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In medieval times, a person could officially become a vassal of a king or lord by publicly announcing allegiance to him in a formal ceremony. In that ritual, known as homage (from the Latin root homo-, meaning “man”), the subject (who was usually but not always a man) knelt and placed his hands between those of his lord, symbolically surrendering himself and putting himself at the lord’s disposal and under his jurisdiction. A bond was thus forged between the two; the vassal’s part was to revere and serve his lord, and the lord’s role was to protect and provide for the vassal and his family. The symbolism attached to the word proved irresistible, and homage quickly broadened to apply with the meaning “respect or honor” in a variety of contexts. Today, a singer can pay homage to someone who influenced their career, and a recipe can be an homage to a chef’s hometown.
Examples of homage in a Sentence
Ava Wallace, New York Times, 28 May 2026
There are acid critiques of settler colonialism alongside tributes to the majesty of the American landscape, sober revisitations of enslavement alongside hopeful pleas for liberation, bitter denouncements of intervention in wars abroad alongside quaint homages to homespun Americanness.
—Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 28 May 2026
Named after a Norwegian ship that traversed the North and South poles at the turn of the 20th Century, Fram2 sought to pay homage to its namesake with a pioneering polar voyage of its own.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 28 May 2026
Strong suggests legitimizing and standardizing station tattoos, making a design readily available if deputies want to pay homage to their workplace, as other departments across the nation do.
—Sierra Van Der Brug, Daily News, 28 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for homage
Cite this Entry
“Homage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/homage. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
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homage
noun
