kudos

English

WOTD – 17 March 2008

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κῦδος (kûdos, “praise, renown”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkjuːdɒs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkuː.doʊz/, /ˈkuː.doʊs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

kudos (uncountable)

1. Praise; accolades.

   The talented, young playwright received much kudos for his new drama.

   I gave Chelsea much kudos for the birth of her first daughter.

   • 2011 Allen Gregory, "1 Night in Gottlieb" (season 1, episode 2):

     Allen Gregory DeLongpre: Pat, I gotta tell you, you did a lot of things right with this lunch―kudos. You got back quickly, you showed initiative, and, best of all, you left plenty of room for improvement.

   • 2014, Tim Carvell [et al.], “The Lottery”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 1, episode 24, John Oliver (actor), Warner Bros. Television, via HBO:

     And… and to that… to that Turkish horse, I say this, “You should not step on people’s balls, but, in this solitary instance, kudos, horse, kudos.”

2. Credit for one's achievements.
   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.

Usage notes

• The noun kudos was originally a mass noun, but in American English is now sometimes treated as a plural noun, either as a plurale tantum, or as the plural of a new noun kudo, contrary to the original Greek κῦδος (kûdos), which is a singular noun. The American pronunciation implies this plural usage, which many authorities nevertheless consider erroneous.

Translations

praise, accolades

• Catalan: elogi m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 名譽 / 名誉 (ming⁴ jyu⁶), 叻 (yue)

  Mandarin: 榮譽 / 荣誉 (zh) (róngyù), 聲望 / 声望 (zh) (shēngwàng), 名譽 / 名誉 (zh) (míngyù)

• Danish: hæder c, ros (da) c, cadeau (da) c
• Dutch: krediet (nl) n, lof (nl) m
• Finnish: maine (fi), kiitos (fi), kehut pl, ylistys (fi)
• French: louange (fr) f, gloire (fr) f, félicitations (fr) f
• Georgian: დიდება (dideba), ქება (keba), მოწონება (moc̣oneba)
• German: Lob (de) n, Beifall (de) m, Applaus (de) m
• Greek: δόξα (el) f (dóxa), φήμη (el) f (fími), τιμή (el) f (timí), κύρος (el) n (kýros), έπαινος (el) n (épainos)
• Hungarian: hírnév (hu)
• Icelandic: frægð f, heiður (is) m, upphefð f
• Japanese: 称賛 (ja) (しょうさん, shōsan), 栄光 (ja) (えいこう, eikō), 名声 (ja) (めいせい, meisei), 名誉 (ja) (めいよ, meiyo)
• Latin: laus f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: heder (no) m, ros (no) m, kudos (no) m

  Nynorsk: heider m, ros m

• Plautdietsch: Loff m
• Polish: chwała (pl) f
• Portuguese: elogio (pt) m, louvor (pt) m
• Romanian: laudă (ro) f
• Russian: сла́ва (ru) f (sláva), хвала́ (ru) f (xvalá), похвала́ (ru) f (poxvalá) (praise), одобре́ние (ru) n (odobrénije) (approval)
• Spanish: elogio (es) m

credit for one's achievements

• Bulgarian: слава (bg) f (slava) (разг.)
• Catalan: reconeixement (ca) m
• Finnish: kunnia (fi)
• German: Ruhm (de) m, Ehre (de) f, Ansehen (de) n, Renommee (de) n, Prestige (de) n

Verb

kudos (third-person singular simple present kudoses, present participle kudosing, simple past and past participle kudosed)

1. (informal) To give praise or accolades.
   • 2018, Margaret Edds, We Face the Dawn:

     You know and I know that Dr. Tinsley likes a bit of kudosing every now and then. I think it would be well if we seriously considered some kind of honorable mention for him at the Conference.

Noun

kudos

1. (nonstandard, proscribed) plural of kudo

Verb

kudos

1. third-person singular simple present indicative of kudo

Finnish

Etymology

kutoa (“to weave”) +‎ -os.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkudos/, [ˈkudo̞s̠]
• Rhymes: -udos
• Hyphenation^(key): ku‧dos

Noun

kudos

1. (textiles) fabric, texture (texture of a cloth)
2. fabric (framework underlying a structure)

   Synonym: rakenne

   maailmankaikkeuden kudos ― the fabric of the universe

3. (art) texture (quality given to a work of art by the composition and interaction of its parts)

   Synonym: rakenne

   sävellyksen polyfoninen kudos ― the polyphonic texture of the composition

4. (anatomy, zoology) tissue (in humans and animals, group of similar cells that function together to do a specific job)

