laureate

1 of 3

noun

lau·​re·​ate ˈlȯr-ē-ət 

ˈlär-

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

a Nobel laureate

specifically : poet laureate

laureateship

ˈlȯr-ē-ət-ˌship 

ˈlär-

noun

laureate

2 of 3

verb

lau·​re·​ate ˈlȯr-ē-ˌāt 

ˈlär-

laureated; laureating

transitive verb

1

: to crown with or as if with a laurel wreath for excellence or achievement

2

: to appoint to the office of poet laureate

laureation

ˌlȯr-ē-ˈā-shən 

ˌlär-

noun

laureate

3 of 3

adjective

lau·​re·​ate ˈlȯr-ē-ət 

ˈlär-

1

: honored for outstanding achievement in an art or science

This was a term coined in the 1950s by Nobel laureate chemist Irving Langmuir …

—Gary Taubes

see also poet laureate

2

: crowned with laurel

Minted in France in 1807, the front of the medal shows the laureate head of Emperor Napoleon and, on the reverse, an eagle clutching a thunderbolt, part of the emperor's imperial seal.

—Brice Stump

Examples of laureate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The concept at the center of this debate dates back to a 1957 proposal by Nobel laureate Richard Feynman, who suggested that if gravity could cause two massive objects to become quantumly entangled, then gravity itself must be quantum in nature. —Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 25 Oct. 2025

Nobel laureate and a soccer icon Who will be at the America Business Forum in Miami? —Miami Herald, 24 Oct. 2025

The 36th annual event honored this year’s laureates — painter Peter Doig, sculptor Marina Abramović, architect Eduardo Souto de Moura, musician András Schiff and filmmaker Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. —Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 22 Oct. 2025

The letter’s more notable signatories include AI pioneer and Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton, other AI luminaries such as Yoshua Bengio and Stuart Russell, as well as business leaders such as Virgin cofounder Richard Branson and Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak. —Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

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

First Known Use

Noun

circa 1529, in the meaning defined above

Verb

circa 1610, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1508, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing laureate

• poet laureate

Rhymes for laureate

• baccalaureate

Kids Definition

laureate

noun

lau·​re·​ate

ˈlȯr-ē-ət,

ˈlär-

: a person honored for achievement in an art or science

especially : poet laureate

laureate adjective