Praise
/preɪz/noun
To express approval or admiration for someone or something.
Did you know?The word ultimately goes back to Latin pretium, meaning “price” or “value,” so praise was once tied to what something was worth, not just how good it sounded.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*per-
“to traffic, to sell, to exchange”
Latin
Latin
pretium
“price, value, reward”
Late Latin
Latin
pretiare
“to prize, value highly”
Old French
Old French
preisier
“to value, estimate, praise”
Middle English
English
preisen
“to commend, extol”
Modern English
English
praise
“to express approval or admiration for”