Etymologically
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honor

Etymology and origin of the Latin word honor

History Permalink
Confidence
Unknown
First attested
Plautus

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈhɔ.nɔr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɔː.nor][1]

Forms

honor m (genitive honōris); third declension[1]

Etymology

The older form is honōs.[2][1] The origin is unknown.[1][2] The TLL reports comparisons with Irish and Greek words but calls the origin uncertain, and Wiktionary notes that a PIE root of the expected shape *gʰon- or *ǵʰon- has no clear cognates.[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has a slave ask to be honoured no differently from when he served.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant high esteem shown to worth or rank, a mark of esteem, as a statue given by Syracuse, and a special privilege.[2] Honorem habere was to pay honour.[2] It also meant a public office, and in poetry a grace or beauty that inspires esteem, as the “glad lustre” Venus breathed on Aeneas' eyes in Virgil.[2]

Honos was the form Cicero almost always used, and it was antiquated by Quintilian's time.[5] Honour was also worshipped as a god.[2] In medieval Latin it meant a vassal's fealty, a gift of honour, power, social rank and the integrity of rights and property.[6] English honor came from it through Old French around 1200.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of the honour shown to a person.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses the form honos.[5][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a grace of appearance.[2][4]
  • c. 1200 – English honor is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Esteem, respect, honour.[2][1]
  2. A mark of esteem, an honour, honorem habere, to pay honour.[2]
  3. A special honour, privilege.[2]
  4. A public office.[2][1]
  5. Grace, dignity of appearance.[2]
  6. (Medieval Latin) A vassal's fealty; social rank; secure rights and property.[6]

Usage notes

Honōs and honor are the same word, and Cicero has honor only twice, and Seneca and Ovid prefer honor.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Honor.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/honor. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·