homage
Americannoun
-
respect or reverence paid or rendered.
In his speech he paid homage to Washington and Jefferson.
- Antonyms:
- irreverence
-
the formal public acknowledgment by which a feudal tenant or vassal declared himself to be the man or vassal of his lord, owing him fealty and service.
-
the relation thus established of a vassal to his lord.
- Antonyms:
- disloyalty
-
something done or given in acknowledgment or consideration of the worth of another.
a Festschrift presented as an homage to a great teacher.
noun
-
a public show of respect or honour towards someone or something (esp in the phrases pay or do homage to )
-
-
the act of respect and allegiance made by a vassal to his lord See also fealty
-
something done in acknowledgment of vassalage
-
verb
Etymology
Origin of homage
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English (h)omage, from Old French, equivalent to (h)ome “man” (from Latin hominem, accusative of homō; see Homo) + -age -age
Explanation
Homage means great respect and honor, or something done to honor a person or thing. We pay homage to our ancestors and say prayers in homage to their memory. In Middle English, homage specifically referred to respect for and loyalty to a feudal lord. The word was borrowed from Old French, probably from omne, homme "man," from Latin homō. The noun suffix –age is used to mean "an action, process, result, or state."
Vocabulary lists containing homage
A Christmas Carol
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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
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GRE Verbal Reasoning, List 1
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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.
In that context, Gunn decided to play to her own strengths with a creative gamble, developing a routine that paid cheeky homage to her Australian roots.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
A more-surreal homage by Rivera from 1952 lies in leafy Chapultepec Park: a 100-foot-long tiled statue of Tláloc, the Aztec god of rain, lying supine in a pool.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
As news of Parton's death spread on Tuesday, hundreds of Americans gathered in her hometown of Sevierville to pay homage to their native icon.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
Wordless storytelling, an homage to silent films, is a cinematic scripting choice that demands a deeper level of acting ability we might otherwise overlook in a movie like this.
From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2026
She let them all pay homage; for though she was now in low estate, she had been bred for the court, and was accustomed to the crush of supplicants.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
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.
