dedication
Americannoun
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dedications
plural
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the act of dedicating.
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the state of being dedicated.
Her dedication to medicine was so great that she had time for little else.
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a formal, printed inscription in a book, piece of music, etc., dedicating it to a person, cause, or the like.
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a personal, handwritten inscription in or on a work, as by an author to a friend.
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a ceremony marking the official completion or opening of a public building, institution, monument, etc.
noun
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the act of dedicating or the state of being dedicated
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an inscription or announcement prefixed to a book, piece of music, etc, dedicating it to a person or thing
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complete and wholehearted devotion, esp to a career, ideal, etc
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a ceremony in which something, such as a church, is dedicated
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nondedicationnoun
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overdedicationnoun
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prededicationnoun
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rededicationnoun
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self-dedicationnoun
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dedicationaladjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of dedication
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English dedicacioun, from Latin dēdicātiōn-, stem of dēdicātiō, literally, “a declaring,” equivalent to dēdicāt(us) “declared, devoted” (past participle of dēdicāre; see dedicate) + -iō -ion
Explanation
Dedication means "committing yourself to something," like your dedication to marathon training that had you running every single morning for four months. Dedication can be complete devotion and faith in someone or something, like your dedication to your family, a ceremony in which something is officially named, like the dedication of a new building. Another kind of dedication is a short message written to someone, like the dedication "Happy Birthday, Uncle Fred," which you write inside the book you give him, or something extra added to an autograph, like "To my greatest fan!"
Vocabulary lists containing dedication
"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney
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It's Lit: Hanukkah Words
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Michelle Obama's final address as First Lady (2017)
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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.
See Examples For:
António Costa, president of the European Council, thanked Lagarde for her dedication and said the bloc will immediately begin the process of choosing her replacement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
He's got to the very, very top and now he's the best player in the world and that's what dedication does for you.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
He credited the experience and dedication of the Wave Neuroscience team with helping make that accelerated progress possible.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2026
In 2012, Love also attended the dedication of a $2.4 million roundabout project in the area, which was designed to improve road safety while supporting efforts to protect the lake’s water quality.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026
She was infuriating in her stubborn dedication to work.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
Some of the aging boxes contain autographs or dedications from the A-listers.
From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 2025
Brother Keshavananda talks about him like an ever-present friend and teacher — who, despite taking his last breath in 1952, lives on in the multiple physical dedications to him in the space.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2025
As at the Chicago rat hole, an altar or shrine would have then been set up for pilgrims to offer dedications and make special requests.
From Slate ● Feb. 11, 2024
Jewish groups have long denounced these dedications, arguing soldiers in the Galicia Division swore allegiance to Adolf Hitler, and were either complicit in Nazi Germany's crimes or had committed crimes themselves.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2023
Jim, a year ahead of me and a football star, usually got several dedications every day from admiring girls.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
