honorific

English

Alternative forms

• honorifick (obsolete, rare)
• honourific (non‐standard)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɒnəˈɹɪfɪk/
• IPA^(key): /ˌɑːnəˈɹɪfɪk/
• Hyphenation: hon‧or‧if‧ic
• Rhymes: -ɪfɪk

Noun

honorific (plural honorifics)

1. A title. (e.g., Mister, Misses, Doctor, Professor)
2. A term of respect; respectful language.
4. (linguistics) A word or word form expressing the speaker's respect for the hearer or the referent.

Translations

title or term of respect

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 敬辭／敬辞 (zh) (jìngcí), 敬辞 (zh) (jìngcí), 敬語／敬语 (zh) (jìngyǔ), 敬语 (zh) (jìngyǔ)

• Finnish: arvonimi (fi)
• German: Honorifikum n, Höflichkeitsform f
• Japanese: 敬語 (ja) (けいご, keigo)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Korean: 경어 (ko) (gyeong'eo) (敬語 (ko)), 존댓말 (ko) (jondaenmal), 높임말 (ko) (nopimmal)
• Portuguese: título honorífico m
• Russian: гонорати́в (ru) m (gonoratív), (specifically Japanese honorifics) кэ́йго n (kɛ́jgo), кэйго́ n (kɛjgó)
• Vietnamese: kính ngữ (敬語), kính cẩn (vi)

linguistics: word form encoding respect

• German: please add this translation if you can
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Mongolian: хүндэтгэлийн үг (xündetgeliin üg)

Adjective

honorific (comparative more honorific, superlative most honorific)

1. Showing or conferring honour and respect.
   • 1996, T. P. Wiseman, “The Minucii and Their Monument”, in Jerzy Linderski (editor), Imperium Sine Fine: T. Robert S. Broughton and the Roman Republic, Franz Steiner Verlag, →ISBN, page 59:

     According to Pliny, the custom of setting up honorific statues on columns was a comparably ancient one.

2. Based on or valuing honor
   • 2010, Orlando Patterson, “The mechanisms of cultural reproduction: explaining the puzzle of persistence”, in John R. Hall et al. (editors), Handbook of Cultural Sociology, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page 143:

     In the honorific cultural process, individuals (especially men) are extremely sensitive to real or perceived insults, and […]

Antonyms

• derogatory

Derived terms

• honorifically

Translations

showing or conferring honour and respect

• Bulgarian: почтителен (bg) (počtitelen)
• German: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: honorífico (pt)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: honorífico

based on or valuing honor

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}