Definition of ACCOLADE

What is the origin of accolade?

Accolade was borrowed into English in the 16th century from French. The French noun in turn derives from the verb accoler, which means "to embrace," and ultimately from the Latin term collum, meaning "neck." (Collum is also an ancestor of the English word collar.) When it was first borrowed from French, accolade referred to a ceremonial embrace that once marked the conferring of knighthood. The term was later extended to any ceremony conferring knighthood (such as the more familiar tapping on the shoulders with the flat part of a sword's blade), and eventually extended to honors or awards in general.

Examples of accolade in a Sentence

There is no higher accolade at this school than an honorary degree. for their exceptional bravery the firefighters received accolades from both local and national officials His abundant accolades include the John Bates Clark Medal, awarded biannually to an outstanding economist under the age of 40—a distinction said to be predictive of, and perhaps even more prestigious than, receipt of the Nobel in economic science. —“Malefactors of Megawealth” P. 13, David M. Kennedy, THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, October 21, 2007 In October 1869, Ida Lewis, The Heroine of Lime Rock was published. Thus was a folk heroine born, saluted, celebrated and accoladed. —PROVIDENCE JOURNAL-BULLETIN (RHODE ISLAND) [NEXIS], May 26, 2002, Ida Lewis, keeper of the lighthouse flame, BYLINE: SAM COALE In 1631, John Weever, a poet whose sonnet "Ad Gulielmum Shakespeare" (1599) is one of the earliest testimonials to its subject, published Ancient Funeral Monuments, a bulky folio, almost 900 pages long, the result of half a lifetime's traipsing through graveyards in search of the illustrious dead. The volume gave pride of place to poets. Only "the muses' works ... give unto man immortality", Weever believed, and it was immortality he served, as he copied funerary inscriptions from crumbling monuments. Assembling these, and printing them alongside extracts of the work and other posthumous accolades and endorsements, Weever produced a biographical anthology of verse which established a pattern for literary compilations still in use today and, at the same time, defined the nature of the activity. Literature was that which had been praised; and literary history was the record of praise. —"Literary Criticism" P. 25, Norma Clarke, THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT, February 15, 2002 In short, over the last 900 years only four popes have been judged worthy of official beatification and only three of these have been canonized, the church’s highest accolade. —“Religion” P. 50, Kenneth L. Woodward, NEWSWEEK Vol. CXXXVI No. 10, September 4, 2000

Recent Examples on the Web

Amazon Prime Video also has a massive subscriber base (although, those numbers are mostly tied to Prime subscriptions since Prime Video is included in that service) and has received accolades for its original content as well. — Valentina Palladino, Ars Technica, "Apple’s TV subscription service starts in 2019 to compete with Netflix, Amazon," 24 Oct. 2018 But while the big span gets all the accolades, Pine Creek did all the hard work in forming it. — Roger Naylor, azcentral, "Kid-friendly hikes around Arizona: Hit the trail with your family this summer," 28 June 2018 Pujols got just enough of Mike Leake's pitch to find the outfield grass and add another accolade to a likely Hall of Fame career. — CBS News, "Albert Pujols becomes 32nd member of 3,000-hit club with hit against Mariners," 5 May 2018 Pujols got just enough of Mike Leake’s pitch to find the outfield grass and add another accolade to a likely Hall of Fame career. — Washington Post, "Albert 3K: Pujols gets 3,000th hit, Angels beat Mariners 5-0," 5 May 2018 In February, Manetsch added another accolade to an already long list when she was named to the IHSA Academic All-State team. — Jon J. Kerr, chicagotribune.com, "Melissa Manetsch adds Academic All-State to her long list of awards," 2 Apr. 2018 Eleven months after the shooting guard dropped 70 points against Boston to become the youngest player in NBA history to score even 60 in a game, Booker added another accolade to his promising career with the 3-Point title. — Houston Chronicle, "Suns' Devin Booker walks off with 3-point title; Nets' Spencer Dinwiddie wins skills," 17 Feb. 2018 Eleven months after the shooting guard dropped 70 points against Boston to become the youngest player in NBA history to score even 60 in a game, Booker added another accolade to his promising career with the 3-Point title. — Bernie Wilson, The Seattle Times, "Mitchell soars to dunk title, Booker sets 3-point record," 17 Feb. 2018 Any change, though, has to come from the top, according to casting director Gilleon Smith, whose work with New York brand Chromat has also earned widespread accolades for its radical inclusivity. — Hilary George-parkin, Glamour, "What's Holding Victoria's Secret Back From Body Diversity on the Runway?," 9 Nov. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'accolade.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.