laureate

Definition

Crowned, or decked, with laurel.

Etymology

First attested during the end of the 15th century, in Middle English; borrowed from Latin laureātus, from laurea (“laurel crown, wreath”, a high reward given to poets and later to the triumphant) + -ātus (forming adjectives indicating possession) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and -ate (noun-forming suffix)), from laureus (“of laurel”), from laurus (“laurel”). The verb was formed by metanalysis, see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Cognate with French lauréat.

Example Sentences

• "To strew the laureate hearse where Lycid lies."
• "Soft on her lap her laureate son reclines."
• "Although the post of poet laureate as we know it was not established until John Dryden's appointment in 1668,"