Main Entry: poet laureate

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural poets laureate or poet laureates

Date: 15th century

1 : a poet honored for achievement
2 a : a poet appointed for life by an English sovereign as a member of the royal household and formerly expected to compose poems for court and national occasions b : a poet appointed annually by the United States Library of Congress as a consultant and typically involved in the promotion of poetry
3 : one regarded by a country or region as its most eminent or representative poet