homage

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English homage, from Old French homage, hommage, from Medieval Latin hominaticum (“homage, the service of a vassal or 'man'”), from Latin homo (“a man, in Medieval Latin a vassal”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

homage (countable and uncountable, plural homages)

  1. (countable, uncountable) A demonstration of respect, such as towards an individual after their retirement or death
    • Alexander Pope
      I sought no homage from the race that write.
    • 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women
      When a man squeezes the hand of a pretty woman, ... she will consider such an impertinent freedom in the light of an insult, if she have any true delicacy, instead of being flattered by this unmeaning homage to beauty.
    • 2006, New York Times
      It’s appropriate that we pay homage to them and the sacrifices they made.
  2. (countable) An artistic work imitating another in a flattering style. Recently, the pronunciation /oʊˈmɒːʒ/ has been introduced from French for this usage; see hommage, which preserves the French spelling.
    • 2002, Dawson's Creek (TV, episode 6.01)
      He likes to tell people that it's a Hitchcockian thriller, but that's kind of like saying Happy Gilmore is a homage to Woody Allen.
  3. (historical) In feudalism, the formal oath of a vassal to honor his or her lord's rights.
    • 1593, William Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of Verona
      We'll do thee homage, and be rul'd by thee,
      Love thee as our commander and our king.

Usage notes[edit]

  • Often used in the construction pay homage to.
  • Because of the different pronunciations, homage is sometimes preceded by the article a and sometimes by an.[1]

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb[edit]

homage (third-person singular simple present homages, present participle homaging, simple past and past participle homaged)

  1. (transitive, obsolete) To pay reverence to by external action.
  2. (transitive, obsolete) To cause to pay homage.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Cowley to this entry?)

Translations[edit]

Further reading[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "'Homage'", Ben Zimmer, "On Language", The New York Times, November 5, 2010

Anagrams[edit]

Old French[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Noun[edit]

homage m (oblique plural homages, nominative singular homages, nominative plural homage)

  1. oath; pledge

Descendants[edit]

See also[edit]

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