ)to honor with a wreath of laurel
Slovak nositeľ, nositeľka
- nositeľone crowned with laurel
- nositeľkaone crowned with laurel
- laureátone crowned with laurel
- laureátkaone crowned with laurel
Spanish laureado, galardonado
- laureadocrowned with laurel
- galardonadocrowned with laurel
- ganadorcrowned with laurel
- laureadoone crowned with laurel
- galardonadoone crowned with laurel
- laurearto honor with a wreath of laurel
- galardonarto honor with a wreath of laurel
Swedish lagerkransad, lagerkrönt
- lagerkransadcrowned with laurel
- lagerkröntcrowned with laurel
- lagerkransato honor with a wreath of laurel
- lagerkrönato honor with a wreath of laurel
Ukrainian лауреа́т, лауреа́тка
- лауреа́т (laureát)one crowned with laurel
- лауреа́тка (laureátka)one crowned with laurel
Cite this entry
laureate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/laureate
“laureate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/laureate. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “laureate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/laureate.
Source: laureate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.