honorific

English

Alternative forms

• honorifick (obsolete, rare)
• honourific (non‐standard)

Etymology

From honor +‎ -ific.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɒnəˈɹɪfɪk/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌɑːnəˈɹɪfɪk/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: hon‧or‧if‧ic
• Rhymes: -ɪfɪk

Noun

honorific (plural honorifics)

1. A person's title, such as "Mrs" or "Doctor".
2. A term of respect; respectful language.
4. (linguistics) A word or word form expressing the speaker's respect for the hearer or the referent.

   Coordinate term: humilific

Translations

title or term of respect

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 敬辭／敬辞 (zh) (jìngcí), 敬語／敬语 (zh) (jìngyǔ)

• Dutch: eretitel (nl) m
• Finnish: arvonimi (fi)
• French: titre honorifique m
• German: Höflichkeitsform (de) f
• Japanese: 敬語 (ja) (けいご, keigo)
• Kapampangan: pámaggálang
• Korean: 경어(敬語) (ko) (gyeong'eo), 존댓말 (ko) (jondaenmal), 높임말 (ko) (nopimmal)
• Polish: zwrot grzecznościowy m
• Portuguese: título honorífico m
• Russian: гонорати́в (ru) m (gonoratív), (specifically Japanese honorifics) кэ́йго n (kɛ́jgo), кэйго́ n (kɛjgó)
• Vietnamese: kính ngữ (vi) (敬語), kính cẩn (vi)

linguistics: word form encoding respect

• German: Honorifikum n
• Mongolian: хүндэтгэлийн үг (xündetgeliin üg)

Adjective

honorific (comparative more honorific, superlative most honorific)

1. Showing or conferring honour and respect.
   • 1996, T. P. Wiseman, “The Minucii and Their Monument”, in Jerzy Linderski, editor, Imperium Sine Fine: T. Robert S. Broughton and the Roman Republic, Franz Steiner Verlag, →ISBN, page 59:

     According to Pliny, the custom of setting up honorific statues on columns was a comparably ancient one.

2. Based on or valuing honor
   • 2010, Orlando Patterson, “The mechanisms of cultural reproduction: explaining the puzzle of persistence”, in John R. Hall et al., editors, Handbook of Cultural Sociology, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page 143:

     In the honorific cultural process, individuals (especially men) are extremely sensitive to real or perceived insults, and […]

Antonyms

• derogatory

Derived terms

• honorifically
• honorific transposition

 

Translations

showing or conferring honour and respect

• Bulgarian: почтителен (bg) (počtitelen)
• Finnish: kunnioittava (fi)
• French: honorifique (fr)
• German: Ehren-, Ruhmes-
• Hungarian: megtisztelő (hu), tiszteletteljes (hu), udvariassági (hu), (linguistics) tiszteletiségi
• Polish: honorowy (pl), zaszczytny (pl), grzecznościowy (pl), honoryfikatywny (pl)
• Portuguese: honorífico (pt)
• Russian: почте́нный (ru) (počténnyj), поче́стный (ru) (počéstnyj), почётный (ru) (počótnyj)
• Spanish: honorífico (es)
• Ukrainian: поче́сний (počésnyj)

based on or valuing honor

• German: statusorientiert, geltungsbegierig, ehrenbezogen