Etymologically
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applaud

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /əˈplɔːd/[1]
  • US: /əˈplɔd/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English applauden,[2][3] borrowed from Latin applaudō (“to clap the hands in approval; to strike upon”),[4][5][6][7][3] formed from ad- (“to”) and plaudō (“to clap”),[5][4][3][7] a verb of unknown origin.[5][8] Several dictionaries say it was partly reinforced by Middle French applaudir, earlier aplaudir,[9][10][11][12] but the OED thinks the French verb was apparently not the immediate source, except perhaps in one early Scots use.[4] Ayto likewise thinks English probably took the word directly from Latin.[7] The same Latin verb gave plaudit[7][8] and explode, whose original sense seems to have been to drive a player from the stage by clapping.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

To express approval or praise: about 1475, in the participle applaudyng, in a religious poem in which the martyrs cry out "applaudyng thy presence".[2][5][6] The OED's first record is from about 1540, in Bellenden's Scots translation of Boece, in the sense "to agree with, assent to".[4]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that the extended meaning, approval or praise, came into English before the literal one:[5] the sense of clapping the hands is recorded only from 1598, in Florio's Italian–English dictionary.[4][5] In the same year Shakespeare used it in Henry IV, Part 1 for expressing approval aloud,[4] and before 1616 he used it for approving in any way, the sense that became general.[4] Johnson (1755) gave "to praise by clapping the hand" first and "to praise in general" second, quoting Macbeth: "I would applaud thee to the very echo".[13] A noun applaud, applause, was used from 1598 to 1636.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1475 – to express approval or praise.[2][6]
  • c. 1540 – to agree with something as worthy of praise (obsolete by 1635).[4]
  • 1595 – applaud to, to give approval to (obsolete).[4]
  • 1598 – to clap the hands in approval.[4][5]
  • 1598 – noun, applause (obsolete by 1636).[4]
  • before 1616 – to approve of, praise.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To show approval by clapping the hands: The crowd applauded as the runners crossed the line.[14][12][4]
  2. To praise or approve of an action, person or thing: We applaud the council's plan to reopen the library.[14][12][4]

Word family

  • applaudable
  • applaudably
  • applauder
  • applaudingly
  • unapplauded
  • unapplauding
  • reapplaud

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  7. ^ a b c d e Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  12. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  14. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins