Etymologically
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acclaim

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Pronunciation

  • US: /əˈkleɪm/[1]

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

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.