   Near-synonym: solukko

Declension

Inflection of kudos (Kotus type 39/vastaus, no gradation)
nominative		kudos	kudokset
genitive		kudoksen	kudosten kudoksien
partitive		kudosta	kudoksia
illative		kudokseen	kudoksiin
		singular	plural
nominative		kudos	kudokset
accusative	nom.	kudos	kudokset
	gen.	kudoksen
genitive		kudoksen	kudosten kudoksien
partitive		kudosta	kudoksia
inessive		kudoksessa	kudoksissa
elative		kudoksesta	kudoksista
illative		kudokseen	kudoksiin
adessive		kudoksella	kudoksilla
ablative		kudokselta	kudoksilta
allative		kudokselle	kudoksille
essive		kudoksena	kudoksina
translative		kudokseksi	kudoksiksi
abessive		kudoksetta	kudoksitta
instructive		—	kudoksin
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of kudos (Kotus type 39/vastaus, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative kudokseni kudokseni accusative nom. kudokseni kudokseni gen. kudokseni genitive kudokseni kudosteni kudoksieni partitive kudostani kudoksiani inessive kudoksessani kudoksissani elative kudoksestani kudoksistani illative kudokseeni kudoksiini adessive kudoksellani kudoksillani ablative kudokseltani kudoksiltani allative kudokselleni kudoksilleni essive kudoksenani kudoksinani translative kudoksekseni kudoksikseni abessive kudoksettani kudoksittani instructive — — comitative — kudoksineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative kudoksesi kudoksesi accusative nom. kudoksesi kudoksesi gen. kudoksesi genitive kudoksesi kudostesi kudoksiesi partitive kudostasi kudoksiasi inessive kudoksessasi kudoksissasi elative kudoksestasi kudoksistasi illative kudokseesi kudoksiisi adessive kudoksellasi kudoksillasi ablative kudokseltasi kudoksiltasi allative kudoksellesi kudoksillesi essive kudoksenasi kudoksinasi translative kudokseksesi kudoksiksesi abessive kudoksettasi kudoksittasi instructive — — comitative — kudoksinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative kudoksemme kudoksemme accusative nom. kudoksemme kudoksemme gen. kudoksemme genitive kudoksemme kudostemme kudoksiemme partitive kudostamme kudoksiamme inessive kudoksessamme kudoksissamme elative kudoksestamme kudoksistamme illative kudokseemme kudoksiimme adessive kudoksellamme kudoksillamme ablative kudokseltamme kudoksiltamme allative kudoksellemme kudoksillemme essive kudoksenamme kudoksinamme translative kudokseksemme kudoksiksemme abessive kudoksettamme kudoksittamme instructive — — comitative — kudoksinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative kudoksenne kudoksenne accusative nom. kudoksenne kudoksenne gen. kudoksenne genitive kudoksenne kudostenne kudoksienne partitive kudostanne kudoksianne inessive kudoksessanne kudoksissanne elative kudoksestanne kudoksistanne illative kudokseenne kudoksiinne adessive kudoksellanne kudoksillanne ablative kudokseltanne kudoksiltanne allative kudoksellenne kudoksillenne essive kudoksenanne kudoksinanne translative kudokseksenne kudoksiksenne abessive kudoksettanne kudoksittanne instructive — — comitative — kudoksinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative kudoksensa kudoksensa accusative nom. kudoksensa kudoksensa gen. kudoksensa genitive kudoksensa kudostensa kudoksiensa partitive kudostaan kudostansa kudoksiaan kudoksiansa inessive kudoksessaan kudoksessansa kudoksissaan kudoksissansa elative kudoksestaan kudoksestansa kudoksistaan kudoksistansa illative kudokseensa kudoksiinsa adessive kudoksellaan kudoksellansa kudoksillaan kudoksillansa ablative kudokseltaan kudokseltansa kudoksiltaan kudoksiltansa allative kudokselleen kudoksellensa kudoksilleen kudoksillensa essive kudoksenaan kudoksenansa kudoksinaan kudoksinansa translative kudoksekseen kudokseksensa kudoksikseen kudoksiksensa abessive kudoksettaan kudoksettansa kudoksittaan kudoksittansa instructive — — comitative — kudoksineen kudoksinensa

Derived terms

compounds

• aivokudos
• arpikudos
• epiteelikudos
• granulaatiokudos
• hermokudos
• ihokudos
• ihonalaiskudos
• imukudos
• jyväiskudos
• keuhkokudos
• kudoksensiirto
• kudosleike
• kudosneste
• kudosnäyte
• kudosoppi
• kudospankki
• kudossiirto
• kudosteknologia
• kudosvaurio
• kudosviljelmä
• kudosviljely
• kuultokudos
• kuvakudos
• lihaskudos
• luukudos
• maksakudos
• metallikudos
• munuaiskudos
• paisuvaiskudos
• pehmytkudos
• pintakudos
• pohjakudos
• rasvakudos
• rauhaskudos
• rustokudos
• sidekudos
• solukudos
• sydänlihaskudos
• syöpäkudos
• tukikudos
• verkkokudos

 

Related terms

• kudonnainen
• kudonta
• kutoa

Further reading

• “kudos”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02