honorarium
Americannoun
PLURAL
honorariums, honoraria-
a payment in recognition of acts or professional services for which custom or propriety forbids a price to be set.
The mayor was given a modest honorarium for delivering a speech to our club.
-
a fee for services rendered by a professional person.
noun
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012Usage
What does honorarium mean? An honorarium is a payment for special, professional services that don’t technically require compensation or for which payment isn’t customarily given.An honorarium is usually given as an appreciative gesture for services outside of one’s normal job—it’s not a salary.More generally, it can refer to a one-time fee paid to a professional for their services.The correct plural of honorarium can be either honorariums or honoraria. Technically speaking, honoraria is the Latin-based plural form of honorarium. (Many other Latin-derived words can be pluralized in the same way, but many are rarely used, such as stadia as the plural for stadium.)Example: I was paid a modest honorarium for the summer poetry workshop that I led.
Etymology
Origin of honorarium
1650–60; < Latin honōrārium fee paid on taking office, noun use of neuter of honōrārius honorary
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“I was on the China Development Bank board for 13 years, and 10 years as chairman,” Keating said, adding that his fee, or honorarium, was $5,000 a year.
From Seattle Times
After the presentation, Chen handed Hua an envelope filled with $3,500 in U.S. dollars — reimbursement for his plane ticket and an honorarium for the talk.
From New York Times
Most pastors do not charge a set fee for such services but typically receive an honorarium.
From Washington Post
Documents show he was supposed to receive an “honorarium” from the UAE, but a Mattis spokesman said he accepted only reimbursement for travel expenses.
From Washington Post
Yes, we know they may be paying your full honorarium.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
