laureate

noun lau·re·ate \ ˈlȯr-ē-ət , ˈlär- \

Updated on: 21 Apr 2018

Definition of laureate

: the recipient of honor or recognition for achievement in an art or science

a Nobel laureate

; specifically : poet laureate

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laureate

adjective

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laureateship

play \ˈlȯr-ē-ət-ˌship, ˈlär-\ noun

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Recent Examples of laureate from the Web

Although selected by Japanese judges, the laureates come from around the world.

— peter rowe, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Kyoto Prize increased to almost $1 million," 12 Apr. 2018
Gurewich was raised mostly in London and New York, where several German Nobel laureates were regular guests of his doctor father’s.

— karen weintraub, STAT, "At 88, this doctor won’t give up on a long-ignored treatment for strokes and heart attacks," 6 Apr. 2018
Any number of historic moments in the civil-rights struggle have been used to identify Martin Luther King Jr. — prime mover of the Montgomery bus boycott, keynote speaker at the March on Washington, youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

— seattle times staff, The Seattle Times, "Scenes from the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr.," 30 Mar. 2018
Carlos Filipe Ximense Belo, the influential East Timorese Catholic bishop and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, welcomed the border resolution as an economic boon for his deeply Catholic country.

— edith m. lederer and rob mcguirk, The Christian Science Monitor, "Australia and East Timor reach historic international agreement," 7 Mar. 2018
Congress proposed renaming the street on which the Chinese Embassy sits in honor of Liu Xiaobo, the dissident and Nobel laureate who died last year.

— neil macfarquhar, New York Times, "U.S. and Russia Revive Cold-War Game of Provocative Street Names," 12 Feb. 2018
The peace laureate's influence would also be felt in the nonviolent protests of 1989 that brought down the Berlin Wall, the GDR and ultimately the rest of the Eastern bloc.

— jefferson chase, USA TODAY, "Germany remembers Martin Luther King 50 years after his death," 4 Apr. 2018
Having a poet laureate is a bit like having an astronaut laureate.

— david hansen, latimes.com, "A year of Laguna poetry brings lessons and a festival," 4 Apr. 2018
Video showed the Nobel laureate clad in traditional Pakistani shalwar kameez and her head covered in a red and blue scarf sitting next to the premier along with her parents.

— shaiq hussain, BostonGlobe.com, "Malala Yousafzai, world’s youngest Nobel laureate, returns to home in Pakistan," 29 Mar. 2018

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

Origin and Etymology of laureate

Middle English, crowned with laurel as a distinction, from Latin laureatus, from laurea laurel wreath, from feminine of laureus of laurel, from laurus

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1529

in the meaning defined above

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