acclaim

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin acclāmō (“to shout at; to shout approval”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} with its spelling remodelled after claim.^[2][3][5][7] The Latin verb is formed from ad- (“to, toward”) and clāmō (“to shout, cry out”),^[3][4][8] from Proto-Indo-European *kele- (“to shout”).^[3] In post-classical Latin it also meant to claim, from the 12th century in British sources,^[2] and Merriam-Webster traces the early Scots sense to this Medieval Latin use.^[9] Merriam-Webster and Barnhart take it as perhaps also borrowed from Middle French acclamer,^[9][7] but the OED notes that the French verb is recorded only once in 1509 and then not again until the 18th century.^[2] It is related to declaim, exclaim, proclaim and reclaim.^[2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

To lay claim to: about 1330, in Bevis of Hampton, a sense used in Scots and northern English until 1717.^[2] Etymonline also dates the verb to the early 14th century,^[3] while the Shorter Oxford dates this sense to the early 16th century.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The modern meaning came in afresh from the Latin sense "to shout approval" in the 17th century, unrelated to the old Scots "claim".^[2][11] The verb is recorded for praising publicly in 1626 and for hailing someone as king or the like in 1634;^[2] Barnhart dates the verb to 1633^[7] and Etymonline the meaning "to applaud" to the 1630s.^[3] The noun acclaim, a shout of approval, is first found in Milton's Paradise Lost (1667),^[2][3][9] and Johnson (1755), quoting Milton, defined it as "a shout of praise", calling the verb lost.^[12] The noun took on the sense of enthusiastic public praise, especially from critics, in the 18th century (1759).^[2] An older Scottish noun meaning a legal claim was used from 1546 to 1660.^[2] In Canada, since 1919, to acclaim a candidate is to elect them without opposition.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1330 – to lay claim to (Scottish and northern, obsolete by 1717).^[2]
• 1546 – noun, a legal claim (Scottish, obsolete by 1660).^[2]
• 1626 – to praise publicly and enthusiastically.^[2]
• 1634 – to hail someone as something by acclamation.^[2]
• 1667 – noun, acclamation, general applause, in Milton.^[2][3][9]
• 1759 – noun, enthusiastic public praise.^[2]
• 1919 – in Canada, to elect without opposition.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To praise someone or something publicly and enthusiastically: The novel was acclaimed by reviewers on both sides of the Atlantic.^[6][9][2]
2. To greet with cheers and applause.^[6][9]
3. To declare someone to be something by acclamation: The crowd acclaimed her their leader.^[6][9][2]
4. (Canada) To elect to office without opposition.^[2]
5. (obsolete, 1330–1717) To lay claim to.^[2][9][10]

Noun

1. Enthusiastic public praise, especially from critics: The film won wide acclaim.^[6][9][2]
2. A shout of approval; acclamation.^[9][2][12]

Word family

• acclaimer

Related words

• acclamation
• claim
• clamor
• declaim
• exclaim
• proclaim
• reclaim

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.