encomium

n., pl., -mi·ums, or -mi·a (-mē-ə).

1. Warm, glowing praise.
2. A formal expression of praise; a tribute.

[Latin encōmium, from Greek enkōmion (epos), (speech) praising a victor, neuter of enkōmios, of the victory procession : en-, in; see en-² + kōmos, celebration.]

When you like something very much, you don't have to suffice with simply praising it. You can give it an encomium, like the many that the TV series The Sopranos got during its eight-year run:

"It was sometimes hard to bear the encomiums — the saga of the New Jersey mob family has been likened to Cheever, Dickens and Shakespeare; scripts were pored over as if they were the Dead Sea Scrolls."

Link: The Sopranos - Television - New York Times

Posted June 12, 2007.

See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.

noun

An expression of warm approval: acclaim, acclamation, applause, celebration, commendation, compliment, eulogy, kudos, laudation, panegyric, plaudit, praise. See praise/blame.

encomium [in‐koh‐mi‐ŭm] (plural ‐mia)a composition in prose or verse written in praise of some person, event, or idea; a eulogy. Originally denoting a Greek choral song in praise of a victorious athlete, the term was later extended to include prose compositions devoted to praise, usually involving elaborate rhetoric. Many odes and elegies are wholly or partly encomiastic. An author of encomia is an encomiast. See also panegyric.

encomium (enkōmion), Greek choral hymn (see LYRIC POETRY 1) in celebration not of a god but of a man. By derivation the word means a song ‘at the kōmos’, in this context the revel at the end of a banquet, and so suggests a eulogy of the host and guests. The word came to cover eulogies in general; the first poems of a generally eulogistic nature so described were those of Simonides. The epinikion or epinician ode, a triumphal ode for victory in the Games, and the thrēnos, a funeral dirge, are developments of the encomium.

glowing and warmly enthusiastic praise; an expression of said praise

A speech or composition in high praise of a person, object or event.

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - lovtale, lovprisning

Nederlands (Dutch)
lofprijzing, het lofprijzen

Français (French)
n. - panégyrique, éloge

Deutsch (German)
n. - Lobpreisung

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - εγκώμιο, πανηγυρικός (λόγος)

Italiano (Italian)
encomio

Português (Portuguese)
n. - elogio (m)

Русский (Russian)
восхваление

Español (Spanish)
n. - elogio, alabanza, encomio

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - lovtal

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
赞辞, 赞美, 称赞

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 贊辭, 讚美, 稱讚

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 칭찬하는 말

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 称賛, 熱烈なほめことば

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) مديح‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮הלל, תהילה‬

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