Etymologically
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admiration

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Pronunciation

  • /ˌæd.məˈɹeɪ.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English admiracioun, also admiracion,[2][3][4] borrowed from Middle French admiracion, also admiration,[5][3] or directly from Latin admīrātiō (“wonder, astonishment”).[5][6][2][7] In Old French it is recorded from the late 12th century as ammiration, meaning astonishment or surprise.[5] The Latin noun is formed from the past participle stem of admīror (“to regard with wonder, be astonished”),[5][6][8] from ad- (“to”) and mīror (“to wonder”), from mīrus (“wonderful”), the source of miracle.[6] ammirazione, admiración and admiração come from the same Latin word.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wonder, astonishment, surprise: the first record is about 1425, in the Book of Foundation of St Bartholomew's;[5] Etymonline also dates it to the early 15th century with the sense "wonder".[6][9]

Semantic evolution

Since the 16th century the sense has gradually weakened from "wonder" towards "high regard, esteem".[6] The sense of regard for something praiseworthy is recorded from 1481, in Tiptoft's translation of Cicero's De Amicitia,[5] and that of a person or thing that is admired, as in the admiration of the whole court, from 1490.[5][7] Johnson (1755) still defined it first as "wonder; the act of admiring or wondering", quoting Milton's reasoning to admiration.[10] The phrase to admiration, admirably, dates from 1591.[5] Since 1587 the word has also named the exclamation mark, a note or mark of admiration, now historical.[5][7] The old sense of wonder is now rare or archaic.[5][3][11]

Timeline

  • c. 1425 – wonder, astonishment.[5]
  • 1481 – regard for something praiseworthy, esteem.[5]
  • 1490 – a cause or object of wonder or esteem.[5]
  • 1533–1642 – admirableness (now obsolete).[5]
  • 1587 – an exclamation mark.[5]
  • 1591 – to admiration, admirably.[5]
  • 1755 – Johnson defines it first as wonder.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A feeling of warm approval, respect and pleasure towards someone or something: Her neighbours watched the restoration of the old mill with admiration.[3][11][5]
  2. A person or thing that is admired: The new bridge was the admiration of the whole town.[11][7][3]
  3. (archaic) wonder; astonishment.[3][11][7]
  4. (archaic) An exclamation mark, in note or mark of admiration.[5][7]

Word family

  • admiratively
  • self-admiration

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins