honorarium
Americannoun
-
honorariums,
plural
-
honoraria
plural
-
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.
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a fee for services rendered by a professional person.
noun
Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of honorarium
1650–60; < Latin honōrārium fee paid on taking office, noun use of neuter of honōrārius honorary
Explanation
An honorarium is a small fee paid for a service that is usually done for free. It's more of a thank you than a real, substantial paycheck. Honorarium comes from the Latin word honorary for “gift.” An honorarium is like a gift of a small amount of money that's paid once for a service. If a doctor or lawyer gives a speech for an organization, they might be given an honorarium. The honorarium money is small and not intended to reflect what the person's time is truly worth. Rather, the honorarium is a token of thanks and a gesture of respect.
Vocabulary lists containing honorarium
The Marrow Thieves
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Breakfast of Champions
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A Mighty Long Way
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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:
Disclosure: Mason has received an honorarium payment from Kenai Therapeutics in the past.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 6, 2026
When asked to speak or present, I always ask if they are familiar with my travel requirements, honorarium, hotel requirements and driver.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 11, 2026
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 ● Mar. 7, 2023
Some of the sheriffs brought their wives along; they also were awarded a $1,500 honorarium.
From Slate ● Sep. 21, 2022
They published the picture and as an honorarium sent Lilienthal $200.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Sesso additionally reported investigator-initiated grants from Haleon and Pure Encapsulations, as well as honoraria and/or travel support for lectures from the Council for Responsible Nutrition, BASF, and NIH during the conduct of the study.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 12, 2025
The payments averaged about $4,100 a year, mostly as honoraria for talks and reimbursements for travel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2025
Bik’s work brings donations from Patreon subscribers of about $2,300 per month and occasional honoraria from speaking engagements.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 28, 2024
He wouldn’t reveal how much his honoraria have added up to, over the years.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 25, 2019
Maycomb’s regular pastors ate free for a week also, and it was hinted in disrespectful quarters that the local clergy deliberately led their churches into holding separate services, thereby gaining two more weeks’ honoraria.
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
As an example of Carvalho acting in good faith, they cited Carvalho’s handling of honorariums from Scholastic for appearing at that company’s events.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Garvey’s failure to properly disclose his honorariums is, absent an immediate amendment, a big deal.
From Slate ● May 29, 2024
Numerous organizations wrote to offer awards and honorariums.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 1, 2021
Another doctor who wrote 9,000 prescriptions received $220,000 in honorariums, and a third doctor who wrote 3,600 prescriptions was paid more than $200,000.
From New York Times ● Jul. 1, 2020
He wrote and telephoned dozens of acceptances to invitations to speak, predominantly at colleges and universities—both to expound his philosophies and to earn the $150-$300 honorariums above traveling expenses.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
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.
